Book: Book of the Dead 5: Ascension
Author: RinoZ
Series: Book of the Dead
Genre: LitRPG / Progression Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
My rating: ★★★★☆
Review: Mostly spoiler-free
Is Book of the Dead 5: Ascension worth reading?
Short answer: Yes.
If you’ve enjoyed the Book of the Dead series so far, reading this installment is a no-brainer. Ascension has some of the best progression, worldbuilding, and tension in the series, and RinoZ’s writing gets better with every entry. Just prepare yourself for an infuriating cliffhanger.
Book of the Dead 5: Ascension Review
Book of the Dead: Ascension takes place three years after the last book. We’re thrown back into the world and shown the consequences of Tyron’s previous escapades. The people he’s saved are eking out a living in the harsh wasteland, with Tyron’s skeletons and magic making life bearable.
The empire hasn’t forgotten about the heretic rebels and the millions of refugees, though. They’ve cleansed the rest of the Western Province by wiping out anyone who wasn’t fast or smart enough to run away, and they’re not finished. They’re hot on Tyron’s tail, and they’ve got an army of heavy hitters out for his head.
Up against the clock, and an army more powerful than his skeletons by a mile, our friendly neighbourhood Necromancer takes huge risks, makes deals with gods and scheming vampires, and of course, discovers new magick with his genius intellect.
Every corner reveals a new powerful enemy, and more than once I wondered “how’s he gonna make it out of this one”—which is rare for me, because we all know the main character isn’t gonna die. But I gotta give the author props for ramping up the tension and keeping me on the edge of my seat.
Even watching Tyron choose new abilities had me glued to the screen (I’m reading on Kindle) and intrigued about what he was gonna pick.
The author does a great job of baiting hooks at the end of chapters, raising mysteries, and forcing me to say “Ah, okay, just one more chapter.” With the short chapters and constant novelty, the pacing never felt slow and the story never dragged. Although 90% of the book revolves around Tyron figuring out new ways to do magick and getting into the weeds of upgrading his skeletons, I never got bored like I did in some of the previous entries.
RinoZ weaves stats into prose as masterfully as Tyron weaves magick threads onto his bony boys. He never bogs the reader down with arduous stat pages, only giving us the relevant information when we need it.
This is the way to write a LitRPG. As an author, I’m taking notes.
The Book of the Dead series remains one of the best-written stories in the LitRPG genre. It had a few typos and repetitive sentences, but nothing compared to some of the books I had to drop after a few pages because the prose seemed like it had been cranked out by typing monkeys using their arse cheeks. It’s a wonder what you can achieve with a little editing and attention to detail.
The mix of POVs helps widen the world and allows us to see how horrifying Tyron the butcher looks to more well-adjusted individuals. The new character, Meredith, was a joy to read, and getting more insight into the Nobles was a fun ride.
Though the ending battle sequence was epic and well told, the climax was disappointing. Not because it was illogical or poorly executed, but because it ends on an unsatisfying cliffhanger.
A character reveals they have a backup plan, but we won’t see what the plan is until the next book.
I’m fine with cliffhangers, but this was egregious. When I finished reading, I almost called the police. Of course, I’m too hooked and invested to boycott the next book, but part of me wants to.
All in all, I loved the journey, but I feel like I was left stranded in a bad area, surrounded by unscrupulous figures.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Things I liked about Book of the Dead 5: Ascension
- The progression of Tyron’s army and power continues to feel satisfying. I’m still excited to see him gain and use new abilities.
- The lore drops were interesting and fleshed out the world.
- Legitimate tension from both the battles and the looming threat of the battle.
- The action is fun, easy to visualise, gripping, and epic as hell (literally, in places).
- RinoZ handles stats the best way I’ve seen in any LitRPG.
Things I didn’t like about Book of the Dead 5: Ascension
- One major thing I dislike about this series is that it’s 90% research and experimentation with 10% amazing action. It’s a shame because the action is well done, but the author rations it out like he’s got a limited supply.
- The book ends on an unsatisfying cliffhanger. I’m all for hooking us to read the next book, but setting a major twist and giving us no payoff for a year is criminal.
- Dove is still insufferable and unfunny. I wish the author would stop trying to force the sexual comedy in here (see what I did there). It makes me roll my eyes—and not in a good way. The comedy is much better when it’s unforced, like most things (consent is essential), and natural.
Get Book of the Dead 5: Ascension here.
The Book of the Dead series actually made my list of 11 favourite dark fantasy books. Click the link if you wanna add more fire books to your reading list.
