Voltsmith [LitRPG Apocalypse] (Book Two stubs April 15)

Information

Status

Ongoing

Year

2025

Author

Aest Belequa

• 2: Things Are Going Wrong For Me
  Feb 16, 2025
• 1: Going Off the Rails
  Feb 16, 2025

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• selfrootingRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I have enjoyed Aest's fictiona for a while now, and this new one is a lot of fun. Apart from the magic system which is a fun puzzle to figure out, I really appreciate the way this fiction explores how people and their personalities, motivations and capacities, respond to an apocalypse. The human side of it is always the most interesting part of any story, and for that Voltsmoth has you covered.
• SmilingSatyrRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I have, on my kindle, a copy of the full first book of Apocalypse Engineer. And it is AWESOME. At first I was initially a little skeptical of the concept, but Aest manages to take what could be a basic litrpg apocalypse and injects humanity, humor, and rock and roll into it just right. The plot is about what you would expect for this kind of thing, but the characters and the execution set the story apart and make it stand tall next to its peers. More than that, it's a smooth, compelling read that escalates expertly and promises a cool, fun adventure and plenty of power to come.
  As of writing this review, I am about 60-70% of the way through and eager to finish it. My favorite part are all the themed dungeons and seeing what Hal can do with his increasingly potent arsenal. This is going to be one that leaves an impact on RR, I'm sure of it.
• VrplValRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I'm really enjoying this one. I've been following the author through a couple of works and this one is immediately engaging. A little tropey, but that's what we're here for. I'm excited to see how the system and story develop. I'm always skeptical of male protags, this ones worth a try
• ZenkarnRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This is one of the story I've read the Beta version for, that I'm always happy to come back and read on Royal Road. With fun characterization, a world that expands at a good pace, and fight scenes that never feel like they drag, it is a book I can recommend to fans of the sysapoc genre.
  To expand:
  Characters: None of the characters ever feel superfluous, be they side of main. Hal, our MC, is more of a brains over brawn type, but without that slinking into the shadows/manipulation angel that often gets used. A magical engineer we can watch build tools and actually use them, instead of relying on other party members to bail them out.
  Monsters: Unique, fun, memorable, and die with a satisfying splat. While it's not as a 10 level gore fest, all the fights do culminate in good deaths, and puzzles to solve. Plus, Snake Train.
  Story: Simple and easy to follow. With engaging set pieces, it does a good job at pushing the reader forward to find out what happens next, which is always worth the payoff.
  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I do recommend that people give it a proper shot.
• gostsamoRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I'm fan of the author and he never disappoints. This time the aliens are not subtle and literally running Earth through a meat grinder. Left are only the lucky and the crazy, forced to run through unending danger which they meet with unending violence. Somewhere there the rock music is giving a beat to the action and it is a real shame that the mc has his player totalled in the very beginning and cannot provide us with an additional playlist.
  If there is something to beware, it is that Aest with all of his other positive qualities still struggles with fleshing out some of his characters and the skeleton underneath gets visible from time to time. Not a show stopper though and it never distracts from the main entertainment.
• Inauspicious readerRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Hal is so based.
  I like the minecraft exp orbs from mobs, I like the stats, I think magic is cool. The way Hal solves fights with half-thinking half-smashing his way through is fun to read about.
  He's a decent person, which is cool. I like the way he thinks. Story is fun to read, monsters are unique, class and crafting is cool. I hope he makes more bombs.
  Overall, I'd recommend this story if you're looking for a run, action-rich litRPG. Numbers go up. Monster gst smacked. People get saved. Items get crafted with magical electricity!
• BigStig97Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Its a very good start. I'm currently waiting on chapter 10 and looking forward to it.
  The MC has a good head on his shoulders and a good personality. And the 2 side characters we've met so far seem well thought out and real.
  Great job so far. Keep up the good work!
• ISshinRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 3.5

  The writing is overall fine. There are no major mistakes and such .So it's readable. I personally liked the new power or class explored here. It's certainly unique.  The story has a nice pacing . It doesn't feel too fast or slow
  My gripe with the story is MC's very weird personality.  The guy jumps into hard-core  mode to save a girl he has known for a minute.  That is a very weird rationale. The whole first arc he's just obsessing over a saving a girl.he doesn't even know which made mc look extremely weird
  Also the weapon he's making , I would say creative but it's personally very hard to imagine . Like  some tools he made felt very much absurd and its confusing. I have a little complain about the class as well. Like the voltsmith class sounds cool and all , it doesn't really giving him much of a advantage compared to thunder mage class
• laservaderRoyal Road

  ★★★ 3.0

  Story seemed like it could be really good, Tori is a super annoying character. Kids who actually act like kids are of course going to be annoying, and edgy teenagers even more so. The character is well written, or maybe a better way to say it is she is written realistically, coping with the situation using her experience from games and generally being an idiot, hypocritical, and not very logical given she is a teenager. Exactly how you would expect someone in her situation to act. (At least in my opinion). But as a result that makes her super annoying.
  MC also doesn’t want to kill, but as opposed to the Batman path of imprisonment ops for the delusional path of letting killers, murders, and generally abhorrent men go completely free after he knocks them unconscious, not even tying them up or removing weapons or anything, which is just a wild take in my opinion.
  the early leveling curve is definitely different from other system stories I have read, and the voltsmith idea is also unique at least from what I have seen, so that was cool.
• DustyacerRoyal Road

  ★★★ 2.5

  Characters: The main problem with this story is that the Characters are all really not likeable at all. The main character has a hero + sis complex and overall has weird rationale. The main girl lead is some emo rebellious kid who is probably acting younger than her age (no one's age was ever specified). the third character is basically useless, doesn't want to fight, but also doesn't want to be a healer bc
  “You were hoping I’d go back to being a medic. That ain’t happening. I’ve had enough of that, magic or not. You ever had someone die in your arms? I have—over and over. It ain’t fun. If you want to avoid that, you’d better get moving.”
  I opened my mouth, ready to argue. But…he was right. Instead of fighting, I closed my mouth.
  This is direct quote. Its frankly ridiculous as if you want someone to not die. You heal them. This guy is an army vet and he doesn't do anything except give some random advice. As an army vet, he should know that he is dragging down the team and risking getting his teammates killed by doing nothing.
  Story: Its odd since the story is basically just helping the main girl... Who mc knew for like 1 minute before the apocolypse.
  "I'd jumped into this Hardcore Tutorial to keep her alive, so until I found her, nothing else mattered."
  So basically he is just recklessly  trying to save this girl and trying to throw everything else away to help this random girl. Like its extremely strange and makes it hard for us the readers to really care about him and his motivation.
  Grammar: It's fine
  Style: So the main character makes a lot of inventions, but the problem is that I find it hard as a reader to really understand what the weapons look like and how they function.