To protect those she loves from an unwanted fate, Emie Mercer has returned to the past. Her actions have already created ripples and changed the trajectory of her future. She has gained early access to the system and magic, and is now working with Alliance personnel in an effort to leverage her knowledge of the future to help others.
With the aid of her boss and new mentors, Emie will continue to grow and learn, expanding the gap between herself and the rest of the natives of Earth. But by making herself exceptional, she risks the very safety she hoped to create.
This is second in a system non-pocalypse and picks up right after the first. Read in order.
The webserial roots of the story show somewhat in this story. There's a lot of bead-on-a-string plot while Emie prepares for the coming transition of Earth into a mana-rich environment. And you know more or less what to expect since you've read the first book. She's overtly working with the aliens (human, mostly, but from off-planet) who are trying to prepare the Earthborn for what is coming. This is how we get to know that most of them are honestly trying to help. Except for the crazy researcher Sir Eri'Non who I hated more than a little.
I was fully engaged with Emie which made this a fun read. She's working to become stronger and to innovate things to make the transition easier for people. I like that she is innovative and dedicated. I like that she is careful and skeptical, though the author cheats a little by giving her a "sense intention" skill to know that spies aren't exactly on the up-and-up.
And I liked how she is trying to do better this go-round than she originally did by looking after her family and strengthening those bonds, even with her extended family. I loved all the relationships with friends and family developed in this book.
What I hated, more than a little, is that .
Anyway, this was four stars of fun and I'm glad I picked this up when the author released it. Which was totally a choice since I'm way ahead in the story by following it on Royal Road. So this was more of a nostalgia read to visit Emie before she, um, reaches the next phase of the plot in book three...
A note about Chaste: Emie is pretty driven and has things she wants to get done when the portals to the rest of the Alliance open up. So she isn't interested in creating relationships that would have a built-in expiration date. I'm good with that. So this is extremely chaste.
I liked the inclusion of enchanting along with crafting. The balance was kept between enchanting/crafting and magic rpg gaming/leveling elements. If this last book (2) was meant to be the end then it might have been nicer for the MC to have been rewarded with voiding her contract and being returned to her home so she could Shepard her family. Many litrpg books written add in false gods like trying to doctor bland food with a seasoning. By avoiding that pitfall this story "leveled up".
This book, like the first one, is a mix of Slice of Life and a longer overarching story that unfolds over an extended time span. We get to follow the protagonist's everyday challenges for a few chapters, then jump ahead to see how her daily life evolves and what new challenges the world presents.
I greatly enjoyed the setting, universe, and especially the main character, but I feel a warning might be necessary. If you're looking for action-packed sequences or detailed fight scenes, this book might not meet your expectations. Instead, it focuses heavily on plot development and the MC's personal journey. Perhaps "slow burn, strong-to-strong" is an apt description.
If I were to assign percentages to the different aspects of the book, it would look something like this:
This is a continuation of the previous book, though there are quite a few time skips, enough that we get to the point where the portals open and Emie leaves Earth. Personally I feel like it would have been nice to take it slower. Having more details about the apocalypse would have been interesting. That said, I can also see that being a bit boring, so it's not a big deal. My main issue, and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars, is the ending. It's really frustrating, and it also has me concerned that most/all of the remainder of the series will be very same-y, with Emie being very railroaded. . I fully intend to continue reading the series on RoyalRoad. Hopefully I'm wrong and it turns out well.
Though I liked the first book, it felt a bit slow and bland at times. This book had almost none of that, and left me eager for the third. the characters are engaging and likeable, when their supposed to be. Time feels a bit nebulous at points, and ×minor spoilers?×
its not particularly clear what she has learned from her two mentor/masters, but I anticipate we will see the results of her training blossom in book 3. Also the epilogue's events made me happy :)
This is a slice of life story continuation. The writing is above average quality for self published works. This is not at its heart an action adventure story, it is more of a day in the life of working student narration. I really enjoyed the first 75% of book, but the author gets a bit “wand wavy” after the 75% mark in, for me at least, a very clunky set of events to get to where they wanted the story to go. It was bad. That said once you get through that section the ending is decent.
I really enjoyed the next book in this series. It moves faster with multiple short tine skips, so you see more plot progress, but it doesn't sacrifice any of the important details. There's a significant change in the direction of the story that should lead to a lot more action in the next book as the training environment is over. Looking forward to the next book.
This was kind of tough for me to get through. These little time jump cuts in the story were a little jarring. Maybe a date header or something might have helped. Otherwise a very interesting read
Unlike most of the genre, Primer for the Apocalypse is a well written and well paced character-driven story that doesn't read as a wish fulfillment powertrip.
I read both books in the series in just two days. It was so interesting, I was incapable of putting it down. The story is well written and the storyline is different from others in this genre. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
This is an excellent continuation of the story, building towards the reintegration with a well-foreshadowed and interesting plot twist in the last quarter of the book. I am jumping into the next one immediately.
Boy, this is getting good. I definitely appreciate Emie as a character. Hopefully, the next installment comes out soon. There are so many paths this could take.
I like how fun this book is. I like that for the most part it is first person but we still get some snippets of other people’s/ aliens point of view. I love the two books.
Love this new series. Excellent characters, world building and a great magic system. Master Kairos I especially loved....hope to here moreabout him. Eagerly awaiting nook 3.