Cherry Mischievous: EMPEROR OF THE BORDERLANDS Book 1

Emperor Of The Borderlands (Book 1) by Alex Toxic and Eugene Astakhov
Book 1 in the Emperor Of The Borderlands series
Narrated by Victor Warren
Genre: progression fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Emperor Of The Borderlands (Book 1):

“Honor is the true measure of a man.” On this principle I built a powerful empire, united disparate lands and destroyed the greatest threat to our world. I died as a true warrior should: in battle. But instead of being granted a well-earned rest, I awoke on the border of a foreign kingdom, in the body of a noble-born outcast — with a noose around my neck.

Never mind if all that remains of my former greatness is a memory. Give me any backwater farm and I will turn it into a formidable stronghold! Give me any scruffy band of scoundrels and they will become the backbone of my new army! My experience, my knowledge and my memories remain with me.

Still, time is pressing. In the forests of this world, I encounter old foes: the same creatures that once nearly destroyed my kingdom. They have infiltrated even here. And only I, who know their nature, can stop them before it is too late. A new empire must rise, or this world will fall.

Source: Info in the "About Emperor Of The Borderlands (Book 1)" was taken from amazon on 26/06/2025.

Buy Link(s):

My Thoughts:

This series is being sold as historical progression fantasy. They have cars. Machineguns and automatic rifles. Smartphones which they call magophone with internet (which they call Aethernet). Socialmedia. Does that sound "historical" to you??

By the way, what do they power the magophone with? Do they have electricity?? What do they power the cars with? Do they have petrol?...

This is my first Eugene Astakhov read. But I am an old fan of Alex Toxic. Having said that, this book awfully reads pretty similar to The Dark Healer series by Alex Toxic and Nadya Lee. The same foreign realm enemy. The same modern-like society but with magic at the same time as technology. The same progression fantasy. The same wise hero.

This is my first Victor Warren audiobook. I like his voice. It is not grating to the ears. However, he has the tendency to read on without pause or break or notice or any indication at all that he is now reading a different scene. I know because I am reading the kindle ebook at the same time that I am listening to the audiobook and the ebook indicates a change of scene by separating the text with three asterisks. So if you are just listening to the audiobook alone, without reading the ebook or text, you would get confused as to why the narrative no longer make sense. Ah, maybe because the scene has changed...

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 5
Pace = (11 hrs and 1 min listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 3.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Emperor Of The Borderlands Series:

Meet The Authors

About Eugene Astakhov:

Eugene was born in Moscow in 1989. Since an early age, he spent countless hours in imaginary worlds, dreaming about someday creating one of his own. Despite pursuing a career in law, his passion for storytelling never waned. In 2022 he made the bold decision to leave office work behind and dedicate himself to writing full-time.

An avid fan of the LitRPG genre, Eugene devoured every series he came across but never quite found something to scratch that itch of immersing yourself in the adventures of a rogue creeping around enemies. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands and wrote Viasheron. This completed series, consisting of 9 books, has sold over 44,000 copies on Russia's second-biggest self-publishing website, garnering praise from readers and establishing Eugene as a rising star in the genre.

Eugene finds inspiration in various sources, including video games, fantasy and sci-fi books, TV shows, and tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. As a big fan of D&D, he brings his love for immersive storytelling and world-building to his writing, crafting vivid and engaging tales that transport readers to other realms.

His path is a reminder to all aspiring writers - you only need to take up a pen to create art of your own. And remember, "There are other worlds than these."

amazon | goodreads

About Alex Toxic:

Alex Toxic was born in 1978. He liked reading and playing video games from childhood. These two hobbies found ideal common ground when the LitRPG genre arrived.

Alex dreamed of becoming an author but the profession seemed just too complicated to him. So he began working first as a journalist, then as a TV anchor and then as a documentary filmmaker.

There came a point when Alex had run out of books he wanted to read. The authors simply couldn’t write new ones fast enough. The only way out was to write a book of his own. That’s how he launched into the passion that would with time become his primary profession.

Alex believes that the most important thing in a book is its main character. He or she has to be strong and unrelenting in the face of whatever challenge arises in their path, and they must always triumph.

amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Victor Warren:

Audiobook narraotr / voice-over artist. Actor. Director. Screenwriter.

Victor began his career in LA as a film and television actor, then moved to the east coast to raise his children. An award-winning actor, director, screenwriter, fight director and audio-book narrator. In all these disciplines, he's won close to 30 awards. He is a Sundance table read finalist and recipient of Nevada International Film Festival's First Time Director award. Victor is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University where he majored in acting and directing. After graduation, he worked at Universal Studios playing the comic at the western stunt show. Victor continues to work successfully living on Cape Cod where he raised his family and is bi-coastal flying in where the work leads him.