THE SORCERER (Book 1)

The Sorcerer (Book 1) by Victor Pylaev
Book 1 in The Sorcerer series
Narrated by Daniel Wisniewski
Genre: progression portal fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Sorcerer (Book 1):

Was he a hero, a warrior, a savior, a defender of the helpless? A knight without fear or reproach? No, nothing like that. Even among the gifted, he was known as a sorcerer, a warlock, a shapeshifter — one with a reputation firmly rooted in the darker side. But even such a man wouldn’t turn his back on an old friend in need, especially not when the world seemed on the brink of collapse.

If only he had known the consequences his meddling would bring!

His genius didn’t help him, and his unique ritual sent him farther into the past than intended. Worse still, it cast him into an alternate history — the year 1909 in the Russian Empire. This strange new world is ruled by aristocrats with powerful magical talents, and all manner of evil spirits, ghouls, and monsters crawl out of Breaches in reality, spilling into the streets of St. Petersburg. Now, with no friends, no allies, no money, and no title, he’s stuck in the body of a skinny teenage boy. To survive, he must regain his former abilities, learn new ones, and find a way back home. But for him, this is just a minor setback.

His mission is far from over. He still has a job to do: save his world.

Source: Info in the "About The Sorcerer (Book 1)" was taken from amazon on 23/06/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

This is my first Victor Pylaev read and I like the story. I like the world. I like the premise. But somehow I find myself needing breaks from it every now and then all the way to the end. So, pace-wise, this was not a quick read, even with the convenience of the audiobook format.

The world building is beautiful!

There isn't much of a plot. But I am not looking for twists or layered plots. This is fantasy after all. Not crime fiction. Even though the ending kind of resolved the current dilemma in the book, it also pointed towards the next book at the same time in a cliffhanger ending.

I am an old fan of Daniel Wisniewski. But I've never heard him narrate entirely in a Russian accent. As always, Daniel Wisniewski did a wonderful job of bringing this book to life with his own distinct flavour of narrating a book! Kudos to the narrator!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (8 hours and 49 minutes listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The The Sorcerer Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Victor Pylaev:

Hi, I'm Viktor Pylaev — an author, a chemist by education, a motorcycle enthusiast by passion, and at heart, just an ordinary person who loves to tell stories.

I earned my Master’s degree in Chemistry from St. Petersburg State University in 2010, but storytelling has always been my true calling. My writing journey began while I was living and working in China, where I gained my first readers through a LitRPG project that became popular in Russia.

Since then, I’ve written over fifty books across various genres, with a special love for combining fantasy, adventure, and mystery. When I’m not writing, you’ll often find me on the road, traveling the country on two wheels. Motorcycles are my second great passion after literature.

I’m always excited to keep creating, improving, and sharing new stories. It means a lot to see more and more readers around the world discovering and enjoying my work. Thank you for being part of this journey!

amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Daniel Wisniewski:

Audio book Narrator, Character Voices, Baritone, Bass, Tenor, Heroes, Villains, Dark, Bright, Young, Old, Comedy, Tragedy, Accents, Dialects.

I am a New York based actor who has performed across a variety of platforms both domestically and internationally. I am also a graduate of Ithaca College with a BFA in Musical Theatre, have studied and worked as a dialect coach, have access to a professional grade studio, and am an experienced editor. When not performing, I can usually be found either leading my friends on a DnD campaign or playing in one myself (usually as a dashing Half-Elf bard or brazen Half-Orc fighter).

www.danielwisniewskiactor.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | youtube | linkedin | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The print book/ebook and/or audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

THE FUSIONIST

The Fusionist by Jonathan Brooks
Book 1 in the Magical Fusion series
Narrated by Miles Meili
Genre: LitRPG fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Fusionist:

A young man and his axe, along with a magical life he never asked for…

Larek Holsten is different from most people, living in the Kingdom of Androthe where his 7-foot-tall frame is looked at with suspicion and anger from its shorter residents; but as long as it helps him become the best Logger he can be, he doesn’t let it bother him all that much. He and his best friend, an axe with a powerful Fusion that causes it to become sharper and stronger than a normal tool, are feared by the trees in the magical forest north of his home, as he can fell the quickly growing monoliths faster than anyone else in the community.

Unfortunately, after visiting the local village, a deliberate misunderstanding lands Larek in trouble; as a result, he is taken away from his family and the only home he has ever known. Along the way, his dormant magical potential is discovered by those more knowledgeable than him, and he is ordered to attend some sort of academy for Mages.

The problem? Contrary to many who might jump at the chance of wielding powerful magic to fight the monsters that threaten the towns and cities around the Kingdom, Larek has absolutely no desire to become a Mage, especially when he has no choice in the matter. All he wants is to be allowed to return home to his family and to chop down the trees in the Rushwood Forest.

But once he discovers a unique talent that stems from his newly unlocked latent power, he might just have to stick around to see what he can do…

Source: Info in the "About The Fusionist" was taken from amazon on 21/09/2026.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

First chunk of a bigger book.

I like the way the author slowly introduced the world building and first explains what the initials are, i.e., AP means Advancement Points, before further using the initials in the book. A few LitRPG I've read just dropped these initials without explanation or anything, assuming that the reader is also a gamer. I am not a gamer so I struggle to understand what these initials are. When I do not understand something in the book, it makes it a lot less interesting to me.

I also like the way the author explained the magic system and the origins/nature of the Scissions. It made the world building more believable. It makes it easier to suspend disbelief.

This is my first Miles Meili audiobook listen and I like the way he makes Larek's voice different from everyone else. However, he also reads with a tiny bit of a singsong which I am not very fond of.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 2
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (16 hours and 58 minutes listening time)
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Magical Fusion Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Jonathan Brooks:

Jonathan Brooks had worked in retail for most of his life but have been an avid reader of fantasy books since around age 12. In addition, he has been playing videogames since he got an Atari 2600 when he was 5 years old. Consequently, he fell in love with the LitRPG, GameLit, and Dungeon Core genres when he first learned about them. Currently, he has 86 books published and more on the way!

blog | instagram | facebook | patreon | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Miles Meili:

Miles Meili is an actor and voice actor (ACTRA and SAG/AFTRA member) based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Miles Meili was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He has been an audiobook enthusiast since they were called "books on tape". He started his career as a performer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, then moved to Seoul, South Korea where he lived for 10 years. There, he recorded audiobooks, e-learning, video games, cartoons, documentary voice over, commercials and more. He also appeared in Korean films and television shows, expat films, and on stage. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife, Kate, and daughter, Piper.

www.milesmeili.com | facebook | instagram | youtube | linkedin | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The print book/ebook and/or audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

THE DARK HEALER (Book 4)

The Dark Healer (Book #4) by Alex Toxic and Nadya Lee
Book 4 in The Dark Healer series
Narrated by Christopher P. Brown
Genre: urban progression fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Dark Healer (Book #4):

A thousand years ago, the abomination came into the world. It poisoned the earth and turned animals and people into horrible mutants. Necromancers were the only ones who could combat it.

The Richter clan fought this threat. Whose plans did they ruin by doing so? Who wanted the world to die?

Max will find the answers to these questions, even if he has to extract them by force.

Source: Info in the "About The Dark Healer (Book #4)" was taken from amazon on 16/05/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Like all the books in this series, this one picked up just where the last book left off and it is just another middle chunk of a bigger book. Middle plot, too. No beginning. Cliffhanger ending. Not recommended to be read on it's own.

In this book we meet Octavia Scipion. It seems that Max has multiple love interest now. Emre Demir continues to be nice to Max. And we are introduced to the border foci and more facets of this world.

Again, Christopher P. Brown did a good job of narrating this book!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 1
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (7 hours and 28 minutes listening time)
Plot = 1
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Dark Healer Series:

 

Meet The Authors

About Nadya Lee:

Ever since she was a little girl, Nadya Lee knew exactly what she wanted to be: either a President, a singer, or an author.

The first option just didn’t work out for some reason

The second option eventually became her hobby. Nadya still loves singing and does it at every opportunity, accompanying herself on a guitar.

Likewise, writing remained her hobby for quite a while. Nadya wrote poems, articles and even fanfics, keeping an occasional blog on various subjects including book reviews. Books and video games have always been an important part of her life.

Then one day she just woke up in the morning and decided she’d procrastinated enough. Time to put pen to paper.

So here she is, hoping that her audience might enjoy reading her books just as much as she enjoys writing them.

www.nadialee.net | x | facebook | pinterest | instagram | 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 Christopher P. Brown:

Christopher P. Brown is an audiobook narrator whose passion is using his scripted theater and improvisation training and experience to bring stories and characters to life. He holds graduate degrees (MA and PhD) in literature, linguistics, and leadership studies. Chris is also bilingual, with professional proficiency in both Spanish and English, and can tackle narration projects in either language, or both of them. Chris grew up in western Michigan, and has lived in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Washington DC area, and now resides in San Diego, California.

christopherbrownaudio.com | tiktok | facebook | linkedin | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The print book/ebook and/or audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.