Interested to see where this goes. Needs some work on the overall story and world building but a strong first book.

I was always deeply skeptical of the genre. But so far I like the take. A common genre problem is that often the protagonist feels like they are surrounded by fools and seem to be the only one making good decisions. This feels much more grounded.

A game within a game within a game. And, there is more to come. I look forward to learning what happens.

I love games but find it difficult to read books. But, in this case I don’t ever want to put the book down!! This is well written, has tons of action and enough gaming aspects to satisfy a wide range of readers. I just started the third book and already have the fourth book arriving soon.

I picked up the book in my search for more LitRPG that fulfilled my very picky demands and I must say that the Grand Game definitely met and exceeded my expectations. other reviewers said that the MC wasn't overpowered but very clever in his tactics and I must agree. The story was gripping and I could not put it down until I finished it and I will surely go on to the next book in the series. I must definitely recommend this book for someone in the search for their next LITRPG read!

I enjoy litrpg in general as a guilty pleasure but this series is outstanding imho. The story telling and character development is consistent and has surprising depth. If I had any criticism is that i feel the story could pare back the game play mechanics and points system screens. In fact if the author removed the "system" aspects altogether and made it a more fantasy type story than "game" based it would be even better. Most litrpg stories use the system as a crutch to support a weak story. This author seems more than capable of crafting an engaging story without this. I hope after this series concludes they consider branching out.

Well rounded in many aspects I look for in a lit rpg. MC is pretty awesome personality wise and the writing and magic system is great. Looking forward to the 2nd book!

The initial progression was slow and frustrating. The ease of player kills was different, perhaps more realistic, than most litRPG. I enjoyed the intrigue of the plot. The MC was not OP, but just persistent and imaginative to be slightly OP. And, after reading the Belgariad, I've always preferred stories that treat wolves as heroes

This book was amazing. While it did have a lot of game info, story wise it was good and made me think of how I would do everything he did. Loved this book and inspired me a lot.

this was a good journey with Michael. Refreshing, to the point i would like to join them. Story is nice

Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone

Solid and entertaining. I have read hundreds of books in this genre and at this point it has to be engaging, consistent, and not raise red flags to get me to buy a second installment, which I just did.

The bad guys are comically evil and comically dumb. The good guys are just comically dumb. The lost memories hook is fine. The setup is good. The mechanics are good too. But there are just too many nonsensical choices made by people and the author butchers his own safe zone mechanic by forgetting how it even works, I guess? The mid book twist isn’t just telegraphed too much it almost had a neon sign pointing towards what is ahead. There are less typos than usual for the genre though!

This as a refreshing read. The main character was delightful, and the system was easy to follow. I highly recommend it.

Fantastic fantasy book that is exciting and keeps you engaged throughout the entire book.

Amazing book so far I have always loved these kind of stories and I have enjoyed reading this one on to the next

Pretty neat take on the genre. Mildly higher stakes and good rpg game elements. Not a bunch of naive altruism. The premise requires a little more suspended disbelief than the average isekai. Really enjoyed it.

I really loved the way this played out and the plot twists and power ups the character never felt too powerful but never felt impossible to find a way he was clever and it went well

Now that was good. A refreshing first-person narrative without switching perspectives. The author did well with pacing, action, and intrigue without forsaking the quality of his prose.

To be honest, I liked maybe the first half of the story. The main character leaned some lessons, had some good fights, and leveled up a lot. And then he meets back up with people. All of a sudden he's a self sacrificing hero who seems to have forgotten the lessons he learned the previous half of the book. It was such a frustrating turn of events that I can't finish the book. Highly disappointing considering the glowing reviews everywhere I look. First half 4/5 Second half, couldn't finish 2/5 Overall 3/5

Really enjoyed this one, much more engrossing, clever MC who's patient and mentally tough/determined rather than a whiny kid, and more enjoyable than the majority of LitRPGs out there. Highly recommend this one 🙂

I cannot wait to read the next book. Interesting take on litrpg and has a great world. Has a interesting power system and the way the characters start out.

I throughly enjoyed this book. Made for a great time read it. I couldn’t put it down. The world building, the character building was extremely well thought out. Made for a fun read

After reading so many litrpgs, it's refreshing to find one that hits all the checkboxes for me. This series has pretty much everything: An intelligent and cunning main character, a easy to understand system that is not overly complex nor too basic, a very fast paced and action oriented style, and great world building. This book also really scratches that sneaking\thief\assassin itch, along with a dose of psi mental powers thrown in. The character is not totally overpowered, but he is just enough to make you feel he's a badass but still has challenges. I'm actually on book 3 at the moment and just can't put these books down because they are just that good. As of this moment the character is still mostly solo, which is AWESOME. I absolutely hate it when the author starts changing the story to be a group\side character tangent style. Sticking with the main character is what I love and so far the author has stayed true to that. Give this one a try, you will not be disappointed!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, to the point of getting the series, including the unreleased one. Starts off with an interesting world, and the worldbuilding is as interesting as the main character's fast-paced experiences in the world. He is - rightly as it turns out - unwilling to trust anyone or anything, which itself makes things more interesting.

Fun D&D style story. I look forward to the next book. I’d like a little more character development but the action keeps the plot moving along.

So end of book one and Happy with the story. Only one minor annoyance for me would be the spider goddess name the author chose. In most she goes by Lolth but here Tom chose I-shit-A , kinda juvenile and not sure why the author chose it. I didn't enjoy reading her name multiple times throughout the story. Otherwise great story and looking forward to seeing what's in the rest of the series.

Really enjoyable take on the game genre. I literally read it straight through, which is pretty impressive given it’s now 1:30 in the morning on Sunday night.

This story sucked me right in and kept me interested and invested throughout. Nice world building, an interesting and engaging voice for the main character, and excellently designed difficult situations to be overcome make for a better story than most LitRPG selections. Fine for young readers. Very few typos or mistakes! I am looking forward to more.

For some reason, but I do not know I have passed up on this book and ultimately this series a couple times, and I’m so mad that I did. This has been an excellent read, and I instantly jumping into the next book.

Once it started, I was unsure a little as to if I was going to like it. I was a little confused and was not sure if the main character would be a person I liked and cheered for. But I soon learned I very much did. By the end, I was staying up until 3 in the morning and getting back up at 7 just finish the book.. outstanding!!

I really enjoyed this story. The book didn’t get bogged down in endless player statistics like so many other LitRPGs. The main character had to learn and grow throughout the book, and he wasn’t always successful. I felt like the world building was good, and the story had good pacing and enough tension to keep me interested. I am excited to see what the next book brings.

Loved the story. I read the 'look inside', got hooked and ended up reading the entire book in one day and now I'm on to book #2. It's up there with my two favorites "He Who Fights with Monsters" and Gonnella's "Unbound" series.

Truly a fantastic and fun read, and totally unexpected at the same time. The writing was well done. The MC felt powerful enough, he wasn't slapped around too much either. Interesting world also. Grammer and editing was excellent. No complaints. 5/5. Would recommend

Great start to this LitRPG! Slight spoilers here, be warned, but I also really liked the dire wolf component! But beyond that, I really liked how the MC progressed throughout the story and the logic used in all of his choices. Already downloading the second book!

Very good. I was hoping for solo mission book. The part with the newbies was predictable and not very interesting. The rest of the book was great.

A fun read, there are some typos scattered through. But the story is interesting. The MC is a lesser-psychic assassin build. I look forward to the next one. MC does occasionally do really dumb stuff like stressing about a door being locked and blocking his path, even though the just looted the bosses key ring. But it’s few and far between.

I very much enjoyed reading the book. Felt the other characters were a little on the shallow side but they weren’t husks so it was still enjoyable. The main character and world building were fantastic. Eager to start the second book.

Great read!! I dunno if I was just in the right frame of mind but I typically don't like LITRPG books. However this book drew me in. I enjoyed the world and the character. There was a lot of action, humor and good dialogue. The story moved fast and the machinations of the Powers that be was intriguing. definitely buying the next book.

This by far has been an awesome read. The world, the characters, and the story have me wanting the next book already and I just finished this one. The writing is great, the MC is not a bumbling idiot and the world is down right awesome. Looking forward to the next book. Keep up the great work.

I'd say 4.5 of 5. honestly, I set this book down a couple times at the start. the first 5 to 10% were rpugh and felt super cheesy almost like cartoon villain cheesy. It got significantly better very quickly, it stayed better and it set itself up for a great future too. I'm excited for book 2

This title strikes all the right chords that have forged litrpg into it's own genre as well as making some unique choices around progression that give this book a fresh take. What this book gets right that many struggle at is building a protagonist that grows in power in a believable manner, while remaining relatable and likable. I give this a solid 10 for a series starter, and eagerly await the next release!

Thought it was a bit slow at the start for me this book was significantly better than I escaped once I got about 1/3 of the way through. The MCs build was very interesting and built on real world need in actual life or death situations and not just theory crafting with plot armor. The fight scenes were better written in the second half of the book and were very entertaining. I can’t wait to see what happens once we leave the dungeon. Enjoy everyone!

There is a lot of self published crap out there in these present early 2022 days, this is an exception. Great story, solid character development, right balance of action vs. LITRPG, and good setup of light vs. dark vs. shadow. Anxiously awaiting the next book!

This book kind of reminded me of the solo leveling that occurred in Apolos Thorn's Underworld books (at least, at the beginning). It takes place mostly with one character being present only, though does have some epic boss fights with a team towards the end. I still found the book quite enjoyable, and while I found the system to be somewhat simple, I'm hoping that as book 2 comes, it delves more into different paths offered by the system. Definitely recommend. The character has a rogue/psionicist archetype, which I found to be unique, as the obvious path people usually go are the shadow rogue type.

Great book starts off with everyone competing against one another but the main character doesn't play the game like the master wanted and goes off alone doing better than most of the others. Soon he finds that the others are now two different factions and he sides with the group that has been on the losing end of things. After coming up with a plan he manages to kill the leader and his cohorts and escape the dungeon.

Initially, I was skeptical of the premise, because there have been so many isekai - teleported to a different world - books/anime/movies recently. However, I think the "litrpg" elements and the world-building differentiate this book from its competitors quite nicely. The protagonist is not overpowered, and his actions are often limited by an inability to annihilate his opponents in a direct fight. However, clever use of the environment and making allies in uncommon places help him to achieve things that the other contestants cannot. Also, I found Hamish (and the roles he plays)to be a fun way of adding exposition. One of the things that annoys me about many RPG-esque books is the accumulation of skills. Invariably, the protagonist ends up with a laundry list (or even a cookbook) of skills, many of which seem like they should be combined. "The Grand Game" agrees, and you see a lot of skill synergies and direct combinations, which cuts down on the length of the skill/stat screens. I really enjoyed the book, and I eagerly await book 2!

These litRPG can be difficult they spend all their time world building and describing difficult level ups. They often forget that it’s still a novel and character development is key. I found this book managed to balance all three. Well worth the read! Looking forward to book 2!

This story lacks some of the qualities typically associated with 5 star reads. The characters are not flushed out as well as they could be (though they are decent!) There is also a lack of sophisticated interactions between the characters. I also enjoy a sense of development within the characters themselves—not just their powers— which is mostly absent here. That being said, the story is really entertaining! The magic system feels rewarding and the world building is well maintained. The action was also good. I would recommend this novel to other fantasy loving readers!

I only review books that I really like. It will be hard to write a good review without spoilers but I will try, and I must say I hope there is a second book. It does say book one of a series, so let's hope everyone else enjoys the book like I did. Michael wakes up with no memory of who he is. All he knows that he must play the Grand Game. This takes a familiar story and makes it fresh again. There is no harem, no relentless internal dialogue of why must he kill? No gosh why can't we all get along and sing kumbayas, and weave baskets together? He decides what needs to be done talks to himself a little about it and does it. The internal dialogue he does have is very realistic. If you've ever been an a life threatening situation and know you have to do something, you've had the conversation he has had one time. He's a stranger in a strange land and is given a helper. There's no sarcastic level up messages from the adjudicator, and wow the level up messages don't get in the way of the player. His main question is, if you don't know who you were, without your memory, will you be true to yourself? The book is filled with intrigue, and betrayals, and comes together in a ‘wow that's an awesome last chapter’! Characters include Elementary Forces of the universe, to Powers that be, and factions! Given a chance to advance, with EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING set against him, can Michael be successful? Oh and don't make Micheal vengeful, you won't like him when he's vengeful! I did not notice grammatical mistakes or spelling errors, that break you out of your reading mindset, so Excellent book Tom Elliot!