The fourth book in the series marks a significant improvement over its predecessor. We’re finally seeing a more grounded, realistic portrayal of the world’s factions. In short, the political scheming has leveled up, introducing nuance that was sorely missing in the third installment. The author also seems to have tightened their handling of coincidental outcomes. In a well-constructed narrative, you should be able to trace dialogue, actions, and even the smallest details to understand why events unfold as they do. While the book isn’t without its flaws, this improvement is undeniable and a much-needed departure from the haphazard plotting of the last entry. That said, it’s not all smooth sailing. Several key perspectives are still missing, leaving gaps in context that lead to certain events feeling forced—things happen simply because the plot demands it, not because they’ve been earned. The protagonist’s overpowered plot armor has been ramped up yet again, though I found it less irksome this time around. Perhaps it’s because I’ve stopped expecting a “dark fantasy litRPG” and started viewing it more as a power fantasy. Wolves have become the thematic backbone here—where some authors lean on vampires or aliens, this one’s world is thick with wolf tropes and game mechanics ripped straight from a D&D playbook. Even the sea hag battle conjured up vivid memories of my latest Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough. The fight scenes are back to form, and the dialogue, along with the smaller nuances that give this series its charm, are back to the quality of the second book. Yet here’s the rub: while this book is undoubtedly better, it still hasn’t recaptured the magic of the first. As long as the series avoids another “Book 3” nosedive, I’ll be sticking around. There are definite improvements this time around—more consistent pacing, smoother narrative flow, and far more developed side characters. Each one feels more vibrant, with greater depth and intrigue. I understand the temptation to want the story to focus solely on the protagonist (most readers want it that way too), but the best, long-running series know when to give side characters their due. It makes the world feel authentic, grounded—it makes them feel alive. The first book mastered this beautifully, which is why I was so excited to keep reading. However, the second book faltered slightly and the plot suffered, marginally moving at a snail’s pace, but the rest was pretty good. Then came the third entry, and that nearly derailed my interest entirely. I’m glad I decided to continue following and reading the series (one more area I’d like to give as a sort of positive is that the series is very binge worthy. Now on to my score. I’d rate this a solid 4 out of 5, placing it on par with the second book. But don’t be mistaken—this time, the author’s writing has taken a definite step forward in terms of vocabulary, structure, and polish. If this is the rhythm we can expect going forward, I’ll remain cautiously optimistic.

**Personal Restrictions(15+) with voilence, and adult content** I've been eagerly waiting to read this book and I was not disappointed. Tom Elliot continues with great storytelling and we get to experience more of what his world has to offer. This is a series that keeps on getting better, and the more you read... The more intrigued you become!

I say it’s not as great as volume 1 or 3 but much better than volume 2. Still going strong and I’m very interest to see how the next volume solves his current crisis!

I started reading this when I got the omnibus of the 1st three books for cheap$$. What a great find!! This is my first LitRPG book. It will not be my last!!!! The story of Michael is fast paced and action packed. The story progression is standard but with the introduction of the gaming stats makes it great for all the D&D and Gamers out there to follow the story very quickly and easily. I was sucked right in to the story and red it in three days. Bought the rest of the books to read for the weekend. Now that I'm all caught up, can't wait for the next one in September. Hail House Wolf!!!

Michael is in The Game to not just survive, but to thrive and save all wolves. Doesn't matter if they are Artic, Dire, or WareWolves. His biggest problem is the Powerful leaders will do everything to make his life Hell. He is gaining strength and others willing to lend their help and possibly lives. This book was so exciting, I have had a hard time putting it down. Read in 3 days

Fantastic series. Every book is a homerun.

I’d like more development of his base of power and and care taken to empower his allies.

I’ve really been enjoying this series. It’s a lot of fun. And now more substantial side characters are coming into play. I always find this to be very interesting and adds a lot to the story. Give it a shot.

Good

Another boring review!Small,are Tiny Spoiler!{Michael develops his relationship with The Wolf Pack!Anriq a werewolf joins his side!Cara tells her name,class,and level!Void creatures interfere!}There is more,but.....

From one bit of chaos to another, Michael keeps things moving along, making up his own game even as other players strive to use him for their own ends. I definitely enjoyed this entry in the series and I look forward to the next!

This whole series is great and I'm thoroughly enjoying it but the author really needs to learn his distances lol. 95% of the time he uses a distance it dont make no freaking sense. In one of the earlier books he says he's 2 yards from someone and needs to take 3 steps to get in sword range? If I have a sword in my hand and I'm 6 feet from someone the point of that sword is near touching them. I'm at most 1 step away. SPOILER COMING. At the end of this book the big baddie throwing a 100yard wide ball at him. He has the entire slow flight of the ball to run then he has 5+ seconds to run once it hits. He has almost 100 dexterity. I assume he runs considerably faster than a normal human. Worst case scenario is the baddie aims ahead of him and he has to run 100 yards in that time. The world record for that distance is under 10 seconds. Assuming he's capable of running faster than that because of the levels and stats that's plenty of time to get out without almost dying. If it hits him dead center of the ball he only has to go 50 yards. He would be out of that cloud so fast nothing could happen...

I like the flow of this story and I hope it continues through the books. It ticked all the boxes for me and the fight scenes were spectacular. Waiting on the next book! (^_^ )

I started reading this book through the author's patreon. The chapters released very early in my morning and I started getting up earlier and earlier to read each one as it landed in my inbox. The story is unique with an unusual class and leveling system.

The character is easy to like, always has a clear goal and does not forget grudges or favors. Easily one of the best litrpg novels out there.

It's one of the best Litrpg I have read. Different enough to feel new. It's exciting, riveting, edge of your seat action packed. It's well written, well thought out, masterfully structured, and addictive as hell. I can not think of a single thing I disliked nor a single criticism. I love all the characters, the character and story progression, the plots, twists, and turns are amazing. I am absolutely loving this series. Wolves, assassins, mind powers, underdog, secrets, intrigue, and amazing fast paced action that never feels repetitive. War, betrayal, magic, trickster gods, and evil villains you can have fun hating. All this and more, what's not too love. Highly recommended

When ever I find a book like this. And it ends. It feels like I lost something.

Nice evolution and great story line suspense and intrigue. Love how Michael grows in strength and saves his wolves and help others

This series is truly a diamond in the rough. I’m glad I picked it up out of curiosity because it has quickly become one of my favorite series.

Solid writing and a great story.

It's and amazing book series and this one we get to see great progression in Michaels plans I couldn't put it down

I have only one issue with this series and that is that there are not more to read. I seriously love these books so much. I started this book two days ago and have already blitzed it and am at the end. I cannot wait for the next one to arrive!!! I hope thos series continues! Tom Elliot has done such a good job in world building and the character creation. I wish there was more then just 5 starts. Amazing series!

The adventure continues. I played right along with Michael and the game in my imagination. Looking forward to book five!

This series is so much fun. I have been devouring these one after the other. There are so many interesting directions these characters can go and the author has not failed to disappoint.

Solid litrpg, solid writing, very enjoyable story!

Another great book in the series. Full of Michael’s adventures from daring but brilliant plans, too mistakes that through him strait into the deep depression end.

Plenty of action

I love reading this book just wish book 5 was out now having to wait for it will be hard

I am losing a lot of sleep with these books. I am surprised how the attraction for this format is slowly transforming my reading tastes.

a bit peeved that MC keeps getting shafted by loken. the book was fantastic though and i cant wait to see how house wolf evolves in the next one.

Loved this book just like the last smooth story with an interesting world build the leveling system is a great way to balance characters development

I enjoyed this entire book to its entirety. This was a great blend of everything you would enjoy about reading the series. Congrats. Great job!

The series is engaging and great for light reading on a Sunday afternoon. While not original, the LitRPG elements' mechanics were well thought out and executed in a way that felt realistic and grounded in the story's world.

This book left me feeling unfulfilled and annoyed with the ending. If I were to rate it based purely on emotion and how it left me feeling. I would give it a 2 star rating. But that wouldn’t accurately reflect my feelings and level of enjoyment throughout the book. As a whole I do really enjoy this series and the story up until the ending was a lot of fun and fairly well written. My major issue is that this book feels like a full book that got sliced in half and immediately released without any buffering or smoothening out of the edges. The story suddenly, in the middle of an action scene, comes to an abrupt halt. Instead of anchoring all the energy and emotion it worked so hard building so that it could be used to the enjoyment of the reader. It wastes all of it by seeing how far the reader can be propelled off a cliff. It doesn’t close off or tie down a single thread of the storyline. Leaving them all dangling bare in the wind. My recommendation is to save yourself the pain and wait until the next book is released before starting this one. You’ve been warned.

I can't wait for the next one in the series. Keep up the good work. September can't come fast enough. !👍

The book is fairly fast-faced and the character's methods of overcoming challenges are unique and require thought. (No bashing or stabbing your way through every problem like many characters lol) Enjoyed it a lot

I read all 4 books without stopping (except for necessities 😁). This is an exceptional series by an exceptional author. I’m so disappointed that I have to wait until September ‘23 for Book 5! Please publish faster, Mr Elliott! Seriously though, the plot grabs you and doesn’t let go. The characters are “alive” and before the end of page 1, book 1 have taken you into their lives. You’ll laugh, get angry, cheer, etc. I’m so glad I found this author … and am eager to try his other stories!

I know lit rpg a relatively new genre and there are so, so many weeds to wade through when it comes to these. This series, however, is not one of them. I've read many a lit rpg and very few (none I can actually think of right now) can match the level of storytelling, character development and pure immersion of this story. The attention to detail and incredibly slow time progression made me unable to put this down. I'm not kidding, each chapter (and, indeed, each book) feeds directly into the next from a canon-time point of view. I'd recommend alotting yourself a decent chunk of time if you're going to begin reading, as it might be a while before you want to stop.

If you like the other books then you’ll probably like this one. The narrator in the audible version isn’t bad but I’ve been listening to a bunch of Baldree books and he is simply amazing. I think I’d probably rate the same book at least one star higher just because he changes the tone of the entire book. Wish I could test.

The journey continues! More progression. More growth. New friends. New enemies. So much going on! I felt like things were constantly on the move. It read like a fast paced action movie. On to the next!

Quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Definitely a must read series. Please keep up the fantastic work! Eager for the next book.

Fast paced adventure that goes in lots of unexpected directions. Hard to put down. World building including LitRPG components make sense.

Can’t wait for the next book. Good development and interesting adds to the wolf lineage in each book. Can’t wait to see when his saves recover and thrive to become an army for him.

Well no one accused Michael of genius. There will be a moment in this one ...when you wonder...How exactly did he imagine this plan would work? Well as he adjusts to responsibility, we hope he will take better care of precious pack.

I am anxious for the next release. It was a quick read that included sufficient lore and characters to remain interesting.

Michael finds out that he must return to help the Dire Wolves, along with the Werewolf bounty he claimed. Rapid paced and full of Envoys & Powers. Good read and a great series.

I do wish the author came up with more than just backstabbing everything and one shotting them. Diversify! I enjoyed the story though, but wish more had happened.

The story is very captivating. The books are a fun read, and I can't wait for the next one! Well done, Tom!!

Cannot wait for the next book. Getting better and loving how MC is progressing. New characters are also adding spice to the adventure!!!

Another great addition to the series. I only wish the books were longer. Non stop action that makes the books binge worthy.