Crystal Core

Crystal Core, Book 1

By: David Burke

Narrated by: Daniel Wisniewski, Rebecca Woods

Ryan lived his life on Earth trapped in his own body.

The doctors couldn't explain what was happening to him, but slowly, his body was crystallizing.

Then, a portal opened up on the ceiling of his hospital room. He'd seen that one in enough anime to recognize what was happening. It couldn't possibly be worse than the hell that was his life on Earth, not that he was given any choice.

Now, those who summoned him expect some type of hero. That isn't Ryan. Ryan wants freedom. He wants to live his life his way. He'll do the right thing when confronted with it, but he isn't out to be anyone's savior.

Of course, in a world under a brutal siege and surrounded by powerful cultivators, Ryan realizes the only path to freedom is becoming strong enough to make his own path. For once, the mysterious disease will work in his favor as he forms his Crystal Core.

This story features slow-burn romantic interests, world-building, a cultivation system with LitRPG framework, making fun of cultivation tropes, powerful supporting characters who have their own motivations and backgrounds, and an MC who has potential, but is still growing in power. Be warned, there is some mild cussing from some of the characters, and the MC undergoes a great deal of personal growth in this book so that he will be in the place he needs to be for the rest of the series.

©2023 David Burke (P)2024 Podium Audio

Great start to a fun world

Enjoyed the world building and characters. The system seems fun and I can’t wait to read the next book

If I can finish, I may adjust the rating.

I'm about four hours in and struggling to keep going. The issue I'm having so far is how dumb the MC is in this book. I understand the idea of being ignorant or gullible, but the issue arises when you claim over and over to understand things then completely show the opposite. So far the series just appears to be making a puppet as the MC. Which isn't bad if the other characters can be interesting but so far they have no depth other than being "alpha" and manipulative.

Can't wait for the next book.To come out

I listen to the story i'm very happy Just waiting for the next one to come out.

Don't write harem if your not writing spice anymore.

The title says it all.I only started this series because of previousbooks writen by the author. Don't make harem without spice it takes away from the multiple interests and PG-13 is not what any harem readers are looking for they want the extra spice it brings. The handmaid's are pointless plot extenders that go nowhere and with no spice bring nothing to the story. The things the MC are subjected to are frustrating in a not fun way. Now if this was monoromace and you built up the relationship like this I'd enjoy it and the power system is good.

A great start

Well, I had a whole thing written and managed to lose it. Since I've already read through book 3, I won't go into too many details to avoid spoilers. I will say it was nice to see the love interests were primarily motivated by their upbringing to not disappoint their sect leaders versus just "oh, he's the hero". The MC has his own issues with going from being trapped in a hospital bed to suddenly having 3 wives, one of which isn't exactly mentally stable. Both the MC and wives are trying to learn how to adapt to a new situation and it allows the story to grow much more organically.

Great new book!

Great new book from David Burke! Lots of progression not just as a litrpg but cultivation, 3d Female leads, interesting world, great narrators what more can you want? This novel is FTB doesn't take away from the budding romance that started.

as great as the text version

I loved the text book so was very excited to see if the audio was just as good. Happy to say it is! The narrators do an excellent job of distinguishing the different character voices so much it's effortless to know who is speaking. The book itself is a rich world with deep character development.

The description of his disease, horrifying

There was so much time wasted complaining. I hope book two is at a quicker pace

it's a harem novel

when i picked it up i didn't realize that, but yes...harem. not an extremely gross one, but not my thing.

MC is weird, but not terribly so. story is alright, but i won't get the next one because i don't like harem stories personally. if that's your thing, this is a good book for you.

Great story!

The story was awesome and voices were well done. The only drawback was the audio at times was not level