From Chef to Crafter to Conqueror: Crafter

From Chef to Crafter to Conqueror, Book 2

By: Gabriel Rathweg

Narrated by: Lee Osorio

Ryo was a chef, an extremely good one at that. Now he's back in time in an alternate dimension and the retainer of a Feudal Japanese Lord, in charge of his defense from an upcoming Mongol invasion. What is a Space Force Food Service Specialist supposed to do?

Accompanied by an extremely advanced Artificial Intelligence, a medieval noble, and his samurai retainers, Ryo sets out to change the known world. At least this dimension's version of it!

With his knowledge of history and the help of his companions can he stop the unstoppable tide of the greatest war machine the East Asian continent has ever known?

Rejoin Ryo as he tries to change history with a little bit of luck, a lot of technical know-how, and some fantastic food!

©2023 Gabriel L. Rathweg (P)2023 Tantor

The end is the beginning

The first few chapters are the end of the story. I just kind of got bored in the middle. Most of the rest of the book was base building. Not bad, but kind of slow.

Great story with so much historical info

I really enjoyed the second book in the Chef series. Waiting for #3! The fight with Khan on the island should be exciting

So much fun advanced time traveler to feudal Japan

Future advanced Time traveler back to feudal Japan with a twist the traveler has an A.I. in his head and can engineer about anything and must help keep the Khan armies at bay from the small samurai klan he traveled to. It's very interesting and just plain fun. Reminds me of the game Civilization but with Samurai's, humor and some good action but not action heavy.

Very good story

I like this very much. Good story with a bunch of history and some science and engineering thrown in to make it interesting

Not as good as the first one, but I still care for it

This book is more of a 3.5 stars, than 4 but I will give it the benefit of the doubt.
While the first book in the series was sort of engaging with its change of point of view, this one was purely told from Ryo's POV and it is worse for that.
Every second (in a series) book will usually present a challenge to the author about how to approach it. Should they go into a bit of world building, with the added risk of the story treading water. Or should they go all guns blazing in the action of the story, leaving the wrold building for the imagination of the reader. I have seen both approaches succeed, and both approaches fail. And here, I am afraid, is more on the latter, than the former.
So, the author takes us on the journey of the MC while building the story world around him. World, that has quite a potential and yet, for the most part, it is bland and unimaginative - I mean, even the MC wonders how is it that so many skilled people are gathered in the middle of nowhere (the island where the story happens), and yet the explanation and the back stories are rather insufficient and bland. Then, we have very unusual events happening (not going in details so no spoilers) and yet, they are left unacknowledged for the reminder of the story. And finally, this book is serious need of editor. I am no native English speaker, and even I can see how much repetitive language this book has. The first one had it too, but it had pace of the story so one can live with the repetitive language. This one is slower, and it really ticks me off. After the fifth time reading about the MC wondering how crafty the natives are, or using the same analogy he used like 10 pages ago, one kind of feel annoyed ;)

Anyway, I still care about the story, and I am still curious where the main character journey will take him. So it is more good, than negative. But still, ot is not as good as the first book.

How many times can i repeat the same scheme

The story is a good idea and the only reason I keep listening, but how many times do we need a repeat of the same mental conversations on how and why every decision is supposed to be so hard. I mean you have a “all knowing” ai, and the main character is a serving Chief Petty Officer, during a time of war. And every decision you have to over explain. I can understand the first book spending time developing the character and relationships but holy crap it feels a waste of 3hrs of listening time. This story should be further ahead. Honestly, the idea of the story is the only reason I keep listening.