Phantasm: An Isekai LitRPG

Phantasm, Book 1

By: Christopher Hall, Maxlex

Narrated by: Katherine Littrell

An ordinary young woman wakes up in a real-life, sword-and-sorcery role-playing game in this epic fantasy adventure for fans of The Witcher and Elden Ring.

The Worldwalkers of legend are beings touched by Fate and transported from another realm, tasked with a grand destiny. Traditionally, they prevent great cataclysms or the fall of empires. Whatever their undertaking, their appearance brings about momentous change. It’s been some two hundred years since the last Great Game, but the time has come again. Seven are chosen, and the game begins once more . . .

Kandis Hammond doesn’t remember much before her arrival, naked and alone, in a locked stone barn. The twenty-four-year-old junior financial research analyst from Sydney simply sat down in front of her computer, and the next thing she knows she’s here—and someone very angry is just outside. But the most puzzling thing of all is the glowing letters that begin appearing before her eyes. When the enigmatic System tells her she has abilities and skill points to spend, Kandis realizes she’s entered a role-playing game. Only it’s not on a computer or TV. It’s all too real.

After getting her bearings as a Worldwalker—and some clothes—Kandis learns she must head out in search of her purpose in the grand destiny. Unsuited for physical combat, she’ll have to rely on her wits and charm to survive. Of course, that won’t be easy. Wherever Worldwalkers go, trouble follows. Whether it’s a feral fox, a treacherous wizard, a thirsty vampire, or something much, much bigger, it’s simply the nature of the Great Game. And Kandis better not lose . . .

The first volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than 600,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2023 Christopher Hall and Maxlex (P)2023 Podium Audio

Very enjoyable, if...

If you can make it through the first few chapters that spend more time rereading her stats over and over than actually telling the story, you will find a very enjoyable tale.

Appreciated having a female main character

The story is interesting and so is the world. Narrator did a great job. Having the stats *constantly* read drove me crazy. About 10% of the book is reading stats. I keep hitting the +30sec button over and over to get past them.

Good but felt like two half finished books

I enjoyed it, it's worth the listen. The character is interesting and the narration is great.

But it felt like two incomplete stories.

1st story is in the starting town. She does stuff, important things happen....and then she just leaves. No follow up, no closure.

2nd story is in the new town. It feels mostly complete with a beginning and in, but because of all the time spent in the first half finished story, all the middle bits are rushed and left out.

As a result, it just feels very shallow.

Again, not bad at all, just not a really satisfying story.

Great twist on Lit RPG!

Very cool to see a female lead character in a lit rpg. Very much enjoyed the book and the narration. Looking forward to see what happens next with the main character.

Unique take on isekai

Kind of a different take on the isagai genre but there's a love too much Is emphasis social engineering. I spent half my time listening character screens and wondering why is she purposely nerving herself because of all her ideas she never choose an attack skill everything.all her choices were about illusion and avoiding while she had the element of surprise whilst refusing to be assassin which would have helped a lot more.

This is isekai done right.

The main character's power comes mostly from clever skill usage rather than just being OP at everything.
She keeps her secrets close to her heart creating a lot of tension from being all secretive.
She doesn't let all the powerful people bully her into crap, but rather does her own thing and takes risks.
Whenever the story starts getting slow something happens and it picks up again.
Her past life is relevant, but not in the way that's done to death where they just invent a beehive or some bs.

The litrpg aspect is also done well.
Litrpg and isekai nowdays go pretty much hand in hand.

The skill/magic system is prevalent and interesting, but we aren't constantly being read stat numbers.
These abilities have a lot of nuance in how they can be used rather than a skill doing a very specific thing.
Rpg elements are powerful starting from low levels. A skill is instantly useful even at low levels.
Same with character levels. A level 5 person is a powerful being.

So basically we instantly get into the good stuff and the story keeps being good throughout.
I've read hundreds of isekai stories (mostly in manga form). Highly recommend this one.

Quite a welcome surprise.

Usually decent Litrpgs vary between middling quality to slightly above average but this has the potential to be really great. Love the political intrigue. The narration is on point and honestly the rarity of a female protagonist earns it extra stars.

enjoyable listen

I tend to drift to the litrpg type books and I found the character, story, and narration to be fantastic.

I would say that reading of all stats gets a bit old after awhile, and I know several authors that do this.

looking forward to listening to the next book.

Social-focused LitRPG

This is a system-heavy LitRPG with an unusual focus on social skills. There is the standard dungeon diving but local politics and intrigue take center stage. Kandis's early adventuring party is pretty weak personality-wise but we get some more interesting characters later on.

Slow beginning but its worth it

I always have to remind myself these types of books are meant to be read. So when the narrator is listing mind numbing stats over and over I try to imagine the character sheet that must be being presented to the reader. If that doesn't work a few skip forwards does the trick. The stat dumps slow and an enjoyable story is told. I did find myself groaning at an Isekai Japanese guy that picks catgirl as race. But luckily there are no interactions with them in this book. I'm looking forward in hearing the next installment of this series.