Deepest Depths: Volume 2: A LitRPG Adventure

Deepest Depths, Book 2

By: leftright

Narrated by: Ryan Kennard Burke

A soldier returning from war is supposed to be a time of peace and relaxation.

But that just isn’t the case for Lost Lord Max Fowler.

The weight and responsibility of his title push Max to new challenges, larger battles, and more magic. There’s always a threat around the corner, especially as winter nears and monsters start to surge, renowned organizations start to show their true colors, and those who wish to destroy start looking for targets.

Luckily, Max has friends and teammates to help him along the way.

Will they thrive and protect Lesterwood? Or will global events lead to unsavory outcomes?

©2023 leftright (P)2023 Podium Audio

Great story

Gives the regular LITRPG vibe but also a new take and story very refreshing and original. I highly recommend

Enjoyed it overall, a little aimless though

Overall this book was a lot of fun to listen to and the narrator was pretty good. The characters are interesting and have a decent amount of depth, at least for the main cast and the "good guys". Though there are bad guys, they aren't really developed enough to hate. Even in the first book with the necro attack, the villain was largely faceless. Not a deal breaker but I do like having characters to hate alongside characters to love. The biggest cons are relatively minor. In comparison to the first novel, this one seemed a little aimless, though that is to be expected with a series that is split between slice of life and action. The other issue is actually with the narrator, he can't seem to pronounce the word niche. And you'd think "niche" is a niche word that is not used often but leftright uses it extensively. It should be pronounced "Nee-shh" instead he pronounces it "Nitch". For a narrator who is otherwise great, this mispronunciation is really annoying.

Inconsistent Writing Style

If you listen carefully you might have noticed that the author doesn’t write the same way for the same point of view. I don’t like the weird style changes, it just seems like a bad writing habit rather than enhancing the story. Too much of the story leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

It's pretty generic, but inoffensive

The premise is pretty generic, things have picked up in comparison to the midpoint of 1.

Character motivations are still pretty weak,

Clammy and Max are just Mary Sue's.

Max is in his 20s but acts like he's 13 around a girl, who similarly acts as a tween but at least she has an excuse.

Max seems to be the conflux of many ideas the author had for a character mashed into one with many nuances of old abilities forgotten.

Like his first class, Tidal Mage, was originally implied to be a water/gravity type of class, since it's unlocking requirements was the knowledge of how celestial gravity affected the tides, but it remains just a buffed water mage as of the mid point of book 2 with all hint at gravity's aspects of the class forgotten as this book focuses on his second class.

Clammy seems to be a sort of "Oh no, Max is too strong for his team, we need a deuteragonist that balances him out."
Her story feels tagged on. She hits way above her weight class. One shotting a boss monster way above her level by accidentally making the pinnacle of gravity magic.

Reep is still toted as an amazing leader with accolades such as "Reep is an amazing leader!" That's right, her accolades are just other character glazing her. It feels extra shoehorned now that Max is an increasingly important political figure and leader.

Just like Welcome to the Multiverse, Max (like Silas) being part of a team makes little sense. He's always apart from them, way stronger (until Clammy's random glow up), and has little interaction with them.

it has an interesting power system, I just with the author followed it.

TL;DR: The purpose of a system is to make rules for your power system. throwing out the rules to leapfrog characters in power at random ruins the whole purpose. Having a party that never spends time with each other ruins the point, especially when members of the party are clearly strong enough to be on their own. Clammy's story feels tacked on and Reeps prowess outside of using her bow is told to us, not shown. Interesting system, if only the author would follow it.

great book

I'm happy with the progression and can't wait for the next in the series