Ghost of the TruthSeeker Book 1 Review
7/31/20233 min read
This is a review of the book Ghost of the Truthseeker book 1 by Strungbound.
In terms of style, Ghost of the Truthseeker sets itself as a blend between two of our top 10 Litrpgs of 2023, the Shadow Sun Revival series and The Defiance of the Fall series. It falls within the subniche of the "post-apocalypse system forced on earth" and merges elements of both standard litrpg as well as cultivation mechanics. It also is another novel similar to the Road to Mastery that we have also reviewed that attempts to add the pugilist class as the main hero's form of combat.
General Plot:
The setup for Ghost of the Truthseeker is an interesting one, where Earth is forcibly introduced to the rest of the universe through the actions of a higher leveled bad actor cultivator looking to use Earth as a punching bag to vent off some steam. This unprovoked tragedy causes an embarrassment for Final Frontier Empire, and hence they decide the planet will be "compensated" by being inducted into the rest of the empire and given a "Pathfinder AI" that essentially gives them the ability to have a litrpg\cultivation system.
The main hero Alastair, along with everyone else is tasked to kill a sentient creature within 3 days or face death. He chooses not to kill other humans but instead go after the monsters that have spawned nearby along with protecting a mother and child from murderers. This sets him on the path of being a pugilist using his fists and speed to hammer his enemies, as well as be chosen to be an "Arbiter of Justice", which is essentially a hidden class that gives bonuses for being a protector and defeating evil. There is also a mandatory contest that Alastair is teleported into where he must compete against the top cultivators from newly initiated worlds across the galaxy. It is here that Alastair truly must grow into his power, as well as eventually come face to face with his ultimate nemesis.
Pros:
1 - Solid writing. There are few if any mistakes in the book and the style and prose is mostly similar to the Defiance of the Fall series and does not drag often.
2 - Good fight sequences. The action is top notch and flows very well. The battles are fun and interesting and the mechanics are solid.
3 - Strong but not overpowered. This is one of the few books where the main hero actually starts middle of the road and pretty much stays that way until near the end of the book. Even at the end of the book, he does not even end as number 1 but as number 2 on Earth in terms of power. That's not something you see often.
Cons:
1 - Not quite as good as the other two novels it seems to take inspiration from. Although you would assume blending aspects of two books on our top 10 list would be a great idea, in reality it actually ends up sort of watering down everything. It's like trying to be a jack of all trades but not being the master of anything. Much of the ideas in the book are simply done better in others.
2 - Feels disjointed at times. There at moments where things just feel "squished" and "jumpy". It may be a result of trying to do too many things and cram as many copied ideas into one piece. The attempts appear to be there to go a bit deeper, but it's given only token work, almost like checking boxes.
Overall:
Generally we feel this is a good book, and does have it's moments. We do like the idea of a "Justice" oriented build and how that impacts the characters persona and path. It has solid writing and a great litrpg\cultivation system similar to Defiance of the Fall. However, the book does have a bit too much of a "been there done that" feel while reading it, as there is just so many ideas that were taken from other books. In some ways it can almost feel a bit formulaic, although that may not necessary be a bad thing. So if you are looking for something fun and solid but not earth shattering in originality, this series might be for you.