The Land: Founding: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seed #1) is a 2015 fantasy adventure LitRPG novel written by Aleron Kong and narrated by Nick Podehl. The novel is the first in the Chaos Seed series and follows a gamer named Richter who is transported to the Land where he learns he’s a Chaos Seed and must level up in order for him to survive.

The story isn’t original, there are a ton of stories that not only have a protagonist being placed in a new world but a video game world at that. There’s not much going on outside of the main character attempting to level up his stats. It’s not boring and there are some thrilling moments but of a real story that’s not much going on. Basically, Richter goes to the Land and gets into things. There’s no mystery as to why he’s there. There’s no mystery as to how he’s supposed to get back. Literally any depth that could’ve been given to this story was placed more into the setup and the statistics. Even the backstory of our main hero is left in the dust. Even the subplots don’t seem really interesting, they’re not engaging, they don’t really provide much needed information. Richter comes to the land, goes to the Hearth Tree with the wood sprites, dies fighting wolves but is reborn, goes to the Mist Village and clears out the goblin and skeleton monsters, goes to Leaf’s Crossing, frees a bunch of nonhumans from the Night Blades, then comes back to the Mist Village. Any character arcs? Never even thought of. Interesting twist? No applicable. Even though there’s entertainment you’ll be hard pressed to find anything deep. (2 out of 5)

Our main character is Richter, a typical gamer from the year 2032, and there’s nothing interesting about Richter. In all honesty, he’s one of the absolute worst characters I’ve ever read. He’s on the same level as Artemis Fowl from his series and Lucinda Price from the Fallen series. Richter is supposed to be what…24. And I’ve known some childish 24-year-olds but damn. Richter is childish, impulsive, lacks any proper motivation. He’s incredibly stupid, too. He makes stupid decisions, and he faces no real consequences for failure, nor does he face any significant challenges. Hell, when everything goes down, he doesn’t even question why he’s in the Land. Doesn’t react to it in the slightest. How miserable was his life…how removed was he from life before he got sucked in. There’s no emotional connection and it makes him come off as unbelievable. But the author does believe Richter’s constant pop culture references make him stand out. They don’t. It feels like a gimmick and by the end of the book I’d had enough of him dropping pop culture references. It makes it seem like he doesn’t take the land serious, especially given the monsters, the slavery, the oppression, all of the darker stuff people have to deal with in this world. And it would be one thing for the character to be this way and everyone acknowledges it. But the book constantly praises him. It’s like painfully watching an episode of the CW’s Batwoman. No matter how many selfish and stupid decisions our hero makes, she’s always seen as the beacon of perfection.

Now, despite the absolute trash main character, the other characters are good. They have interesting quirks, personalities, stories, and stations in life. Sion is a wood sprite who helps Richter on his quest, and he has the best arc of any character. He initially hates humans but grows to respect them the more the story progresses. Sion’s mother, Hisako, who’s the Hearth Mother and leader of the wood sprites, is another really good character. In terms of supporting characters these two are undoubtedly the best in the book. Futen is the interface for the Mist Village, and I really enjoyed his bland personality. It gives some room for some good humor. Rosy is the innkeeper of the Whistling Hen in Leaf’s Crossing. Caulder is a guard in Leaf’s Crossing. Then there’s Terrod, the innkeeper of the Laughing Imp, and his wife Isabella, who is kidnapped by Count Stonuk. Most of the supporting cast is good but the main character can go to hell. (3 out of 5)

I listened to the audiobook and have to give props to the quality sound design and the talented voice performance by Nick Podehl. I thought Podehl did a good job with the various voices, the narration, the energy he breathed into the performance. The sound design with the various prompts, leveling up, statistics make the experience unique. But I also had a big issue with the music and sound effects around the leveling up because it’s so repetitive. Still, the sound design is good. (5 out of 5)

Aleron Kong is the author and there’s a lot to his writing that is good but there is a lot that is bad. The best that he offers is the world and the setup. The stats and progression system are exceptionally well done but there’s too much statistical jargon with the skills and subskills to the point you don’t remember the original skills. Every time he got into his prompts I zoned out because it was a chore to listen to because it’s overly descriptive. The quests really aren’t memorable and don’t really feel like they contribute to the main film. The action is descriptive and intense.

I will say the Land isn’t interesting. The creatures are not unique in the slightest. Goblins? Elves? Gnomes? I would be impressed if the land was unique but it’s not. Most of the humor is just childish, nonsensical, and lacks any kind of intelligence. The pop culture references are just too much. It beats you over the head, kills you from the brain damage, then continues to beat you over the head despite already killing you.

I don’t understand why the author gives Richter his abilities because they just seem like conveniences. His limitless allows him to learn everything and gain levels faster. Why? He gains the gift of tongues so he can already know the language of sentient beings. So, any learning curve is already bypassed. He is told he’s immortal and dies in the story by being eaten alive by rapid wolves. But experiences no trauma, or fear of death at all. Richter is a med student but doesn’t use any of his knowledge which is pretty weird. Even the leveling system needs to be fine-tuned. (2 out of 5)

The Verdict: In the end, The Land: Founding: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seed #1) is one of the books that’s a good entry into the LitRPG genre. The book’s not without its share of problems. The writing can be amateurish, the dialogue can be pretty childish, Richter is one of the worst protagonists in history, and the stats are overly descriptive. However, the story is interesting, there are some good supporting characters, good action, a good progression system, and the brilliant performance by Podehl. The Land: Founding: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seed #1) gets 3 out of 5.