The Retired S Ranked Adventurer: Volume I Paperback – July 3, 2021

Book was good. I am definitely looking forward to the next volume.The story follows a retired adventurer as he tries to open a tavern, while keeping the local noob adventurers from getting themselves killed. However there are hints that more is going on behind the scenes in the world.Pros: enjoyed story and the sort of possible cerebus syndrome that im expecting in the future. It was a different, relatively fresh take on the adventurer trope, although its no TWI.Cons: I felt like some of the characters were at the level of arrogant young master idiocy at times, although its possible that this may be at least in part due to whats going on behind the scenes. While there is nothing technically wrong with the writing, I wasnt as impressed with the writing (Im a sucker for the tropes tho so it gets 5 stars).Feedback for author: Please, please please stop with the all asterisk section breaks, they're horrific narrated with TTS. Something about the story bothered me but its hard to ellucidate. Something about the flow of the story feels wrong, almost as if things weren't planned out but decided after the fact and they didnt mesh well together. I also felt like the pacing for the book was closer to a web novel than a book, it didnt feel like there was a strong conclusion to the first volume, tho maybe that was because i misread some chekhov's guns.

In this litrpg fantasy novel we have a protagonist who-doesn’t come from another world-isn’t an angst ridden teen or world weary twenty something- doesn’t have a harem- doesn’t engage in casual perversion or “wacky perverted hi jinx (tm)”- doesn’t have “one unique skill that is somehow god-mode”- isn’t “perfect except for when he’s supposed to be relatable”There are a few tropish things, but even there it manages to avoid the pitfalls. The protagonist is OP… but is a high level, end of career adventurer that is trying to transition to civilian life, so it’s actually more of a detriment. There is flashback, but it doesn’t feel like filler. If anything I wish some of the reminiscences were a little more fleshed out, but I can respect it might bog the story down. And there is mystery, about the world, about the characters. It’s very engaging.

I usually skip any book that pops up as trending in Teen and Young Adults, but the authors profile was relatable for me. I'm glad I gave the book the chance. The world, the story, and the characters all had depth. Unfortunately for Amazon's rating system, I am quite selfish with five star reviews. I require near flawless grammar and mechanics as well as subjective enjoyment of the content. In this case, there are a few sparse editing mistakes, such as repeated sentences and incorrect word choice, and, while objectively a well written and enjoyable story, it lacked certain things for me to fully enjoy it, such as more mature relationship development. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who might be teetering on whether or not to give it a try.

Gave it 5, but I will give the other books less or change this rating later as well if you pull same trick. See ** at end.I say it is interesting. The world building detail in the book is a little sparse, rather 2.5 dimensional. The book does need a teensy bit of editing, but it did not detract much. I liked the mc. The mystery and unexplained is clever, as there is no simple AHA, but little bits here and there. Good ploy. Makes me want to know more.**I personally detest when an author writes a book, and then ends the story with a lot of non-story space left. I understand if the extra is concept index, or vocab, or needed, but not almost 10% of some other story as a filler, especially when it is not the next book. This is a cheap way to fluff up a book's page count or size. Not nice. I'll give you a pass here.

This was kind of a hard read but absolutely well worth it. Most stories end when the bad guy has been vanquished. So what happens to our hero several years after the bad guy has fallen?That is where our story begins, our hero trying to find a purpose in life. Things have changed, the world has changed and so has our hero. New adventurers seem so new and unprepared that he is trying to keep them safe from the most dangerous foe, themselves.Well written and looking forward to starting the second book in the series.

One of the underlying themes of this book is what happens after the world has been saved? How do the heroes reintegrate back into a world of peace?The author(s) used personal experiences of his own adjustment after military and deployments in the story. Having delt with the same issues myself it was an interesting and thought provoking look through a fantasy lens at the subject. It brought to light many of the things I delt with myself and had to adjust to.Looking forward to continuing with his insight.

While the sample was interesting enough to warrant a purchase, unfortunately the story starts to show weakness soon after. Especially dialogue and interactions between characters could use some polish and more tuning/rewrites. Something about the way the things unfold with the dialogue and are described makes the story loose immersion and pulls me out of the story.The MC is a strange combination of "tried and cynical S-rank hero" and "too naive and unexperienced". He does not display a level of veterancy that his rank and 20+ years worth of adventures should enable him to show case especially outside the combat scenarios. Currently MCs reactions seem to bounce between these two fringes depending on how the writer requires him to be to advance plot. This ruins the characters consistency.

I really enjoyed this intro to a new series and will check out the next volume. I also appreciate the author's insights on the rating system for Amazon. I did enjoy the story and will check out the next, but this one is only 4 stars for me. Some of the themes were a bit heavy handed and lacking in subtlety, but the characters are cool and the way the mystery is introduced is exceptionally well done!

It was entertaining, can't wait to see a continuation for it. I felt it ended just as I was getting to understand more of the story and the characters, I'm hooked and I want to know more!

Really enjoying the world building and the budding storyline. Can’t wait to read the next one. Sven is a great character and I’m looking forward to finding out what happened / and will happen to him.

When I stumbled upon the title, The Retired…I somehow expected it to deliver a melancholy tone. Though through the sadness one can feel from the MC, the story itself is a change of pace to what I usually read for a LitRPG. It so refreshing good and calming. I love the story at its entirety.

It felt a bit like I felt trying to work with civilians after a short and not in anyway really hard 6year military term. "Why can't this kid just do what he's asked?" "This isn't hard and I've told you four times and showed you twice, do it this way..." Story of an adventurer who is higher ranked trying to shepherd newbies after retiring from dungeon diving himself. Then he changes focus, starts a tavern/inn. Only gripe is shortness, but good writing and I've got the next one bought and pre-order ed the one after. Definitely Fantasy setting, but suspension of disbelief was rapid and I found myself missing friends who now live all over Conus while I'm still overseas. I could definitely relate to absent friends though most are still breathing. I wanna see where this tale goes.

Loved this, even if it wasn’t super high thrills etc.Great take on the tail end of a career as basically a super hero.Awesome underlying mystery that builds slowly through the main plot.Can’t wait to see where this goes.