A game wide message went out congratulating the Scrap Rats for building what everyone thought was a useless guild hall expansion, the mana lounge, then everyone is kicked from the game and it's just gone. But those training in the Deadlands witness the sudden appearance of a massive tower as all sorts of monsters from the game start appearing. Ren does his best to warn the other districts and the Scrap Rats security specialists make their recommendations to their allied districts but security is expensive and would restrict the flow of commerce that connects the districts so most compromise. The wealthier districts ignore the warnings entirely. The corporations are instead focused on controlling the new resource nodes in the deadlands and exploring the new Tower with their game guild teams. Worst of all, Victor's father died and he now controls Prosperous, Inc and his combination of greed and poor decision making skills leads to enormous monster tides. Can the districts survive in this new magical world?

The Chips guild is prospering and Nacho knows their progress is well ahead of what he experienced in his patron-granted vision, but that knowledge quickly becomes worthless when the CruxTerrans attack and kidnap some of his guild members. The belief that they had plenty of time to prepare for the final confrontation against the CruxTerrans is tossed aside as Nacho and his friends discover they need to go through a portal to the CruxTerran world to find their missing members. This sets off a chain of events that none of them are ready for, resulting in a final battle against the CruxTerrans with the survival of humanity at stake. A battle where starvation is a requirement, potentially nullifying Nacho's biggest advantage.

The action is heating up both in real life and in the game Towerbound. Now that Ren's friends know about his future knowledge they're determined to get out the word that a new apocalypse is coming. Ren hates politics but he not only has to deal with the very angry dragon council in game but gets elected D1's representative and finds himself pitted against Victor who is now D10's representative on the district council. Victor and other groups are making more moves against D1 in an attempt to keep control but they find the Scrap Rats are ready for them. They fight back against politics and hired gangs by increasing their economic influence and allying with other poorer districts. As strange events begin happening in real life and Towerbound is rushing towards the endgame mechanics smaller characters are getting more PoV time and development.

Now that Nacho's guild, The Chips, is really starting to make a name for itself, it is also attracting unwanted attention from other guilds. Nacho never wanted to be the guild leader, but his knowledge about the Juxtaposition made him the obvious choice. That knowledge, combined with his class and ability to provide edible food for so many, has allowed The Chips guild to thrive and advance much faster than he did during his original attempt. This has caught the eye of the Patrons, who then decide to offer up a legendary weapon in a contest for control of Kansas City. This puts all the human guilds into direct competition with each other, and The Chips realize they must win this contest or risk being dominated by a guild with far fewer morals. They must now balance winning the competition with surviving in a hostile world that was already trying to kill them.

Towerbound continues to follow Ren and his expanded crew of gamers as his future knowledge starts to pay off. Literally. Thanks to Ren's growing potion empire his nine roommates have been able to quit their jobs and play Towerbound full time. They even managed to buy their own building which feels like a palace even if its situated in the worst part of District One and commonly known as The Murder Hospital. Relocation brings it's new issues including spies from rival guilds, menacing gangs, and a psycho ex-girlfriend Ren hoped to avoid this time around. Ren's friends though are starting to suspect that there's something strange going on and he has to explain. Will they think he's crazy?

Ren loves being the best alchemist in the popular VR game Towerbound. His skill not only got him a place in a corporate guild, Prosperous, but it also got him out of the the slums of District One and into District Ten. He hates combat, and his contract says he's not required to do any, but the Guild Master badgers him into doing a dungeon run that requires an alchemist. Ren succeeds where all other alchemists have failed, but his guild betrays him leaving Ren with nothing except a vision of the coming apocalypse and the end of humanity. He wakes up back in his old District One dorm with nine other guys two days before the release of Towerbound. He has no idea how he went back in time or exactly how he can get everyone he knows to start playing in preparation for doomsday, but he's going to save District One and get revenge at the same time. F*** Prosperous!

Calen Bryer is coming of age in the village of Milltown, and that means The Proving is just around the corner. He and the other young men around his age will be split into teams and sent into Olm Forest for three days and nights, and the team that emerges with the head of the most dangerous prey animal will be declared the winner, and grow in status within the village. This is a test of courage, fighting skill, and teamwork that not everyone survives. Calen enters the forest teamed up with his good friends Dann and Rist, but none of them are prepared for what they find. Their discovery kicks off a series of events that eventually puts his entire village at risk, and results in all 3 of them becoming embroiled in a centuries old war. A war fought between Jotnar (Giants,) Elves, Dwarves, Uraks, and even Dragons. We've seen most of this before, so does this all add up to another great epic fantasy series or is this just another fantasy series in a crowded genre?

The world as we know it is gone. Eli ‘Nacho’ Naches finds himself involved in a new reality with the rules of a video game, the Juxtaposition. Levels, skills, stat points, monsters, and dungeons are all part of this new reality, and it becomes obvious that he and the other humans fighting for survival in this world didn't grasp the rules well enough when they made their initial choices. Food and water are poisonous without proper processing, yet nobody chose the class or skills needed to make it edible, and all human players have become reliant on the game store for sustenance. An unsustainable situation. As players level up, they must eat higher tier food, and the prices increase beyond their ability to pay. Eventually they discover the only source of food they can afford that doesn't make them sick.....each other. That's when the game world turns into a living hell of cannibalism and eventually Nacho finds himself on the menu. That's when Nacho's patron gives him a boon, and grants him the opportunity to start over with his memories intact. Thus Nacho finds himself back in the normal world with six months to prepare for the Juxtaposition, and his best friends think he has lost his mind.

What does Ann Leckie get when she combines the deep character and history of The Raven Tower with her complex Imperial Radch sci-fi universe? I really anticipated finding out with Radiant Star. Ooioiaa is an ice planet on the fringe of settled space where it’s single city has only a single export; the cult-like worship of the Radiant Star which is supposedly a temporal anomaly the blesses its followers with visions of the future. Each sect of worshippers is convinced that the others are heretics but they all agree that there is good money to be made from the visions with pilgrims coming from nearby worlds. For the Colonial Governor, it’s just a big headache until they lose all contact with the with the Radch empire and it’s interstellar supply lines. As food runs low, and religious quarrels flare up, the story focuses on a diverse cast of characters as their lives are changed in surprising ways.

There are many reasons you could be enjoying this series. You might like the story of magic returning to our world and learning about how it works along with the protagonist, Kaz. You might like some of the other human characters and the odd mix of time travelers and secret agents, or more likely, it's the talking dog, demigod cat, and/or the djinn. Or maybe it's a combination of all these things that result in entertaining stories that don't take things all too seriously. No matter, you know the formula already, and you also know that the main plot is moving along rather slowly. So does this book finally pick up the pace and move us towards some meaningful plot progress? Not really.