How to Defeat A Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe – Review

Published: April 30, 2020

Publisher: Self Published

Series: N/A

Genre: Fantasy, LitRPG

Pages: 227 (Kindle)

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
For thousands of years, there has been a cycle: a Demon King rises and conquers, and a Hero is reborn a hundred years later to defeat him. Each time, civilizations are ground to dust beneath the Demon King’s hordes, but humanity has remained secure in the belief that a Hero of legend will always save them. There’s just one slight problem. It’s only been 23 years since the Demon King’s latest rise, and this time, he’s already conquered more than half the world. If humanity simply waits for the Hero’s return, there may be no world left for him to save.

And so, Yui Shaw sets out with an ambitious plan. A 10-step plan.

She’ll find a way to obtain the Hero’s legendary sword. She’ll earn obscure classes, gain levels, and increase her skills. She’ll travel to the meticulously-crafted dungeons that seem designed for one specific Hero to complete. And, if she’s truly (un)fortunate, she might even find a fairy.

She might not be a Hero—but if she can fake it long enough, she might still be able to save the world.

This story is LitRPG progression fantasy fun. The title is also a hell of a mouthful and because I’m not trying to hit a word count I will be using it as little as possible in this review. This short little book is a fun twist on the classic heroes journey with the added fun of leveling up. And the characters know they’re leveling and specifically train to do so, gaining skills, spells, and other abilities.

Rowe’s latest LitRPG follows Yui Shaw, a girl who wants nothing more than to become the hero she was absolutely not born to be. And she tries to do it by cheesing the system. She doesn’t have the classic hallmarks to have the hero class – no personal tragedies, no sword, no nothing. Instead she becomes a bag mage. Not glamorous at all, but inventory sure is a useful thing if you use it right. Yui gains an ally, levels up by slaying untold numbers of slimes (yuck), and by following the letter rather than the spirit of the hero’s quest.

I was actually having a lot of fun with this book until it became an unbelievably obvious riff on Link from the Zelda games. At first there were some fun details like breaking pots, but it actually got a bit annoying after a while and it unfortunately made the story predictable. And yes, I realize now that the cover basically shows it is, but I was listening to the audiobook and the cover was itty-bitty and I couldn’t tell. So, I did think it was fun and I love the thought of defying tropes, but my enthusiasm waned as the book progressed and I was happy that it was short.