'The Culling of Man' by Craig Kobayashi is a litrpg story set in an apocalyptic world where humanity faces a sudden and catastrophic event leading to the near extinction of the human race. The main character, Garath, navigates through a world filled with monsters, skills, and gaming elements while exploring the consequences of his choices and the impact on his soul. The plot revolves around survival, character growth, and the discovery of the true cost of summoning demons in a world where humanity must unite to face foreign threats and maintain their position on their home planet.

The writing style of 'The Culling of Man' is described as engaging, with a focus on world-building, game mechanics, and character development. The story combines elements of fantasy, survival, and strategy, keeping readers intrigued by the unfolding events, twists, and challenges faced by the characters as they strive to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Characters:

The characters generally serve their roles in the plot but lack depth, with only a few, like a young elementalist, standing out with more personality.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is a mix of humor and serious tones, often parodying the typical elements found in apocalypse literature, although it suffers from minor grammatical errors.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot revolves around a sudden apocalypse that decimates humanity, introducing innovative gaming elements and a unique summoning mechanic that complicates survival efforts.

Setting:

The setting is a city amidst a system apocalypse, effectively mixing urban life with survival challenges following widespread societal collapse.

Pacing:

Pacing is uneven, with an initial slow start that feels monotonous, but it improves in later sections, particularly during dungeon scenes.

Aleron was spending his Tuesday evening in much the same way he had spent every evening in recent memory: playing games hunched over his computer. On that fateful night, he had been solo grinding to l...

Notes:

The Culling of Man features a unique summoning aspect that has a cost to the soul.

In just one night, 7 billion people are wiped out, creating a significant survival challenge for the remaining humans.

The main character (MC) realizes that a plague hitting their camp is due to a spell cast by someone with the same class as him.

The villain is a 17-year-old who somehow has a higher level than the MC.

The MC survives thanks to teamwork and clever use of a building for shelter.

The story features characters that are often defined by their game classes, leading to a lack of personality development.

It's a humorous parody of lit apocalypse books, with genre references that may be missed by some readers.

The MC is not a typical loner but gathers people for mutual protection during the apocalypse.

The author's writing style includes moments of poor decision-making by the characters, adding to the narrative.

The book explores concepts like soul infection and necrologic abilities, touching on character growth and consequences.

Although the book has some editing issues and grammar problems, it remains entertaining enough to prompt readers to continue to the next installment.

The MC's cat evolves and has minor communication with him, adding a unique touch to the story's dynamic.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings may include mature themes of violence, psychological impact of power, and potential character deaths.

From The Publisher:

I'll bet you've never read anything like the final boss at the end of this 24 hour LitRPG apocalypse.

Garath was a gamer that spent his time adventuring in magical worlds behind a keyboard. He was exploring one of those very worlds when the planet that he actually inhabited became suddenly, and drastically more interesting.

The ability to shapeshift into a house cat or summon a demon to serve him were things that were only possible in video games and epic fantasy novels, until they weren't. He may not have had the luxury of a controller or mouse to explore his new abilities, but Garath's dream came true when Earth was fundamentally altered. More akin now to the RPG games that he loved so much than the 9-5 grind he'd woken up to that morning. He's a quick study though, and learns quickly that this new Earth isn't just fun and games.

The tutorial kills everybody.

Well, not everybody. Almost everybody. Garath and a motley crew of friends and neighbors band together to survive. They are forced to work together using their new abilities to hold off the increasingly deadly waves of monsters.

The Peril's Prodigy series features 30 unique Classes, a Human racial Ability to shapeshift, character leveling, some things you really just can't un-read, and a look into the future of this new Earth. It will make you laugh. It will make you cringe. And if you're anything like Garath, it'll make you wonder where in the hell, on this new video-game Earth, were all the god damn hot elves??

***Full disclosure: this is not a harem novel. There are no hot elves.

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The Culling of Man

Craig Kobayashi

Book 1 in the series:Peril's Prodigy