The Rascor Plains (Immortal Great Souls) Paperback – June 11, 2023

Tucker’s books have the same pacing… slow, accelerate at 50% to about 75%, slow again, then blast to a finish in the last 10%. It was true last book, it’s even more true in this book. That said, the story is fairly solid. We see destroyed a lot of the groundwork laid in the first book, but our protagonist climbs continues to climb to greater heights with luck and resourcefulness.I hope we get to see the protagonist begin to win not because he was resourceful or lucky or supported by another stronger party, but instead on the merits of his own strength. If he’s going to fight up, let him be strong enough on his own to earn his spot.Otherwise, great book.

TL;DR: 5 stars all the way! Started much stronger than Book #1 and just got more and more action-packed as it went. It's shaping up to be a truly amazing progression fantasy series!Full Review:Bastion (The Great Souls #1) was one of the best books I read in 2022. As I said in my review, though it started out a bit slow, it became a truly engaging book, with fascinating characters that showed pretty spectacular development and growth.The Rascor Plains (The Great Souls #2) dumps us right into the middle of the action in the immediate aftermath of the last book's end. Because there's no need to introduce the reader to the characters or the world, we can get into the action right away.And boy, does it jump in with both feet!The action hits right on Page 1, with new characters and new powers introduced, new challenges and obstacles for Scorio, Naomi, Leonis, and Lianshi to overcome. Rather than going for the slow-burn, we get breathless, fast-paced activity right off the bat. Only later does it slow down and really take time to develop the magic system a bit more--which I greatly liked, given my preference for action.For the first time, we see life outside of Bastion, and the fascinating Hellscape the author has created is unique, engaging, and quite breathtaking. It's far less infernal and more pastoral than I expected, which I found entertaining. Each step deeper into the world also brings the characters one step closer to the true dangers lurking in the shadows......which I won't spoil for you at all. But suffice it to say, it was not what I expected. The story took some totally surprising twists and turns that led it in a drastically different direction than I could have braced myself for. Which I absolutely loved! Any book that can catch me off-guard like that is one I'll enjoy immensely.I cannot recommend this book highly enough. As compelling as Bastion was, The Rascor Plains takes it up and notch and opens the way for bigger, greater, and more engaging stories than ever.I'll be back to Phil Tucker's hell-world again and again for as long as he keeps putting them out.

A couple of disclaimers first. One, I probably would have given closer to 4.5 stars for overall enjoyment but given that isn't an option and how star based review systems tend to work I went with 5. Two, I didn't really factor the editing issues (of which there are a fair amount) into my final score since I hope they can be corrected in short order.As a whole, I really enjoyed this sequel to Bastion and felt it lived up to the first book's promise. Parts of the initial half had me worried that the story was converging into a standard progression fantasy formula of train, level up, get the girl, yada yada... But there are some excellent twists which make it clear this story isn't going to follow a conventional route as well as some really interesting ways in which the underlying systems of the world and character building are being built and intertwined. Can't say more without getting into spoilers but there were some very satisfying arcs of character progression in regard to Scorio and his motivations.That being said, there were also a few characters who I didn't feel had their motivations fleshed out enough to make their actions believable. Maybe I'm nitpicking and again its hard to describe without spoilers, but there's a key point halfway through the book that I feel could have really benefited from an interlude chapter with the point of view of another character (or two).Beyond that, the other issue I would raise in criticism would be the editing. I'm sure I don't know all the difficulties of editing as a self published author, but there are several words/phrases throughout the book that could have benefited from additional test readership or even a general grammar check. Hopefully those can be addressed in short order because there were enough minor errors to be a bit jarring.Overall though, The Rascor Plains is an excellent sequel that leaves me eager to read book 3.

A marvellous book in a marvellous series. Compelling and endlessly original. I devoured it and cannot wait for the third instalment.

This second book of the series keeps you rapt until the end!!! I'll follow this series to the very end!!

Second half of the book took on so much speed.Could not put the book down until I finished the book.I am not sure if I'm imagining it, but there seemed to be some shout outs to Will Weight's Cradle.Immediately on to the third book.

An impressive second instalment in the series. Very well written, rich characters and world building, and excellent storyline with twists and turns. A gripping read.

This is still a great book to read. I feel like the pacing for the first half was slower than the first book, but after about half of the book it was really difficult to put it down again!