Advent: The Exlian Syndrome by Seth Ring is unlike anything I’ve ever read. This could be due to the fact that I’ve not read many LitRPG books, but I am more than happy to have discovered the genre because Advent got me hooked.
For those who love the thrill of RPGs but can’t find the time to sink hours into a game, Advent: The Exlian Syndrome by Seth Ring is a perfect escape. It captures the joy of character progression, exploration, and deep lore without requiring you to press a single button.
Reading it feels like stumbling upon one of those hidden, richly detailed storylines in Skyrim – the kind that pulls you in completely so you forget about the main quest. Except in Advent, this story is the main quest, and the journey is fully immersive, like playing a game, just in book format.
Advent Summary
ISBN: 9798874692575
Advent follows the story of Mark Fields, a low-life, basic starting character. He is working a grunt job but aspires to do so much more. However, he has no money and lives by himself in a dilapidated house. His only chance is to join the army, but for this he needs money and even more, he wants to be empowered.
Empowered humans are those who awaken special abilities within themselves, such as flying, controlling the elements, super speed, transformation, etc.
As we follow Mark throughout his lowly existence as a simple unempowered human the story expertly progresses as a video game would. In a twist of events, Mark’s empowered abilities awaken and he can start making money via his skills.
He is also able to join the military and make friends with other empowered humans. However, his abilities come with a bizarre catch; a cat starts to follow him everywhere.
Rolling with life’s punches, Mark is sucked into a thrilling adventure of an alien threat, government secrets, dangerous underground groups and so so much more.
At the same time, he is acquiring new abilities, training hard to level up his current skills to a higher rank as well as trying to maintain some kind of a normal life and meet a girl or at least have friends.
RelatedMost Anticipated Sci-Fi Books Of 2025 That Everyone Will Be Talking About
What I Loved About Advent
How The Story Is To Be Read
To be completely honest, it took me a bit of time to get into the writing style and the genre style of Advent. Not that it was poorly written, but because it was very different from what I’ve read in the past.
The book reads as if you are following the main character of a video game as he progresses through the levels. Mark uncovers new abilities, trains them to become better, and also has a main and important story quest as well as sidequests that he needs to accomplish before continuing the main story.
After it clicked for me that this is the style of LitRPG and that the story should be read as a video game adventure, everything changed.
I’ve been a gamer for years and making that connection completely changed how I experienced the book. Just something to keep in mind when you pick it up.
Pacing
The pacing of the story in Advent is actually pretty spot on. At the start it is pretty slow as we go through the lame routine that Mark has to do, every day, just to be able to survive.
But this makes a lot of sense if you look at it from a playing an RPG perspective. The first few levels are boring and all you have to do is repeat similar tasks over and over. However, once you gain a few levels and the main story starts, this is where things get interesting, which is exactly how Seth Ring paced Advent!
As soon as the main story begins, the pace picks up and there is a lot of story, world-building as well as characters to keep track of and experience.
The more Mark gains skills and improves himself, the more is thrown at him and by the end of the book there are so many interesting plots going on that you simply cannot stop reading it!
Enjoying this article?
Subscribe to our weekly newsletterWorld-building
Seth Ring does a great job, as an experienced author, to slowly introduce various complex elements of the story in his world-building. You are not thrown into a wild world where you struggle to understand what is going on.
There is just enough explanation and detail to completely feel at ease with understanding the world that Seth Ring is trying to build and what Mark, the main character, is experiencing.
As Mark learns new things and travels to different parts of the city, you learn more and more without feeling confused or overwhelmed.
All of these elements and a lot more will definitely resonate with you if you like the LitRPG genre or if you’ve ever been fully immersed in a game.
The Story
Advent, at the base of it, seems like a simple alien invasion story with a simple main character who grows into a hero over time. But the book is not just that, it is so much more.
The story is rich in side quests and the main quest. We’re given enough time to learn about Mark, his brother who plays a vital role in the story as well as the people Mark meets along the way.
On top of that, there are developing storylines that start to converge on each other;
- Government secrets (that take root from one of Mark’s friends’ rich family with a lot of influence)
- Mark’s special training and skill learning
- His brother’s involvement with the underground world
- Mark and his brother are being hunted by a mercenary organization that is working for the said government
- How Mark’s friends play into all of this
- And this mysterious cat that adopts Mark seemingly has something to do with his empowered skills
Seth Ring has a knack for weaving a lot of complex storylines together in a way that makes them work together seamlessly.
RelatedTop 10 Sci-Fi Fantasy Books That Will Captivate You
What I Disliked About Advent
Female Character(s)
There are only a few minor gripes that I had with Advent and one of them was some of the female characters.
During his adventures, Mark meets Sky, a shy girl who works in the same restaurant he does doing grunt work; washing the dishes.
Sky is basically how a 16-year-old boy would want a girl to be; coy, and flirtatious but in a very shy way, and cute.
… Sky didn’t leave Mark’s side, hiding behind him as he approached Glenn and the twins… “All right, thank you. I had an absolutely wonderful time. Thank you so much for inviting me. And thanks for the taxi. And just… thanks”
Her character does get a bit more fleshed out towards the end of the book, however, every time I read her parts of the story in Advent, I just thought that she was too much of an anime character.
I cannot say that all female characters are like her in the book, but she definitely stands out as she is one of the main secondary characters.
Character Development
The character development of Mark is fully fleshed out and well done. However, the development of his friends and some of the main secondary characters of the story is a bit shallow.
Eventually, it was time for people to start going, and one by one, they said goodbyes and left.
There are multiple times when I was expecting the characters to be built up a bit more or given a bigger glimpse into them and it did not happen. The quote above was right after a party had started and all of the main characters were there to interact and get to know each other. However, from one paragraph to the next the whole scene just ends abruptly.
I have to say that this is only the first book out of a total of 6 planned books, therefore there will, most likely, be multiple instances where they could be fleshed out a lot more, but this was not the case for the ones that I expected in the book.
While this does not detract from the story itself, it could have been better.
RelatedBinge-Worthy Sci-Fi Book Series You Won’t Be Able To Put Down
Advent Takeaways
Advent has a lot to offer in terms of storylines and world-building. This is just the first book out of 6 total, therefore I can say with confidence that there is a lot more coming down the line.
The beauty of Advent is that, at the core, it is the story of believing in yourself and not giving up on your dreams. It is a great way to showcase how, by working hard on yourself, improving over time, learning to overcome obstacles, and not stopping when things get tough, you can become a much better version of yourself and help elevate others.
All that is put together in a compelling way to read to story in a LitRPG format.
In Closing
Advent is a perfect read for someone who craves the depth and adventure of an RPG game but does not have time to spend on it. It is also a great way to discover the genre such as I did myself as it is the first book in the series.
Whether you are a seasoned LitRPG reader or are looking for a different kind of escapism, Advent checks all the right boxes to be your next binge-read.
Bonus points if you are a gamer, this book will just hit so differently.
*Disclosure: We only recommend books that we love and would read ourselves. This post contains affiliate links, as we are part of the Amazon Services LCC Associate Program and others, which may earn us a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
The Review
Advent
A perfect way to start a thrilling LitRPG series. Advent offers a great escape into an RPG read for those who do not have time to spend playing a video game.
PROS
- The writing style
- Progression of characters
- Intriguing story
- Story that has so much more to offer
CONS
- Female characters
Amazon
Walmart
Google Books
Bookshop
