Hello, and welcome to a review of “Quest System Earth: Initiated,” a book by Michael Lopez. As it says in the Afterword, this is the first book in a series that chronicles the adventures of Jonathan Galas. I will likely be reading and reviewing the other books in this series, and as a slight spoiler for this review. I am excited to do so.
The Beginning
At the start of the book, we see Jonathan drop back into reality after spending many years on a faraway planet called Franesh. There, he was gifted with something he calls “The System.” The System is heavily based on RPG User Interfaces of D&D fame. Games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, or “The Witcher,” or other video game RPGs will use a similar idea to what happens here. There are 5 stats: Strength, Stamina, Agility, Intelligence, and Perception. Each of these is directly linked to the user’s human attributes of the same name. Jon says at one point, “…if you distribute the 25 points evenly, you’ll add 5 points to each attribute. Believe me, you’ll definitely notice the difference of a 5-point increase.” As you progress in The System, the real world becomes easier and easier for you as well, at least that seems to be the implication of the story.
Jon, whose name the author spells with an h, confronts his father first, who does not believe that his son has returned to him. After some drama, Jon convinces them that it is he, their son, who has been missing for 6 years. Jon uses the funds he accumulated on Franesh in tandem with the abilities he gained there, which include a ridiculously high agility stat, to gather funds, off which he subsists for the rest of the novel. Basically, if you think, “Where did Jon get that?” The answer is likely Franesh.
There is a family reunion with his siblings, some of whom believe and accept Jon back into the family, but one brother, Tim, denies it and uses his resources as a federal agent to begin investigating his brother. While he is doing that, Jon reunites with his childhood friend, Abigail, a.k.a. Abby. He reveals the truth to her, at least in part (we’ll get to that), and with the revelation of the system, Jon offers her the chance to grow stronger like him so she can protect herself and her family.
The Middle
The next stage in the book is old-school RPG dungeon hopping. With some new friends, Carl and Gary, who are other players of the System who were taken to a different world for a much shorter time than Jon, and are thus much less powerful than he, Jon and Abby enter a few dungeons and clear them with the intent of leveling Abby up so she can defend those she loves and her own life.
After a particularly harrowing dungeon, where the quest that they all received basically said, “New Quest: Survive.” The team pops out of the dungeon, Gary and Carl go home, and Jon and Abby have a heart-to-heart. Jon goes into detail about his time on Franesh, where he spent many years. He leveled up, became part of the community of the world, and eventually even married a village girl. His life was looking up until a princess from a nearby kingdom got jealous of the woman Jon had married, tricked him into leaving them alone to go be a hero, and sent a team of men to raze the village. Among the dead were Jon’s wife and child. This is why he had rejected Abby when she basically told him, “I’ve been waiting this long for you to come back.” She ended up telling him, “I can wait a little longer.
I appreciate the fact that the romance between Jon and Abby is clearly something that will likely be explored in future installments, but right now it is enough for them to just be friends, adventuring and taking down dungeons together.
During all this time, Jon’s brother, Tim, has been trying to take this thing that calls itself its brother into captivity. Every attempt has failed, hilariously. In the last attempt perpetrated by the U.S. Secret Agents, Jon breaks everyone’s arms and hitches a ride with them back to their HQ. There, he confronts his brother and tells him, in no uncertain terms, to back off. He says, in response to Tim asking what would have happened if Abby was hurt: “I would have killed all but one of the agents earlier, then followed the survivor back here and destroyed the building.” -pg. 147
The brotherly conflict in this book is satisfying and realistic in my interpretation. As someone who grew up with four brothers, how the conflict is resolved is amazing. The fact that Tim decides, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, is his best bet, is very understandable. Hopefully, we will see more of Tim going forward.
With his brother dealt with and Abby informed, Jon can move into the endgame for this book. There is still some black-suited agency coming after him, but it’s not American.
The End
The endgame here is Abby’s little sister, who, up to this point, has been pretty background and not important, but becomes, arguably, the focus of the last three chapters. Save chapter 19, the second-to-last chapter, which focuses on a brand new character whose existence was only hinted at earlier in the book. Melanie, Abby’s sister, is called “a Natural” in chapter 20, and we learn that she takes to her new powers very well. Killing slime and horned rabbits comes like second nature to her. By the end of the dungeon, she had leveled up several times and was excited to keep going.
I feel like now is a good time to bring up a gripe I have with the book as a whole. The parents of these children are brought up to inform the reader that they definitely do exist, but they are never consulted for any major decisions. Jon is basically an Adult; his trials on Franesh forced him to mature much faster than he should have needed to, so I understand his independence, but Abby and Melanie are very much children and still dependent on their parents for housing, clothing, food, and the rest of their being. So when Jon offered, and Abby so quickly accepted The System, I cringed. Shouldn’t the parents have a say in whether or not their children accept this deadly responsibility? Then they ask Melanie, a FIVE-YEAR-OLD, if she wants to be like a video game character. Meanwhile, Jon knows and understands the concept of “Player Killers” very well. Putting this five-year-old on the target list of blood thirsty villains. I hope this is addressed in the next book.
In chapter 19, before Melanie gets her chance to shine, a self-proclaimed PK’er or Player Killer, arrives on the scene. He is a Russian diplomat by the name of Aleksei Kozlov. He calls out Jon without taking a moment to consider that there may be someone more powerful than himself. Jon puts that illusion to bed quickly and tries to end things without bloodshed, but the Russian pushes the point and pays for his arrogance with his life. One of the Men in Black who was there working security for their diplomat tells Jon that he has left Russia defenseless against the gates. Jon fixes this by granting this patriotic Russian The System and the ability to fight the archways in defense of his motherland.
At the end of the book, we know there is more to come. Jon’s killing of a Russian diplomat is caught on camera, and we are left wondering what will come of this. The Feds, the Russians, and the local police all want to bring Jon in, but none of them have anyone strong enough to make Jon bend.
Review:
Final review:
“Quest System Earth: Initiated” by Michael Lopez is a fast-paced action story written for a younger audience. The formatting stands out from among its English peers, but I have not read many Korean or Japanese Light Novels to compare this one to. There are some editorial issues, such as spelling, that could be addressed as well. However, despite its flaws, I am looking forward to reading the next adventure of Jonathan Galas and the “Quest System”. If you are looking for a very quick and easy read that will keep you turning pages way past your bedtime, give it a read!
Final Rating:
Be sure to watch the video version of this review on my YouTube Channel, linked below!