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Life in the North: An Apocalyptic LitRPG (The System Apocalypse) Paperback – September 26, 2017

by Tao Wong (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 4,055 ratings
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What happens when the apocalypse arrives, not via nuclear weapons or a comet but as Levels and monsters? What if you were camping in the Yukon when the world ended?

All John wanted to do was get away from his life in Kluane National Park for a weekend. Hike, camp and chill. Instead, the world comes to an end in a series of blue boxes. Animals start evolving, monsters start spawning and he has a character sheet and physics defying skills. Now, he has to survive the apocalypse, get back to civilisation and not lose his mind.

The System has arrived and with it, aliens, monsters and a reality that draws upon past legends and game-like reality. John will need to find new friends, deal with his ex and the slavering monsters that keep popping up.

Life in the North is Book 1 of the System Apocalypse, a LitRPG Apocalypse series that combines modern day life, science fiction and fantasy elements along with game mechanics.

This series contains elements of games like level ups, experience, enchanted materials, a sarcastic spirit, mecha, a beguiling dark elf, monsters, minotaurs, a fiery red head and a semi-realistic view on violence and its effects. Does not include harems.

Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 12
    The System Apocalypse
  2. Print length
    370 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    September 26, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1775058735
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1775058731
  8. See all details
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  1. How do you explain that’s there’s a difference between right and correct – that we make so many distinctions between good and bad, right and wrong but fail to see that some things just are. When the world just is, the choice stops being about right or wrong but about deciding to do the correct thing or not in a situation.
    Highlighted by 231 Kindle readers
  2. Please try not to greet all new visitors the same way as you did our Emissary, you humans could do with some friends.
    Highlighted by 175 Kindle readers
  3. Congratulations. You survived an entire day! You humans really are an excellent bunch. Only 60% of you died yesterday. We are impressed. Have a cookie.
    Highlighted by 158 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

5 Star - I've overlooked this book so many times in the past for various stupid reasons, and finally I just ran out of other books to read and started this... And well, this book was great bordering on awesome. I do love fantasy LitRPG but this was such a breath of fresh air. And set in Canada to boot. No breaks for me, I'm diving into book 2 right away. - Goodreads Reviewer

5 Star - I picked this book up on a whim but ended up enjoying it so much! It sucked me right in when I got into it and could not put it down. Sure there are probably little things here and there I could nit pick but I won't because it wasn't important to me. What was important was how the characters brought me into the feeling of the world. Definitely a great read if you enjoy LITRPG. - Ray IV (Amazon Review)

5 Star - I absolutely loved this book. Fantastic LitRPG with the right balance of story and mechanics. Main character is flawed in the best ways and the supporting cast feels real and believable. Like a a real life LitRPG that could happen today. - Dan (Amazon Review)

5 Star - Really like the main character. He was seriously flawed and damaged. Despite his pain he tried to do the right thing. I liked the story line and the world but the mc was my favorite part of the book. Highly recommended. - Scifireader (Amazon Review)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tao Wong (September 26, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 370 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1775058735
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1775058731
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 4,055 ratings

About the author

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Tao Wong

Tao Wong

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Tao Wong is a Canadian author based in Toronto who is best known for his System Apocalypse post-apocalyptic LitRPG series and A Thousand Li, a Chinese xianxia fantasy series. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover and ebook formats and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller award in 2021 for his work, A Thousand Li: the Second Sect.

When he’s not writing and working, he’s practicing martial arts, reading and dreaming up new worlds.

Tao became a full-time author in 2019 and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), and Novelists International.

More details about Tao’s latest books can be found on…

Website: https://www.mylifemytao.com

Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/taowong

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taowongauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tr_wong

Patreon: https://patreon.com/taowong

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
4,055 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Best non-fantasy LitRPG series around
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
I actually got into this series because of a review I read about another LitRPG book that said "shop system is kinda like The System Apocalypse series, but not as good". That was enough for me to check out Life In The North, and this has been my favorite LitRPG series set in the 'real' world ever since. The main character is extremely likable for the most part, and pretty relatable. The rpg mechanics are well thought out and should satisfy most number crunchers without being the emphasis of the whole series- they support the story as opposed to vice-versa. The fight scenes are visceral and compelling. The series also gets better as you go through as well, with Coast on Fire probably being my favorite. Anyway, I love this series and I hope you do as well.
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Retired
4.0 out of 5 stars Really Decent Book
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023
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This book has good characters, to the point action scenes, and smarmy bad guys. Some will like the wat John deals with anger issues. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.
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Oberon
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this new series
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2024
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I am truly enjoying this new series first book that brings the gamers world to like. As someone who has dabbled only a bit into the gaming, I was pleased to find it was broken down enough for me to understand the concepts without getting bogged down in too much technicality. I'm looking forward to the next in the series
One person found this helpful
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pelgris
5.0 out of 5 stars Misleading reviews
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2021
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I'd read alot of reviews on this series. About how the main character is a sociopath. How emotionless he is. How callous. That's not what I found. Instead, I found a person haunted by his emotional and physical trauma from his childhood. A man in the depths of feeling betrayal from someone who was supposed to love him. The end of a 2 year relationship due to that betrayal. And finally, the entire world shifting out from under him. He chooses to dam up his emotions so that he can keep functioning in a world gone mad.

That may seem foreign to some but, I know that action. I took that action. It is a coping mechanism that makes it so that only strong emotions make it through. Anger, Rage, Lust, Hatred, and sometimes Love. But it is real. And its a brittle shield. Which breaks down all at once. Leaving you dealing with everything you put off dealing with all at once. You drown in it. You break again and again. And putting those walls back up never quite works.

So, no. The main character is not Callous or a sociopath. Just a person with a broken coping mechanism who can't talk about his feelings. Can't even acknowledge those feelings because doing so causes the dam to crumble. And the people who seem understanding, miss the entire context of why what's happening is happening. And that makes it even harder to say anything because it reinforces that people don't understand.

This is a extremely well written character and book. I highly recommend it.
12 people found this helpful
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Jeff Pratt
4.0 out of 5 stars A good, thoughtful lite of book.
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2020
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Hi all, I enjoyed thus book a lot. I’ll definitely be reading more by the author. John, the main character, is sympathetic. He doesn’t always know what to do and hasn’t moved beyond surviving in his new world. Completely reasonable since only a few months keeps over the course of the novel. The action is well written and frequent enough to balance out world building. John is damaged goods. He is suffering from ptsd from the apocalypse and seems to have had some form of personal abuse in his past. His personal journey is interesting.
I wish the other characters in the book did more. They are better than most secondary characters you read in litrpg, but John is the only one who has any real depth or who moves the plot along. This is very common in the genre. The author does a good job handling “game mechanics” without bogging the story with lots of stats to read.
All and all a good read.
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Unbroken WaterSprite
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, entertaining tales
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2021
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I'm reviewing all 11 books here. I have found this tale to be one of heart ache, heart warming, and relatable, difficult decisions. The continuity between each book and the next to be excellent, with each drawing me in; making it very difficult to out down before sleeping! Prepare to be completely immersed in this series! The robust characters,interesting world, and exciting plot are well worth pre ordering the next one! Tao Wong: write faster, please, February is too far away; thanks for this great work. I'm looking forward to more of your amazing work!!!!
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Top reviews from other countries

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S. Reid
5.0 out of 5 stars A good Beginning
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
With so many LitRPG series out there with the usual earth invasion scenario, this mix of tech & magic with monsters is well written and develops the MC well.
Not sure where this one will go as progression is quite slow, but I enjoyed the world building, and there are multiple series set in the same world.
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Ryan F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Important things to know for down the line.
Reviewed in Canada on September 7, 2019
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This is obviously from my own personal opinion:

Book 1 is pretty solid. Book 2 - 3.75 were a steep fall in quality; absolutely terrible in comparison to what was written afterwards (up till Book 7).

Minus the *very small* repeat of some more baser information, there are very few info dumps (I skipped recap sections before chapter 1).

Though the system is very open ended and seemingly outlandish at first, it is well down and a possible pinnacle for a the LitRPG style.

Though slightly less relate-able than one may want the characters are very tactile and feel human, though it is easy to be off-put on occasion by the content from time to time. It feels like there is a good grasp on how Trauma/PTSD would display itself among the characters.

There is a major time skip later on; more like a kick to the shin rather than a punch in the face though (I hate time skips).

Some background thoughts or ideas about what are going on with the system seem like the are hinted but never mentioned out-right. It gives way to some wild ideas, and i find myself thinking about what has happened in the books even when I am not reading them. But I was equally left wanting and felt left out of something at the same time, I dislike it but it is not even close to a deal breaker.

The near deal breaker is not what some would think after reading a bit; The MC's sexuality is BI-sexual - that's whatever, to each their own. The thing for me that is a damn near deal breaker is the skewed way characters are described and detailed; The lighter the skin colour the less 'gushing' there tends to be. Two of the main character that come in early to the story; The first one is called beautiful/pretty on several occasions and what you know is she has Red hair, eye colour, and a big chest... that is about all... Then the other a mainstay but not upfront in the story for the most part but nearly every time he appears in the story he is noted to have changed his hair colour and how long it is, then it either throws a paragraph or two about how pretty he is or describes his body and is ordained an Ebony Perfection. The only solace to this immersion nuke is that it is mostly a one off thing for the others that it happens to.

The good news is that if you can push through my near deal breaker; that weirdness mostly disappears around book 5 or so.

I consider the series to be a really good and recommend read; Re-writing Book 2 and most of Book 3 and some scrubbing or balance and the series is right up there!
3 people found this helpful
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Vapori
5.0 out of 5 stars Eine gute geschichte
Reviewed in Germany on June 11, 2018
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Ich schreibe Rezessionen meistens erst nachdem ich einige Bücher aus der Reihe gelesen habe und muss sagen das diese Geschichte sehr gut ist und viel Potential hat.

Der Autor ist gut man sieht aber noch das es eines der Frühwerke im Selbstverlag ist insofern sind einige Stellen handwerklich etwas holperig.
Das Buch spielt gewissermaßen in der realen Welt die mit einem Computerspiel ähnlichen System überzogen wird mit Schrecklichen Konsequenzen für die meisten Menschen.
Das System und Worldbuidling sind Stimmungsvoll gemacht und gehen voll auf so das es sich rund und glaubwürdig anfühlt.

Der Hauptcharakter kann manchmal etwas schwierig sein ist aber im Verhältnis zu den meisten anderen LitRPG Serien durchweg glaubwürdig.
Auf jedenfall Lesenswert
4 people found this helpful
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Scott Osmond
5.0 out of 5 stars Earth Becomes A Dungeon World!
Reviewed in Australia on December 13, 2018
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In The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Earth is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. In this one due to Earth's killing of a galactic emissary Earth's fate is to be turned in to a Dungeon World. It's up to the inventiveness, savagery and pure stubbornness of the characters to survive. If you like D&D style adventures, or don't have time to play out a game than give this series a go. I was pleasantly surprised. Lots of different monsters, skills and although we get lots of hack and slash we also get some clever ways of clearing out monster lairs. I'll be reading the next.
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Mridula
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent start
Reviewed in India on February 23, 2020
Verified Purchase
Enjoyed this book - even if it is quite statistics and level heavy - hard core gamelit i guess. Nothing much actually happens in the book - it's basically just survive, get stronger by killing monsters. Even though nothing happens, it is a testament to the authors writing that I didn't get bored and the characters have enough depth to them that I stayed invested in the story.
There are no plot twists, no cliffhangers, nothing shocking or exciting and the pace is steady - not too fast. Sometimes the narrative is a bit jerky and of course there is a whole lot of gory monster slaying.

Overall liked this book, the way it is written, the characters and scope of their growth - both physical and emotional. So will continue the series.
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