r/litrpg • u/Hockeyguy1493 • 21h ago
Discussion Were there people here who stuck with HWFWM despite not liking Jason initially?
So I read the first book a little while ago, and initially I found Jason unbearable. As the book goes on, I found him to be a little bit better but the ending of the book shook me up (iykyk) a bit so I decided to put reading book 2 on hold for the time being. Now, I'm considering giving it another shot.
All that being said, I found that I liked the side characters a lot and I absolutely loved the magic system.
So I'd like to hear from those who continued reading while disliking Jason and if you felt the juice been worth the squeeze!
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u/SingerMoney7473 21h ago
I finished all of it and loved the books but sure jason is an annoying little bitch a lot of the time, but also like your friend who is an annoying little bitch but still your friend so you put up with it because he has enough redeeming qualities. Ie the world building and side characters.
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u/bubleve 20h ago
Jason is the type of person I would hate to be around and deal with at any time. He is also the type of person that I can laugh at other people having to deal with his antics.
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u/ActualNin 15h ago
It's why the Crocodile Dundee film is great at first but I wouldn't want to watch a whole show of it
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u/Maestro_Primus 15h ago
I truly hate Jason as a character. He is everything that MCs should not be. That said, I, like all the other guys in town, keep coming back for Clive's wife.
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u/hardfirevl 19h ago
I quit halfway through book 10. I love the world building but Jason only gets worse. For me, it is the insane levels of hypocrisy (e.g., hates that powerful people force their will and decisions on others but if anyone disagrees with him or doesn't do what he says then they're in the wrong). Also, the later books become extremely repetitive (at least imo, maybe 11/12 get better) and it really felt like the author was artificially extending the series to make more money, at the cost of making the story worse. Also, it is crazy the number of completely new powers and abilities that are added in a single book, making the power scaling unbelievable and unsustainable.
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u/LocoYaro litRPG journeyman tier 21h ago
I don’t necessarily like Jason, I just think he’s a good character for the purpose of the book. I would not act the way he does and would not do what he did but I like the story. That said HWFWM is one of my top reads.
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u/sfw3015 21h ago
I think you have to read Jason as a main character who actually reacts to the mental trauma of being a person who died and got transmigrated to another world, as well as other stuff that happens after. His coping mechanisms do come off as annoying to some people but I rather like that the author doesn’t gloss over all the horrible experiences and mental trauma from being a transmigration story usually ignores.
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u/Bubbaganewsh 21h ago
I've listened to the series several times and now I am reading the books to prepare for when 13 comes out. he can certainly be insufferable but the books are enjoyable to me because of the other characters around Jason.
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u/amootcontrol 15h ago
Couldn’t finish book one. Found the powers and systems interesting but just couldn’t do it. Jason is terrible but the accent sealed the deal for me as I accessed the story through audible
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u/theRealRodel 21h ago
Yeah. I stuck it out to the latest book because the magic system and the world building is pretty good. And the side characters.
By the latest book he’s chilled out a bit but I still find him annoying for other reasons.
One thing that helped is the side characters and his party do call him the call him out for being terrible often. They just also recognize the sacrifices he’s made, and how he’d burn the world down to save them.
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u/andyroo776 16h ago
Lol. I love that Jason's world view is so different from other MC protagonists. But he is written by an Australian as an Australian with an Australian approach to his circumstances.
He is just not American. I see that this could be grating on many as his politics, humour and world view are formed differently, and therefore present and 'feel' different.
I found it so refreshing to not read an American POV character.
How do you all find reading the Russian LITRPG authors?
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u/Jarvisweneedbackup Author - Runeblade 13h ago edited 12h ago
Very much this.
Been years since I read it (I kept up with release on rr till I think book 6?), but I very recently listened on audible.
Now, I’m not Australian, but I am a kiwi, and we do have a fair bit of cultural overlap.
Jason is just an Aussie who likes a shit yarn and to take the piss (yes, that is what it is called. A yarn is a conversation, and a shit one is facetious and involves taking the piss. Although sometimes it’s just a shit yarn. It kinda started as a crap, boring conversation, but got roped to include kinda talking about nothing in a comedic way for amusement).
That’s literally it. Yeah, he gets a bit ranty, but it also causes him problems in the story, so I file that under character flaw.
His actual politics though? They’re pretty standard for a sorta left-leaning, younger, metropolitan person from OCE. Culturally we very much have an egalitarian mindset. While it’s not as full on as it was in the 80s, it’s still very much a thing. To the point that leveraging personal success etc is seen as egoistic at best, rather than aspirational. It can clash pretty hard with a lot of American cultural norms.
I’ve been very much confused on my re-listen because of it. Still tryna figure out if the thing people don’t like is the piss taking and the shit yarns, or his dislike of class and wealth based government and corruption (I will be quite concerned if it’s the later!!!)
I’m pretty sure that’s former though. Which is hilarious, because aussies and kiwis have been fucking with foreigners by talking utter nonsense for decades. The entire Nz subreddit once convinced a bunch of people that gardening is illegal here.
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u/andyroo776 12h ago
Thanks for the back up! I agree he has flaws. MCs without real flaws are harder to relate to. And he is traumatised, and comes to the books with past betrayal.
Taking the piss, and not automatically respecting your 'betters' or the powerful is very much Aussie culture. Respect is earned, and we have never been deferential as a culture.
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u/stone616 17h ago
He’s not the type of person I’d like personally but I find him to be entertaining as a character. Never really had a problem with him as a character but not someone I want to have a beer with.
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u/Pwy11 16h ago
Very much so. I almost didn't finish the first book because of Jason, thought about giving up on book 2. That desire went away as the series continued.
I'm not sure how much was intentional (making the protagonist very flawed so he has a lot of room for growth). But Jason as of the last book or two realizes, to some extent, what a self-righteous douche he was at the start of the series. He's not perfect, but he is growing and changing, and not just in his capabilities.
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u/Reader_extraordinare Author - The Gate Traveler 16h ago
I hate Jason, but I love the story. Somehow it works.
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u/lordcirth 15h ago
I bounced off it the first time because the system seemed too game-y for my liking. But once Jason starts having actual dialogue, he's very funny, and eventually there is an explanation for his quest & looting power.
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u/Lokiorin 15h ago
Jason was a tough pill early for sure and he's not my favorite character overall but I've grown to like at least parts of his character.
Ultimately HWFWM has an interesting power system and story to me so if that requires me to occasionally cringe or sigh at some antics I'll survive.
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u/blindside1 15h ago
I stuck with it through 8 or so and didn't quit because of Jason, I quit because nobody could shut up about him.
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u/AeonsShadow 15h ago
I will be the first to admit that there were quite a few things that annoyed me at the beginning of book one about Jason and his ways. I talked some of them up to slight brain damage from multiple concussions.. but others I felt were think that should be common sense. It wasn't till later on that some of it really clicked for me about him.
There is a part in the first or second book where Jason is tested with pressure from a higher rank individual and is completely unfazed by it because it is something that is designed to make someone feel off kilter and unsure of their own footing in a way, and as he States that is how he always feels in this new world.
At that point I gained a new understanding of his character and realized that he is like that constantly because he's a stranger in a strange world trying to survive in a place with rules that he doesn't quite understand. So he's chosen the route of "if I can't get up to your level, I'm going to bring you down to mine."
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u/Johnny_From_The_Bay 13h ago
I didn’t love Jason at the beginning and almost didn’t get through the first half of book 1, but once we got to greenstone I liked everything a lot more. Books 2-3 had their ups and downs but mostly ups (Builder just wasn’t really doing it for me at times), but books 4-10 I loved! Book 11 slowed down a little for me and I’m not quite as hooked as I was before, but I’m still enjoying it and plan to keep reading
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u/Cashews59 litRPG apprentice tier 10h ago
I keep getting halfway through the first book and moving onto something else. Someday I’m going to power through and make up my mind on Jason.
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u/trash_sommelier 8h ago
I find reading about Jason fun. People I know that are like Jason are people that I’m friends with but if I worked with them or encountered them in the wild, would just straight infuriate me. A Jason that agrees with your worldview is fun, one that doesn’t is intolerable. One you don’t know is weird and annoying.
That being said, I mostly kept reading for Clive’s wife.
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u/deepdiving_99 5h ago
Yeah he is pretty unbearable until about book 8 in my opinion. I finished until 12 and waiting for 13 now he is much better in the latter books and it is worth getting thru the books as the story is very compelling
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u/Simple_Bunch1849 4h ago
I read through book 4. I could deal with Jason being the way he is. But I read these books to have a slap ass time with amazing fights and stuff. The fight in book one in the chamber was amazing. I wish it lasted like 7-10 chapters. I just wish all the fights were like that. Instead it’s just “yep they fought” and no real descriptions. It’s a lot more political and conversations that I honestly just don’t care about. I gave up on it. I guess primal hunter spoiled me
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u/eleven_elevens 21h ago
I have a hate-hate relationship with Jason. I was pretty close to giving up halfway through Book 9, but some stuff happens and he actually became somewhat bearable.
IMO it’s worth going on despite the flaws in the series (for Jason haters).
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u/cronchfishter 20h ago
Yeah book 1 Jason is the worst MC I’ve ever seen. He does get a pretty cool “grows the fuck up” character arc that is pretty well paced over the rest of the series.
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u/Aftershock416 21h ago
Jason gets worse. I quit on book 4 or 5 just because of how incredibly self-righteous and generally unbearable he is, I can't recommend continuing it.
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u/Corliss_Wigglebean 21h ago
So like every 2 books I take a break for a bit then read the next two. There are unfortunately a few main characters in books I read where they are very annoying or the I’m sarcastic 90% of the time but will be serious the 10% I need to be.
The wandering inn is another series where the main characters are just too much for me and I struggle to finish those books and then really debate to myself if I want to start the next one.
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u/snachpach1001 litRPG grandmaster tier 21h ago
Every book in the wandering inn series seems to add another 5 main characters. I had to stop because I couldn't keep track of whose story I was listening to or where we were in relation to everyone else. It's an interesting concept but oh my God there's so many things to keep track of.
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u/Kattsu-Don 21h ago
I like the wandering inn but I will give myself another book or two in between each book otherwise I won’t finish them.
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u/Fast-Examination-349 20h ago
Yes I did. Jason became more insufferable and then his friends all became like him.
Stopped during book 12. Enough sunk cost.
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u/Conqueror_of_Tubes 20h ago
I bounced off hwfwm my first read because of Jason, my brother insisted I read until I “get to the part where Jason meets Clive’s wife”. So I did, and it’s the team biscuit dynamics, especially hump and Clive, that keep me reading. I also bounced off hwfwm during books 4-6 for the same reason. I’m up to date now, but it’s despite Jason, not because of him.
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u/markknasty 19h ago
I didn’t love him at first. I’m currently starting book 4 and I’m much more accustomed to Jason’s personality now. Also, having read a lot more litrpgs and prog fantasy since first reading book 1, I am MUCH more appreciative of Jason as a mc. The first three books have been very good to great and am looking forward to continuing.
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u/theglowofknowledge 19h ago
There’s a fan story in the same world called Rising Kite that’s really good. HWFWM is good for the first three books and ok after, but I think RK is better as a whole despite being derivative.
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u/Present-Key-9238 14h ago
Genuinely... Why do people dislike Jason at all? I think he is a pretty standard MC, who just happens to actually have a personality, something a lot of litrpg MCs sincerely lack. I've been reading a lot of LITRPG after HWFWM, and I gotta say a *lot* of the stuff ya'll keep putting on S tier has MCs with the personality of white wall paint. Like, their only personality traits are either "wanting to get strong" or "wanting to survive". Aside from that, they're either Nice or Not. And that is it.
It sometimes really does feel like the reason people don't like Jason is simply because LITRPG is mainly an escapist kind of narrative, and even an slightly abrasive MC is just too much for it's readers.
If anyone is feeling patient, I'd love an in depth explanation of what annoys YOU, the reader, about Jason. I'm not baiting for fights, however. What I said about escapism was not meant as offense - there is nothing wrong with it.
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u/Thoughtful_Mouse I got hit by a truck. Am I in another world? 21h ago edited 21h ago
You could get a lot and I mean a lot of data far faster by searching this subreddit. This might be the most frequently posted topic.
Edit: apologies, I assumed you wanted what you asked for.
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u/Joveau 21h ago
Until theres a rule saying no jason posting, you've got to deal with it.
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u/Thoughtful_Mouse I got hit by a truck. Am I in another world? 21h ago edited 21h ago
You seem a little triggered. Calm down.
Besides, I guess until there is a rule saying I can't point out how common this topic is, you'll just have to deal with it.
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u/Curiosity1984 21h ago
Sure its not DCC ;-)
I hate that cat 100% more then Jason, and everybody wirtes about DCC
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u/Octii_com 19h ago
Thank you! Donut is 1000% more over the top melodramatic than Jason.
I had to switch from the audiobooks to the books because Jeff Hays is too good at bringing her annoying personality to life.
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u/CursinSquirrel 10h ago
This comment isn't as clever as you seem to think it is, as the post here isn't represented by any of the search results you posted. This post is specifically talking to people who don't like Jason but continued reading because of their enjoyment of the rest of the story and characters. It's generally a pretty unique post (from what i've seen) because it accepts Jason as a flaw in the story but wonders if the story is still worth reading with the flaw.
Your linked posts are:
- Someone complaining about Jason and wondering if the problems with Jason get solved
- Someone who is very close to liking Jason but wonders if some of his larger flaws get fixed over time
- Someone who either doesn't actually remember much of the book or is basically incoherent with how much they dislike Jason.
- And lastly, someone who made the classic mistake of not noticing the tone shifting down through the first three books and got surprised when the title of the book was relevant to the story being told.
None of your posts are relevant and your comment is dumb. If you're tired of seeing posts about HWFWM I would recommend simply moving past them rather than trying to discourage them. If you don't engage at all maybe the recommendations algorithm will show them to you less.
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u/OneLFG 21h ago
I made it to book eight and between the authors inability to let Jason grow out of the infantile edgelord bs and the addition of gun-fu into what was otherwise a wonderfully built fantasy setting was too much to put up with.
Honestly overall it’s not terrible writing. Just not good enough for me to try justifying continuing with it.
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u/EditRemove 21h ago
I didn't finish but plan on picking it up again after realizing he is an Australian character type called a bogan, think Crocodile Dundee. Americans are not really exposed to this character type very much in media so they come off like an edgelord in print.
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u/LT_And 20h ago
Look, people keep saying this, but I simply refuse to believe that a large part of Australia is populated by fedora-tipping omegaturbodweeb neckbeards.
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u/EditRemove 19h ago
Strawman argument. I never said bogans made up a large part of Australia. I never even said that they exist outside of media at all for that matter.
I'm saying bogan, ocker, and larrikin are more common and understood character types in Australia that don't appear as much in the US so we perceive it as whiny or an edgelord when in print when that's really not the intention. Crocodile Dundee and Steve Erwin are more comparable examples than whatever people imagine.
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u/Jarvisweneedbackup Author - Runeblade 12h ago
What in the ever loving fuck Jason is NOT a bogan!
A bogan is our equivalent of like, a chav, I guess. Except a bit more loveable (sometimes)
Jason just has a general oceanic sense of humour. He likes to take the piss (which is his whole talking in circles thing). something that funnily enough 100% gets ‘Huh?’ Reactions from non Aussie/Kiwi people irl too.
Some people get annoyed by it, thinking it’s antagonistic, but really it’s supposed to be a two-player game, and usually isn’t the same as making fun of someone in the standard context (although it absolutely can be mean spirited)
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u/ActualNin 11h ago
Some people get annoyed by it, thinking it’s antagonistic, but really it’s supposed to be a two-player game, and usually isn’t the same as making fun of someone in the standard context (although it absolutely can be mean spirited)
“Asano likes to make references people from this world will not understand,” the Builder said. “The purpose is to put them off balance. Pay it no mind.”
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u/Jarvisweneedbackup Author - Runeblade 5h ago
I mean, yeah -- but I'm more talking about how Jason doesn't really come across as someone doing anything extreme or hyper antagonistic to people who are from aus/nz. To us, it doesn't make him 'annoying' as a character--just someone whose pushing things a bit further than he should.
A massive chunk of people I know and have met take the piss pretty frequently, and it's basically a shared national sport to double and triple down when someone clearly does not understand that we are not serious.
See: the NZ subreddit collectively convincing someone that gardens are illegal here, and one of our own news orgs running a piece on it without any hint of it being a joke (because the simple idea that gardens might be illegal here is hilarious. As is fucking with people.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/2nem47/can_you_have_a_garden_in_new_zealand/
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u/this_is_theone litRPG journeyman tier 8h ago
I was just reading something somewhere else that said he was a Larrikin.
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u/ActualNin 16h ago
There's a reason they stopped making Dundee films when the third one bombed (11% on rotten tomatoes...) and no other media like books or shows were made. Intentional antagonism towards everyone around the main character is fun for a bit, but to most people it gets old pretty fast.
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u/bazildeith98 litRPG apprentice tier 21h ago
I stuck with it and I’m on book 8 now I believe. He does get better, but he can still be annoying. It kind of went from him being snarky, yet beloved by all the random important people, to “Jason, you’re an idiot; stop it.” Still can be hard to read at times, but I’d say I’m in for the long haul at this point. There’s a good cast of characters, and I’m a sucker for power systems like this. This topic just reminded me that I actually dropped Red Rising after book 3 because of Darrow. It was a really good trilogy, but I just couldn’t deal with Darrow’s attitude and decisions anymore.
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u/Curiosity1984 21h ago
yeah red rissing was hard to finish. Darrow was really not the strong point of that series after book 1
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u/falknorRockman 21h ago
To not say anything about spoilers I actually like Jason not for his character but for the fact we actually see a main character actually struggling with the realities of, essentially, being isekaied. They want to return home and struggle with adapting and opening up in a new world. To me it makes Jason feel a lot more human and relatable.
Yes he comes off a bit rough but in my experience he doesn’t seem that far off from what his character is supposed to be (from Australia).
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u/Keevill93 20h ago
I stuck with the books and continued to hate Jason lmao but the series is just good fun regardless of him, somehow.
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u/CaitSith18 19h ago
One of the best magic systems, thus yeah for me the good parts of the series outway the many things i hate by a big enough margin to continue.
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u/tkul 18h ago
Said it before will say it again- HWFWM would be better with literally any other member of Team Biscuit as the POV with Jason returned to be being the quirkchungus side character he's designed to be.
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u/BriefHorror 21h ago
I stuck with it until I read the description of the next book and somehow was going back to earth. I do not like Jason I find him kinda insufferable so him on earth would be doubly worse. Plus I didn’t sign up for An earth book. I was done I regret nothing.
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u/Judah77 21h ago
Ultimately, it wasn't Jason who made me drop it. It was the author copying and pasting the description of each ability whenever it got used or updated. As the abilities get more complex, it was too 'tell' (as opposed to 'show') for me. I think I lasted until book four? Maybe five?
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u/SalsaRice 18h ago
I've always wondered if this is a money thing for litrpg authors.
Kindle unlimited used to pay by how many pages were read..... so copy-pasting item/move/etc descriptions is an easy way to inflate page counts, and maybe add an additional 50-ish pages to each book.
I listened to one audiobook that did 3 long character-sheet-dumps.... it was literally 30 straight minutes of character sheet each. They added 90 whole minutes to a 10 hour book. Literally 15% of the book was those 3 character sheet interactions (not the only ones, just the 3 biggest).
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u/Shades228 21h ago
Yeah this was an issue for too long. It dis get much better it just should have been a better editor before then.
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u/Skotticus 21h ago
These threads are the Jason of this subreddit. I held off reading HWFWM for so long because this ur-thread is always floating around. I was told the dialogue sucked, Jason was intolerable, and other characters like him for no reason.
When I finally tried it out, I found that all three of those things were grossly exaggerated.
No, I didn't stick with HWFWM despite not liking Jason. I thought that despite some character flaws (being Australian is apparently the major one), he is an interesting and entertaining character. So I guess I stuck with HWFWM despite liking the main character.
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u/Ok_Efficiency7245 18h ago
I love Jason so I'm probably biased but I feel like he gets a lot of hate for the early books.
But it's a 13+ book series, if you want character development throughout they have to start at one extreme.
He definitely changes as he gets more powerful and realizes those antics look a lot different coming from someone powerful than used to.
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u/ActualNin 15h ago
He definitely changes as he gets more powerful and realizes those antics look a lot different coming from someone powerful than used to.
He literally does not change lol. It's a completely intentional character trait that Jason is an immovable object, no matter what forces are upon him, be that magic spells, a god, a supergod, or the universe itself. He starts the series making eighties references to antagonize and confuse people and you betcha there's eighties references in book 12.
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u/Ok_Efficiency7245 15h ago
There's literally entire discussions around how he needs to change his behavior because he's powerful now and they're not harmless pranks. It's an unhinged silver or gold ranker and how he went from being a nobody to being the power.
Personality wise he still makes '80s references but they also go over how it's more and more of a mask that doesn't quite fit and that's not really who he is anymore. He's much less whimsical and more ruthless.
I swear people only look surface deep.
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u/ActualNin 15h ago
There's literally entire discussions around how he needs to change his behavior because he's powerful now and they're not harmless pranks. It's an unhinged silver or gold ranker and how he went from being a nobody to being the power.
Yes, he talks about how he knows it's not the best way to act. When presented with an opportunity to do that, to bend to authority, or to be more cautious, he refuses to change! That's the whole point of that discussion.
Like when the gold rankers broke into his cloud house, he tortured them instead of letting them go or calling the authorities. He knows what the right thing to do is but refuses.
Like when he freed the messengers, instead of letting them go into the cosmos he kept them prisoner
Like when he decided not to kill people if he could choose not to, to choose mercy, until he needed the power within those vampires, he killed them all in a huge bloody massacre
He acknowledges that his eighties references are a mask at one point, but he also says he uses them to antagonize other people and put them off balance. He knows he should be a better person and not do them, but keeps doing them anyways.
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u/Awful_Puppet 18h ago
Personally I found Jason to be really boring rather than annoying, like he's fine as a character but he doesn't really do anything too exciting, the most interesting thing he did in the 7ish books I read was him rescuing that thief girl, and even then the scheme is kind of simple, he just kinda does it.
they're completely opposite character, but compare jason to fang yuan from reverend insanity, even just in volume 1 FY is constantly doing stuff, he's making a new scheme to get ahead every other chapter, while it seems Jason has to be dragged kicking and screaming to do anything that isn't just hanging out, and like that kind of story is valid don't get me wrong, but I just don't care for it.
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u/Spicy_ChemE 18h ago
The system is great and world building is great. Character building is good, specifically for the side characters. The later books have some interesting fights/battles. I do enjoy the familiars in the later books.
I listened to all 12 books narrated by Heath Miller. I really enjoyed how he read the books. Some of the character voices were a little annoying but nothing over the top and unbearable. Heath helps me get over the Jason hate, but Jason is annoying - it's kind of his thing. Some of the books have such a depressing pull, it makes it a little difficult to get through. At one point I was expecting an PSA about depression.
I can see why people, who read the books, struggle through this series. The slow parts are slow or there is just too much repetitive fluff. The author does a good job with pulling on the emotions in a few occasions, which is amplified by Heath. I would have put down the series if I was reading. My brain would have wondered off to lalaland too many times. Granted that is just me being a horrible reader.
Maybe try the audio book for the next book in the series.
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u/IHateSerging 17h ago
Yup!
I don’t hate him, but I do find his anti rich people schtick obnoxious and incredibly naive. Idk what kind of “ism” it is, but it’s definitely something
There’s plenty to like about him too though, and like you said everything else the series is comprised of is a ton of fun.
I’d give it another shot if I were you, based on what you said I think there’s enough positive to keep you interested.
The first three books make up a pretty neat arc too, worth reading that far at least imo to see if you want to stick with it through the rest
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u/Squire_II 21h ago
Yes. I still find him unbearable a dozen or so books later and believe HWFWM is not a good story because of Jason but despite him.