A review by bookslikegranola
Axiom by Dakota Krout, Dennis Vanderkerken

3.75

A huge improvement in technical execution from the Divine Dungeon series while preserving (or even improving) the progression strengths.

Axiom follows Artorian, an elder of a rural village whose village is massacred and the children stolen. He must learn cultivation (magic) to become strong enough to rescue them. I thought the much tighter plot and smaller stakes really benefited the story and the characters were certainly much more sympathetic, relatable, and fun to follow than those in the Divine Dungeon series. I really liked the in depth exploration of cultivation, although for some people might find this slows the book down drastically. I’m explicitly reading for detailed descriptions of magical theories, strengthening organs with magic, etc, so I was quite happy. Overall, the prose is still simplistic and the plot/character motivations are pretty black and white, so if you want complex literature, this is not it, but I really enjoyed it for what is was. I found the affable, wise, and endlessly motivated character of Artorian both believable and compelling. I do think you should potentially have read at least some of the Divine Dungeon series prior to this as not everything is explained. I listened to the audiobook so I have no opinion on the many reviews saying italics are overused. 

I would recommend this to wider fantasy readers; however, understand this is meant to be progression LitRPG so there will be a lot of time spent on explaining/experimenting with magic.