Personal:
If you’re like me, then you’re always on the lookout for new books, particularly of the LitRPG sub-genre. I happened across this title without ever hearing of Kyle Kirrin, Portal Books, or Travis Baldree., but after hearing the sample I figured I’d give it a go on the intent of returning it if need be. The fact that I’m writing this review now (I never write reviews) goes to show that I indeed kept the book and finished it.
The Book:
When I first began listening to the title I was a tad worried I’d not fall in with the characters and their individual personalities. It started of kind of slow and in the beginning one of the main characters was a tad annoying, yet I pressed on to get to the meat of the story. After the beginning, the book picked up at a far better pace, so much so that I felt like I was blazing through it, yet absorbing the world as a whole. The world, by the way, is amazingly developed, along with the characters given to us each step of the way. I felt like I was truly in an evolving epic saga. The thing I love about this LitRPG is that the author did not go overboard in constantly telling us the main characters stats, constantly telling us his loot loadouts, or continously reiterate what each skill did. He did; however, give us constant details of the world around us, constant evolving mechanics, constant character development, and constant true mmorpg/rpg situations and strategies well blended with making the whole thing feel like a true world at times and not in a VRMMORPG. Along the way I found myself being sucked in so much that I was gasping at moments, fearful at others, joyful when particular situations unfolded, and laughing like I haven’t laughed in a while. The immersion this book brings is top notch.
The narrator:
When going for an audio book I’m sure you can relate to the fact that we NEED a diverse author who can add color to an already epic written piece. Travis Baldree did just that and so much more. Upon hearing the sample, I found his character voices intriguing enough, as well as so diverse that I could tell them apart by sound alone. Venturing into this title, we meet a handful of voiced characters and Travis delivered a phenomenal array of voices, each having a distinct sound, even the female leads (which I particularly find amazing as it’s hard to get into a female character when there is just no variation between the male character and the female character voice). Travis gave each character an added personality with the inflection of his voice, so much so that I felt like I was visually seeing them speak, interact, and be who they were. With how many characters we get in this title, I’d not of chosen any other narrator for the job.
Final thoughts:
This book and the narration are top notch (coming from someone who owns 73 titles in her library, many of which are LitRPG) without a doubt. I gave it 5 stars in all categories because it is truly deserving. If you want to venture into a new world from a sub-genre that is flooded with mediocre titles, I recommend this book as a breath of fresh air. If you’re anything like me, you won’t be disappointed. My only complaint is that book #2 is not here yet, haha.