Going to start off with some honesty not related to the book. Books about people playing games don’t usually do it for me I prefer transported or trapped books and stuff with perma-death otherwise the stakes just don’t feel high enough if the main character can just go back to their life, so the description of this book put me off and just didn’t do it for me. I know it would be good because it’s by Charles Dean so it went onto my to-read list just not to the top. That was a mistake. The author managed do something most in the genre don’t he found a new type of stakes to raise the emotional stakes of the main character. While the main character isn’t based on the average man, nor the every man, and he starts out a little unrelatable as his story and background progress pieces began to fall into place that make you feel for him, you relate to him on an emotional level instead of a situational or status based level, not just him but for the supporting characters as well. The book is written in a way that it makes you want to tune in soon not just to know what happens to the story but what becomes of the characters and more about their past. It’s a very high drama high action story with hints and hopes of romance but not harem. The characters are delightful and entertaining even the ones who may or may not be important. The games unique quirks, questing system, and leveling are well thought out and the story as a whole is well done. To top it off the audio book version is narrated by the good people over at Sound Booth Theater who could even turn C-Span into a masterpiece performance. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually liked this better than one of the authors other works War Aeternus which is up there in the top slots of my list. I highly recommend this book and the only thing I wish was different was when I chose to read it, I should have done it sooner.