Welcome to Ludus was my introduction to Blaise Corvin, and my introduction to Gamelit stories. This man is a writing BEAST. He is like a runaway train powered by quantum level energy drinks! He hits the ground not running, but on futuristic sky cycles that have no mufflers. The story starts with an abduction from Earth to the planet Ludus, by the Great God, Dolos (Hail, Dolos!!). Henry and Jason, the abductees, find themselves in a deadly land they are completely unfamiliar with, must contend with magic, and discover their technology won’t function because certain types of metal just can’t survive on Ludus. In order to survive they have to eat a device so that they to can gain powers and survive in their new home.
From this point the story takes off like it was written in gasoline ink, and someone struck a match. Jeff Hays is that match. This man does voices better than Mel Blanc; that cartoony wuss Blanc couldn’t do women’s voices. Shoot, Hays makes you believe he has chicks dubbing their voices and letting him get the credit. Each character is distinctive, both male and female, and his emotional inflection is top of the line Dolby THX quality stuff.
This world is rife with beast men, elves . . . er, sorry Areva, orcs, goblins, etc. It takes old fantasy tropes runs them through a paper shredder, slaps that with some paste, and paper maches it into something modern, fun, and original. I loved watching Henry and Jason level up and meeting their party members. Dolos is the best. Gotta love the Great God. His shiny pate brings warmth and glory to the world. Just don’t let him notice you.
Anywho. This entire series is fantastic. It’s like they shot this book into outerspace, and it got belted with cosmic rays, and when it returned it had gotten super powers. It’s that FANTASTIC. Soon the will be 4 of them in this series. Give your brain some candy, go listen to this audible book now before you die and miss out on all the greatness that is Ludus!!!