This was an enjoyable read. The text was a 3.5, but the audiobook experience brought it up to a 4, if not 4.5. I’ll get to that in a minute.
The series feels very much like if Dungeon Keeper or Orcs Must Die were a story. Complete with the fact it is a game on Earth, but when Ed is brought into the game’s world, it’s a real world that merely understands magic in terms similar to the game; stats and sheets and EXP, but beyond that everything is real. It’s interesting. As the story unfolded, I found Ed’s reactions fairly realistic; I’d be doing the same thing in his shoes (albeit not focusing on combat!). His solutions to problems are interesting, the unique monster that’s at the center of the plot is creepy and definitely twinges my body horror love.
Downsides are that the setting isn’t that deep or interesting. Two human kingdoms that hate eachother, an incredibly harsh Light side and a deceptive, corrupting Dark god, and everyone stuck in the middle. I’ve seen giant spiders done everywhere else, and some of the minor characters weren’t that interesting. Still there’s room to grow and flesh to add, as Ed was merely stuck in one little location.
However, I must talk about the audiobook. The Soundbooth Theater’s production team did a great job. Jeff Hays and Annie Ellicott had fine performances, but the studio then added effects. Internal thoughts had a light echo, monster voices had a dissonant sibilance that was just unpleasant, mild sound effects among the monsters’ voices, and at one point a character was noted as yelling from a distance, so his voice was made distant! It was the perfect accent of effect on top of a good narration; no music or effects that drown out the narration.
I’ll be starting the next book right away.