This audiobook has been a year in the making and has received a lot of hype. Does it live up to the hype? Hell yes, it does. This isn’t really an audiobook…it is an audio experience. It is nothing like I have ever heard before. The amount of time and effort put into this is insane. Let’s talk about the story a bit, then I will continue to gush all over Soundbooth.
Harmon Cooper is a really really good writer. The characters he creates are so memorable and fun to follow. Also I want to say, if you are an anti-harem person that just can’t deal with any harem. You need to throw that mindset out the window. You are going to miss out on something special avoiding this novel. This isn’t a very sex-laced harem at all, Chase’s two huntresses are digitized buddies/helpers.
The game in the novel is not a Virtual Reality game it is an augmented reality game similar to Pokemon Go. However this is pokemon go on the level of Thanos with galactic steroids and a infinity gauntlet. With it being an augmented reality game – there isn’t real-life then game life. Real life and game are blended together, both are happening at the same time. I found this very interesting to follow. The interaction between all of the characters and the monster’s he catches is vivid and a joy to listen to. There is also a lot of good monster combat. It’s very Pokemonish of course, but that isn’t a bad thing at all. I wondered if a monster battle game would translate well to a book and I can say this one did. Pokemon is so visual and you get to see that monsters in all their glory. Here you rely on Cooper’s descriptions and writing to bring them to life, and he does a great job.
The story is great. Soundbooth takes it to another level. Like I mentioned before this is an experience not just an audiobook. It is overflowing with sound effects, original instrumental music and a lot of original songs written by harmon cooper and performed by Hays and Ellicot. I used a clip from a song in the little pokemon vid before my review started. Jeff Hays is always amazing in everything that he does. However, I am going to talk about Annie Ellicot a bit more. She is damn amazing here. She brings all of the female characters to life and sounds like an angel in all of her song vocals. The music in the audio book is so interesting and executed. There were several times I had to rewind the book because I was so enthralled by the music going on in the background that I was ignoring the actual story. Soundbooth has really outdone themselves in their work here.
I give this audio experience a 9.25 out of 10. It is near perfection. The story is great and Soundbooth elevates it to an extremely high level. This should be listened to by everyone.