This is one of those books that I don’t understand how I hadn’t gotten to it earlier, then I thank the gods that I just tumbled it, because book two only just recently came out. If I didn’t have a back up to fall back upon I can see that I would have been extremely disappointed. I am really excited to have this as my soundbooth spotlight, just because this book stands out so very well.
First of all, the book starts off like every other Litrpg novel you’ve ever read. Guy gets into a life and death game working for a faction he has no desire too because he has no choice. OK, so it isn’t exactly like every other lit book out there, but it does carry strong vibes of familiarity. What the book does right is to differentiate itself early on so that it loses the “I’ve seen this before vibe” and accelerates into holy cow, where are we going.
The premise is pretty simple, a dude who is framed for a terrorist action is approached by evil forces tht offer him a chance to continue living(he’s scheduled for execution) so long as he plays for them. Seems that the old so it is on earth shall it be in heaven because even though the cat is innocent of the charges his guilty verdict carries over and his soul is damned. So he runs a trial version of “the game”, which is the only thing that is keeping humanity and all the various universes from destroying each other in a bid for ultimate power. It is right after the free trial version ends that things get really interesting. Th story flies ahead at light speed introducing us to a great roster of characters, interesting scenarios, and a cool MC whose Soul Warrior is exactly what you want to be reading about if you grew up on chop-socky films, like me. I think this is why wuxia and cultivation books appeal to me so much.
Hektor St Savage is a likable character most importantly. He doesn’t whine or bemoan his lot in life and he is only ever thinking of how to outwit his opponents or improve himself. The only dark mark, in my opinion, is that it telegraphs what is going to happen at the end if you pay close attention to what is said and done, and really think about the circumstances around what happens to Hector. That said, it really isn’t even all that big a deal, and I doubt that everyone will cotton on to what is going to occur. BTW, this complaint isn’t really even a consideration so much as an observation because as telegraphed as it was I still relished every second of the book, and wanted the next book as soon as I put this one down.
The narration here is handled completely by Jeff Hays, and for me, it was a grand thing to be able to just sit back and listen to Jeff do his thing without farming out parts to other SBT players. Again, I love it when the gang does a production together, but there is something about having a solitary narrator deliver you the tale, especially one as talented as Jeff Hays. He made every second of this book fun, exciting, humorous, and heartfelt. I love solo Hays books.
Final score 8.3 stars.
As seen on theLitrpg audiobook podcast