Decent but not great

This is the second time I've listened to this audiobook. The first time, many years ago, I rated much higher in comparison to what else was around at the time. Unfortunately in 2023 there's better stuff out there, hence the four star rating.

The story is decent, but not brilliant. Worldbuilding is sufficient, but not mind blowing. Narration is mediocre (I'm not a huge fan of Vikas Adam - his voices are overly dramatic and full of weird pauses).

On the upside, I've never read a book about a ritualist before, which is cool. It was an interesting, more cerebral take on the litRPG genre.

Story centres around a paraplegic who choses to start his life again in a VR game. He gets a unique class (Ritualist) and the book goes forward from there.

Unfortunately, the world feels dead, as if there's nothing beyond the confines of the story. For example, though there are 'millions of players' we see only a few, all directly related to helping or hindering the MC in some way.

Additionally, the 'game' wouldn't actually function as a particularly successful game in real life, with quests and permanent rewards that dramatically favor early adopters over those that join later. IMHO, the book would have worked better if the MC had been teleported to a new world.

So yeah, decent but not great. Listen if you're a huge fan of Krout, but otherwise there's better out there.

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2 people found this helpful

One of the best

I admit i hated the first 20mins. Nearly gave up BUT OMG THE REST OF IT WAS DnD Genius!
The ending was fun and had me laughing. Do it. Download.

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A great tale of the underdog overcoming challenge

Wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this book, the story starts with the protagonist in what seems like a less than opportune situation.

No Spoilers of course, but it kept me on the edge of my seat listening to how he used the skills he had to think and get out of difficult situations. The story pays respect to someone who observes the world and uses strategy to overcome adversity.

The narrator has a great deal of pitch and range making each character seem unique

A great story and highly recommended

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decent read for the genre

plenty of nods to previous works and things taken or learned from the dungeon series. possibly even incorporated into a combined universe, its a fun book bases around playing a vr mmorpg. usual broken class and hilarity ensues

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great story

great story, was actually looking at re listening but apparently no longer own books 2 and 4 what's with that?

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Amazing narrator, cool adventure,terrible prologue

Prologue with the terrible Elon Musk references almost made me refund the book right there. Just... why? It was cringy as heck. Couldn't you have just made up your own tech tycoon without really weird references?

It's like the author was learning to write and the skill only reached a reasonable level a couple of chapters in. But then it gets good, so I'm happy with my purchase after all. It's a fun adventure full of surprises and ridiculous turns of events.

I absolutely love the narrator and I really wish he was the one narrating the whole series. His voices are so awesome I miss them already...

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4 people found this helpful

Dakota Krazy!

Dakota really knows how to blow people away with fantastic endings, I love how the different game and novel elements blend with each other and dakota' s inspiration in using them in New and interesting ways. A great listen, can't wait for the best one.

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1 person found this helpful

great voice actors

my favourite is the ai controlling the band. have been talking like that for days now

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More adventures in the world of CAL

While the prologue is very poor, it does show how Cal is released. Once you get past the prologue and the first couple of chapters, the story picks up and immerses you in the game world. There are a couple of cameos from the divine dungeon series and several nods to the chronicals. I am keen to find out where this goes.

While Vikas Adam is far from my favourite narrator, he does a masterful performance on this one and really adds to the experience.

Don't expect god powered characters and world shaking events, this is the story of fairly average modern people who believe they are playing a game. This is the start with only a few thousand players, but I expect that things are going to pick up and expand rapidly as the game advances.

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Amazing

What can I say except read this series. It's so fun and unique, with great mechanics and an awesome MC.

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