Black Wolf

World at War Online #1

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

A new world awaits! Step into the virtual reality of World at War, and experience a revolution like none other. Explore a vast open world and shape it how you wish. From a soldier on the front lines, to a master strategist at the rear, to a crafter making ammunition to feed the insatiable hunger of battle, all will have a part to play. Band together with other players to conquer regions and create virtual empires of your own. But beware: others may have the same designs as you, and they may not be eager to share...

World at War is the most ambitious virtual world game in history. Virtual reality games have existed for years, but this will be the first with a true virtual world. Financial commentators have called it an insane risk. Scientists have hailed it as the beginning of a new technological revolution. To gamers, it was one thing: amazing. For three long years, they have waited with anticipation for its release, and now the new world is upon them. But a new frontier comes with many unknowns, and players will need to learn how to survive in the game's harsh virtual world. And what influence is the game having on their real world selves?

Zach Wofford was a beta player, and knows first-hand what an amazing experience World at War will be. Together, with just a small band of his friends, he will make something great in the virtual world, or go down fighting in the attempt. But he knows that just a few players will never do; they will need a bigger group to survive the myriad of enemies hoping to pick their bones. A lone wolf will be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but a pack, that's something to be feared.

Join the members of Black Wolf Company as they experience the early days of World at War. Battles will be fought, friendships will be formed, trust will be broken. Their lives in two worlds will be changed forever. But through all this, one question will still remain.

In a World at War...

What's your battle?

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Science Fiction

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2014

About the author

Mitchell T. Jacobs was born Yong Sun Park in Anyang, South Korea, and was adopted at the age of four months. His adopted family gave him their love, his current name, and his New York accent. He grew up in the small town of Groton, New York. Mitchell still currently resides close by, near Ithaca, New York.

Mitchell discovered his love of writing in his freshman year of college, where he took several creative writing and screenwriting classes. He is a graduate of Binghamton University with a B.A. in history. Some of his favorite topics to study include World War II, Ancient Rome and Medieval Asia. Mitchell's hobbies include board games, video games and anime. He enjoys contemporary literature as well as classic writers such as Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkein. Fitting with his background in history, he also enjoys World War I era poetry, such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. Mitchell is also a fantasy sports enthusiast (he always seems to come in second place) and is a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Black Wolf is Mitchell's first published novel. He also enjoys writing fantasy, blogging and occasionally dabbles in poetry, accompanied by a good cup of coffee.

Reviews

[M.B. Munroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This action packed novel is similar in style to Daniel Wilson -(Robopocalypse) - Tech savvy and fresh.

For gamers and fans of Orson Scott Card this story will appeal - A young Techie, Zach, testing out a huge online war game first person shooter that uses revolutionary full sense immersion.

As the players aren't stuck in the virtual world, some tension is lost, but being free to leave is sometimes the worst type of prison, (ask any game addict) They are selected by the corporation to study the effects of playing the game and they themselves question the very real problems of entering a virtual world - spending too much time online, living in a fantasy world and then dealing with the real one...

The fact the psychological aspects of being fully immersed in a global war game are touched on in the book, save it from what could have been another Halo like novelisation type clone of a war novel.

It's more than that, deeper and of course all the tech in the game and the morality questions it asks, - 'Is it okay to be rewarded acting like a sociopath in a virtual world'

It also looks at how a new society evolves, which is interesting in itself.

You can read this as a straight action adventure or as an exploration of living in virtual reality where there are no rules....

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book about real people who were being paid (handsomly) to play a VR first person shooter game that had overtones of civilization building games. To grow your team, you must work with at least one other person to get started.

Since you can't role-play 24/7, the main characters also become friends outside of the game, where they discuss the societal impact of the game and the morality of getting paid to basically be psychotic killers. A number of issues makes some portions of the book read like a sociology group project.

The author has a solid grasp of small unit ground warfare, manuever and tactics.

It has a few of the problems Indie books regularly suffer from, misused words, to for two or too, words with one or more letters missing, etc., but not so many that it drives you away from the storyline.

This is a fun read that fans of role-playing 1st person shooter games and even people who enjoy military gaming would like.

I recommend this book and will be getting the next in the series.

[Scott Norris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Live in game world... but not trapped there (yet?)

Interesting characters who make reasoned decisions in reasonable situations. Doesn't sound like much but that is rare in this genre. Curious to see how author flips the scenario in the next several books.

[Brad Theado · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. For LitRPG it's too light on game mechanics but I enjoyed it.

[GaiusPrimus · Rating 4 out of 5]

LitRPG lite.

A different take on the genre, with believable characters, plots and world building. I enjoyed the sci-fi aspect of it, since it's something that's definitely lacking in the genre.

There's a bit of fun-poking taking at the usual LitRPG tropes, and I was surprised to actually enjoy the real-life parts of the story, since they aren't normally my thing.

Again though, if you are looking for character sheets, special abilities, magic and what not, this isn't the right series for it. But if you are looking for a solid sci-fi game story, then take a gander. I immediately started on Howl (book 2).

[Wolfgarr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must say that the book was a really good read. The only negative thing is that the author could rip out almost 90% of the Real life Filler material that is present and it wouldn't really change the story one bit. I say Filler material because that is exactly what it is. It doesn't really add'd anything to the story except more words for the word count. My statement here is entirely based on the fact that this is a LitRPG genre book. And as such Real life is ..Really not the point of the story after all.

I gave this book 3 stars because i liked it. Would have been 4 without the pointless filler material.
Overall it was good. Note to author. Don't take my words too badly.. No matter what you do you can't please everyone. And my personal preferences should not stop you from writing :)

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

first the book is about some people making a virtual world game to be honest as you read this book it is almost as if you yourself are playing a game which i find amazing that a person can write a book with such details about playing a game personally i would have never thought of actually reading a book like this until i won it through good reads (i was extremely curious) but i have to say that this author actually did an amazing job..it held your attention, and was very easy to read...i had to give him 5 stars for all the work and details that he placed within his book...very well written

[Steeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

The game of war

Not bad at all. Although I must admit i fail to see the adventure aspect of constant war, this is a good addition to the genre. lots of action if nothing else, and some food for thought here and there in the form of the usual reflections in the implications of a VR. All in all an ok read, if not as engrossing as some, but I vastly prefer solo play to group gaming, which this story emphasizes.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, wont be reading the rest of them, but good book, just not my genre and the world is way too rigid, it has way too much realism and the game itself promote that, but the class system is way too rigid, they are what they are, and no matter how good they do other stuff, the "Skill" is not there, and never will be.

There is nothing special about he black wolf brigade, not special skills, nothing different from the Ragnarok brigade, they dont have anything special or similar.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're into RPG/ Action games this is the read for you. This was my first time reading a book in this type of genre and I must say, I rather enjoyed it. I wonder if Mitchell T. has a sequel in the works? I also liked the question that was broached in this book of "online" persona versus one's "real life' persona and how one plays upon the other.A good read for the YA and up type of reader.

[Kirkus · Rating 1 out of 5]

It could have been good but the writer doesnt know what he wants to focus on. The prosa when it comes to battle is horrible and thats 90% of the book. The concept of VR that the writer is using is very strange. The writer must be confounded about the whole thing since he insists on using a disorganized way to tell anything.

[Johnny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh!

I just didn't like this.
It needs editing really badly. Also I found nothing interesting about any of the characters. They all seemed interchangeable so I could never remember who was who.
To me this story just fell flat. There are much better ones on the market so only grab this if it's free and you need something to read while using the bathroom.

[K.N. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jacobs' has done his research and writes game-play and battle scenes very well. What this book lacks is the real-world and real consequences. If you're an avid gamer, you will probably love this. If you're someone that gets bored watching other people play games (like me), you may want to pass.

[Kdm · Rating 5 out of 5]

gr8

[Dantegideon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting world but characters lack personality.