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Real World Online #1
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Aliens. Space Police. And a life-or-death game Gareth Fain didn’t log on for.
A camping trip in the desert is supposed to be his escape—no job, no ex, no obligations. But when Gareth is abducted by two out-of-this-world strangers, he finds himself light-years from Earth and at the mercy of a space station where reality itself is played out inside a medieval fantasy game.
Survival means taking on seemingly impossible quests, facing terrifying monsters and leveling up skills he never thought he’d need. He’ll have to seek out allies before several determined enemies leave him for dead.
His hard-won gaming instincts might just give him the edge he needs, but the stakes are far higher than leaderboards and loot drops. This time, the prize is living another day.
Welcome to RealWorld Online. No shortcuts. No cheat codes. Just play hard—or die trying.
A camping trip in the desert is supposed to be his escape—no job, no ex, no obligations. But when Gareth is abducted by two out-of-this-world strangers, he finds himself light-years from Earth and at the mercy of a space station where reality itself is played out inside a medieval fantasy game.
Survival means taking on seemingly impossible quests, facing terrifying monsters and leveling up skills he never thought he’d need. He’ll have to seek out allies before several determined enemies leave him for dead.
His hard-won gaming instincts might just give him the edge he needs, but the stakes are far higher than leaderboards and loot drops. This time, the prize is living another day.
Welcome to RealWorld Online. No shortcuts. No cheat codes. Just play hard—or die trying.
535 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2025
About the author
Geoffrey Brenna
7 booksGeoffrey Brenna is the pseudonym for Jeff and Bren, a husband and wife writing duo. Bren is a USA TODAY bestselling author and Jeff is a lifelong hardcore Science Fiction and Fantasy reader. They are both avid gamers and have played together for decades in all variations of tabletop and computer games–especially MMORPG games.
They live in California with their children, both human and furry. Their most cherished inspirations for writing are the works of Sir Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Robin McKinley and Ilona Andrews. Thus, they prefer to infuse a heavy dose of humor, a deep dive into character and world building and adventures galore in their brand of LitRPG stories. Check out their joint project, the RealWorld Online series, on Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
They live in California with their children, both human and furry. Their most cherished inspirations for writing are the works of Sir Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Robin McKinley and Ilona Andrews. Thus, they prefer to infuse a heavy dose of humor, a deep dive into character and world building and adventures galore in their brand of LitRPG stories. Check out their joint project, the RealWorld Online series, on Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 6, 2025
Strangely satisfying
Im going to keep this short and sweet. The game world and the world building is unique and though strange as all hell, it works. Don't ask me how but it works. Your side characters and villains are pretty well fleshed out. The side characters are uber competent with their own quirks.
The problem in this entire story is the MC. Gareth might very well be the most naive and oblivious a character I have read in a very long time. He is stupid on purpose cause he refuses to learn any of the guides and learn by characters explaining the game world to him over and over again. It gets really tiring seeing how STUPID Gareth is. As a reader, I would at least like some growth into competence. I know he wants to be a Paladin and if he gets it, I like stupid and oblivious might be the traits along with the multiclassing. I will continue reading cause the story itself is great but Gareth is THE problem from getting 5 stars.
Im going to keep this short and sweet. The game world and the world building is unique and though strange as all hell, it works. Don't ask me how but it works. Your side characters and villains are pretty well fleshed out. The side characters are uber competent with their own quirks.
The problem in this entire story is the MC. Gareth might very well be the most naive and oblivious a character I have read in a very long time. He is stupid on purpose cause he refuses to learn any of the guides and learn by characters explaining the game world to him over and over again. It gets really tiring seeing how STUPID Gareth is. As a reader, I would at least like some growth into competence. I know he wants to be a Paladin and if he gets it, I like stupid and oblivious might be the traits along with the multiclassing. I will continue reading cause the story itself is great but Gareth is THE problem from getting 5 stars.
May 11, 2026
Started out a bit slow compared to other books in the genre but sure picked up and made me want to read more. A solid bit of writing and worth the time spent reading it. Can't wait to start book two.
February 17, 2026
Excellent book. What an adventure!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews