Dominion of Blades

Dominion of Blades #1

by Matt Dinniman

For over thirty years, Dominion of Blades has been the hottest online role-playing game in the world. Any gamer with an immersion rig can enter the world of sword and sorcery, of goblins and dragons, and they can hack and slash their way to glory. But the game is too real for some, and after an epidemic of real-life fatalities, public use of the immersion technology has been banned, causing the game to be shut down. Jonah wakes to find himself in-game, level one, with no memory of how he arrived and no way to eject. With only two companions, trapped in a world that once hosted millions, Jonah must battle his way across a treacherous landscape, fighting virtual monsters, all-too-real pain, and a very human enemy in a desperate bid to survive.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Horror, Magic

438 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2017

About the author

Matt Dinniman is the best-selling writer and artist from Gig Harbor, Washington. He is the published author of dozens of short stories and a gaggle of books. In addition, his art publications—from greeting cards to stationery kits to calendars—can be found in boutique and stationery shops around the world. Also, he strongly feels like a pretentious twat when he writes about himself in third person.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

So....why do I rate this book many others are raving about only 2? Because I just can't really like it.

I go 2 instead of one because the story does hold interest at least at times. I suppose I was looking for a lighter read than this. The book is at it's base very heavy with the angst and the personal/interpersonal "struggles" (I suppose that would be the best word) of the protagonist and to a lesser extent the other participants in the "story".

So I like the set up a bit and the "in story" part of the book. However it just leans on my "woe is me" button a bit too much for my taste.

Aside from this there are issues with grammar...I mean (poor usage that) doesn't anyone care that proper use of language is how we communicate. Then atop that I have the audio version and while the reader does a pretty good job (in general) there are egregious mispronunciations....

Well, anyway....long story short (if it's not too late) while I sort of liked the game framing and the plot, over all the book lost my interest.

To each their own I suppose.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice, more classic mix of LitRPG with a slightly more unique core reason than most of this type. (Yay for generational starships and new planets.) The actual LitRPG is pretty much a standard world-exploration fantasy world with limited quests.

What makes this one a bit special is the hints that the players have been doing NPC-type things for an AWFULLY long time, so a spattering of random skills appear to be way overpowered despite the character starting out, nearly memory-less, at level one.

I think it's always pretty fun to goof around with that kind of thing, and this randomly thrown-together small party grows together and learns to trust one another as they reveal what the hell has been going on in this place.

Not bad. Entertaining. Somewhat normal for the type, but nonetheless fun.

[Sonny Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally leave reviews as I am just so bad at giving them and have low standard. This leads me to liking almost every book I read.

With that said, This is a breath of fresh air for this genra. It takes what we want to see in a LitRPG (leveling, gear, NPC, VR) and builds a true world around it. Most LitRPG books have very little world or charactor building in them, focusing too much on the RPG systems.

I think that even if you have not read a LitRPG bok before or are just looking for a good fanstay book, then you can really enjoy this book.

*Book was read via audiobook format

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - eh, it was ok. Found and read after binging (and enjoying) books 1-5 of the author’s Dungeon Crawler Carl books; this book (written before that series) seems like a starter version of the Carl books - very similar but not as thoughtful or polished (or good).

Edit: thought this was a (completed) two-book series but some googling indicates the second doesn’t complete the series, and seems like the author has put this one to this side to focus on his Dungeon Crawler Carl books.

[Nebojsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achievement unlocked! Find a new book genre: LitRPG
Achievement unlocked! Find a hidden gem in form of a book: DoB

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If you can easily read, understand, relate to and sympathize with the previous text, then this book is for you.

The book is exactly what I was looking for. I love gaming, but I don't have time to do it anymore. I love SciFi but I cannot spare the time starting the book that will be boring or not worth reading. I need the books that give me the feeling "I will just read one more chapter and then go to sleep".

It was a fantastic voyage and then some! If I could, I would have read it in one go. Three days was not fast enough, but it was worth it even if I am lacking on some sleep now. Even better, it is not the end. The book tells the story, completes the chapter, but it also opens a new one. I am now eagerly waiting for the next one in the series.

Highly recommended for people with the above mentioned character requirements. Level of nerdiness in some of those areas will certainly help the increased enjoyment :-)

Praise to the author and full 5 stars from me!

[Pattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

With how amazing dungeon crawler Carl is, this book was a let down.

The main character is Trans. Hard to identify with as a main character. Felt like a political choice to score points. Pass.

[Murphies_law · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three persons wake up in a virtual computer game after being on auto mode stuck in a week long loop for thousands of years as totally random NPC.

Arbitrarily forced transexuality, gender confusion and three conflicted main protagonists stuck in a computer game onboard a ship sabotaged to ram the planet they intended to colonize. A mysterious antagonist hunts down all who wake up to ensure the destruction of the ship..

If the game would be more like the Star Trek Holodek and would teach the crew something USEFUL (not crying) and would not have forced them arbitrarily into the role of some random NPC, i would have liked the premise WAY better. This way it seemed rather forced contemporary politically correct....

The main character gets totally undeserved rather overpowered. I found their refusal to discover the world and do quests very anticlimatic. Everything seemed forcibly fastened to move the plot forward.. Even as i loved other books by the author i can´t give a better rating this time.

[Bolajide Adeyoye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coffee versus Soda

First off, to some extent I've got to say that this wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I like my litrpgs nuanced but sugary. This one was kind of bitter, full of angst, a fair bit cynicism, and a little more real word societal baggage than I normally get from these kind of books. Put simply I didn't have as much as the usual power fantasy high, honestly this little trip was just shy of being slight stressful to read, which I guess technically means the author did a good job of making me care about the characters and the plot. Having said that, the book is damn good. Characters have weight and growth, the plot moved at a very brisk pace and you never got the sense that victory is a foregone conclusion even if this is still your usual litrpg complete with a (technically) OP protagonist

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mini-Review:

The most interesting thing about this story is what's not happening in the game world, but you only get slivers of information on that. Decent mix of game play, some story, small leaps of plot progression and character establishment. While I like clever characters, I am not a fan of the transparent reasoning to bestow epic skills and weapons.

I like that the characters are a little bit like what you would get in the real world. Like Poppy being a grown man stuck in a girl child character and stomping around as a barbarian. Totally fun. The thing that is not realistic is how each of them are outliers of the general public. Where is the average Joe/Jane? Not in this group.

[Trevor Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am writing up a full review now for my blog https://thebloggoblin.com/ but I want to say this was the best LitRPG I have listened too in a while. It was longer then the average at over 12 hours and I listened to the AB in one sitting. True, I was coughing and feeling too sick to really do anything else but still

[gordon musgrave · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my type of book

If you are of gay orientation this book is for you I'm not
I do not want to read about transsexuals,lesbians or gay men,this book wasted my time,hope it does not waste anyone's else

[Kp · Rating 2 out of 5]

...Identity politics don't substitute for character development. I'm absolutely for individual rights but the main character's suffering is self-imposed and then he whines about it. Then his self-imposed suffering makes him stronger than anyone else? Completely unearned.

[Heavy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good story but ruined by the transgender propaganda subplot.

[Trey Wingard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story by Matt Dinniman. The world building and characters are great as usual. Can't wait to start book 2 and see how this will all play out.

[Starch · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5. It's alright. Not as good as Dungeon Crawler Carl, sadly.

I enjoy Dinniman's writing style, but his ideas, as "different" as they are, always feel shallow. The same is mostly true for DCC.

What DCC has, which is notably missing here: dark humor, whacky creativity, Princess Donut, and Jeff Hays as narrator.

What DOB has that DCC lacks: a mystery, and a more grounded sci-fi story. The worldbuilding of DCC is pure nonsense (inentionally, of course).

Many of the ideas and plot points of this book are very similar to those of DCC, so if you haven't read either I'd recommend you read Dungeon Crawler Carl first. The dark humor fits Dinniman's style better than this more "serious" book.

[Russell Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I would say this is a good book and worth reading. I had a number of hangups, but many I think boil down to personal preferences rather than legitimate problems.

So starting off, I can say that I tend to prefer litrpg books that spend plenty of time in the early game so to speak. I want to explore the game mechanics and be well-informed on how things work. Many people have described the level of detail as sufficient to roll their own character in the world if they chose. I personally don't fantasize that, but that is the level of information I am looking for early on. I don't need to know all sorts of end-game mechanics, but for sure I want a pretty solid grasp on what stats mean, how the mechanics work, and so on.

I also enjoy the early struggle as a character tries to grind and improve, gains experience in tactics that usually involve the mechanics of the game, and slowly develop in power while also developing as a character. It's a bit of a pet peeve when I see the trope of the overpowered ability early on. Sometimes it's just straight broken like in this particular book where a person has master-level abilities from the get go without working for them, or other times it's the ol' Cursed with Awesome trope of something that seems bad early on but is secretly the game-breaking ability that lets the character win life down the road.

This book really ran contrary to those two preferences of mine, so that proved a pretty solid obstacle to my early enjoyment. Luckily, the world was obviously well-imagined and kept me interested as the characters moved from one locale to the next.

I'm also not a fan of when an author hides information from the reader and makes it obvious that they are doing so. The example is toward the end of the book where the character just says, "I have a plan" and then tells it to the other characters while leaving the reader in the dark. To me personally, that is lazy writing, but maybe that doesn't bother other people.

For people who don't mind the things I mentioned earlier, they will probably just straight up love the book.

[Bellator · Rating 1 out of 5]

Middling plot-line about 'woe-is-me' characters that follow the the OP main character around as he uses god-tier abilities he didn't earn to defeat enemies he has no capability to survive against in a fair fight. About 2/3 through the book you are smacked upside the head with a revelation that the main character is Trans (woman who believes he is a man) with no setup, reason, or contribution to the plot-line in any way.

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series is FANTASTIC and probably my favorite book series, but I won't be finishing this one.

[Colby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good

I rarely review negatively. Ill normally just let a 1 star do the talking. But I will say that I think the author wrote a book geared towards an audience instead of writing a good story. If this is where literature is headed then this genre is in trouble. Not sure if its author driven or publisher driven but its ruining the world.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. Fast paced and exciting but not overwhelming with the world building. I’ve found that I like to read GameLit/LitRPG the most at night before bed. It’s fun to slip into another world for awhile. Jonah, Gretchen, Popper and Alice make a great team.

[Kim Conlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was like living out a D&D game - so much fun!

[Петър Стойков · Rating 3 out of 5]

От автора на "Dungeon Crawler Carl още едно подобно приключение, което не е лошо, но не е с нищо запомнящо се, еле пък втората му част.

[eric bergkvist · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess there’s no escaping it, even in a stupid book

Why? Has nothing to do with the story. It’s a silly book in a silly sub-genre, by a funny author whose other books I’ve really enjoyed. So why inject politics? Why try to give us all moral instruction? To please the infinitesimally small but incredibly shrill activists? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I wonder how many reader’s journey skidded to a halt right after the escape in the moon auric’s ship.

I support everyone right to live happy lives as their true selves, but does EVERY book have to be about this 0.00001% of the US population? It’s getting boring. It like if every book - whether about baseball, or motorcycles, or beekeeping - had to pivot after 30-40 pages, and become about Latvians with diabetes. Boring. And the one thing a silly fun book CANNOT be is boring.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The LitRPG genre has had a tendency towards rather puerile or angsty hormonal content.

Pluaristic relationships with vapid poorly structured supportive characters, Might makes right, and a focus on serialized obvious goals.

I'm happy to say this doesn't.
In fact the protagonists make efforts to avoid the tendencies of NPC driving plots. Where as most LitRPG feature man vs enviroment in the concept of the gamespace, monsters or BBEGs.
The book features a more nuanced approach to such, and a wonderful surprise around the main protagonist that sets its apart from most of the genre I've read to date.

I did wish the supportive characters were not as flat and were more developed, but all in all it was redemptive for the genre's focus on virility and overt sexual prowess as a core component of most protagonists.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost didn't read this and then I got to Poppy

This is the first litrpg, that I have read where the characters aren't what they seem or complete walking stereotypes. Those that have read the story will know I am doing my best not to spoil this but give this book four chapters and you will likely end up finishing it.

Outside of the characters some of the situations were laugh out loud funny as well as face palmy. Though there are angsty moments here and there that could have used more development but you have to save some things for the sequel.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great representation / Great LitRPG

Dominion of Blades is an amazing story that has interesting and engaging characters- as well as LBGTQ representation. This is important, as there are a lot of transgender gamers out there - and the ability to be who you want to be in a virtual world is a reality often ignored by his genre.

Additionally, the story takes place in a high stakes environment where there are really costs to losing, giving the story a great deal of importance throughout.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. After finishing Dungeon Crawler Carl, this was quite obviously the authors' earlier work. While DCC is action-packed, everything seems purposeful. However, this novel jumbles scenes together almost randomly. The author has vastly improved since this was written, and my plan is to skip the second book in this series and instead just wait anxiously for the next DCC.

[Over · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great litrpg

One best new litrpgs out this year. Loved can't beat the banter and unique characters in this book. Love story too.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

What a great new twist in the LitRPG genre. Absolutely loved this book and can't wait for the next one!

[Jeremy Langford · Rating 5 out of 5]

An impressive addition..

The writing was on point. The character building was on point. The storyline was a fantastically refreshing new take on the genre. Very enjoyable read.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying!

Great start to what I hope is a long series. Interesting concept that I'm looking forward to reading more of.