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New Era Online #1
Life Reset
After being betrayed and cursed by an extremely rare spell, Oren, a powerful and influential player, finds himself as a 1st level Goblin!
Without even a fraction of his previous power, he vows to pull through and have revenge on those who betrayed him.
His thorough knowledge of the game's world and his unique ability to immerse himself entirely are his only advantages.
But first, he must figure out how to survive long enough playing what is basically a low-level fodder monster!
Without even a fraction of his previous power, he vows to pull through and have revenge on those who betrayed him.
His thorough knowledge of the game's world and his unique ability to immerse himself entirely are his only advantages.
But first, he must figure out how to survive long enough playing what is basically a low-level fodder monster!
718 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 7, 2017
1886 people are currently reading
2736 people want to read
About the author
Shemer Kuznits
18 books858 followers
Shemer has been a fan of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and RPG games since the early 80’s.
In 2016 he started writing his first novel: Life Reset which turned into a 6-book series with its grand finale published in 2021. Each book in the series became an Amazon bestseller.
In 2019 Shemer quit his day job as a software developer to become a full-time author and released his second series: Earth Force, a sci-fi series consisting of a 2-book arc. Shemer hopes to garner enough community awareness and support to start writing the second arc.
As an avid gamer, a D&D dungeon master, and Navy veteran, Shemer has a wealth of life experience to draw on for his writing. His books always include elements of kingdom/settlement development where the protagonist is forced to carve out a new place for themselves in the face of adversity.
Shemer spends his days writing and his nights fighting crime (well, mostly convincing his kids to go to bed, which is very similar).
Shemer also enjoys writing about himself in the third-person and hopes you find his work enjoyable.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 555 reviews
August 17, 2017
Almost
The writing isn't terrible and the premise is interesting, but the main character is a complete idiot; he forgets his abilities, he makes obvious stupid decisions, makes really dumb jokes, acts arrogant and insulted when others make dumb jokes, and time after time falls back to plot armor to make up for his incompetence. The stupid plotarmortastic MC wouldn't be so bad if he didn't treat the readers like their the idiots; every time he does something that isn't overtly stupuid, he brags while explaining and justifying to us peons why he's so amazing and why it made perfect sense for him to break character.
The writing isn't terrible and the premise is interesting, but the main character is a complete idiot; he forgets his abilities, he makes obvious stupid decisions, makes really dumb jokes, acts arrogant and insulted when others make dumb jokes, and time after time falls back to plot armor to make up for his incompetence. The stupid plotarmortastic MC wouldn't be so bad if he didn't treat the readers like their the idiots; every time he does something that isn't overtly stupuid, he brags while explaining and justifying to us peons why he's so amazing and why it made perfect sense for him to break character.
October 20, 2017
You know, Over powered characters are fun. No seriously, you can have an OP character in a scenario and have a lot of fun with him.
Then there is the martyr OP... the character that is handed everything on a silver plate yet all throughout the tale is trying to convince the reader that he's "roughing it".
Making up excuses to be as dumb as a rock when the plot needs him to be then be all (oh I know how this goes, I is top game man) the rest of the time. it's just not a fun read.
This could have been interesting take on litrpg from the monster's point of view but instead we have an OP character crying over spilled milk.... milk he himself spilled most of the time.
The typoes and errors were annoying but I could have looked past them if the story was interesting, sadly the MC is just too inconsistent to get me invested and the author hands him a cheat coupon at every turn removing all stakes. I'm bailing this ship, see ya all on the other side!
Then there is the martyr OP... the character that is handed everything on a silver plate yet all throughout the tale is trying to convince the reader that he's "roughing it".
Making up excuses to be as dumb as a rock when the plot needs him to be then be all (oh I know how this goes, I is top game man) the rest of the time. it's just not a fun read.
This could have been interesting take on litrpg from the monster's point of view but instead we have an OP character crying over spilled milk.... milk he himself spilled most of the time.
The typoes and errors were annoying but I could have looked past them if the story was interesting, sadly the MC is just too inconsistent to get me invested and the author hands him a cheat coupon at every turn removing all stakes. I'm bailing this ship, see ya all on the other side!
August 10, 2017
As an avid LitRPG reader, I can honestly say that this is by far the best settlement building book in the genre so far.
It is not directly comparable to some others in the genre (Dragon's Wrath, etc.) since it is more focused on min-maxing, number crunching and the world mechanics but that is exactly what I personally like (and expect) in the genre (and RPGs in general).
Highly recommended!
It is not directly comparable to some others in the genre (Dragon's Wrath, etc.) since it is more focused on min-maxing, number crunching and the world mechanics but that is exactly what I personally like (and expect) in the genre (and RPGs in general).
Highly recommended!
March 11, 2018
Check out the reviews on Amazon
November 8, 2023
I'm not usually into video game based LitRPG, but a friend's review mentioned that Oren wasn't able to logout after a time and that makes it more a type of isekai, really. So I took a chance.
The worldbuilding is interesting-enough with enough ambiguity that I can fill in the relevant details for the world to work. And I even liked Oren, even though it's obvious that his difficulties are at least a little bit self-inflicted (for taking his second-in-command for granted and not bothering to get to know him well-enough to see the attack coming). I liked Oren's determination to make this new phase of his character's life work, even as at least some of the motivation is to deprive the betrayers of the resources they'd get if he quits.
And I was even okay with it turning out that Oren is a special boy being able to handle the blah blah that let him be better than everybody else. It was an interesting background and the author eventually squared up the plot hole adequately enough to be getting on with. And the pace was enough to keep me going even though a lot of the details were a bit bland.
If you can see a three-star meh coming then I've done my job as a review writer. The action is good enough. The character(s) are good enough. The plot is good enough. The pace is actually outstanding and is the major reason I made it all the way through without chafing.
There was one annoyance that about drove me around the bend. Oren spends way too much time being all "I can't be attracted to a goblin girl because I like humans". Which isn't how attraction works. Like, at all. I mean, it might be true because people's tastes in romantic relationships varies widely, but in that case he wouldn't have to work so hard to convince himself. So he's spouting this idiocy in order to deny that he is obviously attracted to the sweet goblin girl. So it's a flat-out lie every time he tries to convince himself it is true and it's a stupid thing to lie to himself about. It makes him a complete idiot and I have no idea what the author was trying to do with that stupidity.
A warning about intense content Being stuck in the world makes Oren vulnerable to a scene of torture while in the power of some very terrible people during this story. It was not a short scene and it involved both himself and others. If you're at all squeamish, maybe skip this story.
A note about the series: I've read synopses of the other books in the series and am completely uninterested in continuing. That's no fault of this story and if it continued as it starts, I'd be more than interested. A shame, really.
A note about Chaste: Oren eventually gives in to his attraction to the sweet goblin girl, but the author doesn't go there on-page. So we don't get any details at all. Which is just fine with me as it totally wasn't the point of any part of the story. This makes it questionably chaste, but that's good enough for me.
The worldbuilding is interesting-enough with enough ambiguity that I can fill in the relevant details for the world to work. And I even liked Oren, even though it's obvious that his difficulties are at least a little bit self-inflicted (for taking his second-in-command for granted and not bothering to get to know him well-enough to see the attack coming). I liked Oren's determination to make this new phase of his character's life work, even as at least some of the motivation is to deprive the betrayers of the resources they'd get if he quits.
And I was even okay with it turning out that Oren is a special boy being able to handle the blah blah that let him be better than everybody else. It was an interesting background and the author eventually squared up the plot hole adequately enough to be getting on with. And the pace was enough to keep me going even though a lot of the details were a bit bland.
If you can see a three-star meh coming then I've done my job as a review writer. The action is good enough. The character(s) are good enough. The plot is good enough. The pace is actually outstanding and is the major reason I made it all the way through without chafing.
There was one annoyance that about drove me around the bend. Oren spends way too much time being all "I can't be attracted to a goblin girl because I like humans". Which isn't how attraction works. Like, at all. I mean, it might be true because people's tastes in romantic relationships varies widely, but in that case he wouldn't have to work so hard to convince himself. So he's spouting this idiocy in order to deny that he is obviously attracted to the sweet goblin girl. So it's a flat-out lie every time he tries to convince himself it is true and it's a stupid thing to lie to himself about. It makes him a complete idiot and I have no idea what the author was trying to do with that stupidity.
A warning about intense content Being stuck in the world makes Oren vulnerable to a scene of torture while in the power of some very terrible people during this story. It was not a short scene and it involved both himself and others. If you're at all squeamish, maybe skip this story.
A note about the series: I've read synopses of the other books in the series and am completely uninterested in continuing. That's no fault of this story and if it continued as it starts, I'd be more than interested. A shame, really.
A note about Chaste: Oren eventually gives in to his attraction to the sweet goblin girl, but the author doesn't go there on-page. So we don't get any details at all. Which is just fine with me as it totally wasn't the point of any part of the story. This makes it questionably chaste, but that's good enough for me.
September 14, 2017
I try to reserve 5 stars for books that can be read repeatedly over the years, or which change forever how I see certain things. This book does not reach that lofty sphere. On the other hand, I stayed up till 5 AM reading it, so I think it was exceptionally good for a one-read book.
This book falls squarely in the LitRPG genre, and is one of the few to feature both RPG and city building. (Well, village building for now, but we're seeing ambitions toward nation building in the sequels, may they come soon.) The book is sprinkled with game-style statistics, which makes sense as the story takes place within a futuristic game world where the character is trapped due to his own stubbornness and pride. I don't much like stat sheets, but others find them essential. Luckily the practical consequences of all the stats are explained and demonstrated in practice.
The main character is relatable, but not exactly a paragon of virtue. His original motivation was revenge, after being betrayed by his guild mates. We eventually come to learn that there may be reasons why he was betrayed, beyond the obvious greed. His motivation changes (mostly) to sheer desperation as he gets trapped in the game despite the earnest warnings of his friend who actually works for the gaming company. But even when fighting for his life, he still harbors resentment and things turn kind of dark in the final chapters. He may have survived and made progress, but at the price of a dark compromise indeed.
I was surprised to learn that this was the author's first book. I must assume he does a lot of writing in other context, and probably also has had the help of a good editor. By the time I bought this book, grammar and spelling were excellent. The prose was tight, consisting mainly of action, some dialogue and introspection as needed. It was blessedly free from verbal embroidery about the colors and smells of random unimportant objects. Almost every word was put to good use.
I had already seen the goblin angle used in The Dark Herbalist series and settlement cultivation in the Chaos Seed series, so I was probably less amazed by the originality than many readers. That said, the book pretty much glued itself to my hand and the hours flew by, so I cannot give it less than 4 stars.
This book falls squarely in the LitRPG genre, and is one of the few to feature both RPG and city building. (Well, village building for now, but we're seeing ambitions toward nation building in the sequels, may they come soon.) The book is sprinkled with game-style statistics, which makes sense as the story takes place within a futuristic game world where the character is trapped due to his own stubbornness and pride. I don't much like stat sheets, but others find them essential. Luckily the practical consequences of all the stats are explained and demonstrated in practice.
The main character is relatable, but not exactly a paragon of virtue. His original motivation was revenge, after being betrayed by his guild mates. We eventually come to learn that there may be reasons why he was betrayed, beyond the obvious greed. His motivation changes (mostly) to sheer desperation as he gets trapped in the game despite the earnest warnings of his friend who actually works for the gaming company. But even when fighting for his life, he still harbors resentment and things turn kind of dark in the final chapters. He may have survived and made progress, but at the price of a dark compromise indeed.
I was surprised to learn that this was the author's first book. I must assume he does a lot of writing in other context, and probably also has had the help of a good editor. By the time I bought this book, grammar and spelling were excellent. The prose was tight, consisting mainly of action, some dialogue and introspection as needed. It was blessedly free from verbal embroidery about the colors and smells of random unimportant objects. Almost every word was put to good use.
I had already seen the goblin angle used in The Dark Herbalist series and settlement cultivation in the Chaos Seed series, so I was probably less amazed by the originality than many readers. That said, the book pretty much glued itself to my hand and the hours flew by, so I cannot give it less than 4 stars.
December 13, 2023
12/13/23 Notes:
Mixed reactions to re-reading Life Reset. When I first read the book, I haven't read as many LitRPG books and there was more of a new & novel vibe. Now, the issues I had noted before are just as apparent and more abrasive because there's less of a 'exploratory ooo glow'. This re-read wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I shall stick to my plan and re-listen to the next book.
03/24/19 Mini-Review:
4 Stars for Concept
4 Stars for Narration by Jeff Hays
3 Stars for Oren
2.5 Stars for Other Characters
It took a while for me to get into the story. The beginning felt rather cheesy & predictable. Yet, Oren grew on me and interesting story events started to happen once the setting was put into place. I wavered on rating this one 3.5 to 4 stars. There are a few parts that were great but overall pacing and development of the story/characters are uneven and a bit all over the place. I do like the general direction the story seems to be heading and look forward to seeing what Oren will do next.
Mixed reactions to re-reading Life Reset. When I first read the book, I haven't read as many LitRPG books and there was more of a new & novel vibe. Now, the issues I had noted before are just as apparent and more abrasive because there's less of a 'exploratory ooo glow'. This re-read wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I shall stick to my plan and re-listen to the next book.
03/24/19 Mini-Review:
4 Stars for Concept
4 Stars for Narration by Jeff Hays
3 Stars for Oren
2.5 Stars for Other Characters
It took a while for me to get into the story. The beginning felt rather cheesy & predictable. Yet, Oren grew on me and interesting story events started to happen once the setting was put into place. I wavered on rating this one 3.5 to 4 stars. There are a few parts that were great but overall pacing and development of the story/characters are uneven and a bit all over the place. I do like the general direction the story seems to be heading and look forward to seeing what Oren will do next.
December 7, 2017
I am NOT well-versed in LitRPG. In fact, another author mentioned the genre about six-eight months ago and I thought he was making it up. Since then, I have read some of this genre and it is growing on me. Kuznits' Life Reset (New Era Online Book 1) takes the immersion to new places. It is a long read, but it flows pretty quick.
You ever have dreams where you have to do a simple task, but you always have interruptions? And you get pissed? This book gave me a series of those dreams. Aside from THAT frustration, I think it speaks volumes about how engrossed a reader can get with the story. The gaming aspect - wanting to do a task, but need to do step 1, 2, and before 3, a side of step a and b. So, that is what caused my annoying dreams. I laugh now.
Now.
Okay, Oren is a high level player in New Era Online (NEO). His success in-game provides funding in RL. He leads a powerful guild and gets rammed, without a smile, by his own peeps. Not only that, but a rare spell causes him to respawn into Monster Class. That isn't supposed to happen. Now, as a newbie Goblin (the weak of the weak), he needs to get sorted, get powerful, and take revenge. With his funds cut off, he needs to do this quick.
Okay, so that is a glimpse beyond what the blurb provides. I won't summarize more specifics, but the following bits are somewhere in this tale. The option is yours. Stop reading and buy, or move on, or well - continue reading I guess.
This is character driven for sure. When you are on top, the fall is far. Humbling. Compassion. Introspection. Change.
Oren - as Goblin, must learn how to play a Monster Class, and build a clan and settlement from scratch. If he doesn't, revenge against his former guild will not come to fruition, his rent/food etc., are on the line, and well - okay, ONE spoiler - so is his life! No more info on that for you!
Vic is the comic relief. I enjoyed his role.
In all - fun read. Plenty of action to keep things grooving. Even though the cover looks way more (too much) High Fantasy for my liking, this ended up being a rather enjoyable book. I wouldn't hesitate to read more NEO installments.
5 of 5 Stars. Author provided ARC.
From the Publisher:
After being betrayed and cursed by an extremely rare spell, Oren, a powerful and influential player, finds himself as a 1st level Goblin! Without even a fraction of his previous power, he vows to pull through and have revenge on those who betrayed him. His thorough knowledge of the game's world and his unique ability to immerse himself entirely are his only advantages.
But first, he must figure out how to survive long enough playing what is basically a low-level fodder monster!
You ever have dreams where you have to do a simple task, but you always have interruptions? And you get pissed? This book gave me a series of those dreams. Aside from THAT frustration, I think it speaks volumes about how engrossed a reader can get with the story. The gaming aspect - wanting to do a task, but need to do step 1, 2, and before 3, a side of step a and b. So, that is what caused my annoying dreams. I laugh now.
Now.
Okay, Oren is a high level player in New Era Online (NEO). His success in-game provides funding in RL. He leads a powerful guild and gets rammed, without a smile, by his own peeps. Not only that, but a rare spell causes him to respawn into Monster Class. That isn't supposed to happen. Now, as a newbie Goblin (the weak of the weak), he needs to get sorted, get powerful, and take revenge. With his funds cut off, he needs to do this quick.
Okay, so that is a glimpse beyond what the blurb provides. I won't summarize more specifics, but the following bits are somewhere in this tale. The option is yours. Stop reading and buy, or move on, or well - continue reading I guess.
This is character driven for sure. When you are on top, the fall is far. Humbling. Compassion. Introspection. Change.
Oren - as Goblin, must learn how to play a Monster Class, and build a clan and settlement from scratch. If he doesn't, revenge against his former guild will not come to fruition, his rent/food etc., are on the line, and well - okay, ONE spoiler - so is his life! No more info on that for you!
Vic is the comic relief. I enjoyed his role.
In all - fun read. Plenty of action to keep things grooving. Even though the cover looks way more (too much) High Fantasy for my liking, this ended up being a rather enjoyable book. I wouldn't hesitate to read more NEO installments.
5 of 5 Stars. Author provided ARC.
From the Publisher:
After being betrayed and cursed by an extremely rare spell, Oren, a powerful and influential player, finds himself as a 1st level Goblin! Without even a fraction of his previous power, he vows to pull through and have revenge on those who betrayed him. His thorough knowledge of the game's world and his unique ability to immerse himself entirely are his only advantages.
But first, he must figure out how to survive long enough playing what is basically a low-level fodder monster!
September 3, 2017
Couldn't putt it down!
I stumbled across this book after reading a really terrible LitRPG book and was incredibly overjoyed because i had finally found a LitRPG novel that wasn't completely about the main character running around doing quests and becoming more powerful, i think the reason i loved this book so much was because it was a breath of fresh air, another reason i enjoyed this book so much was because of the strategy game element it was new, i think more LitRPG novels should try including more game types in the future. In short i loved this book and i would encourage you to read it.
I stumbled across this book after reading a really terrible LitRPG book and was incredibly overjoyed because i had finally found a LitRPG novel that wasn't completely about the main character running around doing quests and becoming more powerful, i think the reason i loved this book so much was because it was a breath of fresh air, another reason i enjoyed this book so much was because of the strategy game element it was new, i think more LitRPG novels should try including more game types in the future. In short i loved this book and i would encourage you to read it.
December 11, 2018
Rating 4.0
I was a little worried about reading this book as the main character is a low level goblin. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. The story begins with the leader of the most important guild in the online game being betrayed by his second in command. Apparently in this game, there is a magic scroll than can turn any character into a low level monster. So the main character goes from being an over 300 level powerhouse to a low level 1 goblin. Then he is killed and re-spawned in the goblin camps way far away from civilization. Normally when a character is turned into a low level goblin, the characters end up being unplayable, so that person has to delete the character and start from scratch. For whatever reason, this main character can play the goblin and he refuses to delete his character because if he does, his prime badges, which are worth a lot of money, will go to the people that betrayed him. We find out that all the monsters in the game are grown at an accelerated rate and that is why most players cannot play them, because their brains don't work that fast. Oren is one of the few people in the world with a high enough brain connectivity to actually be able to handle the accelerated time. 12 hours for him in the game is actually only 1 hour in the real world. Since only NPCs can play the monster class, the AI in charge does not know how to deal with Oren. He ends up killing a Boss creature, so the AI makes him a Boss. That creates the main problem, because Boss NPCs don't have log out buttons! Oren is now stuck in the game.
I tend to rate stories based on the reasons behind the actions. I like to have a believable Why to the What that is happening. In this case I thought everything was pretty believable. I understood the main characters reason for everything he was doing. His main goal was to get out the game and everything his did was to accomplish that goal. Oren ended up being a completely overpowered character, especially for his level and class, but if I was fighting for my life, I would take as many cheat codes and power-ups as I could. Despite being really overpowered, he ended up being insanely underpowered for the type of challenges that he faced. So the main character is really overpowered and yet the enemies are insanely overpowered. I was reminded of the Land series by Aleron Kong (Richter in that series was insanely overpowered and lucky and yet he kept going up against ludicrous odds and won). I am more of a conservative person. I tend to think a character should only attempt a fight if they are sure they are going to win, unless of course they have no choice. Having a main character going into these situations knowing how crazy-bad the odds against them are, and yet they still go without much of a plan is a little frustrating. It is still fun for me, but that is the main reason I took a star away and didn't give it 5 stars
I was a little worried about reading this book as the main character is a low level goblin. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. The story begins with the leader of the most important guild in the online game being betrayed by his second in command. Apparently in this game, there is a magic scroll than can turn any character into a low level monster. So the main character goes from being an over 300 level powerhouse to a low level 1 goblin. Then he is killed and re-spawned in the goblin camps way far away from civilization. Normally when a character is turned into a low level goblin, the characters end up being unplayable, so that person has to delete the character and start from scratch. For whatever reason, this main character can play the goblin and he refuses to delete his character because if he does, his prime badges, which are worth a lot of money, will go to the people that betrayed him. We find out that all the monsters in the game are grown at an accelerated rate and that is why most players cannot play them, because their brains don't work that fast. Oren is one of the few people in the world with a high enough brain connectivity to actually be able to handle the accelerated time. 12 hours for him in the game is actually only 1 hour in the real world. Since only NPCs can play the monster class, the AI in charge does not know how to deal with Oren. He ends up killing a Boss creature, so the AI makes him a Boss. That creates the main problem, because Boss NPCs don't have log out buttons! Oren is now stuck in the game.
I tend to rate stories based on the reasons behind the actions. I like to have a believable Why to the What that is happening. In this case I thought everything was pretty believable. I understood the main characters reason for everything he was doing. His main goal was to get out the game and everything his did was to accomplish that goal. Oren ended up being a completely overpowered character, especially for his level and class, but if I was fighting for my life, I would take as many cheat codes and power-ups as I could. Despite being really overpowered, he ended up being insanely underpowered for the type of challenges that he faced. So the main character is really overpowered and yet the enemies are insanely overpowered. I was reminded of the Land series by Aleron Kong (Richter in that series was insanely overpowered and lucky and yet he kept going up against ludicrous odds and won). I am more of a conservative person. I tend to think a character should only attempt a fight if they are sure they are going to win, unless of course they have no choice. Having a main character going into these situations knowing how crazy-bad the odds against them are, and yet they still go without much of a plan is a little frustrating. It is still fun for me, but that is the main reason I took a star away and didn't give it 5 stars
August 12, 2017
Great take on life from the goblins' view
This is a great story and fun to read. Very nice to see the cleaned up version after reading the RRL version. Long live the Bread Shaman!
This is a great story and fun to read. Very nice to see the cleaned up version after reading the RRL version. Long live the Bread Shaman!
May 16, 2018
Really fun LitRPG!
February 4, 2019
This is what I want all litrpg books to be. Awesome book.
January 3, 2018
Disclaimer: I'm not an active gamer, so I may be the wrong audience for this book. Anyway, that's my personal impressions...
The books reads like the comments to a youtube gaming video. This may be intended, but gets way too repetitive after a while - I really struggled to finish the book. There are several things that made it difficult for me to get on:
The language:
It is basically the kind of language that you get in an RPG chat, so it is authentic in a sense - but I had hoped there is a "Lit" part to this LitRPG thing, and was quite disappointed in this case. The dialogs just made be cringe, and it was not really believable that the main character was an adult. Also, the number of typos and grammatical errors was just annoying. Also annoying: stating known facts over and over as if they were news (looks like the MC doesn't have a good memory...)
The main character:
He is just plain dumb. It is unclear how he got to be a high level player in the first place (well, by luck, obviously), but there is nothing that suggests any original ideas on his part. I leave it at that to not get too negative for my first review.
The plot:
The basic idea was not bad, but it got overloaded with cliches and unconvincing details that destroyed it for me. There have been some attempts at humor, but again - it just did not fit my own sense of humor, so someone else may like that.
I definitely won't read the next part, though I may try another LitRPG book - I think the overall idea is promising.
The books reads like the comments to a youtube gaming video. This may be intended, but gets way too repetitive after a while - I really struggled to finish the book. There are several things that made it difficult for me to get on:
The language:
It is basically the kind of language that you get in an RPG chat, so it is authentic in a sense - but I had hoped there is a "Lit" part to this LitRPG thing, and was quite disappointed in this case. The dialogs just made be cringe, and it was not really believable that the main character was an adult. Also, the number of typos and grammatical errors was just annoying. Also annoying: stating known facts over and over as if they were news (looks like the MC doesn't have a good memory...)
The main character:
He is just plain dumb. It is unclear how he got to be a high level player in the first place (well, by luck, obviously), but there is nothing that suggests any original ideas on his part. I leave it at that to not get too negative for my first review.
The plot:
The basic idea was not bad, but it got overloaded with cliches and unconvincing details that destroyed it for me. There have been some attempts at humor, but again - it just did not fit my own sense of humor, so someone else may like that.
I definitely won't read the next part, though I may try another LitRPG book - I think the overall idea is promising.
December 2, 2019
So, I liked this book. I've been on a bit of a Lit RPG jag this year and as an RPG junkie I've found a lot to love about this genre. Following a character's progression towards gaining great power is very satisfying and this book in particular puts a very interesting twist on that idea.
Having read a series or three in this genre I've decided to use this review to air my biggest problem with Lit RPG: The main characters are all complete douchebags. I mean literally unlikable wish-they-were-real-so-you-can-punch-them-in-the-face DOUCHEBAGS. Every Lit RPG MC is written by a nerd who thinks that they are writing about the most witty, most endearing, most cool Uber-Nerd that ever existed and fail miserably at doing so. Nerds can't write a likable, cool MC and trying so hard to do so makes their characters come off as insufferable douches. I really should be writing this in an Aleron Kong review because his MC is there worst of the worst but I'm lazy.
The MC in this book is much less unlikable but still a douchebag. I do recommended this book.
Having read a series or three in this genre I've decided to use this review to air my biggest problem with Lit RPG: The main characters are all complete douchebags. I mean literally unlikable wish-they-were-real-so-you-can-punch-them-in-the-face DOUCHEBAGS. Every Lit RPG MC is written by a nerd who thinks that they are writing about the most witty, most endearing, most cool Uber-Nerd that ever existed and fail miserably at doing so. Nerds can't write a likable, cool MC and trying so hard to do so makes their characters come off as insufferable douches. I really should be writing this in an Aleron Kong review because his MC is there worst of the worst but I'm lazy.
The MC in this book is much less unlikable but still a douchebag. I do recommended this book.
January 27, 2025
Moderately ok litrpg series. 2.5. Read books 1-6.
December 20, 2017
I wish I could rate this 3.5 stars - in the end, I went for 4 stars because - despite the terrible level of ex machina moments, despite the woefully incomplete editing (to the point of there being it's/its mix-ups, and repeated sentences), despite it being an imperfect and cliché book in many ways... It reeled me in. It was a fun read, and I would absolutely pick up the sequel. The reason the book does this is because it scratches an itch that isn't often scratched, and that's being a competently written LitRPG that doesn't feel (too much) like a fanfic.
Basically, if you want something easy to read, and want to feel like you are playing an immersive video-game while away from your rig - this book is for you.
If you want to find the next great work of literary art or an amazing world-building experience - save yourself the disappointment; put this book down and go read something else.
Basically, if you want something easy to read, and want to feel like you are playing an immersive video-game while away from your rig - this book is for you.
If you want to find the next great work of literary art or an amazing world-building experience - save yourself the disappointment; put this book down and go read something else.
August 24, 2017
This is a pretty great story, especially as a response to the current state of LitRPG.
The pace through the book is pretty good, great character development and the author did a great job of meeting his goals, which was to create a believable city development story. The main character deviates a bit from this, in particular the last couple of chapters, when he gains very overpowered skills.
Looking forward to the next, although I understand it will be a while.
The pace through the book is pretty good, great character development and the author did a great job of meeting his goals, which was to create a believable city development story. The main character deviates a bit from this, in particular the last couple of chapters, when he gains very overpowered skills.
Looking forward to the next, although I understand it will be a while.
April 3, 2024
It's Good To Be The Chief! Even If It's Chief Of Goblins.
Being betrayed by his Guild Officers was bad. Being turned into a goblin in game was bad. Losing all his levels was worse. But Oren won't let these facts keep him down. Unfortunately, getting permanently logged into the game and being at danger of being permanently killed (erased) was the worst. He'll just have to win.
This LitRPG novel has an interesting main character who is easy to empathize with and root for. This novel may appeal to fans of RPGs as well as those who like reading Fantasy or Science Fiction genre stories.
Being betrayed by his Guild Officers was bad. Being turned into a goblin in game was bad. Losing all his levels was worse. But Oren won't let these facts keep him down. Unfortunately, getting permanently logged into the game and being at danger of being permanently killed (erased) was the worst. He'll just have to win.
This LitRPG novel has an interesting main character who is easy to empathize with and root for. This novel may appeal to fans of RPGs as well as those who like reading Fantasy or Science Fiction genre stories.
April 6, 2020
Interesting premise of a high level player transformed into a goblin and has to start over. Some good ideas sprinkled throughout the novel, but very repetitious and suffers from continual deus ex machina. You’d think a goblin would be weak, but nope. Not Oren.
Basically a power fantasy where everything, no matter what, goes the MC’s way. No consequences, no real failures, and if anything negative happens, the MC is immensely rewarded for it.
At over 1,000 pages, I spent a long time with this litrpg. So my impression isn’t scant. A lot of padding comes from excessive discussion of the prompts, as there’s a character that ‘translates’ them for the MC very early on.
While the foundation of the settlement building is great, it never really gets anywhere despite the significant length of the book. Everything takes a seriously long time to build, and so there’s this mantra of ‘I have so much to build, ugh!’. By the end of the book, the MC’s settlement still isn’t past the initial stages, so you don’t get to see anything other than wood, food, and stone for resources.
Grammar is fairly good, few mistakes. I personally dislike that the MC manages his settlement, tells minions what to do then walks off and fiddles with his personal skills rather than doing much to contribute himself. It comes across as lazy and counter intuitive towards advancement as if the MC never changed from how he used to be, a figurehead of his own guild. Though there’s a lack of character development, I can understand that this litrpg is trying to go towards strategy management.
Despite the MC’s flagrant OP powers of being able to instant kill and reflect insane amounts of damage if he’s hurt, it’s still a decent read so long as you accept Life Reset for what it is. Which is: power fantasy, MC is almost always right, MC is seriously OP even for a boss character, and waiting a long time for anything to build is not the same thing as hardship and effort.
Basically a power fantasy where everything, no matter what, goes the MC’s way. No consequences, no real failures, and if anything negative happens, the MC is immensely rewarded for it.
At over 1,000 pages, I spent a long time with this litrpg. So my impression isn’t scant. A lot of padding comes from excessive discussion of the prompts, as there’s a character that ‘translates’ them for the MC very early on.
While the foundation of the settlement building is great, it never really gets anywhere despite the significant length of the book. Everything takes a seriously long time to build, and so there’s this mantra of ‘I have so much to build, ugh!’. By the end of the book, the MC’s settlement still isn’t past the initial stages, so you don’t get to see anything other than wood, food, and stone for resources.
Grammar is fairly good, few mistakes. I personally dislike that the MC manages his settlement, tells minions what to do then walks off and fiddles with his personal skills rather than doing much to contribute himself. It comes across as lazy and counter intuitive towards advancement as if the MC never changed from how he used to be, a figurehead of his own guild. Though there’s a lack of character development, I can understand that this litrpg is trying to go towards strategy management.
Despite the MC’s flagrant OP powers of being able to instant kill and reflect insane amounts of damage if he’s hurt, it’s still a decent read so long as you accept Life Reset for what it is. Which is: power fantasy, MC is almost always right, MC is seriously OP even for a boss character, and waiting a long time for anything to build is not the same thing as hardship and effort.
Read
November 22, 2020After being betrayed and cursed by an extremely rare spell, Oren, a powerful and influential player, finds himself as a 1st level Goblin! Without even a fraction of his previous power, he vows to pull through and have revenge on those who betrayed him. His thorough knowledge of the game's world and his unique ability to immerse himself entirely are his only advantages. But first, he must figure out how to survive long enough playing what is basically a low-level fodder monster!
This was our book club read for November and I ended up not finishing it. This is the third litrpg that I've either read or tried to read, and I think I can firmly say that this is not a genre that's for me. Mainly I get very annoyed with all the stats and such in the story. I'm reading a book based on someone playing a game or being stuck in a game and that feels tedious to me. I think for the genre it's a good book, but I just don't like the genre so I decided not to rate it. If you're interested in the genre or like it, then I think you should definitely give this one a try.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
This was our book club read for November and I ended up not finishing it. This is the third litrpg that I've either read or tried to read, and I think I can firmly say that this is not a genre that's for me. Mainly I get very annoyed with all the stats and such in the story. I'm reading a book based on someone playing a game or being stuck in a game and that feels tedious to me. I think for the genre it's a good book, but I just don't like the genre so I decided not to rate it. If you're interested in the genre or like it, then I think you should definitely give this one a try.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
April 18, 2020
DNF 10%
I thought the main character was woefully unknowledgeable for someone who was the head of the biggest clan etc. And that he now for the first time realizes he can spin his mana arrows to penetrate just rubbed me completely the wrong way.
I think the premise could work if it was executed better.
I thought the main character was woefully unknowledgeable for someone who was the head of the biggest clan etc. And that he now for the first time realizes he can spin his mana arrows to penetrate just rubbed me completely the wrong way.
I think the premise could work if it was executed better.
July 27, 2022
3.5 stars
May 18, 2020
Start of a Journey
When I started the book, it reminded me of Re:Monster Vol 1, the character is turned into a lowly goblin and has to now fend off a world where everyone is stronger. But unlike Re:Monster, the progression of the character is way more believable. Also, the similarities ended there. Oren or as he is called for most part of the book, Esteemed Totem is way better a character than any other goblin based protagonist I've ever read.
Also, Hardcore Leveling Warrior had a similar premise where the top character became the lowest character. but I've to say he was way better off than this lowly Goblin. Oren is worse off. But hey, both had only a small dagger after they restarted their journey.
Companion
Vic (the AI companion) is a major reason for the 5 stars. Enough said.
Broken Characters and Luck
LitRPG writers have the tendency to provide us with broken characters. Characters that overly powerful with a vague reason. Yes, Totem is a broken character, but not in the traditional sense. He was forced to change his race into a monster. The game recognizes him as a NPC as well as a player and sometimes, when it matters, hybrid.
Also, he has a special trait in his character sheet. He is a Lucky Bastard. Now, normally there are instances where we see lucky characters in books but they come off as if the writer intervened on the character's behalf or it comes off as one time luck. Not so much here. He really is lucky.
The Stakes
Man, oh Man. Did I say he is lucky? Scratch that. He is really unlucky. His choices at times are enduring eternal mental torture by vengeful Gods, becoming a vegetable or simply death.
Dark Side and Evil (Maybe?) Gods
Protagonist as a monster race or plain dark characters can be really enjoyable. Last time I enjoyed a dark character so much was in Catharsis. There are many similarities between Jason and Oren. Sacrificing players and NPCs is a major part of their repertoire.
Oh and AI Gods. What's the point of sacrificing if you cannot dedicate it to some evil deity, right?
Ritualist also has a God and readers can find similarities in progression in religion.
Also, 'Gods' in this game are multifaceted. Annihilator is the new God of our goblin clan because of the curious Totem. But GAI is the actual God of the game. I'm oversimplifying it but it is really interesting.
City building and Last Stands
Let's say the protagonist needs followers or a city. Let's throw them and many people in a last stand. The people are bound to follow their savior, right? The Two Week Curse and this book fall in this category. There is not one but two last stands in this book. And I enjoyed it even more than the Two Week Curse's Last Stand, which I was not expecting.
Conclusion
A lot more can be said about this book. But I think the only thing that I should say now is, go and read it.
When I started the book, it reminded me of Re:Monster Vol 1, the character is turned into a lowly goblin and has to now fend off a world where everyone is stronger. But unlike Re:Monster, the progression of the character is way more believable. Also, the similarities ended there. Oren or as he is called for most part of the book, Esteemed Totem is way better a character than any other goblin based protagonist I've ever read.
Also, Hardcore Leveling Warrior had a similar premise where the top character became the lowest character. but I've to say he was way better off than this lowly Goblin. Oren is worse off. But hey, both had only a small dagger after they restarted their journey.
Companion
Vic (the AI companion) is a major reason for the 5 stars. Enough said.
Broken Characters and Luck
LitRPG writers have the tendency to provide us with broken characters. Characters that overly powerful with a vague reason. Yes, Totem is a broken character, but not in the traditional sense. He was forced to change his race into a monster. The game recognizes him as a NPC as well as a player and sometimes, when it matters, hybrid.
Also, he has a special trait in his character sheet. He is a Lucky Bastard. Now, normally there are instances where we see lucky characters in books but they come off as if the writer intervened on the character's behalf or it comes off as one time luck. Not so much here. He really is lucky.
The Stakes
Man, oh Man. Did I say he is lucky? Scratch that. He is really unlucky. His choices at times are enduring eternal mental torture by vengeful Gods, becoming a vegetable or simply death.
Dark Side and Evil (Maybe?) Gods
Protagonist as a monster race or plain dark characters can be really enjoyable. Last time I enjoyed a dark character so much was in Catharsis. There are many similarities between Jason and Oren. Sacrificing players and NPCs is a major part of their repertoire.
Oh and AI Gods. What's the point of sacrificing if you cannot dedicate it to some evil deity, right?
Ritualist also has a God and readers can find similarities in progression in religion.
Also, 'Gods' in this game are multifaceted. Annihilator is the new God of our goblin clan because of the curious Totem. But GAI is the actual God of the game. I'm oversimplifying it but it is really interesting.
City building and Last Stands
Let's say the protagonist needs followers or a city. Let's throw them and many people in a last stand. The people are bound to follow their savior, right? The Two Week Curse and this book fall in this category. There is not one but two last stands in this book. And I enjoyed it even more than the Two Week Curse's Last Stand, which I was not expecting.
Conclusion
A lot more can be said about this book. But I think the only thing that I should say now is, go and read it.
December 8, 2020
So I am writing this book 89% in and I will start with my more critical points. That is not to say I did not enjoy the book. Some spoilers
My first point is the main characters obsession with constantly describing the female characters appearances. This is not done to the male characters and honestly it becomes annoying after the first few times. I can accept if its meant as a part of the character but its still outside the intimate parts and with every major female character. The exception would be the scientist.
The same is with Guba. We know she is meant to be perceived as ugly by the writer but instead of doing it once or twice, its almost in every interaction with the MC and it becomes annoying. Most of it is written almost as a joke and I guess the joke just doesn't work with me.
The best way to counteract this would just be to cut down on it, the female characters does not need to have their appearance always commented upon even if the MC is horny.
There is one "crossdresser" joke made by an AI that seemed very out of place and questionable. I also wonder why an VI would find human behaviour like that "funny".
This together with some parts being a bit cumbersome and the story ending on a damsel in distress situation (though I am not fully done yet so its not sure) makes for the reason I leave my review at three. I write less about the prose because I have less direct examples but I think it could use a touch up with some more flowing language. At times it feels slow and a bit stale.
But now for the good, whilst short I did really enjoy the book.
Despite my complaints I was dragged to this book being a big fan of the RTS genre and city building with complex supply chains and honestly I love it for that fact. It makes it a book worth reading for people that like litrpgs and want to have basebuilding and an RTSish setting.
I am probably going to try the rest of the books, sure maybe a bit power fantasyesque but its enjoyable and doable. I would at least give it a try. I hope the author take the feedback to heart and it gets even better because it really deserves to be good. I can also appreciate the time and effort put into this work.
My first point is the main characters obsession with constantly describing the female characters appearances. This is not done to the male characters and honestly it becomes annoying after the first few times. I can accept if its meant as a part of the character but its still outside the intimate parts and with every major female character. The exception would be the scientist.
The same is with Guba. We know she is meant to be perceived as ugly by the writer but instead of doing it once or twice, its almost in every interaction with the MC and it becomes annoying. Most of it is written almost as a joke and I guess the joke just doesn't work with me.
The best way to counteract this would just be to cut down on it, the female characters does not need to have their appearance always commented upon even if the MC is horny.
There is one "crossdresser" joke made by an AI that seemed very out of place and questionable. I also wonder why an VI would find human behaviour like that "funny".
This together with some parts being a bit cumbersome and the story ending on a damsel in distress situation (though I am not fully done yet so its not sure) makes for the reason I leave my review at three. I write less about the prose because I have less direct examples but I think it could use a touch up with some more flowing language. At times it feels slow and a bit stale.
But now for the good, whilst short I did really enjoy the book.
Despite my complaints I was dragged to this book being a big fan of the RTS genre and city building with complex supply chains and honestly I love it for that fact. It makes it a book worth reading for people that like litrpgs and want to have basebuilding and an RTSish setting.
I am probably going to try the rest of the books, sure maybe a bit power fantasyesque but its enjoyable and doable. I would at least give it a try. I hope the author take the feedback to heart and it gets even better because it really deserves to be good. I can also appreciate the time and effort put into this work.
November 3, 2018
* * *
3 / 5
~mini review~
This book was an absolute TOME. This is a long ol' read. But it's one with a very interesting LitRPG premise and it has a fantastic start: Oren is the leader of a guild. The Manapulators are well-established, the gold is flowing, and ranks are rebelling against his leadership. Oren's number one uses a rare item to transform Oren into a random monster race - in this case, a goblin - and since no player has been able to play as a monster before due to a set of restrictions, he expects that Oren will delete his character.
Oren is a stubborn ol' git. He decides that he is going to keep his new green-skinned character and deny his old friend access to his "Prime" abilities, and play despite the weird set of restrictions placed on his goblin. Goblins are NPCs, not meant to be controlled by players, and Oren is classified as a monster. This gives him access to a new set of abilities and skills, but also comes with the unfortunate outcome of being trapped in the game. Ooops.
What follows is Oren's rise to power as the head of a lowly troop of goblin NPCs. It's a great premise and is an original storyline in a genre saturated by similar plots. But after the mutiny and the trapped-in-the-game malarkey, Life Reset is, at it's heart, like watching someone play a strategy game. Oren spends hundreds of pages balancing the income and output of his settlement - does he have enough resources to build a smithy? No because he needs to build a lumber mill but he can't do that because he doesn't have an advanced builder and to do that he needs to hunt ten deer and to do that .... you get the idea.
There's some great elements to this book, including Vic, Oren's NPC companion, and the NPC goblins of Oren's settlement really start to shine. But Life Reset also has some proper weird aspects, including Oren's bizarre romance with a NPC goblin who never really says much.
Read more of my reviews on my blog: http://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.com
3 / 5
~mini review~
This book was an absolute TOME. This is a long ol' read. But it's one with a very interesting LitRPG premise and it has a fantastic start: Oren is the leader of a guild. The Manapulators are well-established, the gold is flowing, and ranks are rebelling against his leadership. Oren's number one uses a rare item to transform Oren into a random monster race - in this case, a goblin - and since no player has been able to play as a monster before due to a set of restrictions, he expects that Oren will delete his character.
Oren is a stubborn ol' git. He decides that he is going to keep his new green-skinned character and deny his old friend access to his "Prime" abilities, and play despite the weird set of restrictions placed on his goblin. Goblins are NPCs, not meant to be controlled by players, and Oren is classified as a monster. This gives him access to a new set of abilities and skills, but also comes with the unfortunate outcome of being trapped in the game. Ooops.
What follows is Oren's rise to power as the head of a lowly troop of goblin NPCs. It's a great premise and is an original storyline in a genre saturated by similar plots. But after the mutiny and the trapped-in-the-game malarkey, Life Reset is, at it's heart, like watching someone play a strategy game. Oren spends hundreds of pages balancing the income and output of his settlement - does he have enough resources to build a smithy? No because he needs to build a lumber mill but he can't do that because he doesn't have an advanced builder and to do that he needs to hunt ten deer and to do that .... you get the idea.
There's some great elements to this book, including Vic, Oren's NPC companion, and the NPC goblins of Oren's settlement really start to shine. But Life Reset also has some proper weird aspects, including Oren's bizarre romance with a NPC goblin who never really says much.
Read more of my reviews on my blog: http://atlasrisingbooks.wordpress.com
August 10, 2017
Fun LitRPG
I've been following the draft for a while and the author has definitely edited this better than most in the sub-genre. The plot is good and I enjoy the base building the character goes through. There are a few misses on the editing including one question to his beta readers that should have been removed before publication, but overall a great first effort by a new author. He will probably never be a Tolstoy but I look forward to continuing the story. 5* for the genre. Probably 3-4 for those who aren't familiar with it. For those with kids, there is some sexuality of the fade-to-black type and there is one especially brutal scene where he is captured and tortured by the villain. Not excessively descriptive but definitely intense.
I've been following the draft for a while and the author has definitely edited this better than most in the sub-genre. The plot is good and I enjoy the base building the character goes through. There are a few misses on the editing including one question to his beta readers that should have been removed before publication, but overall a great first effort by a new author. He will probably never be a Tolstoy but I look forward to continuing the story. 5* for the genre. Probably 3-4 for those who aren't familiar with it. For those with kids, there is some sexuality of the fade-to-black type and there is one especially brutal scene where he is captured and tortured by the villain. Not excessively descriptive but definitely intense.
August 22, 2019
Großer Spaß für Zocker
...aber vermutlich irritierend für jeden der noch nie ein online RPG gespielt hat. Die Sequenzen in denen Stats und Punktesystem aufgezählt werden sind relativ häufig, da essentiell für diese Art Geschichte. Ich hatte jedenfalls sehr viel Spaß damit, ich kann und werde es weiter empfehlen
...aber vermutlich irritierend für jeden der noch nie ein online RPG gespielt hat. Die Sequenzen in denen Stats und Punktesystem aufgezählt werden sind relativ häufig, da essentiell für diese Art Geschichte. Ich hatte jedenfalls sehr viel Spaß damit, ich kann und werde es weiter empfehlen
October 28, 2021
I'm not a huge fan of the trapped in a video game archetype. This series is an exception for me. I love how the author managed to make the stakes matter. The inner turmoil the MC has over his attraction to a female goblin is hilarious to me and the gruelling mental punishment the MC faces engaging the entire way through.
The series is completed. Like many, I feel like the last novel was rushed, but it still makes my top 5.
The series is completed. Like many, I feel like the last novel was rushed, but it still makes my top 5.
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