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Endless Online #1
Oblivion's Blade
Val had returned from his latest tour of duty scarred in body and soul. Barely able to walk and drugged to the gills for pain, he thought his killing days were finally behind him.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Endless Online, a hyper futuristic game where players could truly live another life.
Val loved the idea of starting over in virtual reality. But when someone he cares about turns up missing after chasing that same dream, Val quickly learns that Endless is no simple game.
And if Val can't figure out the dark secrets behind this realm of wizards, warriors, and intergalactic conquest, then it's game over. For everyone.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Endless Online, a hyper futuristic game where players could truly live another life.
Val loved the idea of starting over in virtual reality. But when someone he cares about turns up missing after chasing that same dream, Val quickly learns that Endless is no simple game.
And if Val can't figure out the dark secrets behind this realm of wizards, warriors, and intergalactic conquest, then it's game over. For everyone.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2018
1129 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
May 15, 2018
Really cool concepts hampered by technical issues and character.
1) a lot of spelling and grammar errors, but nothing a proofread couldn't fix
2) Strange narrative structure. Takes 30% of the book to get into the meat of the story and then around 60% of the way through there's an extended flashback that just ruins all of the tension of the book up to that point.
3) Character dialog was often bizarre. The way they talked and reacted just struck me as strange more often than not.
1) a lot of spelling and grammar errors, but nothing a proofread couldn't fix
2) Strange narrative structure. Takes 30% of the book to get into the meat of the story and then around 60% of the way through there's an extended flashback that just ruins all of the tension of the book up to that point.
3) Character dialog was often bizarre. The way they talked and reacted just struck me as strange more often than not.
May 27, 2022
This was an interesting LitRPG that took place in a VR world that was a bit Star Wars in feel in the way it blended aspects of sci-fi and fantasy genres together. It was a flawed story but one that did manage to hold my attention.
The premise was good. Val Hunter was a 20 year old war veteran who spent most of his time video gaming while recovering from horrific leg wounds he suffered while in the army. He jumped at the chance to play a fully immersive new experimental VR game that promised him a release from pain. Unfortunately the game was more real that advertised and Val and some friends soon found themselves caught up in a world of trouble!
The story was actually quite good. M.H.Johnson even avoided two big pitfalls suffered by most LitRPG. He made the game actions mean something (via a fun twist) and he established a strong non-VR world where we got to get a real feel of the characters and the story. I felt those were both done very well.
Now for the negatives. This is pretty typical male power fantasy and comes with all the hints of misogyny one might expect. It also suffered from what I like to call “Goodkind Morality Syndrome”. Any reader of Sword of Truth will know what I mean by that. The author and main character have some weird ideas on morality and “good guy” behaviour. The hint of misogyny and the Goodkind morality definitely both hurt my enjoyment of the story.
All in all this ended up being an OK read. Some very good elements and some less than ideal elements cancelling each other out. I’ll read the next one.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Note: This was narrated by Wayne Mitchell who did an OK job with the audio. He got support from Lisa Aust for the female dialogue. I thought that worked quite well for the audio production.
The premise was good. Val Hunter was a 20 year old war veteran who spent most of his time video gaming while recovering from horrific leg wounds he suffered while in the army. He jumped at the chance to play a fully immersive new experimental VR game that promised him a release from pain. Unfortunately the game was more real that advertised and Val and some friends soon found themselves caught up in a world of trouble!
The story was actually quite good. M.H.Johnson even avoided two big pitfalls suffered by most LitRPG. He made the game actions mean something (via a fun twist) and he established a strong non-VR world where we got to get a real feel of the characters and the story. I felt those were both done very well.
Now for the negatives. This is pretty typical male power fantasy and comes with all the hints of misogyny one might expect. It also suffered from what I like to call “Goodkind Morality Syndrome”. Any reader of Sword of Truth will know what I mean by that. The author and main character have some weird ideas on morality and “good guy” behaviour. The hint of misogyny and the Goodkind morality definitely both hurt my enjoyment of the story.
All in all this ended up being an OK read. Some very good elements and some less than ideal elements cancelling each other out. I’ll read the next one.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Note: This was narrated by Wayne Mitchell who did an OK job with the audio. He got support from Lisa Aust for the female dialogue. I thought that worked quite well for the audio production.
March 16, 2019
Started out so good!
Then around book 3 or 4 the series became utter crap. The series didnt have any of the normal garbage in it that plagues litrpg right now until then...and then it had it in spades. The latter books in the series going to a stupid harem porn format, where the main character falls in love with every girl he meets and turns them all into his harem. The women all become lesbians and bisexual so that 13 porn fantasies can run rampant throughout the books. What started out as a good romance subplot that culminated after a few books became dollar store harem porn in later books.
I strongly recommend not wasting your time on this series. The story in latter books become just excuse after excuse to screw every woman he comes across...and they are all the most beautiful sex goddesses that have no problem with him having as many partners as he wants because, of course they are lesbians or bisexual and they want to screw everyone he does as well!
How utterly degrading to women, marriage, and real love. I'm so disappointed the author chose to take his story in such an utterly worthless direction that I will read nothing else he writes.
Then around book 3 or 4 the series became utter crap. The series didnt have any of the normal garbage in it that plagues litrpg right now until then...and then it had it in spades. The latter books in the series going to a stupid harem porn format, where the main character falls in love with every girl he meets and turns them all into his harem. The women all become lesbians and bisexual so that 13 porn fantasies can run rampant throughout the books. What started out as a good romance subplot that culminated after a few books became dollar store harem porn in later books.
I strongly recommend not wasting your time on this series. The story in latter books become just excuse after excuse to screw every woman he comes across...and they are all the most beautiful sex goddesses that have no problem with him having as many partners as he wants because, of course they are lesbians or bisexual and they want to screw everyone he does as well!
How utterly degrading to women, marriage, and real love. I'm so disappointed the author chose to take his story in such an utterly worthless direction that I will read nothing else he writes.
February 24, 2019
Dark and depressing
The general tone of this book is depressing. The main character is a special forces vet that was badly injured dealing with constant pain and loss of mobility. He immerses himself in online gaming and through a series of events is asked to try a game so cutting edge you can't distinguish the game from reality.
SPOILER ALERT
This is where this book diverges from most litrpg books. In this version the game is actually a new world. Not a computer simulation. Where magic and technology coexist. Which would be interesting but the people the main character interacts with assume hes from some kind of simulation. That he in fact is not real. So, the whole simulation theory concept comes up and they reference The Matrix. It becomes very predictable after that. The main character "Val" short for Valor is wildly inconsistent. In one moment he is decisive and preternatural in his ability to sniff out danger. In the next he's isolated, alone, unsure of himself and makes bad decisions based on emotions. Add into that a dead junkie ex girlfriend who he decided to avenge by committing murder and you can see why I didn't like this book. I could go on but it would get repetitive. It's too bag really I was looking forward to a new twist on the litrpg genre.
The general tone of this book is depressing. The main character is a special forces vet that was badly injured dealing with constant pain and loss of mobility. He immerses himself in online gaming and through a series of events is asked to try a game so cutting edge you can't distinguish the game from reality.
SPOILER ALERT
This is where this book diverges from most litrpg books. In this version the game is actually a new world. Not a computer simulation. Where magic and technology coexist. Which would be interesting but the people the main character interacts with assume hes from some kind of simulation. That he in fact is not real. So, the whole simulation theory concept comes up and they reference The Matrix. It becomes very predictable after that. The main character "Val" short for Valor is wildly inconsistent. In one moment he is decisive and preternatural in his ability to sniff out danger. In the next he's isolated, alone, unsure of himself and makes bad decisions based on emotions. Add into that a dead junkie ex girlfriend who he decided to avenge by committing murder and you can see why I didn't like this book. I could go on but it would get repetitive. It's too bag really I was looking forward to a new twist on the litrpg genre.
October 18, 2021
This series seems promising, and Val's a good kid.
January 17, 2020
Mini-Review:
3 Stars for Audiobook - Narrators are good.
3.5 Stars for Concepts
2 Stars for Uneven Execution
The story was very rough and I can't imagine trying to read the print. Even with good narration, but I never got to a point where I enjoyed the characters or plot. There's potential but see-saw execution made the story unappealing. I felt like I was reading an in depth brainstorm of ideas. The book needs more edits & overhauls to make it come across as the story intended vs what it is now.
3 Stars for Audiobook - Narrators are good.
3.5 Stars for Concepts
2 Stars for Uneven Execution
The story was very rough and I can't imagine trying to read the print. Even with good narration, but I never got to a point where I enjoyed the characters or plot. There's potential but see-saw execution made the story unappealing. I felt like I was reading an in depth brainstorm of ideas. The book needs more edits & overhauls to make it come across as the story intended vs what it is now.
June 5, 2018
Superfluous
This book could be cut down by two-thirds if the author stopped trying to make every sentence an ode to flowery speech.
Add to this all of the "somehow's" the main character achieved his goals makes this book a chore to read. 96 times the word 'somehow' was used in this book.
This book could be cut down by two-thirds if the author stopped trying to make every sentence an ode to flowery speech.
Add to this all of the "somehow's" the main character achieved his goals makes this book a chore to read. 96 times the word 'somehow' was used in this book.
June 13, 2020
I want to start with a warning, this isn't a full story, it's part 1 of a story, and I hope book 2 is the conclusion.
what did I like?
I love the worldbuilding; both that of the Endless online world and that of Val's 'real world'. I love the small details dropped here and there differencing his real-world from mine. and how almost all the worldbuilding for Endless online is done through people talking about it, instead of Val experiencing it.
I love that when Val is dropped in the world of Endless online, it feels like he's out of his depth, instead of having landed in the tutorial stage.
I like the conceit of the RPG elements, even if at times some of them feel arbitrary, and is the 'system voice' has for too much personality. I expect in the book itself it isn't too bad, but in the audiobook the narrator takes is over the top.
What didn't I like.
For as much as I enjoyed the Real World, there's too much of it. all we needed was two chapters, maybe three to set up who Val was, what he had suffered, and what he needed. then we could have jumped into the adventure.
There are far too many recaps. multiple times in the story Val goes over what happened to get him there, even though we've read it, and it was already recapped before that.
the book needs a story editor, continuity is broken in a few places, and at least one chapter is entirely irrelevant to the story.
in the end, this is an interesting story that could be much better with the help of a good editor.
what did I like?
I love the worldbuilding; both that of the Endless online world and that of Val's 'real world'. I love the small details dropped here and there differencing his real-world from mine. and how almost all the worldbuilding for Endless online is done through people talking about it, instead of Val experiencing it.
I love that when Val is dropped in the world of Endless online, it feels like he's out of his depth, instead of having landed in the tutorial stage.
I like the conceit of the RPG elements, even if at times some of them feel arbitrary, and is the 'system voice' has for too much personality. I expect in the book itself it isn't too bad, but in the audiobook the narrator takes is over the top.
What didn't I like.
For as much as I enjoyed the Real World, there's too much of it. all we needed was two chapters, maybe three to set up who Val was, what he had suffered, and what he needed. then we could have jumped into the adventure.
There are far too many recaps. multiple times in the story Val goes over what happened to get him there, even though we've read it, and it was already recapped before that.
the book needs a story editor, continuity is broken in a few places, and at least one chapter is entirely irrelevant to the story.
in the end, this is an interesting story that could be much better with the help of a good editor.
September 2, 2018
So, this was an interesting story. The MC is a disabled war vet that just happens to be proficient in swords and the like. Suffers from severe PTSD as well as physical damage and despite all of this gets selected for an op to go find a friends missing daughter. Due to this, he ends up in a different multiverse where you can level up.
With all that said, the beginning of this book is extremely wordy. Almost too much though, later on when the action starts it's a boon. The world has not really been fleshed out, but the area where the MC is, has a lot of history that both the MC and the party he's with seems to uncover. The characters all seem to have something dark and tragic that's happened to them that binds them all together. The longer you read, the more you find out about each and it's quite interesting the longer you go. I've just picked up book two because the book definitely goes out with a bang.
With all that said, the beginning of this book is extremely wordy. Almost too much though, later on when the action starts it's a boon. The world has not really been fleshed out, but the area where the MC is, has a lot of history that both the MC and the party he's with seems to uncover. The characters all seem to have something dark and tragic that's happened to them that binds them all together. The longer you read, the more you find out about each and it's quite interesting the longer you go. I've just picked up book two because the book definitely goes out with a bang.
June 14, 2018
Ehh
I almost stopped reading a few times. The author has obviously never been in or around the military and it shows every time his MC who was military starts talking about the military.
I almost stopped reading a few times. The author has obviously never been in or around the military and it shows every time his MC who was military starts talking about the military.
October 25, 2020
I was really enjoying the story for a long time. There were some weird flowery sections and ramblings, but the story was good enough that I was willing to forgive those. (There is a really long flashback scene that happens in a weird spot that should have only taken a page to write.) Then closer to the end the main character did a couple of stupid things. I thought that he was going for redemption, but ended up showing the blackest of hearts. It just made me feel a bit sick.
If you are okay with the darkness and the main character's lack of sincerity with women, you may enjoy it. Just don't expect a happy story.
If you are okay with the darkness and the main character's lack of sincerity with women, you may enjoy it. Just don't expect a happy story.
December 17, 2020
Started strong
But then the MC kept...being defined as an ubermensch. Forget the war wounds; his father was a Colonel, MC was Special Forces, MC used to wrestle, oh now he also used to work with swords, oh numerous and specific swords, and he’s smart, and intuitive, and has quick reflexes...it just kept going. All in a 20yr old.
Then he is (finally) in the ‘game’. And he starts learning ‘skills’. A dozen skills in the space of a chapter or two. All without any real structure as to how the world works.
Halfway through and I don’t really know how anything works.
I’m going to dive back in, but I am less than impressed.
But then the MC kept...being defined as an ubermensch. Forget the war wounds; his father was a Colonel, MC was Special Forces, MC used to wrestle, oh now he also used to work with swords, oh numerous and specific swords, and he’s smart, and intuitive, and has quick reflexes...it just kept going. All in a 20yr old.
Then he is (finally) in the ‘game’. And he starts learning ‘skills’. A dozen skills in the space of a chapter or two. All without any real structure as to how the world works.
Halfway through and I don’t really know how anything works.
I’m going to dive back in, but I am less than impressed.
August 24, 2019
To be honest, I'm completely certain the author just likes to wax poetic. The concept is really cool and the world has a great deal of potential but the author explains very little about the world. No world building so no actual background but what you do get is 'endless soul shattering descriptions of the very essence of the wounded hero desperately engaging in the vast infinity of the maw of reality with a soul made of ice so frigid it could only burn.' That said almost nothing but so did most of the book. it gets very tiring very fast when everything is at an 11 out of 5.
November 23, 2021
Book one
I did find a few errors and the flash backs mid action was annoying, but it's a good story with a neat twist on litrpg.
I didn't really like all the PTSD stuff. Mainly because of the fact that so many people suffer through it and I feel helpless to help them.
So we have an overpowered MC with PTSD. Neat concept, however as the story goes on the ptsd seems to fade from the story.
I recommend this book. I found it interesting.
I did find a few errors and the flash backs mid action was annoying, but it's a good story with a neat twist on litrpg.
I didn't really like all the PTSD stuff. Mainly because of the fact that so many people suffer through it and I feel helpless to help them.
So we have an overpowered MC with PTSD. Neat concept, however as the story goes on the ptsd seems to fade from the story.
I recommend this book. I found it interesting.
August 4, 2022
Very convoluted and confusing beginning/volume/isekai-fantasy-alternate-reality-game. A new VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game), turns out to be a "mind-portation" (because they leave their body behind), to another world where game company "exploits other world", "exploits the gamers - as serfs", and yet, Val Hunter, military vet, physically disabled on duty, kills 4 mercenaries when discovers that the "gamer contract" is really a "enslavement contract" and yet, after all this conflict and reasons to go home, gets convinced to go into the "Endless Online Game". So contradictory and anti-climactic. Having a hundred reasons not to "sign-in/sign-up" to the game and just one, maybe two to go into, and ends up entering the game "anyways"... Of course, if main character "Val", would not have entered the game, there would not be a story or book, but then why make it "impossible" to join such a terrible/horrible/evil game company and game? It's like "burning your bridges" at an impossible (extra-difficult) level.
With 5+ volumes already published, and on average 300+ pages per volume, with 18 chapters on average, each chapter has 15-20 pages a chapter, and most of it is spent on extensive dialogues. This author likes his characters to talk. It would have been better to balance the dialogues, to improve the descriptions and depth of the characters, increasing the depth of the world and surroundings, so that this idea and story would be better balanced...
Is it contradictory to place a "traumatic flashback" while "plugged into the game"? Why would the author place a traumatic experience about an old girlfriend at the 70% of the volume? Usually flashbacks are used in the beginning of a story to explain background information needed to understand what is going on, who would place a flashback at the "almost" end of the first volume?
Like I have written already, I think the author needs to get his stories organized, reduce 50% of the dialogues, write character descriptions (physical and emotional characteristics), world and surroundings descriptions to balance this weird, convoluted and confusing isekai-fantasy-game-like novel book.
With 5+ volumes already published, and on average 300+ pages per volume, with 18 chapters on average, each chapter has 15-20 pages a chapter, and most of it is spent on extensive dialogues. This author likes his characters to talk. It would have been better to balance the dialogues, to improve the descriptions and depth of the characters, increasing the depth of the world and surroundings, so that this idea and story would be better balanced...
Is it contradictory to place a "traumatic flashback" while "plugged into the game"? Why would the author place a traumatic experience about an old girlfriend at the 70% of the volume? Usually flashbacks are used in the beginning of a story to explain background information needed to understand what is going on, who would place a flashback at the "almost" end of the first volume?
Like I have written already, I think the author needs to get his stories organized, reduce 50% of the dialogues, write character descriptions (physical and emotional characteristics), world and surroundings descriptions to balance this weird, convoluted and confusing isekai-fantasy-game-like novel book.
June 26, 2018
A lot of rehash, with some good new things
Abnormally socialized nerds becoming the norm. Disabled military vet getting sucked into virtual online gaming a standard trope in LitRPG. The amazingly hot gamer chick in every gamer group, no SOP.
Kinda corny but I like - the main protagonist's name is Val, as in Valor, last name Hunter. Not his character name, his real name. I guess explained by his dad being a honorable guy.
The LitRPG aspects are subdued, and not really explained yet. There is no feeling of rules or expectations yet, just random discovery and no planned advancement.
The realistic immersive game turning out to (apparently) be actual reality in an alternate universe is cool. Hadn't seen that before. And the magic, psionics, and technology all being advanced and possible but interacting in bad ways is interesting, and very ambitious.
The book takes long segues into explaining backstory, even in the midst of action. It has the classic fault of this genre, where the main character seems to level after every combat and is growing in power and fighting ueber monsters within a day or two of "character creation". He is "too special" in too many ways.
Wish there would have been some parallel tracking of what was going on back on Earth, given that he was reporting back. Did those reports go into a black hole? Was his dad and Julia's father working feverishly to figure things out? Did the calvary get there, but just a bit too late? Lots of unanswered questions. Maybe in book 2. Will find out soon enough.
Abnormally socialized nerds becoming the norm. Disabled military vet getting sucked into virtual online gaming a standard trope in LitRPG. The amazingly hot gamer chick in every gamer group, no SOP.
Kinda corny but I like - the main protagonist's name is Val, as in Valor, last name Hunter. Not his character name, his real name. I guess explained by his dad being a honorable guy.
The LitRPG aspects are subdued, and not really explained yet. There is no feeling of rules or expectations yet, just random discovery and no planned advancement.
The realistic immersive game turning out to (apparently) be actual reality in an alternate universe is cool. Hadn't seen that before. And the magic, psionics, and technology all being advanced and possible but interacting in bad ways is interesting, and very ambitious.
The book takes long segues into explaining backstory, even in the midst of action. It has the classic fault of this genre, where the main character seems to level after every combat and is growing in power and fighting ueber monsters within a day or two of "character creation". He is "too special" in too many ways.
Wish there would have been some parallel tracking of what was going on back on Earth, given that he was reporting back. Did those reports go into a black hole? Was his dad and Julia's father working feverishly to figure things out? Did the calvary get there, but just a bit too late? Lots of unanswered questions. Maybe in book 2. Will find out soon enough.
June 7, 2018
Wild concept in need of proofreader.
I had a hard time rating this book between 3 and 4 stars. I'm going to start with the negatives. The author seemed to be going for a poetic writing style but honestly it just muddled everything that was going on. I struggled sometimes to figure out what the charcters were trying to even say to each other. I don't mind a poetic writing style when it's done well but unfortunately this missed the mark. It also needed, desperately, a proofreader or two. Random words that didn't belong in a sentence and words spelled incorrectly. It made reading the book, with it's poetic language, even more difficult to read. It threw me out of the story quite often and into a "wait....what??....what is this supposed to say" moment. It got a lot better once I was about 3/4 through the book though. Now, on to the positives. The concept of this book is wild. Dimensions, magic, physics/mathmatics, machines, spirits, fantasy, and sci-fi; it's a weird amalgamation of a bunch of different genres/ ideas and it worked somehow. I didn't really connect with the MC Valor but the overall story was interesting enough to hold my attention. Also, the world building is complex and well done. I will be reading the next book but I hope it will have gone through a proof reading.
I had a hard time rating this book between 3 and 4 stars. I'm going to start with the negatives. The author seemed to be going for a poetic writing style but honestly it just muddled everything that was going on. I struggled sometimes to figure out what the charcters were trying to even say to each other. I don't mind a poetic writing style when it's done well but unfortunately this missed the mark. It also needed, desperately, a proofreader or two. Random words that didn't belong in a sentence and words spelled incorrectly. It made reading the book, with it's poetic language, even more difficult to read. It threw me out of the story quite often and into a "wait....what??....what is this supposed to say" moment. It got a lot better once I was about 3/4 through the book though. Now, on to the positives. The concept of this book is wild. Dimensions, magic, physics/mathmatics, machines, spirits, fantasy, and sci-fi; it's a weird amalgamation of a bunch of different genres/ ideas and it worked somehow. I didn't really connect with the MC Valor but the overall story was interesting enough to hold my attention. Also, the world building is complex and well done. I will be reading the next book but I hope it will have gone through a proof reading.
May 14, 2018
Fantastic!
An incredible combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy, with a strong nod to the LitRPG sub genre, this story is a great homage to the works of writing luminaries like Ted Sturgeon, Andre Norton, or Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Nobody combined genres as fluidly as golden age writers, when genres were still as mutable as taffy. After that genres became pretty inflexible, even as seen in stories today.
How delightful then to find a LitRPG book that wasn’t so fixed, using characterization, word play, action, and world mechanics that are all blissfully golden age in style.
Yes, there are a few rough patches: homonym editing, for one, and very heavy character building, for another, but these are mitigated. The editing issues are few, and eventually disappear. The heavy character intro/exposition has payoff later, especially in book #2.
Overall though this is an excellent book, and the second book is even better. (So read both.) As I write this book three hasn’t come out yet, but I shall be reading it when it does.
Highly recommended.
An incredible combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy, with a strong nod to the LitRPG sub genre, this story is a great homage to the works of writing luminaries like Ted Sturgeon, Andre Norton, or Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Nobody combined genres as fluidly as golden age writers, when genres were still as mutable as taffy. After that genres became pretty inflexible, even as seen in stories today.
How delightful then to find a LitRPG book that wasn’t so fixed, using characterization, word play, action, and world mechanics that are all blissfully golden age in style.
Yes, there are a few rough patches: homonym editing, for one, and very heavy character building, for another, but these are mitigated. The editing issues are few, and eventually disappear. The heavy character intro/exposition has payoff later, especially in book #2.
Overall though this is an excellent book, and the second book is even better. (So read both.) As I write this book three hasn’t come out yet, but I shall be reading it when it does.
Highly recommended.
July 2, 2018
More GameLit than LitRPG
This is a really good story. The author has an innate grasp of character and pacing that is impossible to ignore.
That said, this book is labeled and marketed as LitRPG, the first act of the story is even spent setting you up to believe that it will be just that, but then it makes a huge leap into becoming a parallel universe GameLit story.
The difference lies in whether the MC is experiencing an actual MMORPG no matter how real seeming, or if he is experiencing a real world that has elements that would be found in an RPG. This is most definitely the latter.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this book (aside from a minor need for a copy editor) or with GameLit in general, I just felt thrown by the sudden shift when expectation and setup gave way to reality. It was a massively uncomfortable period of dissonance that may have been entirely intentional (and if it was, it was brilliantly done) to mirror the MC's dissonance. I just feel it important for people to be aware that it is coming.
This is a really good story. The author has an innate grasp of character and pacing that is impossible to ignore.
That said, this book is labeled and marketed as LitRPG, the first act of the story is even spent setting you up to believe that it will be just that, but then it makes a huge leap into becoming a parallel universe GameLit story.
The difference lies in whether the MC is experiencing an actual MMORPG no matter how real seeming, or if he is experiencing a real world that has elements that would be found in an RPG. This is most definitely the latter.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this book (aside from a minor need for a copy editor) or with GameLit in general, I just felt thrown by the sudden shift when expectation and setup gave way to reality. It was a massively uncomfortable period of dissonance that may have been entirely intentional (and if it was, it was brilliantly done) to mirror the MC's dissonance. I just feel it important for people to be aware that it is coming.
December 15, 2020
While it starts off a tad rough, taking awhile to get started it does slowly start to build up. This is a book and series that you have to know you want to read it to read it. If you're hoping to be hook at the first 50 pages, probably won't. Though once the first big event happens after all the set up and character backstory growing to know the MC it takes off from there.
Once he enters the 'game' and starts on his path the rest of the series gets better and better. It does have a bit of a Harem men can have tons of wives but women only can have one man type thing going on that is annoying but that for me is the only complaint. Beyond that is fun, at points comedical , great banter, awesome actions, a great magic type system and awesome technology.
It also doesn't drag on and on, it reaches climaxes and goes onto new parts fairly often in the series, reaching the over all main build up by book 5. I'd recommend this series to anyone who wants a bit of a RPG sci-fi magic mix series.
Once he enters the 'game' and starts on his path the rest of the series gets better and better. It does have a bit of a Harem men can have tons of wives but women only can have one man type thing going on that is annoying but that for me is the only complaint. Beyond that is fun, at points comedical , great banter, awesome actions, a great magic type system and awesome technology.
It also doesn't drag on and on, it reaches climaxes and goes onto new parts fairly often in the series, reaching the over all main build up by book 5. I'd recommend this series to anyone who wants a bit of a RPG sci-fi magic mix series.
June 2, 2018
Upping the LitRPG genre's game
I enjoy most books in this genre as short(er) episodic, brief dips into a fantastical setting. Small bites of literary goodness, in terms of story, complexity and depth, and that was just fine by me, as I read quickly and would simply move on to the next. Comparatively, this book is to the vast majority of this genre (that I have read, anyway) as a five course meal is to a #1 at the nearest fast food place. I was wholly unprepared for this tale, my preconcieved notions regarding an entire literary genre redefined and my metaphorical bar has been raised accordingly. To avoid spoilers, I'll simply say this: give it a try. There's a lot more here than the description, title or even cover art implies. To be frank, it's an outstanding read, and now I'm going to stop reviewing so I can start reading the next one.
I enjoy most books in this genre as short(er) episodic, brief dips into a fantastical setting. Small bites of literary goodness, in terms of story, complexity and depth, and that was just fine by me, as I read quickly and would simply move on to the next. Comparatively, this book is to the vast majority of this genre (that I have read, anyway) as a five course meal is to a #1 at the nearest fast food place. I was wholly unprepared for this tale, my preconcieved notions regarding an entire literary genre redefined and my metaphorical bar has been raised accordingly. To avoid spoilers, I'll simply say this: give it a try. There's a lot more here than the description, title or even cover art implies. To be frank, it's an outstanding read, and now I'm going to stop reviewing so I can start reading the next one.
March 1, 2020
I have become enamored with the LitRPG books and this one is extremely clever. Valor Hunter is a fantastic character that is sure to especially please the more military minded.
Valor, a young scarred black ops soldier, is now retired and in pain and is now playing video games for some much needed social interaction. A new game comes out and a friend disappears. Val rushes in to save the day as best as he can, and ends up in a game.
He grows and saves the day in a marvelously complex new Universe.
5 stars for the amazing world building and in depth character creation. Oblivion's Blade gives the greatest representation of the "Arachnid Reaction". Meeting true aliens whose very minds and customs are so very different, that a gulf of humanity is forever present between them. I fantastic and unique take on the LitRPG concept!
Valor, a young scarred black ops soldier, is now retired and in pain and is now playing video games for some much needed social interaction. A new game comes out and a friend disappears. Val rushes in to save the day as best as he can, and ends up in a game.
He grows and saves the day in a marvelously complex new Universe.
5 stars for the amazing world building and in depth character creation. Oblivion's Blade gives the greatest representation of the "Arachnid Reaction". Meeting true aliens whose very minds and customs are so very different, that a gulf of humanity is forever present between them. I fantastic and unique take on the LitRPG concept!
January 22, 2019
I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The main character was interesting. The mystery of the missing girl was good. I was pretty hooked. Until he was transported to another world. Then he became overpowered and kinda boring. The side characters were also boring. The first half of the book seemed forgotten. Maybe if he ending the book with a to be continued it might have been better. Plus the flashbacks were in the way of the story. They would have been better with a chapter devoted to a flashback instead of in the middle of a chapter.
So I give the book 4 stars for keeping me interested and the first half of the book. I will try the next book and if it goes back to cover the early part of book 1 then I might be pleased.
So I give the book 4 stars for keeping me interested and the first half of the book. I will try the next book and if it goes back to cover the early part of book 1 then I might be pleased.
February 29, 2020
3.75 Stars
Despite the author's over-wrought language, I enjoyed this book enough to immediately start on the sequel.
This is not a polished story. You don't get exposition, action and character development smoothly woven into a seamless tapestry. Instead, there are distinct chunks that aim at each objective. I'm not saying it's bad, just that it's a little too obvious.
While Val is an obvious Mary-Sue, he's humble and sympathetic. Once again this is handled in a heavy-handed way by having the Gnome constantly belittle him, despite the mountain of evidence pointing to Val's worth.
I think Johnson will prove to be an author to watch, once he develops a greater level of subtlety and starts to trust his reader to "understand," without being hit over the head with the obvious.
Despite the author's over-wrought language, I enjoyed this book enough to immediately start on the sequel.
This is not a polished story. You don't get exposition, action and character development smoothly woven into a seamless tapestry. Instead, there are distinct chunks that aim at each objective. I'm not saying it's bad, just that it's a little too obvious.
While Val is an obvious Mary-Sue, he's humble and sympathetic. Once again this is handled in a heavy-handed way by having the Gnome constantly belittle him, despite the mountain of evidence pointing to Val's worth.
I think Johnson will prove to be an author to watch, once he develops a greater level of subtlety and starts to trust his reader to "understand," without being hit over the head with the obvious.
October 6, 2020
***Audible Review***
First of all Wayne Mitchell. Wow! He did an amazing job narrating this. Definitely one of my top 3 narrators. Right up there with Nick Podehl and Andrea Parseneau.
His pacing is amazing. Speeding up the story and really giving the voices so much more fire in the the high intensity moments. Then slowing it down and focusing during the moments that need more gravity.
Also, many narrators feel the need to give each side character their own completely separate accent. As if that’s the only way possible to differentiate each one. Wayne comes up with amazingly unique voices for each character that really capture their personality in ways that are surprising, but seem to mesh with the story seamlessly.
One drawback for me was how long it took the book to get out of the “starting setup”. Was about 30% of the way into the book before it really started to get going. While this part wasn’t boring it wasn’t exactly exhilarating either.
The main thing that I hated was the random, violent, unnerving, and uncomfortable flashback that happens. I don’t think it was helpful or necessary to the story in any way. How shocked it made me was more a testament to Wayne Mitchell’s narrating talent, than the skill of the author. I think the intent was to convey that the MC was capable of being ruthless. Just thought the way he went about it was far too graphic.
That being said I still enjoyed it. I have even purchased and listened to the sequels. Although I think the only reason it was enjoyable was because of Wayne Mitchell’s talent.
First of all Wayne Mitchell. Wow! He did an amazing job narrating this. Definitely one of my top 3 narrators. Right up there with Nick Podehl and Andrea Parseneau.
His pacing is amazing. Speeding up the story and really giving the voices so much more fire in the the high intensity moments. Then slowing it down and focusing during the moments that need more gravity.
Also, many narrators feel the need to give each side character their own completely separate accent. As if that’s the only way possible to differentiate each one. Wayne comes up with amazingly unique voices for each character that really capture their personality in ways that are surprising, but seem to mesh with the story seamlessly.
One drawback for me was how long it took the book to get out of the “starting setup”. Was about 30% of the way into the book before it really started to get going. While this part wasn’t boring it wasn’t exactly exhilarating either.
The main thing that I hated was the random, violent, unnerving, and uncomfortable flashback that happens. I don’t think it was helpful or necessary to the story in any way. How shocked it made me was more a testament to Wayne Mitchell’s narrating talent, than the skill of the author. I think the intent was to convey that the MC was capable of being ruthless. Just thought the way he went about it was far too graphic.
That being said I still enjoyed it. I have even purchased and listened to the sequels. Although I think the only reason it was enjoyable was because of Wayne Mitchell’s talent.
April 13, 2023
Val a veteran tries to find his MMoRPG teammate and ends somewhere else...
The story evolves in unexpected dimensions.
The MC meanders between super tough know everything and helpless.
Overall the story is good and the universe interesting.
BUT - there is a chapter in the middle of the book with some horrible self-justice story that is a) boring b) predictable c) stupid and also super not beliveable AND puts the MC in the light of being a super jerk. It gives nothing to the story but destroyes a lot of creditibility in that character.
The story evolves in unexpected dimensions.
The MC meanders between super tough know everything and helpless.
Overall the story is good and the universe interesting.
BUT - there is a chapter in the middle of the book with some horrible self-justice story that is a) boring b) predictable c) stupid and also super not beliveable AND puts the MC in the light of being a super jerk. It gives nothing to the story but destroyes a lot of creditibility in that character.
July 22, 2018
Ok not great
Ian Norris:I read the first page and had no idea what was going on. I am a HUGE fan of litRPG but this did not make the cut: here are some books that did: The Land , Awaken online Edens gate , Ascend online and viridian gate .im not saying that it's going to be horrible but not as good as other litRPG and ganelit book series it definitely has some character but it seems like a lot of fighting (thats great)but not a good amount of time spent focusing on character feelings and traits but I may be wrong because i kinda skimmed through the first chapter but still looks good not going to be horrible but not as good as other litRPG books😔
Ian Norris:I read the first page and had no idea what was going on. I am a HUGE fan of litRPG but this did not make the cut: here are some books that did: The Land , Awaken online Edens gate , Ascend online and viridian gate .im not saying that it's going to be horrible but not as good as other litRPG and ganelit book series it definitely has some character but it seems like a lot of fighting (thats great)but not a good amount of time spent focusing on character feelings and traits but I may be wrong because i kinda skimmed through the first chapter but still looks good not going to be horrible but not as good as other litRPG books😔
May 29, 2018
Fantastic Start To a New LitRPG Series!
I first read parts of this book on RRL and I’m super excited to see the author finally publishing this story on Amazon! This is an absolutely fantastic series with incredible depth to the MC... who he is as a person, his motivations, his flaws, and his growth that takes place throughout the novel are well worth diving into.
Also the world setup and game elements are quite unique and fun to read as well. I cannot recommend this book enough, to all the LitRPG fans out there... give this book a shot!
I first read parts of this book on RRL and I’m super excited to see the author finally publishing this story on Amazon! This is an absolutely fantastic series with incredible depth to the MC... who he is as a person, his motivations, his flaws, and his growth that takes place throughout the novel are well worth diving into.
Also the world setup and game elements are quite unique and fun to read as well. I cannot recommend this book enough, to all the LitRPG fans out there... give this book a shot!
September 16, 2018
I'm guessing this would qualify as portal fantasy - with the "game" world not appearing until a good 40% through the book. Val is a wounded vet, transported from Earth to elsewhere. He needs to live, and being your stereotypical hero, also needs to rescue the girl.
I found the interactions of Val with others to be very well written. Val does a tendency to shove his cranium into his rectum though - the parts of the book that are in his head really only need about 1/3 of the words used. But that's okay - overall, it's still an enjoyable read.
I found the interactions of Val with others to be very well written. Val does a tendency to shove his cranium into his rectum though - the parts of the book that are in his head really only need about 1/3 of the words used. But that's okay - overall, it's still an enjoyable read.
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