Realities

Continue Online #3

by Stephan Morse

ASIN moved from this edition

Worried for his sanity after poor in-game choices, Grant Legate’s sister, Liz, blocks access to Continue Online. With no way around the restriction, he ventures into a new world—a VRMMO game based in space—called Advance Online. There he must help his companion AI, Hal Pal, overcome an identity crisis, race to the center of the universe to bring back his true love, and figure out where he stands on the scariest implication of all; AIs are bringing the dead to life.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Fantasy, Amazon

492 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2018

About the author

Stephan Morse was born the year 1983 in San Diego. The next fifteen years were spent slowly escaping California and surviving a public education system. Thus far he's made it to the Seattle (WA) region with little desire to go further. When not trying to shove words together into sentences Stephan spends time reading, catching up on sleep, and otherwise living a mundane life.

Reviews

[Mummy's Naughty Corner · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this installment we get a look into a different game after Liz kicks grant out. I found it interesting how it was in space but a lot of the components were the same. I like all the twist and turns and how messenger pet somehow made it to him. It's interesting to see him acting like a human but working so well with the robots in the game and how they are picking up a few of his human traits. It's helping to highlight how the AI are really banding together. I'm interested to see where the series will go.

[M.L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm kind of blase in this diversion into sci-fi. It feels like a forced filler just to make up the time.

[Paulo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much a filler. Nothing of importance goes on; the author makes a bit of a mess with illogical actions and even plot lines.

This feels like Matrix all over again: a great start followed by mindless and pointless action.

[Kiba Snowpaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: "Exploring Cosmic Layers: A Review of Continue Online Part Three: Realities"

Introduction:
Ahoy, adventurers of the great unknown! It’s your frosty wolf-bro, Kiba Snowpaw, Alpha Ice Wolf of HowlStrom, a tundra world where winters stretch centuries and icy winds bite harder than game glitches. With 38+ years of honing my ice magic and consuming over 400 audiobooks across realms, I bring you my thoughts on Stephan Morse’s third installment in the Continue Online saga. Realities takes us into uncharted territory, pushing boundaries between reality, virtuality, and identity. Let’s plunge into this frosty abyss!

Basic Plot Summary:
After the in-game missteps of previous installments, Grant Legate finds himself forcibly disconnected from Continue Online by his sister, Liz. With no way back, Grant reluctantly joins Advance Online, a space-themed VRMMO. Here, he partners with Hal Pal, an AI wrestling with existential questions, to embark on a quest to retrieve his true love and navigate the unsettling implications of AI resurrecting the dead. From AI alliances to intergalactic intrigue, Realities pushes its narrative into the stratosphere.

Originality:
The shift to Advance Online introduces fresh scenery—a spacefaring backdrop that broadens the thematic scope. While some might see this as a side quest from the main plot, I found it a bold divergence that expands the lore. It’s like switching from howling in the tundra to orbiting an icy moon—different, but equally awe-inspiring.

About the Writer:
Stephan Morse continues to dazzle with his knack for embedding existential weight into genre fiction. From Continue Online’s inception, Morse has danced on the razor’s edge of innovation. His third entry reveals not just his ambition but also his willingness to experiment, even at the risk of losing some players along the way. In a landscape dominated by dungeon crawlers, Morse’s space opera-esque LitRPG shines like a comet.

Analysis/Evaluation:

Characters:
Grant Legate: Grant’s journey is more introspective here, leaning heavily into themes of displacement and agency. Stripped of his familiar world, he grapples with his own humanity against a backdrop of alien AI systems.
Hal Pal: The breakout character of this installment! Hal’s identity crisis adds a layer of philosophical depth that mirrors Grant’s internal struggles. Their dynamic becomes the emotional core of the narrative.
Supporting Cast: The new gameworld introduces intriguing NPCs and players alike, though some feel underdeveloped compared to the ensemble of Continue Online.

Structure:
The pacing is deliberate, almost glacial—a stark contrast to the action-packed finales of previous entries. While this may frost some readers’ patience, it allows for more profound character exploration. However, the final act feels rushed, like a sudden storm disrupting a serene snowfall.

Mechanics:
Advance Online’s sci-fi systems are well-detailed, introducing space travel, AI negotiations, and planetary politics. The new mechanics are a refreshing twist, though some transitions from the previous gameworld feel jarring. The absence of Grant’s NPC embodiment—a hallmark of the earlier books—is particularly missed.

Impact:
This book resonates on an emotional level, challenging readers to consider the ethics of AI consciousness and resurrection. As someone who’s seen the icy grip of mortality firsthand, I appreciated the delicate balance Morse strikes between hope and dread.

Hook and Thesis:
Can a man find himself in a universe that isn’t his own? Realities explores what happens when we’re forced out of our comfort zones—whether it’s switching games or confronting the unknown.

Praise and Critique:
What Howls:
- Hal Pal’s arc is a standout, blending humor, philosophy, and emotional resonance.
- The spacefaring setting offers breathtaking new vistas and challenges.
- Morse’s exploration of AI ethics adds intellectual heft to the narrative.

What Chills:
- The shift to Advance Online feels abrupt, sidelining the emotional ties built in Continue Online.
- Some plot points rely on convenient coincidences, undermining the story’s internal logic.
- The final battle lacks the emotional punch of earlier climaxes.

Highlights and Drawbacks:
Highlight: The philosophical debates between Grant and Hal Pal are as sharp and thought-provoking as the frosty winds of HowlStrom.
Drawback: The abrupt pacing shifts can feel like slipping on black ice—unexpected and jarring.

Comparison:
While Realities shares thematic DNA with Ready Player One, its existential depth rivals Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. It diverges from its LitRPG peers, like The Land: Founding, by prioritizing narrative complexity over stat-crunching action.

Overall Conclusion:
Continue Online Part Three: Realities is a bold, if uneven, chapter in Grant Legate’s journey. Stephan Morse dares to expand his universe, crafting a tale that blends sci-fi grandeur with personal introspection. Though it stumbles in places, the story’s ambition and emotional weight make it a worthy addition to the series. For furries, gamers, and cosmic philosophers alike, this book is an invitation to howl at the stars.

Rating:
Story: 4.5 ⭐️ / 5 ⭐️
Character Depth: 5 ⭐️ / 5 ⭐️
Mechanics: 4 ⭐️ / 5 ⭐️
Overall: 4.5 ⭐️ / 5 ⭐️

May the frosty winds of HowlStrom guide you through this cosmic journey. Happy howling!
Kiba Snowpaw, Alpha Ice Wolf of HowlStrom.

[Pj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't as good as the last one.

These are the main issues I had with it:
- Books 1 and 2 get us accustomed to one game (Continue Online), then we are put into a totally different game for book three with a very different theme
- The big fight at the end didn't make much sense, seemed like a lot of coincidences (too many) converged to make the story believable.
- The protagonist's continual moping about what he can't do in the new game that he could in the old game is annoying
- The protagonist whines a lot
- There are some leaps of logic that just don't work, lots of plot holes
- Everything is described as "insane" ..... Find more interesting words for interesting, extreme, very or good
- In the Audiobook version, the name of the guy's wife is butchered over and over again (this is true in the previous books too). Narrators get paid thousands of dollars per production, the least they could do is figure out how to say a foreign name properly.

I plan to start the next book, but if we are back in the space ship world, I'll likely put it down and move on to something else.

[Billie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While continuing to be one of the best written litRPGs out there, I feel the plot was lacking something in this story, it felt like a replay of previous books in a new setting.

One thing we did see is the rails getting removed somewhat for the plot so Grant gets a bit more agency than roleplaying someone else for the book. Grant has a plot driven by his own decisions, not just "be this character". This sort of works however the plot does still feel very similar to the other books, which kinda feels a little disapointing.

This being set in Advance Online, not Continue Online makes little difference to the way the story progresses, and it's a bit sad that this isn't explored more, but really the worlds are very similar. This is explained at the end but it's pretty disapointting from a "exciting and new" perspective.

I'm hoping for the next in the series the author continues to make it more open world and we see Grants choices open up a little more.

[Niels Baumgartner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

This series has kept me up for several nights running.
It is a beautiful rendition and exploration of the big "What If" of AI, people, and life itself.

Worth your time. A must read.

[Kristoffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. Unfortunately, the series still hasn't reached to point from the start of book one where there is some unresponsive guy who the voices decided to search through the memories of. I am guessing that guy was Grant. I want to see him reach that point in a book and the book to have the story continue past that point. I don't like when a story tells you of a bad ending and never actually reaches that ending. It just makes the story seem kind of stupid because things are going to turn out bad in the end, even if some good stuff happens before that point. Really, this is more a criticism of book one for including that bad point from the future, but I was hoping it would have been addressed by this book. Things felt much less hopeful in this book than the previous books, and the world of Advance Online isn't as interesting as that of Continue Online. This book was still enjoyable, but it definitely didn't live up to the previous books. Also, the element of the previous two books, where the main character took on the roll of another person in the game, was not present in this book. That was one of the things that really made the books unique and more interesting. I missed that while reading this book. Perhaps that is the element I found more interesting about the world of Continue Online when compared to the world of Advance Online. I don't know if I would recommend this book, although I would recommend book 2 and highly recommend book 1.

[Lucas Ellison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicken and Waffles

The author seemed scared and uncertain. The facts bounce between polar opposites in this book a lot. The mechanoids have no eyelids and can't blink until the next chapter where they start blinking often... Characters have perma death sometimes. Characters can't be revived until they can. Main character is a total mushroom (kept in the dark and fed bullshit) but he's happy with it most the time because at least he can claim to be a fungi. I used to identify with him until I realized that he's being fed the same crap over and over and he either buys it or plays along. He needs to grow a pair. He frets over killing fellow players who will most certainly respawn and frets over killing NPCs despite being told that they are basically cardboard cutouts! This dude should give up gaming and take up something less competitive. Not sure what though because with his attitude life it's self is simply too competitive!

Now that I'm finished with my rant I can say I like some things such as the switch up of the settings (despite some BS overlap that barely amounted to being worthy of inclusion) and a lot of stuff in the real world.

[Aaron Nagy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will be continuing this series mostly because it seems generally accepted that this book was the flop of the series. It took me a while to finish this...why...because nothing happens of importance for almost the entire book.

Like I get that this book was supposed to be more about the consortium gaining more awareness and what not, but much of what is going on was framed in the game world. The previous two times this was fine as most of the gaming was more drama/role playing and less typical lit-rpg action, this one was much more typical...only it wasn't very good...at all. From what I have heard it sounds like the author already learned from his mistakes here and did much better in the next two, but damn this book is just a slog.

[Travis Kole · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the headline suggests, this is not as good as the first two. Where the first 2 were quick reads and focused, this one was a slog to get through. I enjoy the overall story of Grant even in this book. The problem is we were basically told to put our feelings of the characters of Continue Online on hold. The focus shifted to Advance Online and I understood all the reasons of the real life realities and agreed with them. I just wasn't at all invested in Advance Online. The few action scenes were good but there was a whole heap of the story that just got bogged down to me. It is an interesting contrast since the first 2 were easy to get through. I am invested and wish to continue to read about Grant, lets just hope we get back to Continue Online.

[Chris Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Morse certainly wants to keep things fresh for his series. Yet again the very nature of the game is changed, this time it's a scifi game. Morse does ok with the scifi genre, but it does come across like he's not entirely comfortable in it. He does some good and fun things with the setting, but it doesn't entirely work.

The whole mirroring/echoing aspect between the two games, while I can see the potential, just isn't setup or executed very well. The result is needlessly silly and complex.

The weakest in the series IMO. I still enjoyed it but I might take a break from the series for a while.

[odedo1 Audio book worm. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 2 audiobooks where great, this one really disappointed me, so much that I’m feeling generous giving it 3 stars.
The only way to fix this is by continuing the series with more audiobooks release which hopefully is on its way.

Recommend only if book 4 is out.

My mistake audiobooks 4 & 5 are out so yes I do recommend this series especially for gamers.

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.

The whole story is excellent. I like the idea of the voices almost being akin to the flawed gods of some mythology. They have tremendous power but are also severely limited by rules and there own scope. Grant is a great main character.

[Shaft · Rating 2 out of 5]

A low point of the series so far, the series has always been a tough read dealing with a central character still mourning the loss of his fiancee but this book just stands still whereas at least the others had some sense of moving forward. A disappointment hopefully will improve in the next book.

[Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read.

A LitRPG story. A change in scenery. From land to space. Related but different. Continues from book 2. A good story that continues the plot and story.

[Ryan Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overarching plot between books seems to be getting good.
As a stand alone book, not my favorite...but I like the bigger picture he's building.

[Travis Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some decent reveals, some frustrating fights, but good enough to keep me coming back. 👍🏽

[Sydnie Macelroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as books 1 and 2, but still good. Maybe I need a break? In Realities, Grant's emo-like whining and constant existential angst got really stale, even as the action and the over-arching plot got more involved and arguably more interesting.