Der Krieg gegen den Dunklen Bruch wurde für beendet erklärt, doch die Probleme der Menschheit sind noch lange nicht gelöst. Mehr als die Hälfte des versprochenen Tong Sicherheit ist verstrichen und noch immer ist die Menschheit weit von der Bildung einer einheitlichen Front entfernt. Wir haben gerade mit dem Bau eines der zwölf Planetenschildgeneratoren begonnen, die die Erde zur Abwehr eines Angriffs benötigt. Doch es fehlt an Baumaterialien, Spielern und Zeit, die wir dringend brauchen, um sie alle zu bauen. Sollten wir die magokratische Parallelwelt um Hilfe bitten? Schließlich hatten sie bei einer Invasion aus dem Weltraum nicht weniger zu verlieren als wir. Unsere magischen Gegnerspieler haben jedoch selbst jede Menge Probleme.
Welche Möglichkeiten bleiben Nat noch? Das Einzige, worauf er sich wirklich verlassen kann, sind seine Stärke und seine persönliche Fraktion, die Reliktiker. Sollen wir also alles auf eine Karte setzen und in den Tiefen des Weltraums Hilfe suchen? Könnten die Technologien alter, längst untergegangener Rassen die Menschheit stark genug machen, um eine Invasion abzuwenden, bevor es zu spät ist?
Michael Atamanov was born in 1975 in Grozny, Chechnia. He excelled at school, winning numerous national science and writing competitions. Having graduated with honors, he entered Moscow University to study material engineering. Soon, however, he had no home to return to: their house was destroyed during the first Chechen campaign. Michael's family fled the war, taking shelter with some relatives in Stavropol Territory in the South of Russia.
Having graduated from the University, Michael was forced to accept whatever work was available. He moonlighted in chemical labs, loaded trucks, translated technical articles, worked as a software installer as well as scene shifter for local artists and events. At the same time he never stopped writing, even when squatting in some seedy Moscow hostels. Writing became an urgent need for Michael, driving him to submit articles to science publications, news fillers for a variety of web sites and a plethora of technical and copywriting gigs.
Then one day unexpectedly for himself he started writing fairy tales and science fiction novels. For several years, his audience consisted of only one person: Michael's elder son. Then, at the end of 2014 he decided to upload one of his manuscripts to a free online writers resource. Readers liked it and demanded a sequel. Michael uploaded another book, and yet another, his audience growing as did his list. It was his readers who helped Michael hone his writing style. He finally had the breakthrough he deserved when the Moscow-based EKSMO - the biggest publishing house in Europe - offered him a contract for his first and consequent books.
Look, I've read all five of these so obviously they aren't all bad. The thing is that I'm never sure why I keep reading them while I'm reading them.
1. The english translation is totally understandable, but it really doesn't make any effort at dealing properly with idiom, tone, or fluidity. I'm not sure if this is on purpose, but it's consistently distracting.
2. The presentation and treatment of women is ridiculously stereotypical Russian. It's annoying and definitely the worst part of the series.
3. There is a lot of lazy plotting. Oh, I lose my ship in an obvious blunder... now what? Oh, I find a new one that's better. I'll leave my pod when my government is obviously going to disappear me. Oh, fortunately I have enough fame to overcome that stupidity. The MC really comes across as a lucky idiot. Without the author watching over him with a bit of Deus Ex Machina when needed he'd be useless. This has gotten worse as the series has gone on.
On the plus side, it still has pretty good action sequences. I'm interested in where the larger plot is going. The author is extremely creative. It will keep me reading for now.
I received a review copy of this book. If you're reading the series, and want to know when things are going to heat up between the various factions, you won't have to wait any more. This book does that, and so much more, and I have to say.... The ending is awesome. Loved this book, and would have started on the next one right away, but the real world intruded, so probably can't start that one until tomorrow. In this one, we get to see more skills of the listener class, and we even get a peek at some top secret precursor facilities and objects. Great fun, all of it, and if you're a scifi fan, you really should be reading this series, even if you aren't a LitRPG reader.
I don't know if I've mentioned this in any of my previous 4 reviews or not, but these books are just like a bowl of potato chips! You just can't stop at reading one bk 'cause you'll need another, and another, ad infinitum. Gnat is still leveling his skills and now that he's mostly solved the issues with the dark faction, he's still gotta get all the splinter factions of earth behind him if he's gonna save his earth from the very real alien invasion. And earth is not taking him seriously. Plus he also needs to discover everything he can about the Relics. With aplomb Neil Hellegers takes the reins on this fifth book in the Reality Benders series, like the professional voice actor he is. And of course I loved him!
Very disappointed in this book. For one, there is no moving forward in the story. Nat is like a elementary kid on Ritalin. One minute he is talking about one thing with focus and the next he is asking crew members to dual because they died to soon in a fight. Died covering his sorry over powered ass. Seriously what is Nat smoking? He has only been in the game 50 days and he thinks his intelligence is the best ever and NO one would ever be higher. Like players who have been in the game more than a year maybe, 2 years?
This series has become a grueling slog. It seems like the author, enjoying doling out chapters for cash, has turned to stalling. While trying to keep things interesting with SOME stuff happening, the MCs progress is non-existent. Every opportunity is followed by set backs that puts the MC back to where he was. How does the MC survive all this stuff happening? Plot armor. It's becoming episodic and boring.
Overall, this series is more interesting than the Dark Herbalist. Cool concepts/plot but uneven pacing and a lot of God Mode events that don't quite work. It seems like the scope of the overall plot gets a little bigger with each book and the story falls apart due to extra weight added to an idea that was mildly plausible from the get go.
Gnat is rapidly becoming a top player in the game. Wins, losses, and escape permeate the plot. Gnat is an interesting, compelling, yet flawed character. Will his mechanisms save Earth form being taken over by a stronger faction? I like the action, humor, intrigue, and a touch of romance. I look forward to the next book.
The series started out great, but now it's just feels like a formulaic copy of the earlier entries there isn't much resolution of the previous storylines just endless continuation and complications.
Damn, what a way to end the book! And now I have to wait for number 6 to be published! This one kept me on the edge of my seat from page 1, and I read it without stopping from start to finish. It was that good.
Good book, probably better reading it than listening to the audiobook. The audiobook guy is crap, worst narrator I've ever heard. His male voice is like a frat boy and the female voice is... i don't even know what that's supposed to be but it's annoying.
I'm afraid I am as addicted to Reality Benders as Ivan L. is addicted to PCP. This series is like a drug. It's not enough that Michael Atamanov wrote the best litRPG ever, it is possibly the best SF series as well, at least it is a cut above anything I've read. Also talking cat people.
While I really, really liked the previous narrator (books 1-4), he seemed to have an issue with female voices. I'm bumping my rating up on this, the 5th volume, from a 4 to a 5 because of the narrator.
Another really good one. I was so annoyed when the Russians tried to keep Gnat prisoner. How naïve could you be? He’s soon going to be a leader in the world the real world. Also I love all the battles and even politics in this. Really enjoying the series.
This is one of my favorite series. Basically reads as an adventure book series with tons of humor, twists, failures, and fun. Highly recommend this series.
Started off strong with a lot of great characters and action and ended up simply ... wow. Michael Antamov has another amazing series and I’m already onto the next.
Серия уже явно становится масштабнее "Защиты Периметра". И где только ГГ не носит... Но при этом, в принципе, интрига не падает, хотя можно было бы и побольше разнообразия.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.