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World of Magic #1
Awakening
Paralyzed in a workplace accident, Lox’s life is looking bleak. He can't even use the cutting-edge hardware that would allow him to play in the full-immersion-games that have become so popular. This all changes when he hears from New Universal Frontiers, the company with the best game out there: World of Magic.
They offer him the ability to use their hardware despite his injuries, but at a cost... he can never leave the game.
Once in the game world, Lox quickly realizes that there is a lot more to this new realm than just a game. Given a class that everyone thinks is useless due its inherent dangers, Lox begins a long and painful series of trials, some of them explosive, almost all of them dangerous as he masters his magical abilities.
As Lox explores the depths of this world's magic system, he soon discovers there is a lot more going on here than anyone ever expected.
They offer him the ability to use their hardware despite his injuries, but at a cost... he can never leave the game.
Once in the game world, Lox quickly realizes that there is a lot more to this new realm than just a game. Given a class that everyone thinks is useless due its inherent dangers, Lox begins a long and painful series of trials, some of them explosive, almost all of them dangerous as he masters his magical abilities.
As Lox explores the depths of this world's magic system, he soon discovers there is a lot more going on here than anyone ever expected.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 13, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
July 27, 2021
This is desperately in need of a good editing.
The errors abound with factual inconsistencies and text mistakes. The story itself is poorly written with a horrible main character. The choices made are atrocious. The combat is unbalanced and never feels real, keeping you from immersing yourself fully. The talk of being a utility class with excellent flexibility is never shown, given his reliance on one spell and making out damage. The main character does not feel like a gamer, or an engineer, or an explorer, or much of anything. He comes of as a bumbling tool just being handed thing and so you never engage in the story. After the revelation about "awakening", I quit reading because I just did not care. About the story, or the book, or the characters. This was an idea poorly executed and badly edited.
The errors abound with factual inconsistencies and text mistakes. The story itself is poorly written with a horrible main character. The choices made are atrocious. The combat is unbalanced and never feels real, keeping you from immersing yourself fully. The talk of being a utility class with excellent flexibility is never shown, given his reliance on one spell and making out damage. The main character does not feel like a gamer, or an engineer, or an explorer, or much of anything. He comes of as a bumbling tool just being handed thing and so you never engage in the story. After the revelation about "awakening", I quit reading because I just did not care. About the story, or the book, or the characters. This was an idea poorly executed and badly edited.
August 1, 2021
This book is a giant mess of different ideas just tossed in together as the author thought them up.
Give it a pass until a really great editor goes through it and helps the author sort out this mess.
Give it a pass until a really great editor goes through it and helps the author sort out this mess.
March 25, 2022
This was not LitRPG in my opinion, just bad fantasy. The MC just gets everything handed to him, and he seems paper thin.
May 25, 2026
🔮 PERMANENT UPLOAD: RISKING IT ALL FOR MAGIC 🔮
Levi Werner’s Awakening dives into the "second life" LitRPG trope, trading the physical constraints of a broken body for an untamed, perilous digital universe.
“When the real world leaves you paralyzed, the digital world becomes your only frontier.”
If you enjoy classic "uploaded consciousness" LitRPGs like Emerilia or Ascend Online, but with a heavy focus on grinding out a complex, volatile magic system, this will scratch that itch. It’s a fast-paced, action-heavy romp where the protagonist rapidly scales from a complete novice to a system-breaking powerhouse.
📖 The Rundown:
Lox’s life in the real world is essentially over following a tragic workplace accident that leaves him completely paralyzed. When the company behind the highly immersive World of Magic offers him a chance to use their hardware, there is a massive catch: it's a permanent transfer. He must upload his mind to the servers and leave his physical body behind.
Once inside, Lox realizes this "game" feels suspiciously real. He opts for a magical class that the game's community considers completely useless due to its inherent, explosive dangers. Naturally, Lox embraces the danger, setting off on a trial-by-fire journey to master his abilities, only to uncover that the world's NPCs and "gods" are hiding a much deeper, more realistic secret than mere code.
✨ What Hit the Mark:
The Magic System: Werner truly puts the "Magic" in World of Magic. Watching Lox experiment, fail (often explosively), and eventually master his unique class abilities is easily the most satisfying part of the book.
The Escapism: The transition from a paralyzed, bleak existence to a fully autonomous, powerful magic-user hits all the right cathartic power-fantasy notes.
Crunchy Progression: There is plenty of stat-sheet progression, leveling, and skill-building for fans who love the technical "GameLit" aspect of the genre.
Needs a Polish: The book suffers from a lack of strict editing. You will notice continuity errors with the stats (e.g., occasionally mixing up Dexterity and Agility) and some clunky prose. If you are a stickler for flawless editing, this will frustrate you.
The OP Protagonist: Lox scales in power very quickly, and the world often bends backward to ensure he succeeds. His companions occasionally feel like cheerleaders for his awesomeness rather than fully fleshed-out characters.
Trope-Heavy: It leans hard into familiar LitRPG clichés, including some male-gaze character descriptions that feel a bit dated.
⭐️ THE VERDICT:
Final Rating: ⭐⭐✨✨✨ (2.0/5)
Levi Werner’s Awakening dives into the "second life" LitRPG trope, trading the physical constraints of a broken body for an untamed, perilous digital universe.
“When the real world leaves you paralyzed, the digital world becomes your only frontier.”
If you enjoy classic "uploaded consciousness" LitRPGs like Emerilia or Ascend Online, but with a heavy focus on grinding out a complex, volatile magic system, this will scratch that itch. It’s a fast-paced, action-heavy romp where the protagonist rapidly scales from a complete novice to a system-breaking powerhouse.
📖 The Rundown:
Lox’s life in the real world is essentially over following a tragic workplace accident that leaves him completely paralyzed. When the company behind the highly immersive World of Magic offers him a chance to use their hardware, there is a massive catch: it's a permanent transfer. He must upload his mind to the servers and leave his physical body behind.
Once inside, Lox realizes this "game" feels suspiciously real. He opts for a magical class that the game's community considers completely useless due to its inherent, explosive dangers. Naturally, Lox embraces the danger, setting off on a trial-by-fire journey to master his abilities, only to uncover that the world's NPCs and "gods" are hiding a much deeper, more realistic secret than mere code.
✨ What Hit the Mark:
The Magic System: Werner truly puts the "Magic" in World of Magic. Watching Lox experiment, fail (often explosively), and eventually master his unique class abilities is easily the most satisfying part of the book.
The Escapism: The transition from a paralyzed, bleak existence to a fully autonomous, powerful magic-user hits all the right cathartic power-fantasy notes.
Crunchy Progression: There is plenty of stat-sheet progression, leveling, and skill-building for fans who love the technical "GameLit" aspect of the genre.
Needs a Polish: The book suffers from a lack of strict editing. You will notice continuity errors with the stats (e.g., occasionally mixing up Dexterity and Agility) and some clunky prose. If you are a stickler for flawless editing, this will frustrate you.
The OP Protagonist: Lox scales in power very quickly, and the world often bends backward to ensure he succeeds. His companions occasionally feel like cheerleaders for his awesomeness rather than fully fleshed-out characters.
Trope-Heavy: It leans hard into familiar LitRPG clichés, including some male-gaze character descriptions that feel a bit dated.
⭐️ THE VERDICT:
Awakening is the definition of "popcorn LitRPG." It isn't going to redefine the literary landscape, but it delivers exactly what it promises: explosive magic, rapid progression, and a protagonist who breaks the system. If you can look past the rough editing and embrace the classic power fantasy, it’s a highly entertaining ride.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐✨✨✨ (2.0/5)
September 6, 2021
I found myself reading through this just so I could be done with it. It starts off with Lox, the main character, paralyzed due to a workplace accident and wanting to go into a new full-immersion game where he can get back some of the freedoms he had lost. I think this is something that most people can identify with. But he becomes a boring character once he actually goes into the game.
As far as I could tell, Lox doesn’t have any motivation besides gaining levels. He is given an epic quest about halfway through the book but seems to only want to complete it due to the XP rewards. He doesn’t even plan to complete it, just happens to complete it by sheer dumb luck. The premise behind the epic quest and the world is actually very interesting, with many themes that can be explored, but it is all glossed over in favour of the gaming elements. In fact, the premise is only explored by a side character, in only one line that goes something like: “she wondered about it.” Talk about missed opportunities.
There were also some glaring mistakes. Sometimes, the book lists out Lox’s statistics, but it lists “Unspent State Points” then goes on to list “Spent Stat Points”. This is repeated a few times throughout the book and the mistake is there every time, which probably meant there was some copy pasting going on. Also, at one point, Lox focuses on increasing his agility but later on the text states that he increased his dexterity instead. In some games, agility and dexterity are used interchangeably, but not in this book. They are actually two different statistics.
This is my first LitRPG book but I have seen a lot of anime with the same premise, the most recent being So I’m a Spider, So What? I thoroughly enjoyed the spider anime, so much so that I binged it in one sitting. I know that I can enjoy this genre if given the right story. Unfortunately, this book is not it.
As far as I could tell, Lox doesn’t have any motivation besides gaining levels. He is given an epic quest about halfway through the book but seems to only want to complete it due to the XP rewards. He doesn’t even plan to complete it, just happens to complete it by sheer dumb luck. The premise behind the epic quest and the world is actually very interesting, with many themes that can be explored, but it is all glossed over in favour of the gaming elements. In fact, the premise is only explored by a side character, in only one line that goes something like: “she wondered about it.” Talk about missed opportunities.
There were also some glaring mistakes. Sometimes, the book lists out Lox’s statistics, but it lists “Unspent State Points” then goes on to list “Spent Stat Points”. This is repeated a few times throughout the book and the mistake is there every time, which probably meant there was some copy pasting going on. Also, at one point, Lox focuses on increasing his agility but later on the text states that he increased his dexterity instead. In some games, agility and dexterity are used interchangeably, but not in this book. They are actually two different statistics.
This is my first LitRPG book but I have seen a lot of anime with the same premise, the most recent being So I’m a Spider, So What? I thoroughly enjoyed the spider anime, so much so that I binged it in one sitting. I know that I can enjoy this genre if given the right story. Unfortunately, this book is not it.
September 22, 2021
I wanted to like this book I really did but honestly it is a bit of a mess.
The starting reminded me a lot of Dakota Krout's The Completionist Chronicles where a quadriplegic enters a game world to have a new life and goes through a trials of tests to get a unique class. The book falls apart after that though
Werner has no interest in developing the game world which is extremely disappointing. Another writer would have the MC stay at the island longer. The MC could have discovered the different wildlife and slowly learn more about the game. Sadly the MC rushes head first into into a dungeon and through plot armor defeats monsters 5 levels higher than him.
Everything is just thrown into this book and it became extremely tiring.
His companions were just there to be amazed by him.
Every event he went through seemed like it was tailor made for him. At several points in the book I thought that 'There is no chance that a different person with a different class could have accomplished this'.
The ogling at women became pathetic. A magical string was placed in between a woman's breast causing him to have to look at them.
Nothing felt earned. Everything was just given to him.
In most games the player would have to slowly build and cultivate there mental landscape but the MC starts with a large and impressive mental landscape that shows that he is not just amazing using logic but he is also creative.
I quickly became bored and slightly annoyed when I learned what the 'Awakening' in the story meant.
I finished the book but I have no interest in continuing.
The starting reminded me a lot of Dakota Krout's The Completionist Chronicles where a quadriplegic enters a game world to have a new life and goes through a trials of tests to get a unique class. The book falls apart after that though
Werner has no interest in developing the game world which is extremely disappointing. Another writer would have the MC stay at the island longer. The MC could have discovered the different wildlife and slowly learn more about the game. Sadly the MC rushes head first into into a dungeon and through plot armor defeats monsters 5 levels higher than him.
Everything is just thrown into this book and it became extremely tiring.
His companions were just there to be amazed by him.
Every event he went through seemed like it was tailor made for him. At several points in the book I thought that 'There is no chance that a different person with a different class could have accomplished this'.
The ogling at women became pathetic. A magical string was placed in between a woman's breast causing him to have to look at them.
Nothing felt earned. Everything was just given to him.
In most games the player would have to slowly build and cultivate there mental landscape but the MC starts with a large and impressive mental landscape that shows that he is not just amazing using logic but he is also creative.
I quickly became bored and slightly annoyed when I learned what the 'Awakening' in the story meant.
I finished the book but I have no interest in continuing.
October 26, 2021
This is my first book by this author, but far from my first from Aethon.
Lox has been seriously injured, and he can't even use the most popular VR games until a new one comes out. He takes advantage and signs up as a second lifer, which usually means that he is a permanent presence in the game.
Not here. In this game a second life means you die in the real world, with your mind uploaded to the game. As a further twist this is a real world acting like a game, with NPCs that the local god wants to become fully alive.
Let's stop there. None of these aspects are anything new. Injured person who joins a VR game? Dean Henegar has a bunch of them. Being uploaded to the game? There's a bunch of those as well.
And finally a VR game that is really a portal to a real world? Yep, that's been done before as well (Reality Benders among others). Even though a number of the worldbuilding elements of this book stood out to me as rehashes of something done before, that doesn't make it a bad book. Personally, I didn't think they were all necessary, and it does get confusing when Lox leaves Earth and joins this new world.
After we've learned about all this, Lox teams up with two other adventurers and they head off to grind experience points, eventually stumbling on an elemental dungeon which takes up the bulk of the book. At the very end we have a pirate quest, which felt slightly rushed but was still good and setup book 2.
The stat screens here are voluminous. We have the main stat elements, then we have the magical engineering stat sheets, then we have the soul vampire stat sheets, and the ship's stat sheets, and... you get the idea. It's a lot.
Overall, I enjoyed certain aspects of the book. The adventuring is fun, and while the quests aren't anything new, this is only book 1. I can see this series going far depending on the imagination of the author.
The editing is a bit of a letdown, as there are numerous wrong words sprinkled throughout. The notifications are fine as far as they go, but I personally thought there were too many of them, and they are repeated throughout the book.
I'm already reading book 2, and I hope the author takes it in a slightly original direction. Since this is not entirely a VRMMORPG but a real world, I'd like to see how that affects Lox.
4/5* Could be better, but a good start.
PS Lox as a name isn't great. I imagined kids throwing cream cheese and bagels at him as a kid, which made me laugh throughout.
Lox has been seriously injured, and he can't even use the most popular VR games until a new one comes out. He takes advantage and signs up as a second lifer, which usually means that he is a permanent presence in the game.
Not here. In this game a second life means you die in the real world, with your mind uploaded to the game. As a further twist this is a real world acting like a game, with NPCs that the local god wants to become fully alive.
Let's stop there. None of these aspects are anything new. Injured person who joins a VR game? Dean Henegar has a bunch of them. Being uploaded to the game? There's a bunch of those as well.
And finally a VR game that is really a portal to a real world? Yep, that's been done before as well (Reality Benders among others). Even though a number of the worldbuilding elements of this book stood out to me as rehashes of something done before, that doesn't make it a bad book. Personally, I didn't think they were all necessary, and it does get confusing when Lox leaves Earth and joins this new world.
After we've learned about all this, Lox teams up with two other adventurers and they head off to grind experience points, eventually stumbling on an elemental dungeon which takes up the bulk of the book. At the very end we have a pirate quest, which felt slightly rushed but was still good and setup book 2.
The stat screens here are voluminous. We have the main stat elements, then we have the magical engineering stat sheets, then we have the soul vampire stat sheets, and the ship's stat sheets, and... you get the idea. It's a lot.
Overall, I enjoyed certain aspects of the book. The adventuring is fun, and while the quests aren't anything new, this is only book 1. I can see this series going far depending on the imagination of the author.
The editing is a bit of a letdown, as there are numerous wrong words sprinkled throughout. The notifications are fine as far as they go, but I personally thought there were too many of them, and they are repeated throughout the book.
I'm already reading book 2, and I hope the author takes it in a slightly original direction. Since this is not entirely a VRMMORPG but a real world, I'd like to see how that affects Lox.
4/5* Could be better, but a good start.
PS Lox as a name isn't great. I imagined kids throwing cream cheese and bagels at him as a kid, which made me laugh throughout.
October 20, 2021
Add this to the list of books with hundreds of 5-star ratings on Amazon despite being less than mediocre. I gave it 20% before dropping due to nothing whatsoever happening other than having multiple separate characters give lengthy explanations of random stuff to the MC.
Character 2/10, Plot 2/10, Game Mechanics 0/10, Writing 4/10, Enjoyment 1/10
In summary, the characters were all flat and boring, the plot didn't move other than to check off some trope boxes. This was basically what a connect the dots/paint by numbers would look like as a gamelit. The game mechanics were complete nonsense and just seemed like an excuse to make a character with an engineering degree overpowered while also incorporating all of the standard overpower/cheat class-ability tropes.
The writing didn't have a lot of horrendous spelling or grammatical errors, but it was clunky, redundant, and lacking polish. I was completely bored by the 90ish pages I generously allowed as an opportunity to show me anything other than the most generic and basic cliches within the genre.
This experience made me genuinely question why I get excited when I find a book I haven't heard of yet that has decent ratings. I know better, but there are only so many ways to find and filter potential litrpg books to read.
Character 2/10, Plot 2/10, Game Mechanics 0/10, Writing 4/10, Enjoyment 1/10
In summary, the characters were all flat and boring, the plot didn't move other than to check off some trope boxes. This was basically what a connect the dots/paint by numbers would look like as a gamelit. The game mechanics were complete nonsense and just seemed like an excuse to make a character with an engineering degree overpowered while also incorporating all of the standard overpower/cheat class-ability tropes.
The writing didn't have a lot of horrendous spelling or grammatical errors, but it was clunky, redundant, and lacking polish. I was completely bored by the 90ish pages I generously allowed as an opportunity to show me anything other than the most generic and basic cliches within the genre.
This experience made me genuinely question why I get excited when I find a book I haven't heard of yet that has decent ratings. I know better, but there are only so many ways to find and filter potential litrpg books to read.
September 22, 2024
It was okay, the character dev and the interesting world building was ultimately it's saving grace... hoping to see more of that in the next book as well
Read
January 8, 2025A little boring go sick of the dungeons and I don't really like the world
October 16, 2021
Not bad. However...
The story was very simplistic. The concepts and method were evoking, buds, but I would have liked to have seen more. Another issue that I saw was that the character sheet almost always had errors. At the end of the book for example it stated that he had only 800 and some Mana however based on the amount at the beginning of 20 times spirit he should have had well over 1400 This can be fixed with edits not bad overall.
The story was very simplistic. The concepts and method were evoking, buds, but I would have liked to have seen more. Another issue that I saw was that the character sheet almost always had errors. At the end of the book for example it stated that he had only 800 and some Mana however based on the amount at the beginning of 20 times spirit he should have had well over 1400 This can be fixed with edits not bad overall.
July 18, 2021
Mostly good but...
Overall I enjoy the plot, the magic system, and the direction of the story. MC is handed a little too much personally. Author definitely needs beta readers because "losing mana at a prodigious rate" stands out as a phrase and appears several times rather rapidly.
There are implications that a freed captive is going to turn around and throw herself at the MC... Eh. Make it organic, not just MC is MC here's sex partner.
A lot of systems are glossed over (talents of all trees in particular) that should have been better detailed to the reader.
Despite the criticisms, I'm looking forward to book two.
Overall I enjoy the plot, the magic system, and the direction of the story. MC is handed a little too much personally. Author definitely needs beta readers because "losing mana at a prodigious rate" stands out as a phrase and appears several times rather rapidly.
There are implications that a freed captive is going to turn around and throw herself at the MC... Eh. Make it organic, not just MC is MC here's sex partner.
A lot of systems are glossed over (talents of all trees in particular) that should have been better detailed to the reader.
Despite the criticisms, I'm looking forward to book two.
September 2, 2021
This book was simple fun and simply infuriating. I like the story idea. I actually liked the characters.
But the dialog is a mess. People just don't talk that way. When people speak, they use a LOT of contractions. Yet the characters in this book very rarely use contractions. It almost feels like this was a Google translation from English to a foreign language, and then back to English. This book needs a Good, Professional editor in a really bad way. Way too many simple spelling and grammar errors. But the dialog... the dialog made me want to scream at times. If I had been reading a book, instead of a Kindle, I would have thrown it a wall multiple times. The dialog is just so stilted and juvenile. I'm sorry, I give the author serious props for writing a (mostly) enjoyable book, but really, get an editor.
But the dialog is a mess. People just don't talk that way. When people speak, they use a LOT of contractions. Yet the characters in this book very rarely use contractions. It almost feels like this was a Google translation from English to a foreign language, and then back to English. This book needs a Good, Professional editor in a really bad way. Way too many simple spelling and grammar errors. But the dialog... the dialog made me want to scream at times. If I had been reading a book, instead of a Kindle, I would have thrown it a wall multiple times. The dialog is just so stilted and juvenile. I'm sorry, I give the author serious props for writing a (mostly) enjoyable book, but really, get an editor.
November 21, 2021
This started off really good. Then it turns into a car crash on the side of the road That then bursts into flames and burns the passengers.. Then it catches the local Forrest on fire and burns it down. While its doing that it consumes multiple small towns and turns into a firestorm of epic size and destroys a major city killing millions.
................. I really liked this book Up until just shy of the 1/2 way mark. Then it was like the MC had a lobotomy or drank a potion and turned into Hyde ..But there was no return of DR Jeckle.
So Here i am writing this out.. And no I won't be finishing the book. Even though i really really liked how it started out. Makes me wonder if this was written by two different people.
................. I really liked this book Up until just shy of the 1/2 way mark. Then it was like the MC had a lobotomy or drank a potion and turned into Hyde ..But there was no return of DR Jeckle.
So Here i am writing this out.. And no I won't be finishing the book. Even though i really really liked how it started out. Makes me wonder if this was written by two different people.
October 30, 2021
Way to easy
Promise of the book is sound but I find the MC having away to easy time with literal gifts from the gods. Gary stu as it were. I'm all for OP protagonist but it must be earned. The author seems to continually add new abilities and things to the framework Almost seemingly at random. Reminds me of another author that has a similar OP/randomness MO. The characters other than the MC are someone flat and I can't get a sense of where the author is going to go with them their personality or their future.Not sure I will be reading another book in the series though I see there are more already.
Promise of the book is sound but I find the MC having away to easy time with literal gifts from the gods. Gary stu as it were. I'm all for OP protagonist but it must be earned. The author seems to continually add new abilities and things to the framework Almost seemingly at random. Reminds me of another author that has a similar OP/randomness MO. The characters other than the MC are someone flat and I can't get a sense of where the author is going to go with them their personality or their future.Not sure I will be reading another book in the series though I see there are more already.
July 18, 2021
Enjoyable entertainment
Worthy of a read. Unique and enjoyable. Pretty good story and the characters have some depth to them. A few rough spots but nothing we aren't used to in LITRPG
Worthy of a read. Unique and enjoyable. Pretty good story and the characters have some depth to them. A few rough spots but nothing we aren't used to in LITRPG
March 2, 2022
81% thru and I don't care about the MC or the story really. On to the next book.
November 19, 2021
I cannot remember the first thing about this, just five days later. Reading the synopsis doesn’t jog my memory at all. It was that kind of book.
June 10, 2024
It started so well. I really liked this at the start. But it seems like author hasn't made up his mind.
First: at the start game elements were good, it was lot more complex but more satisfying to read. His class and spell creation was really exciting to me and was expecting lots of good things from story.
First problem started with quest dungeon for me. It was tailor-made for mc, to pass it you needed that specific class, otherwise you failed. And there was no reason why did it fit mc when it was some pirate treasure dungeon and not class trial dungeon or something.
Next problem I think was about stat points. At first mc wanted to train early stats for maximum effectiveness but then he threw that out of window without much reason.
---- Big spoilers from here --------
Next: this integration to the world aka throwing out game interface. To be honest I was very excited about that and if author stuck to that I would have been very happy. But I still noticed some problems in there. Throwing game interface had lots of disadvantages like no talent tree and easy learning, That choice was optional(was written optional) but somehow everyone chose that or ended up with that and there were lots of information control about that. Author didn't make up his mind, was it optional or mandatory?!
Yeah anyway, I still liked that but then author brought back that game interface couple of chapters later with little changes really, only thing that obviously changed was first you called status and dfter you meditated status. Again, make up your mind. This was the most frustrating part.
There were some other inconsistencies, for example about night vision, he first needed light spell then chose night vision spell as loot then got noght vision goggles and then uh oh it was racial trait so there were no use for all that stuff. Then vampire not having hunger and then having hunger suddenly.
Minor problem about description, about mc being intelligent and making rational decisions. Choosing vampire modifications without thinking about consequences and mandatory racial traits and disadvantages was really dumb decision. Frustrating, but up to author I guess, but incorrect description.
It was really great premise. There were really good ideas at the start. It had potential to become probably most favorite novel for me, and my frustration is more amplified because of it 😀😀. There are lots of improvements to be made in execution. That's what holded this back.
First: at the start game elements were good, it was lot more complex but more satisfying to read. His class and spell creation was really exciting to me and was expecting lots of good things from story.
First problem started with quest dungeon for me. It was tailor-made for mc, to pass it you needed that specific class, otherwise you failed. And there was no reason why did it fit mc when it was some pirate treasure dungeon and not class trial dungeon or something.
Next problem I think was about stat points. At first mc wanted to train early stats for maximum effectiveness but then he threw that out of window without much reason.
---- Big spoilers from here --------
Next: this integration to the world aka throwing out game interface. To be honest I was very excited about that and if author stuck to that I would have been very happy. But I still noticed some problems in there. Throwing game interface had lots of disadvantages like no talent tree and easy learning, That choice was optional(was written optional) but somehow everyone chose that or ended up with that and there were lots of information control about that. Author didn't make up his mind, was it optional or mandatory?!
Yeah anyway, I still liked that but then author brought back that game interface couple of chapters later with little changes really, only thing that obviously changed was first you called status and dfter you meditated status. Again, make up your mind. This was the most frustrating part.
There were some other inconsistencies, for example about night vision, he first needed light spell then chose night vision spell as loot then got noght vision goggles and then uh oh it was racial trait so there were no use for all that stuff. Then vampire not having hunger and then having hunger suddenly.
Minor problem about description, about mc being intelligent and making rational decisions. Choosing vampire modifications without thinking about consequences and mandatory racial traits and disadvantages was really dumb decision. Frustrating, but up to author I guess, but incorrect description.
It was really great premise. There were really good ideas at the start. It had potential to become probably most favorite novel for me, and my frustration is more amplified because of it 😀😀. There are lots of improvements to be made in execution. That's what holded this back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2022
OK... I'm about halfway through the book and if I hadn't purchased the audiobook with a credit, I wouldn't bother finishing it. As it is, I'm mostly just letting the rest of the book play in the background.
I don't like the Main Character. He starts off well, but by this point in the story, he is a bit of a condescending, know-it-all, prick. He spends so much time spent explaining how smart and great he is. Everything is handed to him without effort. His friends have the audacity to ask him to spare some mana for healing and he's like "you don't have to party with me if you don't like the way I want to play" and then proceeds to dump every bit of mana he has into every attack. leaving himself tired and whining about being tired.
It has been established that creating new spells is dangerous and unpredictable. And as I am typing this, he is literally creating new spells and casting them ON HIS PARTY MEMBERS! "You don't know what this spell does?!" exclaims his party member... ****FACEPALM****
And once again, he "watched his mana plummet towards zero..."
~~~
Next day:
And I've officially given up. I just can't with this book anymore. The Main Character is so pleased with his own cleverness. The other characters only exist to tell him how awesome he is. The Author can't decide what he wants the Main Character to be, so he throws everything, including the kitchen sink, at him. They've gone so far as to have the MC say "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" right after copy/pasting the ability from Naruto onto the MC.
When I quit, he's a catboy where almost no mention of his race made after the fact. He's a magic user, who has the ability to make up whatever spell he needs at the drop of a hat to beat any enemy he encounters while his teammates tell him how amazing and clever he is. Any attempts to criticize his decisions results in a condescending rant and a threat to take his ball and go home. He's a psychic vampire, with the potential to turn into an actual vampire. He's a wannabe ninja from the hidden leaf village, he's got a fetish for monster girls. The big 'twist' was something everyone should see coming from the beginning. If this sounds like an angry, nonsensical rant, it is because I've been ranting at the audiobook for the last two days and I'm sick of it. I'm OUT.
I don't like the Main Character. He starts off well, but by this point in the story, he is a bit of a condescending, know-it-all, prick. He spends so much time spent explaining how smart and great he is. Everything is handed to him without effort. His friends have the audacity to ask him to spare some mana for healing and he's like "you don't have to party with me if you don't like the way I want to play" and then proceeds to dump every bit of mana he has into every attack. leaving himself tired and whining about being tired.
It has been established that creating new spells is dangerous and unpredictable. And as I am typing this, he is literally creating new spells and casting them ON HIS PARTY MEMBERS! "You don't know what this spell does?!" exclaims his party member... ****FACEPALM****
And once again, he "watched his mana plummet towards zero..."
~~~
Next day:
And I've officially given up. I just can't with this book anymore. The Main Character is so pleased with his own cleverness. The other characters only exist to tell him how awesome he is. The Author can't decide what he wants the Main Character to be, so he throws everything, including the kitchen sink, at him. They've gone so far as to have the MC say "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" right after copy/pasting the ability from Naruto onto the MC.
When I quit, he's a catboy where almost no mention of his race made after the fact. He's a magic user, who has the ability to make up whatever spell he needs at the drop of a hat to beat any enemy he encounters while his teammates tell him how amazing and clever he is. Any attempts to criticize his decisions results in a condescending rant and a threat to take his ball and go home. He's a psychic vampire, with the potential to turn into an actual vampire. He's a wannabe ninja from the hidden leaf village, he's got a fetish for monster girls. The big 'twist' was something everyone should see coming from the beginning. If this sounds like an angry, nonsensical rant, it is because I've been ranting at the audiobook for the last two days and I'm sick of it. I'm OUT.
July 17, 2022
This fantasy-isekai-VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) novel series is well written and organized. I do not know if the author is extremely practical/pragmatical with the main character. Main character supposedly is physically challenged and kind of a terminal health case. There is a moment in the first volume, when the main character thinks that maybe he died in real life and did not have any regrets, second thoughts or normal human actions. One thing is to like to play games, another completely is to "have life" just in a game. I thought this point was skewed and not really explained.
The other point is that I feel everything comes to the main character too easily. Because he is a swiss-army-MacGyver magician, his process of learning is Matrix style (downloads manuals/instructions and voilá) can execute the magical skills rather miraculously. Because of this Over-Powered (OP) skillset, the actions and adventures are rather flat.
There is a point that the author makes main character and his team do a quest to find some kids abducted by pirates. The author mentions that the mom was brutally raped. NPC's (Non-Player Characters) raping other Non-Player Characters should not be taken lightly. Because it means that the design is flawed, there are no parameters, ethical values, moral compass, or legal enforcement within the game and of course to make all the players comply and behave. So what is there to stop these NPC's to rape kid players (minors) in this game? What is this author thinking? The problem with not thinking is that it creates huge problems down the road. If this game is Adults Only (over 18-21) then the author should have written it. Because there are no ethical values, moral compass or legal enforcement, this game, and this fantasy-isekai-(playing in an alternate reality world) game is flawed and extremely dangerous.
The other point is that I feel everything comes to the main character too easily. Because he is a swiss-army-MacGyver magician, his process of learning is Matrix style (downloads manuals/instructions and voilá) can execute the magical skills rather miraculously. Because of this Over-Powered (OP) skillset, the actions and adventures are rather flat.
There is a point that the author makes main character and his team do a quest to find some kids abducted by pirates. The author mentions that the mom was brutally raped. NPC's (Non-Player Characters) raping other Non-Player Characters should not be taken lightly. Because it means that the design is flawed, there are no parameters, ethical values, moral compass, or legal enforcement within the game and of course to make all the players comply and behave. So what is there to stop these NPC's to rape kid players (minors) in this game? What is this author thinking? The problem with not thinking is that it creates huge problems down the road. If this game is Adults Only (over 18-21) then the author should have written it. Because there are no ethical values, moral compass or legal enforcement, this game, and this fantasy-isekai-(playing in an alternate reality world) game is flawed and extremely dangerous.
October 28, 2021
Audiobook, narrated by Gary Tiedemann
Awakening is a litRPG, wherein we find an affable, down-on his-luck, Main Character (Lox), along with a pretty good narrator. It should've been my "perfect match", one made in heaven, no less! Instead, I had the hardest time trying to get into the story!
Lox had an on the job injury, and he was paralyzed as a result (ok... this has some potential), and then he was offered a place in a VRMMORPG by a big named gaming company and given one of their special second chance slots, doled out to just a few technically-gifted people annually... and despite having some reservations about it, Lox accepts the offer (sounds good so far, right?). I'm getting primed for this one because it should be "Just my cuppa"!
Here's a line that made me smile from one of the first characters that Lox met in-game... “Me? Well, I am the great and powerful wizard, Thomas!”
And a little bit later... "You have found a cloth backpack. Durability 50/50 It is a backpack. You put stuff in it. Hooray!" Cool a snide game monitor system.)
But after that, I kinda felt that I had been left behind, holding well the backpack! The pacing seemed wrong, and the world-building got in my way, but I soldiered on... listening as the storyline and my curiosity kept me going!
Somewhere just before the halfway point, I found myself well and truly hooked, and very glad that I hadn't given up on it!
When Lox and his party found the Dungeon, I was already at the edge-of-my-seat, wondering what was gonna happen next!
If YOU want to find out what happens next, you're going to have to join Lox's party of adventurers, and listen up, yourself!
Awakening is a litRPG, wherein we find an affable, down-on his-luck, Main Character (Lox), along with a pretty good narrator. It should've been my "perfect match", one made in heaven, no less! Instead, I had the hardest time trying to get into the story!
Lox had an on the job injury, and he was paralyzed as a result (ok... this has some potential), and then he was offered a place in a VRMMORPG by a big named gaming company and given one of their special second chance slots, doled out to just a few technically-gifted people annually... and despite having some reservations about it, Lox accepts the offer (sounds good so far, right?). I'm getting primed for this one because it should be "Just my cuppa"!
Here's a line that made me smile from one of the first characters that Lox met in-game... “Me? Well, I am the great and powerful wizard, Thomas!”
And a little bit later... "You have found a cloth backpack. Durability 50/50 It is a backpack. You put stuff in it. Hooray!" Cool a snide game monitor system.)
But after that, I kinda felt that I had been left behind, holding well the backpack! The pacing seemed wrong, and the world-building got in my way, but I soldiered on... listening as the storyline and my curiosity kept me going!
Somewhere just before the halfway point, I found myself well and truly hooked, and very glad that I hadn't given up on it!
When Lox and his party found the Dungeon, I was already at the edge-of-my-seat, wondering what was gonna happen next!
If YOU want to find out what happens next, you're going to have to join Lox's party of adventurers, and listen up, yourself!
August 30, 2024
Audio: 4 Stars, good job with so many voices but some of the voices are VERY annoying.
Story: The idea was good but poorly developed. I needed "Awakening" after reading this one!
*There are some segments that have so much info dump, I got a headache and had to stop for a bit. Which causes the book to be messy all around. Too much is not always good.
*It reads like a LitRPG but it is definitely not polished.
*The MC's decisions are a bit immature despite the fact he is supposed to be an educated adult. Another example is the boob thing, which let me tell you, becomes kind of sexist and overall, chauvinistic.
*The adventure was mostly rushed, which makes no sense when the character is unable to die. Example, At the beginning instead of exporting, the MC just jumps straight forward to a dungeon.
*Most everything is magically explained or completely tailored to the MC who is just another character, or at least he is supposed to. I'm not agint OP characters but the story should support a generic world since the "game" wasn't created JUST for the MC. He basically gets everything for free and easily without much work.
*The side characters are really poorly written.
*There are many things that are not consistent.
To summarize, the book became repetitive, boring, and predictable. Not for me, so I will not continue the series. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
Story: The idea was good but poorly developed. I needed "Awakening" after reading this one!
*There are some segments that have so much info dump, I got a headache and had to stop for a bit. Which causes the book to be messy all around. Too much is not always good.
*It reads like a LitRPG but it is definitely not polished.
*The MC's decisions are a bit immature despite the fact he is supposed to be an educated adult. Another example is the boob thing, which let me tell you, becomes kind of sexist and overall, chauvinistic.
*The adventure was mostly rushed, which makes no sense when the character is unable to die. Example, At the beginning instead of exporting, the MC just jumps straight forward to a dungeon.
*Most everything is magically explained or completely tailored to the MC who is just another character, or at least he is supposed to. I'm not agint OP characters but the story should support a generic world since the "game" wasn't created JUST for the MC. He basically gets everything for free and easily without much work.
*The side characters are really poorly written.
*There are many things that are not consistent.
To summarize, the book became repetitive, boring, and predictable. Not for me, so I will not continue the series. Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
November 9, 2021
Great book and likeable characters but a bit too fairy tale like in structure.
The main protagonist, Lox, was an engineer in the real world but suffered a bad accident at work leaving him paralyzed. His old boss gets him a 2nd chance slot in a virtual reality game as a permanent player. After going throuh the tutorial and he is given a tough but rather overpowered class that suits his knowledge from the real world. He soon encounters a couple of other players in his starting city and they eventually decide to stay together as a permanent party. As they see how strong his class is they form a strong bond with one another. Their adventures take them through some great dungeons and eventually onto some quests that are difficult but through teamwork they beat everything.
Cons: The protagonist seems undeservingly overpowered and gets too many boons... The motivation of Lox seems to be mainly to level his skill up. This makes him seem rather autistic.The repetitive perk lists are rather tedious. The author needs beta readers.
The main protagonist, Lox, was an engineer in the real world but suffered a bad accident at work leaving him paralyzed. His old boss gets him a 2nd chance slot in a virtual reality game as a permanent player. After going throuh the tutorial and he is given a tough but rather overpowered class that suits his knowledge from the real world. He soon encounters a couple of other players in his starting city and they eventually decide to stay together as a permanent party. As they see how strong his class is they form a strong bond with one another. Their adventures take them through some great dungeons and eventually onto some quests that are difficult but through teamwork they beat everything.
Cons: The protagonist seems undeservingly overpowered and gets too many boons... The motivation of Lox seems to be mainly to level his skill up. This makes him seem rather autistic.The repetitive perk lists are rather tedious. The author needs beta readers.
October 12, 2021
Decent first book
This book is a reasonably solid and entertaining attempt. I would say it is definitely worth the time to read. Definitely don't expect a lot of new and innovative ideas. Of course having new and innovative ideas is getting harder and harder in this genre as everybody explorers everything that's possible. I don't think what follows here is much of a spoiler but reader beware.
You learned early on that this game world is actually a completely new universe . About Midway through the book. The game allows people to sort of D gamify it and get rid of all the prompts and hand-holding that a game normally provides. It is a cool and interesting idea, unfortunately for the players who collect it, it doesn't really actually seem to change much about the game at all. The players are still getting prompts and still gaining levels and still dealing with lots of pop up menus so it's really kind of a non-event.
This book is a reasonably solid and entertaining attempt. I would say it is definitely worth the time to read. Definitely don't expect a lot of new and innovative ideas. Of course having new and innovative ideas is getting harder and harder in this genre as everybody explorers everything that's possible. I don't think what follows here is much of a spoiler but reader beware.
You learned early on that this game world is actually a completely new universe . About Midway through the book. The game allows people to sort of D gamify it and get rid of all the prompts and hand-holding that a game normally provides. It is a cool and interesting idea, unfortunately for the players who collect it, it doesn't really actually seem to change much about the game at all. The players are still getting prompts and still gaining levels and still dealing with lots of pop up menus so it's really kind of a non-event.
June 10, 2024
Not bad, but author needs a better editor
I enjoyed it very much until about the 75% (give or take) mark when the author decided to stretch out his book with stat info dumps that he had not done before. I took off a star for that and the amount of missing words, words grouped together, and words used that made no sense in the context it was used.
I did like that some dungeon fight scenes were mentioned but we did not have to sit through them.
There were aspects of the book I did not enjoy, but I categorize them as my own personal dislikes that others may not care about so did not deduct a star for that. Things such as using the word tits instead of breasts, overly flirtatious characters (makes me worry the series will turn into a Harem storyline), or calling someone Boss or Boss Man (who does that in real life?). However, since it does effect my enjoyment of a book, I tend to just stop reading a series if it becomes too much.
I enjoyed it very much until about the 75% (give or take) mark when the author decided to stretch out his book with stat info dumps that he had not done before. I took off a star for that and the amount of missing words, words grouped together, and words used that made no sense in the context it was used.
I did like that some dungeon fight scenes were mentioned but we did not have to sit through them.
There were aspects of the book I did not enjoy, but I categorize them as my own personal dislikes that others may not care about so did not deduct a star for that. Things such as using the word tits instead of breasts, overly flirtatious characters (makes me worry the series will turn into a Harem storyline), or calling someone Boss or Boss Man (who does that in real life?). However, since it does effect my enjoyment of a book, I tend to just stop reading a series if it becomes too much.
August 3, 2021
Wasn't for me.
First off, this book wasn't bad. Had a few editing issues though. It did however read like a translation from another language. Which is weird because I dont believe that was the case. The Mcs abilities were potentially overpowered (which I liked). Where it lost me was the MCs interaction with the other players. Maybe it's just my cautious nature but I wouldn't tell perfect strangers all my secrets upon meeting them. That includes all my abilities and how I got them. That was offputting to me. I half expected him to tell them his social security and bank routing information. (Yeah, seriously)
Half way through the book, the author chose to completely do away with game aspects. Which was disappointing. I actually schemed the pages to just read the notifications.
Again, the book isn't bad. Just didn't meet my personal taste.
First off, this book wasn't bad. Had a few editing issues though. It did however read like a translation from another language. Which is weird because I dont believe that was the case. The Mcs abilities were potentially overpowered (which I liked). Where it lost me was the MCs interaction with the other players. Maybe it's just my cautious nature but I wouldn't tell perfect strangers all my secrets upon meeting them. That includes all my abilities and how I got them. That was offputting to me. I half expected him to tell them his social security and bank routing information. (Yeah, seriously)
Half way through the book, the author chose to completely do away with game aspects. Which was disappointing. I actually schemed the pages to just read the notifications.
Again, the book isn't bad. Just didn't meet my personal taste.
April 2, 2025
2.5 stars
A disabled engineer is offered the chance to live his life inside an MMORPG. This is a very common conceit used in LitRPGs, and this book doesn't really transcend that start.
The characters are very thin and show little growth. The world is sketched in, and the plot is pretty generic. And, especially toward the end of the book, we get repeated character sheet reads that don't reflect important changes.
The good parts of this book are almost entirely related to the game systems, which is presented pretty well enough. But the protagonist is pretty wildly overpowered, and this becomes notably worse as the book advances.
I'm afraid there's not a lot here that isn't done better in many other LitRPG books. It's not terrible, but it's not really worth recommending or continuing.
A disabled engineer is offered the chance to live his life inside an MMORPG. This is a very common conceit used in LitRPGs, and this book doesn't really transcend that start.
The characters are very thin and show little growth. The world is sketched in, and the plot is pretty generic. And, especially toward the end of the book, we get repeated character sheet reads that don't reflect important changes.
The good parts of this book are almost entirely related to the game systems, which is presented pretty well enough. But the protagonist is pretty wildly overpowered, and this becomes notably worse as the book advances.
I'm afraid there's not a lot here that isn't done better in many other LitRPG books. It's not terrible, but it's not really worth recommending or continuing.
July 19, 2021
Alert
“This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”
I am not going to share my reasoning, thoughts on the book, or any opinions that would influence your decision to read it. I am simply saying that I liked it. I would like you to read it and make your own decision. After all, you are a much better judge of what you will like than anyone here.
I will happily discuss the book with you on Goodreads if you are so inclined. As always, I am open to debates and arguments, but also vain enough to seek acknowledgement, so feel free to roast me or applaud my efforts. Either is acceptable, because if you are paying attention to me then you are at least considering the book. And THAT my friends is exactly why you see my comments here.
Cheers
“This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”
I am not going to share my reasoning, thoughts on the book, or any opinions that would influence your decision to read it. I am simply saying that I liked it. I would like you to read it and make your own decision. After all, you are a much better judge of what you will like than anyone here.
I will happily discuss the book with you on Goodreads if you are so inclined. As always, I am open to debates and arguments, but also vain enough to seek acknowledgement, so feel free to roast me or applaud my efforts. Either is acceptable, because if you are paying attention to me then you are at least considering the book. And THAT my friends is exactly why you see my comments here.
Cheers
August 16, 2021
Fast paced and lots of action
Great book in the way of action and leveling. Lox is an engineer in the real world but suffered a bad accident at work leaving him paralyzed. He gets a 2nd chance slot in a game and ends up going thru the tutorial and choosing a tough class that suits his knowledge from the real world. He encounters a couple of other players in his starting city and they eventually decide to stay together as a permanent party. As they see how strong his class is they form a strong bond with one another. Their adventures take them thru some great dungeons and eventually onto some quests that are difficult but thru teamwork they beat everything. Great book likeable characters
Great book in the way of action and leveling. Lox is an engineer in the real world but suffered a bad accident at work leaving him paralyzed. He gets a 2nd chance slot in a game and ends up going thru the tutorial and choosing a tough class that suits his knowledge from the real world. He encounters a couple of other players in his starting city and they eventually decide to stay together as a permanent party. As they see how strong his class is they form a strong bond with one another. Their adventures take them thru some great dungeons and eventually onto some quests that are difficult but thru teamwork they beat everything. Great book likeable characters
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