Level Up or Die: A LitRPG Steampunk Adventure

by Joshua Lisec, Adam Lane Smith

Condemned by the media circus of a People’s Republic of California court, Donny is plugged into a deadly game as entertainment for the brutalized masses. Tormented over failing his father, Donny realizes honor hangs in the balance. His family’s fate lies in his hands. Donny must battle through a cutthroat digital world to free thousands of political prisoners and bring down the corrupt system. But the future’s most ruthless killers stand in his way. Can Donny’s wits and unbreakable spirit get him out alive? Fans of Ready Player One and Sword Art Online will love Level Up or Die , the new first-person steampunk LitRPG adventure from #1 bestselling authors Joshua Lisec and Adam Lane Smith. Read it today!

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 24, 2021

About the author

Joshua Lisec is considered the world’s best ghostwriter because people don’t get rich selling books. With more than 80 books written for CEOs, celebrities, and entrepreneurs, Joshua has built an unstoppable results business for his clients. These authors have made so much more money through their authority-establishing books that many feel bad about how much they paid Joshua. And this despite him being one of the most expensive ghostwriters in America. Joshua is the only Certified Ghostwriter and Certified Hypnotist in the world and has a proven process for any aspiring author who has done the hard work of being the best at what they do. He takes great pride in his craft, delivering experts the authority book they’ve already earned. Learn more at www.LisecGhostwriting.com.

Reviews

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

While LitRPG is still a rather new genre, I was willing to take a chance on Level Up or Die, a novel’s who’s premise is prisoners stuck in a lifelike MMO to serve out their sentence and keep the people on the outside entertained. With developed characters and fast paced plot, it kept me entertained, and sometimes, it’s all you need to enjoy a story.

We start with Donovan, aka BrokenChains, who’s severing fifteen years for murder and is plunged into trouble almost immediately, and has to be oriented with his new setting, a steam punk world, reminding me of stories like Sword Art Online (which was originally a series of novels). It’s very fleshed out, and I liked the video game references thrown in. The characters aren’t super deep, but do have layers, especially Chains, haunted by failure and nightmares in his past. The plot goes at a quick pace and kept me engaged almost the whole way through, along with some social commentary, and I was surprised by some of the twists that came up!

Looking forward to the second volume, especially after that cliffhanger!

[AMANDA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Main character faces no real challenges. Any consequences are easily waved away and any sense of progress feels meaningless.
All characters are pseudonymous and hard to relate to.
World building is lacking, to be fair they are in level 1 of a game.
Character development is shallow and many characters are introduced at once with little interaction

[Myrna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Fun Romp!

A blend of adventure, snarky humor and action packed fight scenes. Memorable characters to both root for or despise as the story unfolds. Like a digital Roman Colosseum, prisoners advance in a game matrix providing bread and circus to the dystopian Republic of California citizens. Can't wait for volume 2 !

[James Shrimpton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly entertaining and enjoyable tale. Demolished this in a single day, I only wish it was a little longer so the characters had more room to breathe and develop (and so it didn't end so soon).

Looking forward to the next installment!

[Jennifer Ayres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than a TV show

I'm not a gamer and loved this story. Lots of action and hurdles for the characters to work through. I am looking forward to book two.