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Apocalypse Online #1
Apocalypse Online
At first everyone thought it was a game...
But aliens have arrived and they are turning people into fertilizer.
Brad and Sam are gamers and when they started playing the hot new game Apocalypse Online they had no idea that the game was a preview of reality! With the help of a benevolent alien AI and nanotechnology, our heroes will have a chance to survive the apocalypse. They just have to survive, level up and find other survivors.
Jake is no gamer. But when he finds out aliens have arrived, he'll do anything to protect his little sister Sam.
Will they be able to grow strong enough for the second wave or will they become alien plant food?
APOCALYPSE ONLINE is a litrpg/gamelit post-apocalypse fantasy series filled with action, adventure, aliens and snarky AIs.
If you are a fan of System Apocalypse, Defiance of the Fall, or the Sun Shadow series, you'll love Apocalypse Online!
But aliens have arrived and they are turning people into fertilizer.
Brad and Sam are gamers and when they started playing the hot new game Apocalypse Online they had no idea that the game was a preview of reality! With the help of a benevolent alien AI and nanotechnology, our heroes will have a chance to survive the apocalypse. They just have to survive, level up and find other survivors.
Jake is no gamer. But when he finds out aliens have arrived, he'll do anything to protect his little sister Sam.
Will they be able to grow strong enough for the second wave or will they become alien plant food?
APOCALYPSE ONLINE is a litrpg/gamelit post-apocalypse fantasy series filled with action, adventure, aliens and snarky AIs.
If you are a fan of System Apocalypse, Defiance of the Fall, or the Sun Shadow series, you'll love Apocalypse Online!
580 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2021
414 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 8, 2022
It's a highly entertaining read, less about the stats but with a focus on levelling, skills and cultivation. This is a brutal, brutal world... but our mains are soldiering on as best they can. And, I like our main characters found in Samantha, her big brother Jake and Brad.
The only issue I had with Jake was his naivite and his not listening to his younger more knowledgable sister.
The only issue I had with Jake was his naivite and his not listening to his younger more knowledgable sister.
September 11, 2021
I'm a big fan of LitRPG apocalypse stories, and I really wanted to like this one. I've enjoyed most of his other books, so the stars seemed in alignment.
It wasn't to be. For an apocalypse, this one gets off to a slow start. We begin seeing some of the main characters come together in an online game that mirrors what will happen later on. When reality catches up with the game, chaos ensues.
Which is what will happen should we ever be faced with one. The problem is that chaos doesn't always make for good reading. It took me until the 41% mark until the story settled down and I started to enjoy it, as Brad leads a team of other survivors. They're fighting against the seeders (which relates to the fact that the aliens are here to seed the planet, because humans have taken such poor care of it).
Another problem arises when Jake and his sister Sam join a group of preppers, who don't take kindly to those who've used the nano pills that make reality interface like a game. Jake is a frustrating enough character as it is, as he constantly ignores his sister's good advice, a theme that carries through to the end of the book.
Why don't they like these people? I have no idea, and it's never really explained. It's not worth repeating the reasons given why one group doesn't like one another, either. But the non-pill users really hate the other group, and it's a mystery why that is.
Not the good kind of mystery.
What I expected was a reason to be set forth towards the end of the book, but there isn't one. So I'm reading along and asking myself, how do these older guys know about the pill? And why are they so upset about it? Why can't they let this go and get on with their lives?
There really isn't any kind of logical reason, other than as a plot device. You'd think an apocalypse would be enough to keep the tension going, but now the group has to face off against these guys just because.
It really bummed me out. There are dozens of ways to make the seeders more of a challenge, and to improve the base building aspect of the story (it's a minor footnote). We do see some of Earth's fauna grow big enough to become a threat from the aether they've absorbed, but again, they don't add to the tension.
Which was disappointing. Maybe book 2 will be that much better, and I hope it is. The lack of tension, the two groups facing off against each other for no reason, the lack of base building, and very slow skill development all add up to something less than hoped for.
For all these reasons I'm giving this a generous 4/5*.
It wasn't to be. For an apocalypse, this one gets off to a slow start. We begin seeing some of the main characters come together in an online game that mirrors what will happen later on. When reality catches up with the game, chaos ensues.
Which is what will happen should we ever be faced with one. The problem is that chaos doesn't always make for good reading. It took me until the 41% mark until the story settled down and I started to enjoy it, as Brad leads a team of other survivors. They're fighting against the seeders (which relates to the fact that the aliens are here to seed the planet, because humans have taken such poor care of it).
Another problem arises when Jake and his sister Sam join a group of preppers, who don't take kindly to those who've used the nano pills that make reality interface like a game. Jake is a frustrating enough character as it is, as he constantly ignores his sister's good advice, a theme that carries through to the end of the book.
Why don't they like these people? I have no idea, and it's never really explained. It's not worth repeating the reasons given why one group doesn't like one another, either. But the non-pill users really hate the other group, and it's a mystery why that is.
Not the good kind of mystery.
What I expected was a reason to be set forth towards the end of the book, but there isn't one. So I'm reading along and asking myself, how do these older guys know about the pill? And why are they so upset about it? Why can't they let this go and get on with their lives?
There really isn't any kind of logical reason, other than as a plot device. You'd think an apocalypse would be enough to keep the tension going, but now the group has to face off against these guys just because.
It really bummed me out. There are dozens of ways to make the seeders more of a challenge, and to improve the base building aspect of the story (it's a minor footnote). We do see some of Earth's fauna grow big enough to become a threat from the aether they've absorbed, but again, they don't add to the tension.
Which was disappointing. Maybe book 2 will be that much better, and I hope it is. The lack of tension, the two groups facing off against each other for no reason, the lack of base building, and very slow skill development all add up to something less than hoped for.
For all these reasons I'm giving this a generous 4/5*.
October 3, 2021
This is going for gritty realism that has people making bad decisions for what they think are the right reasons.
It does not work. These kinds of books need likable characters. Characters that you are rooting for even when they mess up. This is the problem. Halfway through the book I did not care about anyone. At the three quarters mark, I was on the aliens side. The problem is that overly protective is not the same as obsessive, concerned is not naive, pride is not cruel indifference, introvert is not puppet like with no sense of self.
Bit of spoiler here so be warned.
I was planning on reading book two to see if these issues were fixed with character growth, but when they flat out fan from Colten, only to get caught later on, I gave up. This is a group of very weak people that do not have what it takes to survive, and I am not interested in their story.
It does not work. These kinds of books need likable characters. Characters that you are rooting for even when they mess up. This is the problem. Halfway through the book I did not care about anyone. At the three quarters mark, I was on the aliens side. The problem is that overly protective is not the same as obsessive, concerned is not naive, pride is not cruel indifference, introvert is not puppet like with no sense of self.
Bit of spoiler here so be warned.
I was planning on reading book two to see if these issues were fixed with character growth, but when they flat out fan from Colten, only to get caught later on, I gave up. This is a group of very weak people that do not have what it takes to survive, and I am not interested in their story.
October 22, 2021
One of the best LitRPGs I've read.
Premise, there's a trial run in the Apoc Online game world... then the real alien invasion starts... for real. So it breaks the trope of people being stuck in the game. Things happen in the real world. And it was a hardcore game with no respawn... so it's hardcore in real life as well. This ups the stakes and makes things interesting.
Pros:
1. Apocalypse, alien invasion, survival. Oh yeah, bring it on.
2. Follows a few viewpoints. So if you don't like one, don't worry the other will be along shortly.
3. Some clever problem solving
4. Breaks the usual litRPG tropes.
5. Love that they bring in the Tank, DPS Healer thing, but with some twists.
6. Creative use of the city environment for "quests".
7. No '10 HP, 20 constitution, 13 agility, etc' on every page, which some Rpg's do I don't mind telling you. There is some of that here, but it isn't as troublesome and helps the reader know how dead the character is. XP
8. Clever upgrade system
9. Love the mobs and how they grow stronger. Very creative I thought.
10. Available for free on t he author's Youtube channel!
Cons:
1. There were some stupid mistakes made by some characters. Mainly
2. Not as much emotion and character growth as i'd have like to see.
Looking forward to book 2!
Premise, there's a trial run in the Apoc Online game world... then the real alien invasion starts... for real. So it breaks the trope of people being stuck in the game. Things happen in the real world. And it was a hardcore game with no respawn... so it's hardcore in real life as well. This ups the stakes and makes things interesting.
Pros:
1. Apocalypse, alien invasion, survival. Oh yeah, bring it on.
2. Follows a few viewpoints. So if you don't like one, don't worry the other will be along shortly.
3. Some clever problem solving
4. Breaks the usual litRPG tropes.
5. Love that they bring in the Tank, DPS Healer thing, but with some twists.
6. Creative use of the city environment for "quests".
7. No '10 HP, 20 constitution, 13 agility, etc' on every page, which some Rpg's do I don't mind telling you. There is some of that here, but it isn't as troublesome and helps the reader know how dead the character is. XP
8. Clever upgrade system
9. Love the mobs and how they grow stronger. Very creative I thought.
10. Available for free on t he author's Youtube channel!
Cons:
1. There were some stupid mistakes made by some characters. Mainly
2. Not as much emotion and character growth as i'd have like to see.
Looking forward to book 2!
February 8, 2024
This book is... just a giant mess held together with narrative-forced elements and viewpoint-character plot armor.
I don't even know where to start, so I'm going to go mostly chronologically with the problems.
So the beginning is fairly reasonable. Humanity gets to proof of concept their survival of the apocalypse via a game called Apocalypse Online. Most of the mentioned characters fail (die in game) and restart hundreds of times to get better at the game and survive better when the real apocalypse hits. It sounds like these characters will be very advanced when the actual apocalypse happens because they have a very vast amount of experience on what not to do and what actually works. How it really pans out is the only competent character is Sam, while everyone else is stumbling around like idiots.
Everyone who tested the game gets a pill to unlock a GUI and an AI 'Muse' to help them. Everyone has a pretty helpful AI except for Sam, the only competent character. Because she's so competent the narrative forced a worthless mothering AI on her that only worries about her and doomsays her. The AI of all characters never actually give them a tutorial of their GUIs even though that seems to be a stupidly obvious thing to have done. You get into the end of the third act before they figure out how to form groups larger than five and only because they specifically asked.
Sam's older brother Jake is another viewpoint character and mostly wastes his time on huge amounts of naïveté and trying to protect his sister, who doesn't need protection. It takes him into the third act to realize he's being a dumbass and even then he makes decisions that get people killed for no reason besides his mental.
Brad, our final viewpoint character, played the game almost as much as Sam it seems. Yet he's one of the least competent gamers in the book and has only survived at all because he can heal during every single fight. It goes against all the knowledge we have of him that he's so bad at the apocalypse.
Now that I'm done with the characters we can get into the biggest problems. Namely that if the character isn't a viewpoint character, there's a high likelihood that the author intents to kill them off sometime during the book to make the apocalypse feel more real or whatever. If you've been given the name of a character expect them to live for at least a major scene before dying. This isn't to say everyone dies... but a tremendous amount of people that get saved by our protagonists just die during the saving or die sometime after.
The worst part about this is that these characters are made of cardboard. Sometimes it feels like literally. They aren't fleshed out at all and they might literally not logistically fit into the story. For example, at some point later on they get ahold of three pickup trucks. They fill these trucks with supplies, including big major things like solar panels. We have a number of named characters riding in these trucks by this point. We also have a number of nameless people they've saved and brought along as well. There's literally no space to fit these nameless characters and they might as well be folded cardboard shoved into the back.
Sometimes the protagonists will have a conversation about how everyone went great with an operation after mentioning just before that they had some of those nameless characters die in the defense. The viewpoint characters have dialogue that ignores these cardboard characters when they aren't important to the story, which is just to make the apocalypse sound more serious. They're even joking around right after as if a bunch of people they cared for aren't dead now.
Finally we have the other big problem, which will be too spoilery, so he we go.
Now that we've reached the very end I have a final nitpick. Throughout this book the alpha seeders have been almost insurmountable opponents that took tremendous effort by multiple people to take out and typically had the intelligence to cooperate with every other seeder type. So at the end we're told this very nice and totally not ridiculous fact:
It's just ridiculous and makes no sense, but again, almost every decision the author has made in this book, from poor characters to insane decision making to bad AIs to sacrificial cardboard characters is in pursuit of a feeling that the apocalypse is really dangerous bad news. Consequences be damned.
I don't even know where to start, so I'm going to go mostly chronologically with the problems.
So the beginning is fairly reasonable. Humanity gets to proof of concept their survival of the apocalypse via a game called Apocalypse Online. Most of the mentioned characters fail (die in game) and restart hundreds of times to get better at the game and survive better when the real apocalypse hits. It sounds like these characters will be very advanced when the actual apocalypse happens because they have a very vast amount of experience on what not to do and what actually works. How it really pans out is the only competent character is Sam, while everyone else is stumbling around like idiots.
Everyone who tested the game gets a pill to unlock a GUI and an AI 'Muse' to help them. Everyone has a pretty helpful AI except for Sam, the only competent character. Because she's so competent the narrative forced a worthless mothering AI on her that only worries about her and doomsays her. The AI of all characters never actually give them a tutorial of their GUIs even though that seems to be a stupidly obvious thing to have done. You get into the end of the third act before they figure out how to form groups larger than five and only because they specifically asked.
Sam's older brother Jake is another viewpoint character and mostly wastes his time on huge amounts of naïveté and trying to protect his sister, who doesn't need protection. It takes him into the third act to realize he's being a dumbass and even then he makes decisions that get people killed for no reason besides his mental.
Brad, our final viewpoint character, played the game almost as much as Sam it seems. Yet he's one of the least competent gamers in the book and has only survived at all because he can heal during every single fight. It goes against all the knowledge we have of him that he's so bad at the apocalypse.
Now that I'm done with the characters we can get into the biggest problems. Namely that if the character isn't a viewpoint character, there's a high likelihood that the author intents to kill them off sometime during the book to make the apocalypse feel more real or whatever. If you've been given the name of a character expect them to live for at least a major scene before dying. This isn't to say everyone dies... but a tremendous amount of people that get saved by our protagonists just die during the saving or die sometime after.
The worst part about this is that these characters are made of cardboard. Sometimes it feels like literally. They aren't fleshed out at all and they might literally not logistically fit into the story. For example, at some point later on they get ahold of three pickup trucks. They fill these trucks with supplies, including big major things like solar panels. We have a number of named characters riding in these trucks by this point. We also have a number of nameless people they've saved and brought along as well. There's literally no space to fit these nameless characters and they might as well be folded cardboard shoved into the back.
Sometimes the protagonists will have a conversation about how everyone went great with an operation after mentioning just before that they had some of those nameless characters die in the defense. The viewpoint characters have dialogue that ignores these cardboard characters when they aren't important to the story, which is just to make the apocalypse sound more serious. They're even joking around right after as if a bunch of people they cared for aren't dead now.
Finally we have the other big problem, which will be too spoilery, so he we go.
Now that we've reached the very end I have a final nitpick. Throughout this book the alpha seeders have been almost insurmountable opponents that took tremendous effort by multiple people to take out and typically had the intelligence to cooperate with every other seeder type. So at the end we're told this very nice and totally not ridiculous fact:
It's just ridiculous and makes no sense, but again, almost every decision the author has made in this book, from poor characters to insane decision making to bad AIs to sacrificial cardboard characters is in pursuit of a feeling that the apocalypse is really dangerous bad news. Consequences be damned.
October 9, 2021
Poor Execution, Mediocre Concept
It is readable. The characters are inconsistent, the pacing is slow, the characterizations are flat, the action has a lot of TV-style "humiliate not kill" throws and grabs, and there are three view points for one and a quarter views of content. But it is readable.
It is readable. The characters are inconsistent, the pacing is slow, the characterizations are flat, the action has a lot of TV-style "humiliate not kill" throws and grabs, and there are three view points for one and a quarter views of content. But it is readable.
November 1, 2022
I enjoyed this series and plan to read book 2 in the near future.
Most LitRPG authors are new writers and often get mired in the same trappings of the genre. I'm glad that, overall, Robyn avoided most of the pitfalls while creating an setting for a LitRPG experience. Unfortunately, the book starts far stronger than it finishes. The ending of this book really felt like the author didn't know where (or how) to stop between this book and the next so just selected a random chapter to end.
Now to the story (I'll try to avoid any real spoilers).
The world is about to be destroyed (hence the name) by an alien invasion and someone or something knew it was coming. A mysterious new MMORPG has been released into beta testing that is preparing players for the invasion. This mysterious benefactor mails beta testers a gift that will help them turn their knowledge of the MMORPG into a real life weapon against the aliens. So... the fate of the world depends on MMORPG players.
Interesting premise and a bit different than most MMORPGs because it happens in real life on earth. No VR pods, no transference into a digital world, no teleportation to a new universe by demons.
This book does have some crazy inconsistencies. The aliens (seeders) are super strong with long sharp claws capable of rending open car doors. Somehow the group of protagonists quickly go from barely surviving one or two aliens to mowing down dozens without taking much of an injury. The power ramp doesn't match the minimal progression of 'players' skills and gear.
I will give the author credit for letting characters die in the book. Often the LitRPG genre is too precious with characters and it turns into a DnD session where the DM always prevents player deaths because no one like to lose their character. Also LitRPG authors tend to be weak at character development and don't know how to introduce new characters.
Another common problem with LitRPG books is pacing. It's very common for the author to have an idea of how they want to start the book and you get a few chapters with world and character building. About 100 pages in these books often turn into a chain of encounters until the book ends with very minimal story between. Apocalypse online did OKAY with pacing for the first 400ish pages but then fell into this same trap. Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, and end the book. Robyn does a good job narrating the fight scenes but they get very repetitive, particularly when the characters don't progress much between all the action. There are about three fights at the end of the book without an update on experience or skill progression for the characters. Similarly, ammo was a precious commodity in the early fights and then is ignored as a constraint for the later 30%.
Most LitRPG authors are new writers and often get mired in the same trappings of the genre. I'm glad that, overall, Robyn avoided most of the pitfalls while creating an setting for a LitRPG experience. Unfortunately, the book starts far stronger than it finishes. The ending of this book really felt like the author didn't know where (or how) to stop between this book and the next so just selected a random chapter to end.
Now to the story (I'll try to avoid any real spoilers).
The world is about to be destroyed (hence the name) by an alien invasion and someone or something knew it was coming. A mysterious new MMORPG has been released into beta testing that is preparing players for the invasion. This mysterious benefactor mails beta testers a gift that will help them turn their knowledge of the MMORPG into a real life weapon against the aliens. So... the fate of the world depends on MMORPG players.
Interesting premise and a bit different than most MMORPGs because it happens in real life on earth. No VR pods, no transference into a digital world, no teleportation to a new universe by demons.
This book does have some crazy inconsistencies. The aliens (seeders) are super strong with long sharp claws capable of rending open car doors. Somehow the group of protagonists quickly go from barely surviving one or two aliens to mowing down dozens without taking much of an injury. The power ramp doesn't match the minimal progression of 'players' skills and gear.
I will give the author credit for letting characters die in the book. Often the LitRPG genre is too precious with characters and it turns into a DnD session where the DM always prevents player deaths because no one like to lose their character. Also LitRPG authors tend to be weak at character development and don't know how to introduce new characters.
Another common problem with LitRPG books is pacing. It's very common for the author to have an idea of how they want to start the book and you get a few chapters with world and character building. About 100 pages in these books often turn into a chain of encounters until the book ends with very minimal story between. Apocalypse online did OKAY with pacing for the first 400ish pages but then fell into this same trap. Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, and end the book. Robyn does a good job narrating the fight scenes but they get very repetitive, particularly when the characters don't progress much between all the action. There are about three fights at the end of the book without an update on experience or skill progression for the characters. Similarly, ammo was a precious commodity in the early fights and then is ignored as a constraint for the later 30%.
February 9, 2023
I didn't click. In the beginning...
I was wrong...
For starters, the very first chapter is a letter to world leaders, written in the tone of a teenage girl lecturing wayward children? That juvenile tone really threw me off. Let's just pretend that never happened and move on. Ok?
I've resumed this book and am a few chapters in. I was way too harsh in the beginning, but it's picking up much better than I expected.
And I'm done and I loved it!! Reminiscent of the Red Mage series in its pragmatic approach to the gamelit integration, but without the aristocracy bit (which is an improvement in my book).
Yeah, it's still very YA, with all that it entails, and the bad guys are quite caricatural. But the dialogue and the social dynamics ring true... mostly.
It would have been good to dig a little deeper in the human antagonism, to make it less binary, like provide some arguments to the anti-pill crew. But then again, it's YA... And one can only hope that the author really invests into more fleshed-out characterisation for the antagonists in the future. Fingers crossed.
The only thing that really didn't work for me is the muses. That was an immersion breaker every time. I hope we're done giving them much more screen-time in the next volumes.
So yeah, a globally positive sentiment on this one and I will look for the next volume.
4 stars in the Gamelit category is probably not the same as a "general" 4 stars, but hey! I liked the book, so yeah.
I was wrong...
For starters, the very first chapter is a letter to world leaders, written in the tone of a teenage girl lecturing wayward children? That juvenile tone really threw me off. Let's just pretend that never happened and move on. Ok?
I've resumed this book and am a few chapters in. I was way too harsh in the beginning, but it's picking up much better than I expected.
And I'm done and I loved it!! Reminiscent of the Red Mage series in its pragmatic approach to the gamelit integration, but without the aristocracy bit (which is an improvement in my book).
Yeah, it's still very YA, with all that it entails, and the bad guys are quite caricatural. But the dialogue and the social dynamics ring true... mostly.
It would have been good to dig a little deeper in the human antagonism, to make it less binary, like provide some arguments to the anti-pill crew. But then again, it's YA... And one can only hope that the author really invests into more fleshed-out characterisation for the antagonists in the future. Fingers crossed.
The only thing that really didn't work for me is the muses. That was an immersion breaker every time. I hope we're done giving them much more screen-time in the next volumes.
So yeah, a globally positive sentiment on this one and I will look for the next volume.
4 stars in the Gamelit category is probably not the same as a "general" 4 stars, but hey! I liked the book, so yeah.
November 1, 2021
KU Review
“This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”
As the title says this is a review for Kindle Unlimited and as such is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis. I hate trying to define my enjoyment and describe facets of it that would appeal to someone else. It is simply not my style. But for the sake of those fishing for clues:
Character development: very good
Game elements: moderate
Harem elements: none
Tone: good blend of seriousness and humor - post apocalyptic modern day
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.”
As the title says this is a review for Kindle Unlimited and as such is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book and in no way reflects cost to value analysis. I hate trying to define my enjoyment and describe facets of it that would appeal to someone else. It is simply not my style. But for the sake of those fishing for clues:
Character development: very good
Game elements: moderate
Harem elements: none
Tone: good blend of seriousness and humor - post apocalyptic modern day
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
October 1, 2021
Good new system apoc series
I thoroughly enjoyed this book or so I'm a big fan of this particular sub genre. The writing was well done and the characters were deep and believable. Initially the point of view change was a bit confusing but as things sharpened During the invasion if became easier. I admit I almost stopped reading They ran into the psycho Group as there excuses Resonated with real life anti-vaxers. I'm sure that was the Authors intent. The frustrating Lack of reality check Of those people resonated Too close to real life. LOL. I read these books to get away from that kind of stupidity. That said even though the system is not fully fleshed out yet it looks like a good start. Obviously staged invasion makes For lots of books. I look forward to reading more books in the series hopefully soon.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book or so I'm a big fan of this particular sub genre. The writing was well done and the characters were deep and believable. Initially the point of view change was a bit confusing but as things sharpened During the invasion if became easier. I admit I almost stopped reading They ran into the psycho Group as there excuses Resonated with real life anti-vaxers. I'm sure that was the Authors intent. The frustrating Lack of reality check Of those people resonated Too close to real life. LOL. I read these books to get away from that kind of stupidity. That said even though the system is not fully fleshed out yet it looks like a good start. Obviously staged invasion makes For lots of books. I look forward to reading more books in the series hopefully soon.
April 26, 2022
Apocalypse Online
Apocalypse Online is a MMORPG with very hash rules. You start off pretty weak and there are no respawns, no safe zones, nothing. If you die, you start back at day 1 with nothing. Things suddenly changed when Brad noticed that the same alien invasion sky in the game is in the real sky right now. That pill that he received may not be for advanced VR technology after all!
This was a very interesting story! It was great to see how the different people worked together or against each other as the world falls apart. All of the characters are very well developed. The only complaint that I would have is how quickly everyone moves on and gets to alien fighting. I guess when they start clawing at you, you don’t have much of a choice! Pavo Proczko does a great job with the narration.
Content warning: Language
Apocalypse Online is a MMORPG with very hash rules. You start off pretty weak and there are no respawns, no safe zones, nothing. If you die, you start back at day 1 with nothing. Things suddenly changed when Brad noticed that the same alien invasion sky in the game is in the real sky right now. That pill that he received may not be for advanced VR technology after all!
This was a very interesting story! It was great to see how the different people worked together or against each other as the world falls apart. All of the characters are very well developed. The only complaint that I would have is how quickly everyone moves on and gets to alien fighting. I guess when they start clawing at you, you don’t have much of a choice! Pavo Proczko does a great job with the narration.
Content warning: Language
January 4, 2022
A awesome apocalyptic story
I really enjoyed this apocalyptic story online I had a lot of action and drama and interesting things. They had some good people building and world building and really more and more as the story progresses. I like the way the characters interact with each other and not so much the bad guys cuz there are bad guys in this story as well not just the aliens. I gave the story 4 stars instead of five because I felt there was a couple of people who were killed off in the story that should not have been killed off that's a little petty of me but I can't help the way I feel about it anyway there's a good story I'll read the second one.
I really enjoyed this apocalyptic story online I had a lot of action and drama and interesting things. They had some good people building and world building and really more and more as the story progresses. I like the way the characters interact with each other and not so much the bad guys cuz there are bad guys in this story as well not just the aliens. I gave the story 4 stars instead of five because I felt there was a couple of people who were killed off in the story that should not have been killed off that's a little petty of me but I can't help the way I feel about it anyway there's a good story I'll read the second one.
January 27, 2022
It's quite good
This is a quite good storyline, but it does need some refinery in places. A good editor would do wonders. There's a weird time inconsistency. This book takes place over about a week but in parts of it, people talk about before the aliens landed (ya know, a few days ago) like it was years previously. I'm sure it probably felt like it, but it's odd. Also, those muses are absolutely not feeling an AI. They come across more like handlers and it's obvious, and would be obvious to any real gamer that's what's happening, so that's a bit weird too. Still, cool story. Not sure about giant space spiders, but what you going to do?
This is a quite good storyline, but it does need some refinery in places. A good editor would do wonders. There's a weird time inconsistency. This book takes place over about a week but in parts of it, people talk about before the aliens landed (ya know, a few days ago) like it was years previously. I'm sure it probably felt like it, but it's odd. Also, those muses are absolutely not feeling an AI. They come across more like handlers and it's obvious, and would be obvious to any real gamer that's what's happening, so that's a bit weird too. Still, cool story. Not sure about giant space spiders, but what you going to do?
September 14, 2021
The author says that he was stepping into a busy genre, and as such there are a lot of commonalities with some existing works. That said, this works well doing its own thing.
Comparisons have been made with Shadow Sun and a few other series. I like this one a bit less than Shadow Sun, but more than System Apocalypse if that helps anyone bracket this book. Characters are pretty good and have to develop rapidly. Secondary characters have a fraught and frequently short time of it, so don't get attached.
It's good enough that I'll read the next one, so we'll see where this goes.
Comparisons have been made with Shadow Sun and a few other series. I like this one a bit less than Shadow Sun, but more than System Apocalypse if that helps anyone bracket this book. Characters are pretty good and have to develop rapidly. Secondary characters have a fraught and frequently short time of it, so don't get attached.
It's good enough that I'll read the next one, so we'll see where this goes.
September 24, 2021
Book one
Mistakes: Very well written. I did find one thing that didn't make sense to me. Posted it on Goodreads.
Plot: Aliens want to wipe out humanity because they don't like the way we run our planet or treat each other.
Characters: The progression of the characters and the plot was very logical. No big bad ex special forces soldier that does everything perfectly. Just normal people who make mistakes that not everyone survived, but they keep trying and learning.
9/10 I look forward to much more of this series.
Mistakes: Very well written. I did find one thing that didn't make sense to me. Posted it on Goodreads.
Plot: Aliens want to wipe out humanity because they don't like the way we run our planet or treat each other.
Characters: The progression of the characters and the plot was very logical. No big bad ex special forces soldier that does everything perfectly. Just normal people who make mistakes that not everyone survived, but they keep trying and learning.
9/10 I look forward to much more of this series.
February 12, 2022
litpro best
Out of all the books in this new genre this one does it the best… for most of the book that is. First of all, it explains why it’s like a game , it’s a pill given to the chosen few. It also has well developed characters and a decent story arc. The aliens are very one though, but it is the first phase I guess. Eventually, the book forgets the little things, like people being amazed by magic spells, etc, but otherwise the author does a decent job adding gaming abilities to the story without too much difficulty and disbelief.
Out of all the books in this new genre this one does it the best… for most of the book that is. First of all, it explains why it’s like a game , it’s a pill given to the chosen few. It also has well developed characters and a decent story arc. The aliens are very one though, but it is the first phase I guess. Eventually, the book forgets the little things, like people being amazed by magic spells, etc, but otherwise the author does a decent job adding gaming abilities to the story without too much difficulty and disbelief.
September 12, 2021
a lot to like
Solid writing, good setup, interesting premise, and strong characters. Clean prose, too. There is a lot of potential.
Now for the bad news: I struggled getting into this, mostly because there are 3 MCs. It gives a lot more opportunities for development, but it also slows the narrative when it shifts to a new viewpoint.
I intend to follow the series. It should be worth the time.
Solid writing, good setup, interesting premise, and strong characters. Clean prose, too. There is a lot of potential.
Now for the bad news: I struggled getting into this, mostly because there are 3 MCs. It gives a lot more opportunities for development, but it also slows the narrative when it shifts to a new viewpoint.
I intend to follow the series. It should be worth the time.
January 25, 2022
Pretty good, a little derivative and a few issues.
Some minor grammatical errors and one continuity error that reduced my immersion and enjoyment. A major character owns a handgun. The first few times it is mentioned, it is described as a Glock. In subsequent references it is described as a 1911. To be clear, I enjoyed the book and will continue reading the series, I am clarifying why I could not give a 5 star review.
Some minor grammatical errors and one continuity error that reduced my immersion and enjoyment. A major character owns a handgun. The first few times it is mentioned, it is described as a Glock. In subsequent references it is described as a 1911. To be clear, I enjoyed the book and will continue reading the series, I am clarifying why I could not give a 5 star review.
January 31, 2022
great story
I love this concept. The author is very creative and I appreciate the clean read. There isn’t too much profanity and there are no sex scenes. I would consider this suitable for anyone over 13.
The latest video game turns out to be a training simulator for a real alien invasion. The players are then equipped with real life upgrades to help humans fight off real aliens.
I love this concept. The author is very creative and I appreciate the clean read. There isn’t too much profanity and there are no sex scenes. I would consider this suitable for anyone over 13.
The latest video game turns out to be a training simulator for a real alien invasion. The players are then equipped with real life upgrades to help humans fight off real aliens.
March 21, 2022
Okay Story
I liked the story, but I start to grow tired of stuff that wants to push this idea that being a gamer with gamer knowledge will give you a significant advantage during a system apocalypse, promoting the idea that gaming stuff is some kind of rocket science, and somehow, the average Joe's IQ drops to <70 when it comes to understanding what took me about 30 minutes as 12 years old when I started my first World of Warcraft adventure.
I liked the story, but I start to grow tired of stuff that wants to push this idea that being a gamer with gamer knowledge will give you a significant advantage during a system apocalypse, promoting the idea that gaming stuff is some kind of rocket science, and somehow, the average Joe's IQ drops to <70 when it comes to understanding what took me about 30 minutes as 12 years old when I started my first World of Warcraft adventure.
May 1, 2022
Well written end-of-the-world/War of the Worlds type litRPG. The story is written in 3rd person past tense, which is my perference, so the reader gets to view the events from 3 main characters' POVs, Jake, his sister Sam and Brad. I enjoy them all. Already started book #2. The litRPG is handled in a unique way that I enjoyed.
Brad's honey badger encounter had me laughing out loud.
Colton's 'anti pill popper' group was a realistic, excellent touch.
Brad's honey badger encounter had me laughing out loud.
Colton's 'anti pill popper' group was a realistic, excellent touch.
September 23, 2021
I am enjoying the journey so far.
Growth levels and progression make sense. The characters seem to all have motivation to improve as fast as they can, odd things keep popping up and battles are sometimes seen coming and sometimes just pop up unexpectedly. No on is safe in this world - each person has one life and it's over.
Growth levels and progression make sense. The characters seem to all have motivation to improve as fast as they can, odd things keep popping up and battles are sometimes seen coming and sometimes just pop up unexpectedly. No on is safe in this world - each person has one life and it's over.
October 10, 2021
Such a thoroughly enjoyable book. I know I've been sucked in when I'm lost in the world of the book and I laugh or make noises out loud and forget that I look like a weirdo to everyone else. I loved the charecters they felt real and there were some deaths where I was like oh no this has to be a dream or a close encounter they can't die. Nope your ripped my heart out. Which makes it very realistic
February 24, 2022
Interesting concept and reasonably captures how some people might react to this type of event but there are way t0o many plot holes. Several times the characters do things that seem inconsistent with their supposed intelligence (or gaming experience) or the circumstances they find themselves in.
Each of these obviously pull you out of the story.
Each of these obviously pull you out of the story.
March 31, 2022
Good premise
I liked this! Good premise, well delivered. Good range of characters who developed fairly well. Good range of enemies. Some bits were a bit light on depth and the plot seemed to speed through a little; fuzzy on why protagonists made certain decisions so lightly, or ignored things for so long, but overall this was a good book I'm glad I read.
I liked this! Good premise, well delivered. Good range of characters who developed fairly well. Good range of enemies. Some bits were a bit light on depth and the plot seemed to speed through a little; fuzzy on why protagonists made certain decisions so lightly, or ignored things for so long, but overall this was a good book I'm glad I read.
December 5, 2022
I liked the premise of the book as well as some of the character development. It is a shame it went for the simplistic - only teenage gamers know how to survive the apocalypse - but we did see signs where this was the opposite case. The characters were maybe too nicely nice at times but overall a good read.
September 10, 2021
packed with action
The author delivers action and adventure in bucketfuls, each character facing their own trials and adversity, the plot twists and turns portraying the best and worse of human nature. Certainly worthy of your reading dollar and your time.
The author delivers action and adventure in bucketfuls, each character facing their own trials and adversity, the plot twists and turns portraying the best and worse of human nature. Certainly worthy of your reading dollar and your time.
September 12, 2021
Loved it
So far I have enjoyed every book I have read by this Author. I will definitely be getting book two and suggest that you check out their other books. Fast paced page turner with interesting characters that you can instantly root for
So far I have enjoyed every book I have read by this Author. I will definitely be getting book two and suggest that you check out their other books. Fast paced page turner with interesting characters that you can instantly root for
September 20, 2021
Not good
To many characters saying the same thing then the writer wrote due to the many weapons if mass destruction the aliens are taking over ..bullshit ..the writer through his opinion in the story I don't giveba rats ass about his or hers opinion
To many characters saying the same thing then the writer wrote due to the many weapons if mass destruction the aliens are taking over ..bullshit ..the writer through his opinion in the story I don't giveba rats ass about his or hers opinion
November 11, 2021
Not bad, but okay
This is a fairly standard system invasion type scenario. Unfortunately for the story, author Wideman has a bit of a heavy hand and some of the bad things that happen to the main characters stretched belief.
This is a fairly standard system invasion type scenario. Unfortunately for the story, author Wideman has a bit of a heavy hand and some of the bad things that happen to the main characters stretched belief.
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