Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods

by John Michael Hileman

What if dreams are a door—that was never meant to be opened?Jason Tardin is trapped within a virtual world, he is sure of this, he has seen the program. But if this is a computer-generated world, then how can he reconcile the complexity of its inhabitants, people capable of frustration, joy, and pain? Are they simulations, or something more?And what about the abilities which allow him to create or control whatever he wishes? Is he a god, as the people of Vrin believe?Grappling with his new-found powers, haunted by a conversation with scientists on the outside, and stalked by a mad god, Tardin must unravel an impossible mystery—to save a world that is not his own.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Christian, Ebooks, Amazon, Mystery

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

John Michael Hileman is the author of seven novels with over 1 million sales. He is currently working on The Millennium Project Short Reads.

Reviews

[Nathan Henrion · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of VRIN at Smashwords after the author pinged me here on Goodreads.

The writing was good, and Hileman definitely has talent. The book had me engaged, and I did find myself pushing other things aside to keep on reading. That is a mark of his abilities.

The story itself was pretty solid. The first half of the book was awesome. It had a great fantasy feel, with the main character having some nice Bruce Campbell moments ("You want a piece of me?"). Slowly, however, it seemed that the plot drifted into derivative areas, leaning a lot on recent pop culture releases(Matrix, What Dreams May Come, LOTR enough with the magic rings people, Stargate...)

When Jason/Charm/SamDejal/WhatsHisName was in the real/earth/waking area, the pace slowed some and was a bit of a distraction. At times it seemed that the story got away uncontrolled. When the characters jumped back into VRIN, my enjoyment returned.

The disappointing side for me was the extremely didactic ending. The story jumped from a really cool fantasy read into a heavy proselytizing tract. In twenty pages, I went from being excited to see how it would end, to begging for it to end quickly. Sadly, this is the biggest fault of much Christian fiction, story is subverted for message. I think a reworked ending would serve the text much better.

That being said, Hileman definitely can write. If he can harness it and keep on target (of just telling a good story), he can go places.

VRIN reminded me of the writings of Robin Parrish and James Rollins.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

New and improved review:

I downloaded this book on something of a whim. The author was offering it for free, and I wanted to test out the viability of reading something on my iPod Touch - but then I read the first chapter, and it had a good hook. It drops you into the middle of the mystery and the action, in the perspective of a protagonist who doesn't know who or where he is. As he discovers who he is and what he is, and as questions of the nature of the self and reality pave the way, the story was quite interesting.

I did think it was a bit simplistic, in the sense that he accepted things very easily, and things seemed to come rather easily. Whenever he had to convince someone of something, they seemed all to ready to be convinced. Also, while the questions of reality and whatnot are part and parcel of the story, I found the nature of his questioning between action bits to be a bit repetitive and circular. But, the characters were engaging, the multiple twists in what was going on and who was who was interesting and kept you guessing. It was definitely shaping up to be a very interesting read - though I did find it less a mix of Lord of the Rings and the Matrix, as advertised, and more a sort of mix of Matrix and a little bit of the Chronicles of Amber.

At one point, our hero becomes too big for his britches, gets overconfident and falls into a trap from which he can't escape. While I was expecting either some big rescue, or him discovering his way out - instead this is when the tone of the story changes, and we go from a generalized philosophical treatise into a bit of a moralizing one.

You see, the moral of the story is that we can't trust in ourselves, or in our talents (or "the talents that God gave us"), but that we must trust in God, in his perfection, in the perfection of his plan. There was a lot of talking around predestination type stuff (God knew what we were going to do, so he set it up to happen that way), and a lot of talkiness about God's love.

I liked the story a lot better when it was general and open-ended questions about the "Big Questions", and less when these questions were answered.

Anyway, so then the story started feeling more like Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy. When we are awake in one world, we sleep in another. One world is quite like this world, and the other, Vrin, is a virtual reality construct but fueled by souls or the energy of souls or something. When we are awake in this world, we, generally, forget the other.

Once again I found it a bit unbelievable at how easily the people around our doubting Thomas are lead to believe and accept everything going on. And I'm not really a fan of the message. I'm much more a "God helps those who help themselves" kind of person, whereas this book seemed to espouse "Let go and let God", which just sort of irks me, to be honest. But the real issue, I think, was not my philosophical disagreement with the message, but what I felt was the heavy-handed presentation of it.

Messages and morals in a story are one thing. You expect them. But I don't like feeling preached at.

So, this part I give a 2.

If you can get past all that, then it's still a decently written story with some interesting ideas. I didn't really like the ending - too much talk and, again, too much ease in convincing people of 'the Truth' - but it's not bad for what it is.

[Adam Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason Tardin wakes up in a room with no memory of who he is or what he was doing, before he has a chance to come to terms with his situation he finds himself addressed as one of the Ten, a god of this strange new world he’s found himself in. Drawn into a war he doesn’t understand, Jason must use his new god-like powers to find answers before the ten gods loose in the world of Vrin bring about its end. But nothing in the world of Vrin is as it appears, there is something bigger and darker hiding within the code that makes up the world. Something even Jason may not be prepared to discover.

This book was alright. It did feel like some of the more interesting elements of the story were discarded before they had a chance to bloom. The story just sort of kept going, introducing and discarding plot points without taking the time to let them sink in. Right when things were getting interesting it would switch to something new, jarringly so.

Around the midway point there’s a major tonal shift that really hurt the story with its difference in pacing. Almost like the author decided to write a completely different novel in place of what was already written. There were a few moments where a sudden religious message came through rather blunt, and the story wound up feeling kind of schizophrenic at times, but still it was readable.

A story that is fairly decent, but smacks of missed potential in places. Not quite what I was expecting going in, but still not bad.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: 4
Writing Style: 5
Characters: 3
Total Rating: 3.5

I'm not sure if I liked the ending, but the writing is solid and the plot moves along nicely. It reveals signifcant twists as you read, but there are not so many that it was confusing. I thought the author did a good job of leading you through the book. I rated it a 3.5 because the ending chapters did not work for me. I did not mind the theology, but the delivery was less exciting than Vrin "in the beginning". I would still recommend it for reading.

[Merrianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

John is such a talented man and you can see that through this book! He weaves fantasy and reality with drama and suspense. I highly recommend Vrin: ten mortal gods to anyone who enjoys a high action and thought provoking masterpiece.

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out ok, but didn't like the way it ended. It is my own fault I should have guessed that the spiritual twist would become too preachy ;) I like more pure scifi/fantasy.

[Melissa]

Stopped reading at chapter 4. I wasn't motivated to even remember the characters.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book was well written, some thought out plot ideas and concepts that kept me hooked. When the story died so the book could become a religious tract I was quite disappointed.

[PapaTrain · Rating 5 out of 5]

God alone knows

I like the way this story builds from science and ends with a God belief. Well written and enjoyable. Amen.

[Pete · Rating 2 out of 5]

Religious

I was born and raised catholic but I am no longer a practicing catholic. Although I do believe in God, it has been a very long time since I participated in going to church or anything else.

This started out as a fun virtual reality world. About 50% through it started getting religious. It got thicker and thicker as it went on. At times, it got annoyingly confusing and I just couldn’t wait until I was finished with it.

[Cathy Bickerstaff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea

I was well into this book before it caught my interest. It was not a genre I normally read, but something about it's summary must have caught my attention.
I found it a bit difficult to follow, jumping back and forth between worlds and personas.
I'm not sure I caught all the deeper meanings, I don't care enough to search them out.
Someone more interested in sci-fi/fantasy might enjoy it more.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isekai novel (Japanese term for novels where people are trapped in video games, alternate universes, or different times from their own). VERY well written, keeps you on the edge of your seat. Well wor th the read.

[Elizabeth Rathbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Took me a bit to get into the story, but once there I was enraptured. I could almost feel the love and peace they felt coming from God. He works in mysterious ways as the storyline shows.

[Paschalis]

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[TERESA BALSTER · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting even though it's theology incorrect. A fantasy style read.

[Taylor P. Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods, John Michael Hileman

Imagine waking up and suddenly finding that you are a god. Well, that's exactly what happened to Jason Tardin when he became Sam De'jal - the god of reason! One moment Jason was quietly reading a book in his study and the next his eyes start glowing and he has the power to mould and influence the world around him!

Jason doesn't have much time to enjoy his new-found powers however, and within moments of unlocking them his life is great danger and he is thrown into the midst of the gods' brutal war to shape and rule Vrin as they see fit. Jason knows that he has to learn to use and understand his new powers quickly if he is survive and, as he struggles to comprehend the complex politics of the Gods, he stumbles upon a shocking secret - a secret that allows him to understand the true nature of Vrin, why it exists and why it must be saved at all costs.

The Good
One of the best aspects of Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods, is in the uniqueness of the story and John Michael Hileman has used an interesting blend of science and theology to create an original and complex idea of the formation and structure of the universe, which I found was fascinating to read about.

The story itself is very complex (although this could also be considered as a negative point, I suppose), and is full of twists and turns that make any of its events very hard to predict. This, along with the book being well written and narrated with a light-hearted air that helped me to engage easily with the story and its main characters, makes Vrin an enjoyable read that is very difficult to put down.

The Bad
Throughout Vrin, sleep features prominently and (without spoiling the book by going into too much detail), is very important to the events of the story. The human sleep cycle in particular is very important, so you would think that Hileman would have invested in researching it properly. Sadly, he hasn't and there is one paragraph where he explains the human sleep cycle for the readers and gets it completely wrong.

And although moaning about this error is slightly trivial on my part, I bring it up for two main reasons. Firstly, I am a biologist and find factual errors such as this extremely irritating. And secondly, I found that this error diminished my confidence in Hileman as an author, which slightly disengaged me from the rest of his story. This is a shame really because it marrs an otherwise superb book, but I think that it is a big deal - it is important for authors to spend time researching the backgrounds of their stories properly to give their books a greater sense of credibility!

My Thoughts
Overall though, Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods is a very enjoyable book to read and provides a gripping and imaginative telling of the celestial workings of the universe. I think that the book will be enjoyed by fantasy and science fiction fans alike, and recommend that you add it to your reading list!

[David Fernau · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Originally reviewed on Otherwhere Gazette)

Many people might not think that virtual reality and Christianity can coexist, but J. Michael Hileman shows that they can in Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods.

This is a book that grabs you right from the start and pulls you into the strange world of Vrin. Narrated in the first-person, you travel along with an amnesiac as he wakes up in Vrin, and then learns about the world around him. He also discovers that he has broad powers to affect the world around him, powers which make other people see him as a god. He, however, insists that he’s not a god, just a man with a few special abilities. However, there are nine other people in Vrin with similar abilities, and most of them do want to be worshiped as gods, including two that want to destroy Vrin completely for reasons of their own.

Hileman isn’t as deft as, say, Tolkien at burying the Christian message deep in the story, but that may be a matter of choice rather than skill. Nevertheless, the characters, even the “normal” inhabitants of Vrin, are well-drawn and ring true to life, making you care about how things are going to turn out, while inspiring questions about whether the people of Vrin are just incredibly lifelike computer simulations of people, or are truly people in their own right.

There were, admittedly, a couple of issues with the Kindle edition of Vrin that I purchased. The formatting of paragraphs seems to flip from one style to another back and forth repeatedly through the text, which can make following the story difficult, but by the end one gets fairly used to it. Also, once or twice the wrong word is used (for example, “effect” is used when the author seems to have meant “affect”), but most people should be able to figure it out through the context. If the author or editor reads this, however, I’d strongly suggest that they release an updated version with the formatting fixed.

Overall, though, I’d strongly recommend Vrin to anyone who wants a good read and isn’t completely turned off by the idea of God appearing in a story. I am strongly considering sending it as a gift to a couple of good friends myself, and that’s about the highest recommendation I can make.

[Emmanuelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book sounded really interesting. As I began reading the first chapter, the main protagonist had good potential, but by chapter four, I still didn't feel like I related to him. He was uninteresting and only gave off the impression of surfing along in the story; granted, I realize he was struggling to figure out who he was with his memory loss. He did a good job at first of pretending he knew what was going on but was soon as he met Kitaya, the storyline just seemed to drop. It was distracting to the mystery of who he is. I took interest at first in the unknown mystery of who he really is, but I feel like follow-up on that was too delayed to maintain the interest.
The setting of the world is talked about, but not described in a way that made me take interest in it's welfare. The book is well written and I didn't note any horrible grammar or editing flaws, but because of the plot progression being so drawn out, I lost interest and was unable to continue reading.

[James Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost gave up on this book, but I am really glad that I didn't. It starts off kind of slow and I had difficulty connecting to any of the characters. We are told who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, but we aren't really given any reason to root for the "good guys". The story really picks up about a third of the way in with the first real "twist". From there, the action is almost non-stop, we have a reason to "root" for the good guys and in the end I really enjoyed the story. I also have to say, I think the writing also picks up with the first twist. The only things keeping this from being a 5 Star rating is the slow start.

[Merlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing Twist of Mental Proportions. I enjoyed the Virtual World as an advance World to strive to.
It was a bit to much evanescence on a religion in the book that took away from the Virtual World of VRIN.
But it did make you think outside the book with respect to views that are around us, which I like.
It gave me a bit of a headache to rap my brain around the aspects of the views expressed, which might be why this book so darn interesting.

[Linda Pijor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Christian fantasy

I liked this book because it was a fantasy of things I hadn't read about before. The story caught and kept my attention. I couldn't give it 5 stars because new characters appeared and confused me. However I would read this again to try to figure it out, hence the 4 stars.

[Nicole Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly surprising novel!

Vrin: ten mortal gods was very surprising! I loved this book! This is my first book by J. Michael Hileman and I did not know he is a Christian author. I'm very happy. I admit, I was confused because of the title, but keep up, it all gets explained. It is well worth it! I enjoyed the sci-fi and spiritual qualities as well. Wonderful!

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, but the end could have been better for me. It took a left turn and got too preachy and I wasn't too excited about that. I would've rated it 5 stars if not for that. But it was still very entertaining and action packed page turner. I loved imagining the world of Vrin.

[Emily]

Eh. I thought this was going to be right up my alley. But about halfway through, it lost me. There was just too much going on. too many characters. Too much back & forth. I just couldn't make myself finish it.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great concept with a lot of potential but then it suddenly turns into a message about trusting God and begins to (as other reviewers have also commented) get very preachy . A little disappointing since the world seems like a very interesting place to explore.

[Anna Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this as a free book thru BookBub with no idea what it was about other than science fiction. Wow! A fascinating story with an interesting perspective on the intersection of science and consciousness and religion. Recommend highly!

[Thalia Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing...great read

I loved this book although to me it was a little hard to follow in the beginning....the action picked up and I couldn't stop reading. I didn't realize the true message was about God's love for us and to trust in his plan for us....wow

[Joel Parisi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent idea that suffers in the execution. The author's level of craft is, quite honestly, abysmal; however his plotting is above average and his characters are decent. I have a feeling that another year or so of practice would have made all the difference...

[Judith Noameshie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read

This is nothing like the David Chance series but this is really good as well. The story progresses nicely. But I was lost in trying to figure out the whole computer programming thing. So that's why i
Took a point awesome

[Teisha Priest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the read! I've read it through a few times and will post a more in-depth review on my blog later this summer after I've had the chance to re-read it! :-)