Interesting read and good blend of sci fi

I find this type of book interesting any way and it reminds me of following the lines of novels such as ready player one . Although the book is aimed at young adults I thoroughly enjoyed it so I can confidently say that the book will also appeal to adults . Throughout the novel it was apparent to me that the author has a genuine love of technology and online gaming and hence has a lot of knowledge in the area . It was easy to differentiate between the real world and virtual reality world which can sometimes become a little complicated when reading a book within this genre. I love that the amount of wealth etc that a person obtains is dependent upon how well they play the actual game and although the ideas and concepts are not new the book held my attention .The narrators voice is also quite calming but none monotonous . The reading voice is full of character and this is a big plus for me . I was given this book by the author / narrator in return for an honest and unbiased review

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"A true progenitor of LitRPG. Amazing & Immersive!

This book is claimed as being one of the forerunners to the increasingly growing LitRPG genre and it is easy to see why.
This book has a wonderful premise, a society that has done away with violence and uses VR instead to deal with conflict and give an outlet for humanities savage urges.
The book deals with topics in its stride such as Sociology of a populace that uses a RPG game to determine all facets of its society. Politics whereby various opinions and anti government sentiments are presented and explored. A possible precursor to how society might use technology like VR to hold public forums and meet as a group through the use of this technology.

There are some wonderful twists at various points throughout the story that give depth and texture to the story. Some of these come out of left field and you don't see them coming, others are a little easier to see.

The narration is without a doubt on the money, the vast array of characters have their own distinct sound and this helps draws you further into the characters. Samuel Hoke has given life to these characters and in my opinion has delivered the essence of the book.

In summation this book is without a doubt a must read for anyone that enjoys the LitRPG genre or is even a casual fan of RPG games.
I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys fantasy with a little science fiction.
I will definitely be placing the two follow up books on my to read list.

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All the marshmallows you can eat.

Centuries before the time sitting of this story, a game was created to while away boredom, an entertainment for the travellers to New World, an inclusive multiplayer computer game called Epic, where people could work off their aggressions and have fun. But, over time, this psychological release became all pervasive, ruling life both in and out of reality. In order to succeed in real life, players - and that is everyone - had to succeed in the virtual world, building credits even to further their education and to select the levels in society in which they will be placed. There are many losers, chosen to do the hard work of provisioning New World, and only a few winners who rule both the game itself as rich members of Central Allocatons and decide the life placements of everyone else.

Eric is a talented player but, with the Graduation Ceremony fast approaching, he is destined to fail as he keeps being killed in the game. He can no longer afford to re-equip new characters to acquire the desired monies to to fight, defend himself and so claw his way upward. So he changes his usual player character to that of a girl he names Cindella with the attributes of the long forgotten Swahbuckler, and invests all he has left in beauty. Then he sets about the task of raising his financial profile and trying to rescue his parents fallen victim to the harsh reassignment regulations and, in the process of changing the world itself.

The story concept is a good one, but, although there are flashes of excitement and some excellent descriptive passages, for this reader the book never really comes alive. The characters themselves are the main reason as they remain stoically two dimensional without ever engaging a feeling of empathy which would have increased a feeling of excitement. Changes in plot directions, and too easily won battles, compound the overall lack of involvement.

Narrator Samuel E.Hoke has a pleasant, deep timbred voice. His reading is clear and steady with a good single pace throughout which adds to the fairytale unreality of the story, further compounded by a lack of emotional imput even when the tensions are rising. His voicings of the characters other than the main protagonist are also minimal even if clearly defined. In many ways his input is excellent, matching the text itself, but it also has the effect of making the whole seem overlong and, to be perfectly honest, tedious apart from the central portion of the book.

Epic is very much a Dungeons and Dragons type story which, if rewritten now would probably be far more thrilling set in the full LitRPG world. A clever idea but not one I would recommend, even to game players unless very young and really into their gameing. My thanks, however, to the rights holder who, at my request, freely gifted me a complimentary copy of Epic, via Audiobook Boom.

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A Really Good Listen

Epic does what a lot of LitRPGs have failed to do - make in-game actions matter to the lives of the protagonists. There are very real stakes at every step of the way along this character's journey and I love this book for that.

One thing that is lacking in this book compared to others in the genre are explicit stats and game mechanics. While levels are in fact referenced in passing, and used to demonstrate which characters are more powerful others, it doesn't break down fight scenes into "So and so takes X damage." This doesn't bother me. In fact I think it's easier to focus on the story due to the lack of these announcements.

Overall, this is an engaging read with a strong emotional component that is sorely lacking in the genre. It is recommended for people who prefer more 'creamy' GameLit as opposed to hard crunchy numbers.

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My first role-play book I really enjoyed

Rather than throw you into mindless fantasy that just assumes you are prepared to believe in it, Epic almost explains why a future could be lived through the fantasy roll play rather than having to face cold realities of life. Pretty complex story superbly narrated and executed throughout, I found my walks clouded with visions I have not had before. A good book and well worth the time devoted to respect it. Jim

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Interesting.

A solid story with good narration.

The writing is good, well paced and with characters with plenty of personality. The in game parts are easy to understand and does not go in to too much detail about the systems in game. Letting it be more about the action, conflicts and characters.

The narration is easy to listen to and clear. Each character is enhanced with unique voices and plenty of emotion. I would happily listen to more books with this narrator.

In a world where everything is controlled by those who have the most powerful characters in a game it can be hard to get by if you have work to do instead of being able to dedicate yourself to improving your character. It is an intresting lesson about what can happen if keeping power becomes more important than using it wisely.

This was an intresting listen and I can recommend it.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

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Enjoyable

New to the author and the reader was unsure to begin with but the story and characters grew on me over time.
Would recommend

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This is a standalone story!

I was about 4 hours into the book and it was slow going. I realised it was a trilogy and became disheartened because I thought the book was only going to set up the next two books. However, the pace did improve about 6 hours in and the conclusion does not set up a direct sequel. This is good because I wouldn't buy a sequel anyway.

The story is ok if simplistic. It feels like something written for children and seeing as the characters are all teens this might more correctly be classified as Young Adult. I heard it was LitRPG which is a mixed-bag genre but I don't believe that is the case since the "game" makes no sense at all. Are characters made powerful by levelling? Apparently not. From items? Not quite. From time in game? Nope.

It was crazy, like the opposite of crunchy and then some. It would have been nice to understand it a bit more. On the one hand you have characters dodging out of the way of sword slashes intentionally left till the last moment, on the other you have characters give command lines like #mock, #smile and #stab. This really dates the book since it seems to set the game in a VR version of Old School Runescape which for 2004 was probably on the mark.

The characters are a bit lame too. The Norwegian names threw me to start with especially as some had different names for their characters but it wasn't too bad. There were many, many characters who basically became irrelevant over the course of the story despite being fleshed out repeatedly.

The central message of "Video games aren't real, go outside and play." felt very nineties but was done quite well. I think like much of the story a bit more nuance would have helped.

That being said, the story was already very slow. I often struggled to decide whether to keep going with it and regularly checked the timer to see how much I had managed to force myself through each session. It's telling that I had this 10 hour book on the go for 2 weeks yet having finished it and switched to a more enjoyable book I have gone through 3-4 hours in a single day.

The narration was ok but some of the characters voice were indistinct. I wouldn't recommend this book but if you are inclined to try it then there are certainly worse books out there.

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