Epic
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Epic
Narrated by:
Samuel E. Hoke
Buy Now for £18.99
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Narrated by:
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Samuel E. Hoke
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By:
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Conor Kostick
About this listen
Welcome to a society governed through computer games!
On New Earth, society is governed and conflicts are resolved in the arena of a fantasy computer game, Epic. If you win, you have the chance to fulfill your dreams; if you lose, your life both in and out of the game is worth nothing. When teenage Erik dares to subvert the rules of Epic, he and his friends must face the Committee. If Erik and his friends win, they may have the key to destroying the Committee's tyranny. But if they lose....
©2004 Conor Kostick (P)2018 Conor KostickListeners also enjoyed...
Interesting read and good blend of sci fi
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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.
All the marshmallows you can eat.
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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.
"A true progenitor of LitRPG. Amazing & Immersive!
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Listener received this title free
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.
A Really Good Listen
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My first role-play book I really enjoyed
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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.
Interesting.
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Listener received this title free
Would recommend
Enjoyable
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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.
This is a standalone story!
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