Ben Barlow

Holy Jeebus are the fights long.

Reviewed: 06-03-24

This book could be like 2 hours shorter, if the fights could have been tightened up. The last two hours of the book is nothing but the 'final' fight.
The antagonists pile on like trash bags, some of them are so forgettable that you don't even know who they are when they show up later in the book. Others never show up again like the author forgot about them.

I am not sure if I want to continue the series on audible, I may try the 2nd book on kindle to see if reading it makes the fights and the poorly thought out antagonists work.

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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

Reviewed: 03-23-23

This story is fantastic. Pay no attention to the people giving this book bad reviews. If you like Noobtown, you will like this. The characters are real, have real concerns, and have realistic expectations of the 'game' they are 'playing'. Some of those are not met, and there are satisfying reasons why. Personally I enjoy Ryan's style and voice as he writes from the perspective of an older person who has a life outside the game, and needs/wants to get back to it (think Jim's "I miss my wife").

Don't come to this series, or this author expecting young protagonists, revenge fantasies, or harem. There is a solid story and realistic, relatable characters.

Johnathan McClain is a solid narrator and draws out the characters in a unique and believable way. (Drinking game... take a drink for every time I say believable).

This is a series and author to follow.

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Give this book a chance

Reviewed: 12-06-22

Here is the thing, This story is amazing. The 'crunch' lasts long enough to introduce the reader to how the system works, then cuts it back to a minimum. Character development is on point, and many expectations are shattered. Sit back and enjoy the storytelling.

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Wishful Thinking

Reviewed: 02-10-22

People who venerate officers either have never been in the military, or were an officer in the military. As a Captain (O-3), the character should have realized that all the work is done by the grunts, and he should be listening to the advise of his senior NCO.
Here are my biggest gripes:
The MC is mildly competent, but is hamstringed by plot armour
The plot armour is based around the idea that he isn't allowed to be told anything, he has to learn everything on the fly, but the fate of the world is at stake....
The 'enemy' is the Zerg.
There is no rhyme or reason for death or victory, it just happens, regardless of the actions taken by either party.
The MC and the other 'players' have no actual agency of their own.
Finally, the book reads and has the feel of an after action report. One fight after another, no plot other than learn this new system, or die.

I could not finish this.

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1 person found this helpful

Slice of serial killer life

Reviewed: 11-30-21

If the day to day of a serial killer is your thing, go for it. But the MC has no personality, and isn't compelling as a character to follow.

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Too good

Reviewed: 01-22-21

This is the first in what the author plans of 6 or 7 books. The start is slow for sure, and Tom takes some getting used to, but oh boy do things pick up and just keep going. A comedy of errors for sure. I have listened to this four times now. If you need something to pass the 24 and a half hours, pick this up and give it a go.

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Why bother with stat crunch

Reviewed: 01-13-21

Why bother with stat crunch, if it doesn't matter? MC is level 17, taking on (practically solo), a level 24 dungeon monster. The combat is boring, the characters aren't that engaging, and the plot had potential, until the characters interacted with it.

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Crunch. So much crunch.

Reviewed: 10-15-20

The story is good, the narration is good. The forward by the author warns that there are some stat boxes in the narration, less than what is in the book. Subtract about a third of the length of the book and you get closer to the actual length of the story. There is probably a tad over 3 hours of stat boxes read out in the audio. If you can get past that, great story so far.

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SO. MUCH. EXPOSITION.

Reviewed: 10-12-20

I could not make it more than a tad over half-way through this book. Nothing is shown of the world, how it works or what the rules are. It is all explained by Bancroft, to an idiot that is the stand in for the reader. Neither Kai or Rona have anything resembling redeeming features, and are just a tad over two dimensional as people. Not suggested at this time. I hope if there is a book 2, we can get on with a story, rather than expositional world building.

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Typical Problems

Reviewed: 12-29-19

This book suffers from the issues that seem to plague this genre.

1) Lack of understanding that the level of conflict doesn't always have to be dangerously life threatening on the part of the author.

2) The Author seems to have taken in with the camp of G.R.R. Martin. Don't get attached to characters, because they will die, for no other reason then it seems to be 'dramatic'. Death isn't the only dramatic thing that can affect characters. Authors need to learn this.

3) Finally, I am not sure I would continue with this series past this one. The protagonist isn't that interesting, the supporting characters don't have that much character, and to be honest, the author seems to think that Gnomes are the lawn ornaments, and not a dwarven race.

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