The Curse

The Realm Between, Book 1

De: Phoenix Grey

Narrado por: Neil Hellegers

Will refused to admit to the HR lady at Radical Interactive that he'd never played their debut virtual reality MMORPG The Realm. From what he'd seen in videos and heard from reviewers, the game sucked. With the company's failed attempt at entering the gaming industry, they switched their sights to focus on smaller-scale educational programs.

Being a beta tester for Radical Interactive was not the dream job Will had envisioned, but he had hoped it would get his foot in the door to one day becoming a graphic designer for the company. As he filled out his new-hire paperwork, he never realized he was literally signing his life away.

Now a phenomenally successful company, Radical Interactive was secretly working on something behind closed doors that would change both the medical and gaming industries forever. The Realm was reborn. The only problem was that it wasn't a game - at least not to those trapped inside.

©2018 Phoenix Grey (P)2019 Tantor

short

felt like half a book. but still pulled me in and want more. Will be watching for mect

The MC ruined the book

This book never really had a chance for me. The main character was the epitome of a man-child. He was selfish, lazy, weak willed, and whiney. After far too long following this loser in his real life, I thought things would change when he entered the game world, but no. He becomes a follower. He does what he's told (poorly) and whines about it.

The writing style of the author was enjoyable and I would be willing to give their other works a try, but I'm done with this series. The narrator did an excellent job with what he had, but I have no interest in spending more time with this character.

- I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. -

Good but a little forced

So I am coming to this book after reading “The Land” series and there are a lot of similarities between the two. This is both a positive and a negative for this book. It makes getting into the book easier, but then, and this might just be me, it withdrawals me from the story at points when I think that it’s trying to be too similar. Besides the similarities between the two series the only thing that I am not a fan of is that references/jargon that are common to our world are used in the realm. This might get explained later in the series , but as of yet it hasn’t and it takes away a little of the believability for me.

If you’re a fan of LitRPG this book could be a hit or miss for you. I am going to continue on into the series and see what it has to offer. I hope this review helps some.

A fine addition to the LITRPG genre; A great performance, and good story!

Like always Neil knocks it out of the park again! Such amazing voice work, and a truly masterful range of voices and inflections to help define each and every character. I really hope he continues narrating books of this genre, and any other books from this and similar authors.
I have not come across a better narrator for the litrpg genre thus far, and this book in particular is a treat, with its great pacing, and its excellent story development, it is a prime example of how he brings the stories to life.

Now, on to the meat and potatoes of this review. The book itself is greatly put together, extremely well paced, with reasonable and believable characters that are decently fleshed out in a fairly short amount of time without feeling rushed, with great world building, reasonable dialogue(for the most parg
partt). there's also a great amount of character relationship work thus far that I'm left feeling excited to see contiue to build. I will definitely be diving into the rest of this series and I'm interested to see where it goes moving forward. Your left wanting to know how and where this story is going to go, with every turn.
Additionally, it adds a nice fresh take on the "trapped in a video game" theme, which leaves many similarly themed litrpg books feeling like they lack a personality, and keeps them from standing apart on their own merits.
This book, definitely DOES stand on its own, and sets itself apart, in a unique and interesting way. One thing I will say is I would like to see more of what's happening on the outside world, with his family, friends, and now, former girlfriend. perhaps we'll see more of that in future additions, time will tell!

One note of criticism I do have though, is how quickly and naively the mc forgives a pretty large and notable outright betrayal near the end of the book; after learning to not trust the character who does it, very early on. That said there is still time to see the further/future ramifications of said incident later, but it definitely feels like it's just going to be forgotten and left by the way side.
All in all, I quite enjoyed this book, but I will say the end point feels quite abrupt, like more should have fit on the end. That said, notably if you buy the bundle of the first 3 books, this is remedied nicely, so it's incredibly nice the author has provided that option.

To finish my review: I would highly recommend this book, and most others of a similar genre by Neil, to anyone looking to dive into a new fantasy genre book. It knocks the litrpg genre out of the park, as a real treat!

Bread and Butter LitRPG

Disclaimer: I received this audiobook at no-cost from the author in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book is the bread and butter of LitRPG. It's a solid work that doesn't push any boundaries. It's quintessential LitRPG; you will get your hero's numbers going up, you'll have a good time, and sometimes that's all you need. The premise behind the MC getting trapped in the game is one of the more unique methods that I've seen which I really enjoyed.

The plot is solid, fairly standard starting zone MMORPG questline stuff. That being said it's not written in a way to be boring, more along the lines of familiar. The stats are frankly minimal, which for audiobookers tends to be the preference, though I'm aware that's not universal.

The narration is solid, I've had no issues with it. Even sped up to 2.5x speed it and the story still flow in an easily followed way. The writing feels natural and conveys the main character's thoughts and emotions well.

Speaking of the main character, he's very relatable, though at times I think he might be too much of a blank slate. This is great for when you want a little bit of the ability to lose yourself into the role of the MC. Looking for strong character growth and development this falls a bit flat, though this is very much a first book and I really look forward to seeing any consequences of the technology Phoenix Grey has created for the series.

Overall, this was a solid book that fulfills the hunger for LitRPG well. It's not pushing the boundaries of what LitRPG is, but it stands firmly in the genre and I'd feel comfortable recommending it to anyone interested in the genre.

The Curse

This is a fasinating read. I really love the concept in This read. The Author has done a great job at the world building and bringing out the characters. There is lits of twists and turns. The Narrator gets the story across great as well. I love the humor as well. I definitely recommend this read.
Shauna Joesten

Loved it!

i absolutely love this book! i couldnt stop listening to it! i have to give it 5 stars and highly reccomend you get it! i loved everything about it from the start to the finish it was perfectly done!

Uden stole the show

This book was actually a very good book. Mad that I didn't pick it up sooner now. Uden stole the show though. Love the way his character is written. Crazy to see how his interaction is with his brother when they talk about his wife. He says plenty of fighting words lol.

Does have a unfinished fell like a Diablo first release

Story picks up will revisit the review after book 2. But a good start for this

This was great.

I enjoyed the story and the fact that it didn't take very long for the game aspects to start. The action flowed nicely and the personalities were definitely shining through. I can't wait to hear the next one.