Kianola

By: Nathan Roth

Narrated by: Nathan Roth

Can a hero in-game rise in real life? The harsh realities of middle school meet the endless possibilities of an online fantasy world. Nole, an awkward eighth-grade introvert, escapes into the realm of Enix, where he reinvents himself. While facing the daily struggles of adolescence—bullies, unrequited crushes, and self-doubt—Nole finds solace in a digital universe where he can be anything he dreams of. But will his newfound confidence in-game translate to real life? Kianola is a tale of friendship, self-discovery, and imagination that captures growing up in both reality and the virtual world.

©2024 Nathan Roth (P)2024 Nathan Roth

Dive into a friend’s most personal, epic quest!

"Kianola" is a heartfelt journey that captures the magic of escaping into a digital world while facing real-life challenges! Nathan Roth beautifully balances Nole’s relatable middle school struggles with his epic adventures in Enix, crafting a story that’s both touching and inspiring. With Roth’s own narration, it feels like diving into a friend’s most personal, epic quest—fun, immersive, and oh-so-relatable!

A straight-forward and comfortable fantasy adventu

“Kianola” by Nathan Roth is a look through the eyes at the often turbulent times of a kid’s life, when they’re just barely teenagers and struggling with identity and fitting in at school and working out how to be themselves.

The story follows a young boy named Nole who’s a bit of an introvert who finds escape from real life in the online world of “Enix” which based on the description of in-game quests sounds like an MMO similar to an early World of Warcraft or others like it. Nole’s interactions with the game, the NPC, and other players is written though as if Nole is fully immersed.

I don’t recall it being specifically mentioned, but I’d guess the time period would be early 2000s based on some of the pop-culture and technology references. This was probably the biggest thing I had to adjust to. Most of the time, I kept thinking it was a VR simulation, when he’s actually playing on an old PC that’s on the edge of crashing for good.

That I think took me the longest to get my head around. Nole and his friends are all playing on PCs in front of screens and talking through chat, but it’s described as if they are fully there like virtual reality. For Nole, I believe that’s how he sees it. I’m so used to reading books where the characters are inside the game, it took me a while to mentally readjust. So for Nole it feels like full immersion, actually being there and not just a character on a screen.

Nole’s online life is somewhat similar to the problems he has in real life. He finds it difficult to connect with people emotionally. His reaction when he gets friend-zoned by a female player he likes makes him retreat into shell and react in a typical young male way. A little cringey but honest to his character, I think.

The gaming parts were well written, though the battles tended to be a little brief at times. Early level adventurers getting a fairly easy run through the world and racking up max-level achievements with little effort made me wonder how much staying power the game would actually have if it were real.

The online world though spurs on some change in his real-world persona, which was generally handled well. Losing weight through essentially starvation may not be the best message to be sending to young readers, however it was mixed with getting in exercise and socialising by spending time with friends all of which are good themes.

Overall, I think it offers a heartfelt exploration of growth and resilience for young boys. While much of the story is in-game, you don’t need to be a gamer to follow along. A straight-forward and comfortable fantasy adventure for kids in the middle grade to young adult age range.