Realm Between Series # , The Realm Between

A LitRPG Saga (Books 1-3)

By: Phoenix Grey

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Will refused to admit to the HR lady at Radical Interactive that he'd never played their debut virtual reality MMORPG The Realm. 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 that 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. He never realized that 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.

Dumped into a fantasy world filled with nightmarish monsters, awe-inspiring magic, and way more walking than Will thought he was physically capable of as a nerdy desk jockey, he has to navigate the perils of The Realm and unravel the mystery of how he came to be here and how to get out. Fantasy meets real-life consequences in a game that could mean the difference between life and death.

©2018, 2019 Phoenix Grey (P)2021 Tantor

A more real take on LitRPG

I liked how an injury was real and not just “you lost 10 hp.” They caused the character to wince, favor that part of the body and not just shrug it off. The world was interesting, however the writing on the whole, especially in books 2&3 was weak. There was no real climax to the story In 2, and I felt like the climax in book 3 happened about 2/3s of the way through. Not my favorite.

just gets worse

the whiny MC just gets dumber and whinier as the books go on.
it's frustrating.
by time I got to the third book, I skipped to the last chapter after listening to the first 4.
just couldn't take anymore of the illogical actions and continued whining

Stats

great book but when it repeats the same thing and over again to fill in the book with repeated item description and stat readings that are over descriptive I just can't give it a great review

The protagonist is a rabbit.

I feel mixed. The writing wasn't bad but the story feels boring. I'm trying to decide if it's the other hundreds of books I've read or listened to altering my views on this title. I don't want to slam the writer so I'll list some basic points.

-The MC is basic. He's the nothing special guy in gaming. Never thinks outside the box and follows the full tutorial with no personal vision. It feels lacking at all times.
-No connection points. Nothing draws me to the story or the characters. I keep listening hoping the next scene will bring the excitement but its rabbits, another long section where the protagonist is happy to complain about basic skills and is farming rabbits.

That really sums it up for me. The protagonist is a rabbit. He's the guy that logs in on day three and tries to join, gets upset if you don't quest with him, but won't take a second thought at learning anything about anything or advancing. The guy at work that loves to complain about your pay difference but watches videos for 3-hours before complaining that someone interrupted his lunch. This shit made me write this... That in itself should be a clue on what you'll feel listening to this.

It's a shame because the writing feels decent.

the underpowered wimp

Making it to what is the third book? This 3 book set the character is super super weak not only that, he's an absolute coward. When it comes to standing up for himself or really understanding anything that is happening it becomes the most agitating thing. To have to listen to after a while I will not be continuing on this series.

c'mon really

for an MC that grew up playing VR MMOs n such. the MC is incredibly stupid. I mean come on. sure a blow to the head is what landed him in there, but does he have to be this stupid a long with the apparent helplessness. No one growing up with his background supposedly in video games, should be as dumb as he is...If anything he should have a leg up on it.

similarities between video games and real world experience. The struggle to advance and finally succeed in leveling up.

a good mixture between video games and futuristic technology. It keeps you entertained and guessing.

decent listen

how you ended the book. should lead upto a better ending leading into the next book.

Unique storyline but I just wasn't engaged.

I listened to this book because I enjoy Neil Hellegers narration. This series is okay, but I didn't find it super engaging. I believe it was somewhat futuristic (I sense the MC started in a world in the future based on tech) as the MC talked about being shocked at seeing things like trees and grass, and never having gone fishing.

The problem is that the MC- and reallllly all the supporting characters- just aren't particularly engaging or fun. Also, the MC has not figured out why he's in the game at all after THREE BOOKS?! After knowing what he signed? I have difficulty with the fact that he doesn't care about returning to his own world enough to even spend more than short paragraphs worth of time on thoughts of his family/prior life.

Also... sometimes the text feels a bit repetitive. For example, there's a knight later in the book whose name is mentioned in what felt like EVERY sentence- or alternatively, he refers to him as "ahole knight"... all of it is very repetitive and I was tired of hearing the dude's name.

This book feels more science fiction than fantasy in many respects.

The main character

I can’t believe that as the story goes on the main character never becomes more settled and decisive in his life choices