As a code monkey for Goliath Corp., Trent Webb feels like a cog in the machine. He wants nothing more than to visit the newly discovered magical continent of Arcadia. But the price is too steep for mere mortals like him, so Trent settles for the next best thing … Arcadia VR.
The virtual reality vacation outfitters at VR World have a package that provides an MMORPG experience in Arcadia—complete with elves, mythical creatures like griffins and unicorns, and lads and lasses in distress—in short, everything Trent needs to become the hero he yearns to be.
However, once he’s in the game, Trent discovers a much larger quest, one that may actually affect the real world as he knows it.
My Opinion: About 230 pages (not listed on Amazon), $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Feels like two separate stories: 1) A geeky VR fantasy homage to Total Recall. 2) A general LitRPG leveling-up story with MMO and gamer jokes.
1st 14%: is a big hommage to Total Recall (1990) where the the author introduces her main character, Trent, the same way almost beat for beat that Arnold is in that movie. Only instead of “get your ass to Mars” it’s “get your ass to Arcadia”, in a fantasy VR world.
Warning: There’s an oddly graphic sex scene very early in the story. It actually feels out of place when compared to the rest of the fantasy story but does fit in with the homage to Total Recall.
From the 14% - 63% : After that the story becomes its own tale of adventure as Trent Webb logs into an expensive full immersion experience in Arcadia VR, the next best thing to visiting the recently opened elven world. He plays as a dual wielding rogue and goes one quests after another as he tries to get to the max level of 20 and fulfill his fantasies of helping the beautiful elven rebel leader Catriona.
Even though there are a few references in this section to the larger story, most of this part is spent with the main character questing and exploring this fantasy world. It’s a simple, enjoyable experience with plenty of gamer jokes.
At the 63% mark the novel returns back to the larger story introduced in the beginning and this is where the novel loses me. The author returns to the fantasy VR Total Recall storyline and the rest of novel becomes very predictable since it continues to follow the almost exact same plot points as the 1990s movie including the ambiguous ending.
I really enjoyed the story the most when it was just the main character going on quests, learning new skills, and leveling up.
Score: 6 out of 10