LitRPG Audiobook Podcast 065 - Bio Dungeon, Planet Hero, The Genesis Game, Life Reset: Human Resource

“Hello everyone. Welcome to the LitRPG Audiobook Podcast. I’m Ray. I’ll be reviewing some recent and classic LitRPG Audiobooks for you. I’ll begin with: ”

Bio Dungeon: Symbiote - The Body's Dungeon Book 1 (00:53)

Score: 8.2 out of 10

https://amzn.to/34n5de8

Planet Hero: Civilian (11:53)

Score: 8 out of 10

https://amzn.to/2Yq0hBu

The Genesis Game: Volume I World Apocalypse - Calamity Dungeon (22:46)

Score: 8.1 out of 10

https://amzn.to/2Yt4rIR

Soundbooth Spotlight

Life Reset: Human Resource (34:23)

Score: 8.4 out of 10

https://amzn.to/3aOG9Ob

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Bio Dungeon: Symbiote

The Body's Dungeon, Book 1

By: Jeffrey "Falcon" Logue, Jonathan Brooks

Narrated by: Miles Meili

Series: The Body's Dungeon, Book 1

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Jeffrey “Falcon” Logue and Jonathan Brooks team up to create a very interesting new type of dungeon, and I have to say that while I loved the story the Dungeon itself is not a very nice character, which made it a difficult for me to sympathize with him throughout the story. It starts off with the dungeon basically eat a rather nice little dungeon sprite and then doing everything in its power to take control of the body of a young thief ala john Carpenter’s the Thing. You are probably saying, Hey, Ray you love that sort of stuff, and I totally do but it made the dungeon more of a villain to me than one of the heroes. Cal, Doc, and even Fred all had their flaws but were basically decent and had morals and ethics that they followed. Not this core, it is hell bent on taking over the body it is in, and doesn’t care about the host. In fact, the title shouldn’t have been Symbiote, it should have been parasite because I don’t care how much the dungeon did to repair, health, and restore the young thief to health it wasn’t altruistic in nature. That said, the book was really fun, and I can dig an evil MC dungeon, my issue is it wasn’t portrayed that way. Either way the book kept my attention and I do want to see more in this series. Miles Meili does a great job as always. My only issue with him was when he used the British pronunciation of Capillaries, call them Ka-pill-are-ees, rather than Cap-pill-air-ees. In a narration of practically flawless work it was jarring, especially to someone overly familiar to human anatomy. The book does add at least a half hour at the end as a medical glossary if you are interested

Final score? The book is original, fun, has a lovable human protag, and good narration. 8.2 stars.

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Planet Hero: Civilian

By: M.A. Carlson

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins

If you’ve been jonesing for some superhero action Marc Carlson has the goods for you. I have to warn you though, it isn’t your typical bam pow kinda superhero. A man is pulled into a conflict between heroes and villains in an alternate reality after his evil alter-ego dies and sends him into the world where men can leap tall buildings and women are faster than a speeding locomotive or something like that. After an infusion of alternate reality nanites the MC gains superpowers, and is asked to pose as his alternate self in order to stop the real big bad of the book. There were a lot of things that I enjoyed. The power system was pretty cool, and the way that you didn’t technically level but sort of hit milestones was fun. I also thought that the MC applied his space &time powers in unique ways. The only drawback that I saw was that while there are heroes and villains in the story it really didn’t seem to carry the vibe of a world filled with supers in tights. It was more of a post apoc setting that had humans gaining powers and abilities far beyond the keen of mortal men. That was fine, BTW, I was just expecting more tights and fights than hunting expeditions. I think Jeffery Kafer did an outstanding job, and really brought the story to life. For me the story kept my attention and I enjoyed the MC a lot. My only issue was that the “heroes” felt more like gamers in the way they snagged up XP from the faux Doctor Portal. He was a guy that they needed amped up ASAP and they weren’t spoon feeding him like they should have. He was the one guy who justified power leveling. Final score 8 stars.

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The Genesis Game: Volume I World Apocalypse - Calamity Dungeon

By: Andrew O'Kelley

Narrated by: Curt Bonnem

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Genesis game is a now familiar tale that is similar in story design as Reborn: Apocalypse by LM Kerr and Towers of Heaven by Cameron Milan. Basically a dungeon pops up, the people of Earth get slowly decimated, and one person goes back into the past to undo the damage that was wrought. What this book does is sort of flips it on its ear and goes grim dark. The MC, Seraph, is pretty much apathetic to the world’s problems. He had flaws that caused him to fail, and in his reset he decides to do everything that he can to correct those issues in himself. During the time back at the beginning he is shown pretty clearly where his moral compass lost direction, and he struggles to decide if he should fix it or do what he came to do. Well, this is a dark story, and so you can kinda see where it heads. The difference this time around is Seraph’s father, who died at the start of the original apocalypse. Seraph saves him, even though he really doesn’t feel a connection. I view Seraph as a person who is a high functioning autistic, he knows who people are but he has no bond to them. The story is solid, if a little short for my taste, I am digging 7&8 hour books, but I wanted more when it was all said and done. Bonnem’s narration was spot on and I think he did a wonderful job. Kinda reminded me of Steve Campbell doing the Tower books.

Over all a solid 8.1, good story, with a flawed lead, and nice narration. Also, best of all, it’s unapologetic.

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Soundbooth Spotlight

Life Reset: Human Resource

New Era Online, Book 4

By: Shemer Kuznits

Narrated by: Jeff Hays, Annie Ellicott, Laurie Catherine Winkel

Series: New Era Online, Book 4

Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins

You may have seen this on the R&R section of the latest SBT Live show, if not go back and look as Ramon and I kinda chit chat and talk before giving our thoughts on the latest books in this series. Human resource feel like it is actually the second half to book 3, picking up right where the other left off and then getting Oren back into the game world. Now, it is kind of predictable insofar as to how Oren will achieve that, or even why he would go back in, and that’s fine. I had no issue with the direction the book took or what it did to get the game back to front and center. This time around Oren not only has to deal with VI’s (the game minds that filled the NPCs) but also other players as he attempts to expand his territory and rescue the trapped gamers from the terrible lives they are probably living in the game. Kuznits gets things back on track for the greenpeace clan by the end of the book, and reveals some things about Oren’s child that will be of extreme interest to fans of the series. The book is fast paced and unfolds at just the right pace. I know that, to me, the last book felt rushed, but not here. SBT really does a great job sound wise, FX, and even the music. Well done, excellently performed, and a solid production. Score 8.4

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Thanks oh so very much for watching everyone, I do appreciate you taking the time to watch or listen to the show. If you want to support us, you can like the LitRPG Podcast facebook page or the YouTube Page, or just share and like the video. I’m going to ask for more suggestions for the ‘Is it LIT’ segment, I’ve got a good one for next time, but will always need ideas. Please leave comments or suggestions in the comments below, and feel free to tell me whatever you like. I enjoy the feedback.

For LitRPG Audiobook Podcast, I’m Ray. Keep listening!!!

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