Dashiell is a rising star player of the Crystal Crusade, the most popular virtual reality RPG in the world. But to get sponsorship, he has to compete with gritty players from around the world.
His plan? Embark on dangerous and epic quests to boost viewership numbers.
Dashiell and his co-players travel to a monster-infested island where they confront a mysterious race that hates humans. Even worse, the arch-nemesis schemes a twisted plan…
During his fight for survival, Dashiell learns new skills, battles unique bosses and even allies with his worst enemies. The pressure explodes when the real world turns as dystopian as the mysterious lands of the Crystal Crusade…
My Opinion: 310 pages?, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased the book when it came out.
This is an enjoyable sequel to the Crystal Crusade. It has all the same game action with the addition of new power and new foes. Additionally, you get to see the world from the perspective of the Sunblood Syndicate, the bad guys from book 1. Learning about this perspective has some interesting real life consequences for the main character Dashiell/Boltzmann.
The real life storylines in this series have been great. Book 1 had a heart wrenching storyline about forced gaming addiction rehab. Book 2 explores what it means to be an internet celebrity (like YouTube star). It made the real life portion of the story interesting and incorporates the events of the game as an influence on Dash’s burgeoning pro-gamer career.
There’s also a good little discussion of morality in video games which I think will be a bigger part of book 3.
Overall, I had a good time reading the story. The in-game storyline doesn’t get really good until about the 20% mark, but it’s still a very entertaining read. The addition of a good real world storyline only adds to that.
Score: 7 out of 10.