Frank is a nobody.
He's struggling to be a somebody, and he needs cash.
Frank applied to more than a hundred clinical trials over the past year, getting into none of them. Until now.
CoA Inc. is highly secretive about their latest project. They've been advertising on college campuses and technology centers across the nation for paid volunteers. Hundreds of people have traveled through their clinics, and none have talked about what's going on.
Frank didn't care. He showed up to the trial knowing he'd be in a simulation, but nothing else. He certainly didn't count on getting trapped in that simulation.
Now he just wants to get out.
Alpha Test Subject #3435 is a Roguelike LitRPG adventure without a cliffhanger waiting for you at the end.
Take your first trip to the world of Alamor today!
My Opinion: 201 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
The author describes the novel as Roguelike LitRPG. As a video game that means that the journey the character takes is procedurally generated (aka random) so that each run through the game is different. You explore an area, maybe get some items, kill some monsters, die and then start a new game. That works well for a video game where the challenge is to just do better each time you play or to kill some time.
This does not work well for a novel. It’s so boring! Reading the novel felt less roguelike and more zork like. All the character in the story does is go to an area, describe it in too much detail what’s around him and search the area. Sometimes he finds an item, sometimes he kills a monster, sometimes he eats. Occasionally, he’ll do something that he gets a skill for. But that’s it. If the character dies, he just wakes up in a random location and it all starts again. Walk, search, get item/kill monster. Repeat endlessly. That’s it. There’s no one for the main character to talk to.
Yes, the story is LitRPG. There’s a game world with RPG mechanics. The character progresses according to those mechanics. The MC has a character sheet with familiar stats and an inventory. The MC gets experience points for exploring areas, killing monsters, and eating. He even levels up eventually. He learns new skills and can improve them.
Still, it’s a boring story that I did not enjoy.
Score: 4 out of 10
Alpha Test Subject #3435: A Roguelike LitRPG Adventure (Chronicles of Alamor Book 1)