Bran was one of the first to purchase a full immersion Virtual Reality Pod that he calls the Coffin, but over a century later, ironically, he finds himself part of the 1% that does not live virtually. He sleeps in a real bed and eats real food and only jumps into Neuroma to work.
All he wanted was to log in, work and log out and live in general obscurity. Getting the attention of a CEO, meeting a stranger in real life, and forced to play in a secret game of corporations were not penciled into his calendar. While that was bad, he started to question whether Odditek was still in control, or had their complacency created the noose tightening around their neck.
Bran was not yet aware of the choice before him. He could no longer stand back and watch, and he had to pick a side and fight before he lost the ability to choose. Would he recognize the inevitable in time? Was it possible to make a ‘correct’ choice, or had the lines blurred so much that hero and villain were indistinguishable?
My Opinion: 269 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
The first 18% of the story is not bad but it’s not entirely relevant to the rest of the story. There is some sci fi space stuff near the beginning that’s a bit irrelevant to the story, the stuff at the very beginning with the ash and memory wipe goes on too long even if it’s part of the series plot.
At the 14% mark you’re introduced to the larger virtual hub world and given some background info on the real world and why just about everyone lives a digital existence.
However where the novel really starts to shine is at 19% mark when the story turns to Bran’s day job in the virtual world, his office job. From there on, it’s a much funnier and interesting story that meshes the observational buddy humor of Office Space with the action adventure mechanics of a real time RPG death game.
There are a few spelling and continuity errors but nothing big enough to ruin the story.
Score: 7 out of 10