Although he was once the promising young CEO of a successful corporation, Lucas abandoned everything he knew and retreated from both the real world and his demanding life following a horrific accident. In order to cope with tragic loss, he began spending his time in virtual reality, lazing about in the sun and living a carefree life.
When he learns that his escapist paradise is being threatened and is about to disappear, however, Lucas is once again forced to take action and do what he does best: take charge. With newfound purpose, Lucas desperately begins making plans that will not only save the world that he has come to love but also propel him back into the spotlight once again—only this time as the villain.
In this GameLit LitRPG adventure, Lucas overthrows local lords, assumes command of the evil Imperium’s forces, and begins designing a dungeon that no player would ever want to miss out on. As he struggles to evolve his monsters and create an entourage of minions in order to become the greatest villain ever, however, Lucas realizes that things aren’t going to be as easy as they initially seemed.
My Opinion: 488 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
This is a highly entertaining story that not only gives you some good action-adventure, but turns the hero trope around. It tells you the story of a man, who in his desperate desire to save a game that has brought him comfort in a terrible time, is willing to become a villain in the game to draw back in players.
Game mechanic wise, it’s a completely custom system that the author came up with. One that is apparently playable as a tabletop game. There is some dungeon, community building, and a minor bit of crafting in the story. Personally I would have loved to have seen more of these aspects in the story, but I guess the author wants to save something for the next books.
While the novel has some pretty crunchy game mechanics, I think the big draw for me was the emotional resonance that the main character. He goes through a tragedy and he turned to games as a way to cope and heal. The story reflects what a lot of gamers would do and there’s a certain touching realism to some of the emotional revelations that work really well.
Overall, good stuff. There are definitely some setup scenes that may go on a touch too long, but overall a very entertaining novel and I would like to read book 2 soon.
Score: 7.6 out of 10