Eight Internet friends have an "IRL" meeting in a mountain cabin. But instead of the long weekend get-together they planned, they're suddenly caught up in the end of the world as they knew it!
They just met for the first time in real life last night, and today's group wake-up call is strange messages floating in the air telling them that something called a "System Start" has just happened. Now magic works, and technology doesn't. Cell phones won't work, cars won't start, and it's ten miles to the nearest town. Some of them have families to worry about. Some of them don't even believe this is real. And all of them have secrets they'll have to overcome if they're going to work together and make it back to town alive.
On the way, they'll meet other survivors, also confused, scared, and questioning what's happening. Ten miles doesn't seem that far, but by the end of it, they'll have faced some of the worst that the System can throw at them.
And then things really get interesting.
The small Tennessee town they're trying to reach is isolated, cut off, and surrounded by a new and terrifying world. Outside the town, ordinary creatures are becoming things out of nightmare. And inside the town, legends are coming to life...
My Opinion: 323 pages, $3.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
This is an RPG apocalypse story that does a really good job of hitting all the right notes for the sub genre.
It tackles the apocalypse part well, making the end of the world feel dangerous not only because of the monsters but the people that are jerks or prone to violence. There are natural conflict points with electricity and water systems failing and food being scarce. Plus all the monsters roaming the streets and woods. It doesn’t get grimdark and is relatively light on people getting murdered or other things you may see in more gritty apocalypse stories.
On the LitRPG side, the game mechanics feel very solid with a familiar core system of levels, XP, stats, classes, etc. But there’s a unique class in the story, a mental mage like Mesmer class that brings a little originality to the system. It's not used much in the front half of the story but once the group reaches more people it becomes an asset.
While the action is good, the part that really makes the story better is the character development between the main character (MC) and the group members. No one is a one dimensional character, each has an interesting and flawed personality, and even with some internal conflicts there’s still good group cohesion against the outside threats.
I will point out a few things other reviewers were bothered by, but honestly weren’t any issue for me. There are unconventional relationships in the story, including: the starting group who uses hypnotism for adult fun among consenting adults, a dom/sub relationship. There is no sex in the story or any harems or anything. But there are references that people are in relationships and have been intimate. Plus some sex jokes. There are other reviews that give valid criticism of the location chosen for the story or a realistic attitude of the locals, but I had no issue with this either since I’ve never been there.
Overall, this is a really good story that gets better as it unfolds.
Score: 7.7 out of 10