LitRPG Podcast 015
Welcome to Episode 15 of the LitRPG Podcast. The only podcast dedicated to LitRPG.
I’m Ramon Mejia. I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews.
Before we begin I want to give a big shoutout to our newest Patreon supporters: Scottie Futch $1/month level, Jay Taylor upped his pledge to $3/month, and Aleron Kong who’s a top level supporter at $10/month. I seriously never thought anyone would like the podcasts this much, thanks for all your support guys.
https://www.patreon.com/geekbytespodcast
This week I’ll be telling you about the latest LitRPG News and LitRPG pre-orders coming up.
New Releases and Reviews:
Strength Build: A LitRPG Saga (Book 1 - The Fields of Durandor)
Dungeon Crawl: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 1)
(Play Music 2)
LitRPG News
Aleron Kong Book Covers New
Aleron Kong - 1st Newsletter went out (https://t.co/CHnXei5ccK ), we’re featured in the LitRPG Spotlight.
Sign up for that newsletter here: https://t.co/3DJAlGn0yO
Sign up for the LitRPG podcast newsletter: http://www.litrpgpodcast.com/litrpg-newsletter
Omegaverse Book 5 - The March of Edonis
Coming out - Nov 18th, the highly anticipated 5th book in the Omegaverse series has a special release day price of $0.99, then gradually the price will rise until it’s it normal $4.98 price.
Not familar with Omegaverse series? Books 1-3 are an amazing LitRPG Sci-Fi space adventure, then in book 4 it pivots into an even better LitRPG fantasy. It all makes sense if you read the books, which I highly encourage you to do. They’re all available on Kindle Unlimited.
Books 1-4 http://amzn.to/2fEOaZ8
Dark Paladin Pre-Order and Early Read
Dark Paladin (http://amzn.to/2ffXfqH) is up for Pre-Order. You’re able to read the first few chapters on the publisher’s website, Magic Dome Books.
https://magicdomebooks.blogspot.ru/2016/11/new-litrpgfantasy-series-from-vasily.html#more
Now, if you can’t wait till Nov. 28th for Way of the Shaman Book #4 (http://amzn.to/2e435QU) , or you can’t wait till Feb. 2017 to get the English translation or the Dark Paladin. Don’t forget that you can get all of Vasily Mahanenko’s works as they’re being translated if you're a subscriber on his website. Usually $6 per book.
http://mahanenko.ru/en/content/books
LitRPG short story collection --Magic Dome Books
Magic Dome Books is releasing a collection of LitRPG short story and novellas from some of the most popular Russian authors. You get stories from Vasily Mahanenko (Way of the Shaman), Andrei Livadny (Phantom Server), Michael Atamanov (Perimeter Defense), Alexey Osadchuk (Mirror World). Two new authors include Pavel Kornev (The Sublime Electricity), and Andrei Novak (New Author). The short story collection will be available Jan. 20th 2017.
You're in Game! LitRPG Stories from Bestselling Authors
Royal Road Legends Interview --Edward Castle
The good folks at Royal Road did an written interview with Edward Castle, author of the best selling LitRPG novel Unbound Deathlord (http://amzn.to/2ergjo3). Congrats Edward and go check that out.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/royal-road-legends/interview-with-edward-castle/985038304972968
Upcoming LitRPG:
Homeland: Ingame 2 (Nov. 19th)
The Phantom Castle (The Way of the Shaman: Book #4) (Nov. 28th)
The Cadet (LitRPG. Squadcom-13. Book:1) (Dec. 5th)
The Way of the Outcast (Mirror World Book #3) (Dec. 19th)
Video Game Plotline Tester (The Dark Herbalist Book #1) (Jan. 3rd, 2017)
You're in Game! LitRPG Stories from Bestselling Authors (Jan. 20th, 2017)
The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series (Feb. 7, 2017)
(Play Music 3)
New Releases and Reviews
Strength Build: A LitRPG Saga (Book 1 - The Fields of Durandor)
Nick Stanners has no money. No job. No prospects. He lives in one of the most crime-ridden apartment blocks on the west coast. His girlfriend uses him for a place to stay. His father is on life support. Rent is due next week…
Games are Nick’s passion. He's played them all - well, the old screen ones anyway. He's never been able to afford an Immersion tank and the amazing games that come with them, but he's seen the webcasts. He knows the names of every superstar pixel runner. His heroes.
So when he's picked out of the crowd to participate in a competitive, quest-driven dark fantasy RPG, his brain melts. Could this be his opportunity to get ahead? Or will he be chewed up by the machine, just another failed pixel runner by the side of the road?
My Opinion: A predictable first entry in a LitRPG serial series. The story is set in a VR world similar to Dark Souls. The main character, Nick, is poor. Has an unfaithful drugy girlfriend, and just got the opportunity to be a pixel runner. He gets to play a immersion VR game in front of a live audience and if he’s popular (as a hero or villain) he can make more money in a couple of hours than he’s made in the last month ‘working’. Of course he chooses a ‘strength build’ for his character and we get to see how that works out for him as he faces monsters and other players.
The story is very short, less than 100 pages, but is only $0.99 and is available on kindle unlimited. I feel like the series has potential and I’ll likely pick up the next book in the series when it comes out. But this first entry just wasn’t very satisfying.
Strength Build: A LitRPG Saga (Book 1 - The Fields of Durandor)
The Gold Farmer - Treasure Forest: (Book 1) LitRPG series (Nov. 15th)
2050, AI has taken over the vast majority of jobs in the world. However, one new job appeared that was humans-only; gold farming in VRMMOs (Virtual Reality MMO). Ken worked as a gold farmer in the popular fantasy VRMMO Avantheim Online. However one day, while gold farming in AO, he was suddenly teleported into another VR world, where he soon realizes that he and his NPC allies are far stronger than anyone else in this new world.
After discovering a forest full of unimaginable treasures, Ken takes his first step in conquering the world and becoming the greatest gold farmer ever.
My Opinion: It’s 140 pages, currently $0.99 as a promotional price but normal price is $2.99. Available on Kindle Unlimited.
Setup very similarly to the manga and animated series Overlord. Ken, a VR gold farmer is accidently loaded into a different VR world than he’s used to. He’s sent to a new VR world where it’s much harder to level and people are paying a premium price for items and gold. The only catch? There is permadeath here. Ken has to use his wits, his army of NPCs, and his top notch gaming skills to make the most of this opportunity. But if he makes a single mistake, he could lose the character he’s spent so much time playing forever.
Not everyone liked this story. It has a 3 out of 5 star rating on Amazon. The most common complaints are that it doesn’t explain enough about the character abilities enough, the main character is overpowered, and that it’s too much like Overlord fanfiction.
Having said that, I liked the story. The author at the end of the story, readily acknowledges that he was heavily inspired by Overlord. The thing people don’t like about this Gold Farmer are similar complaints people have about that anime/manga.
The premise of the story is a great setup. While the main character could be considered over powered. However, the addition of the threat of permadeath for his character adds a needed level of danger. From the first few sentences of the story, I had a really good time reading it. It didn’t feel rushed. The author took the time they needed to explain both the characters motivation for progression and their reasoning for their strategic actions. If you liked the anime/manga series, Overlord, you’re sure to like this too.
The Gold Farmer - Treasure Forest: (Book 1) LitRPG series
Dungeon Crawl: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 1)
Gamers are celebrities. Superstars. Idols to the masses.
Only a few ever make it out of Piper's Mill, most toil their lives away in the small town just dreaming of a better life.
Liam thought he had a comfortable life all worked out when it winds up wrenched away from him. Drawn into other's schemes to hack the game and steal some spotlight he never expects to find himself playing in a game nobody has ever heard of.
He never expects to find himself deep in a dungeon at level one with no gear and barely any skills.
He certainly would never anticipate suddenly being tied to forces that promise not just to reshape his life, but the world outside the game.
Time to level up.
My Opinion: 201 pages, $3.99, available on Kindle Unlimited. In dystopian future, the best way to get out of the slums is to be a great gamer. Liam’s brother just beat the odds and won a VR gladiatorial tournament. Unfortunately for Liam, that means he has to take his twins place and hack into an illegal underground VR dungeon crawl. It’s a risky move meant to impress sponsors and get out of the slums. If Liam can pull if it off he’ll be set for life. If he can’t he’ll likely be sent to prison.
The story is as advertized, a dungeon crawl. Three characters start off at level 1, locked in a dungeon, and have to explore and fight their way out. Once the story got into the fantasy game world, I liked it.
Dungeon Crawl: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 1)
That’s it for the podcast.
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Go read some LitRPG!
Music Credits
"Blip Stream" "Mighty Like Us" "Big Shift" "Vivacity"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/