Raiya: Starter Zone

Archon's Chosen, Book 1

By: Russell Wilbinski

Narrated by: Michael David Axtell

Skree loved playing Massively Multiplayer online role-playing games.

When he becomes the first player to reach level 100 in his favorite game, he is offered the chance to test a brand new game. Never one to read the fine print, he jumped at the chance to be the very first player to see the brand new game.

But some opportunities are just too good to be true.

Awaking to find himself trapped in a brand new world and struggling to survive, James must find a way to master the game and escape the world of Raiya. Angry wildlife, gargantuan monsters, and mysterious allies are not the only things he has to worry about. Will he have the backbone to do what is right and not what is easiest?

Will the carefree Skree find something worth fighting for? Something worth dying for?

©2018 Russell Wilbinski (P)2018 Podium Audio

Download hit play, and enjoy the ride.

Normally I’m not a fan of book where they stay in the game the whole time, and never interact with the real would after getting “stuck” in the game. With that being said. Even though this book does that. As a LitRPG it’s very Meh, but as a Fantasy story with LitRPG elements it’s an awesome story. You feel like you’re linked into the MC’s brain, and just along for the ride in a good way.

You get a front row 1st person seat to the MC using logic and common sense to work through choices and decisions. The MC makes logical common sense choices for the most part, but the battles are where this book really shines.

You feel as if you are watching them through the eyes of the MC. They aren’t over or under detailed, and just like the rest of the book. You feel like you are hanging out in the MC’s head, watching everything through his eyes.

It’s an excellent start to what could be an awesome story, and world as long as the author doesn’t F*** it up by making the MC get stupid and make bad decisions because of a girl. Going heavy on the romance or add sex smut has ruined many a good book/series. I really really hope that doesn’t happen here.

Entertaining

it seemed to move a little bit too fast without sufficient character development. but overall enjoyable

AMAZING

a a a a a a a a a a a a. a a a a a a. a aa a a a a. aa. a a a a a. a a a a a a. a a a a a a. a a a a a. a A A A A A A. AA A A. A A A A. A. A SAWBONES NOOOO O O O OO OO O O OOOOO O O

Not bad

The narrator really should not try to do female voices, it's REALLY bad. Makes the female sound like a an Australian man

It was better than I expected

OK, there will be spoilers in this review.

So, our boy Skree (his name sounds like a squeaking bird) beats a forgettable game. Gets to the end and "does something out of the box" according to the prompts at least. I refuse to believe no one has tried sneaking past a monster. Anyway, Sharktooth, a god apperantly, is set free by him beating the game. Who put him there? How could he have been there for a 1000 years if it was somehow connected to a video game in the human world? Why does he want a human to 'Beta test' a new "game"? Why does he even have a "game" to test if he JUST got released from a 1000 year prison? I don't know, you won't know, but luckily it didn't really matter at all. It would have the same impact if the story started on the beach.

You'll save yourself a headache and skip the first 2-3 chapters. Believable motivations aside, or lack there of, once it actually dives into the world it does an OK job of keeping you interested. It goes from one encounter to another as the author trys to blow past normal human reactions and limitations. These are explained away by body altering Stat points, skill points that dump knowledge into his brain, and him being an unfulfilled desk drone with a miserable life.

Eventually they do address it a bit, and in a pretty good way, but I don't believe it's enough really. He kinda just breezes past killing sentient beings like he's a war vet or something. It makes no sence.

Now your probably wondering why I still gave this book 4 stars after all that ranting, well it's simple. This book was far more entertaining than it had any right to be. The jokes and references aren't ground breaking but the timing pacing, and emotional bits of this book were excellent. The voice actor did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life, and carried solo scenes well. I expected this to be a generic litrpg, and I have listened to A LOT of litrpg, but it wasn't. The real drive of this story, what kept me listening wasn't the game mechanics(which are sub par at best), or the world building(we see 1/10 of and island, an underground Warren, a temple, and a boat. We also only hear about 2 places beyond the island), nor the whopping 4 different monsters we see(1 of which is a sentient race Skree interacts with, and another is a wolf that becomes a pet? Don't worry, it's so obvious it's going to happen its laughable). No, the real linch pin is the emotional connections the author seems to be able to will out of thin air. One after another I found myself liking character after character. The impact of the final few chapters hit me harder than I though it would, and that's saying something considering I've listens to over a 100 books with similar stories.

All and all, if your looking for an entertaining time killer, I'd give this book a chance.