The Song Maiden

A LitRPG Journey (Uniworld Online Trilogy, Book 1)

By: Jonathan Brooks

Narrated by: Anneliese Rennie

What do you do when you love singing, but you’re unable to speak?

Cadence was born with a previously unknown disability that disrupted the some of the signals her brain sent to her vocal cords and hands, preventing communication through her voice or even through sign language. Despite that, she learned to communicate through writing and, when its use became more prevalent, text messaging. Because of this, she excelled throughout high school and even managed to get into college, rooming with her best friend, Jill.

Unfortunately, her first day of college turned into a tragedy, as she ended up in the hospital after a violent attack. While she was recovering and confined to a bed while her body healed, Cadence was introduced to the NVERS by her best friend, which was a virtual reality system where she could experience a new game called Uniworld Online.

It wasn’t just any game, though; Uniworld Online was the newest offering from Unitech, a company that designed a new method of fully immersing oneself into a game using special technology. Set in a fantasy setting with opposing Light and Dark Factions, the immersive virtual reality game was unlike any other the world had ever seen.

Having never played any video games before, though, she didn’t know what to expect; the attitude of the rude and power-hungry players she initially met in-game nearly made her want to stop playing. After acquiring a particular quest, however, she found that Uniworld was even more complicated than she had imagined. Added to this, she chose to become a Bard class in the game and was able to do something she had never been able to do before, but had always wanted to: sing.

With her new ability to sing, though, comes a whole new set of challenges - and dangers.

Note: contains LitRPG elements such as character progression, quests, skills, stats, and stat sheets. No harems or foul language.

©2020 Jonathan Brooks (P)2020 Jonathan Brooks

A wonderful LitRPG Bard’s Tale!

You read that right. The Song Maiden is a great story in the LitRPG genre where the Main Character is a Bard. The MC has a disability but she does not let that affect her. The storytelling is well written and the Narrator does a wonderful job bringing the world and characters to life. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves the genre and to newcomers too.

Fascinating dichotomy of light and dark material

I had never read this book before listening to this audiobook. The song maiden made me think of those children with cancer or with abusive parents that come out of that situation with the brightest outlook on life. I never understood how they could go around making everyone else happy when they had such terrible things in their life. I felt the same about this book, but I didn't have to understand it to enjoy the perspective. The song maiden has a very unique story and allegory to modern life, while being set in a video game format.

Work of art

musical work of art, and that ending I was expecting and cant wait for the next book. easily a must read.

An enjoyable beginning.

Although it shows as one of his earlier works this is still a wonderful story by Jonathan Brooks. The characters are interesting, and, if you can put away your typical gamer rush, the setting itself is also interesting. In some respects it feels like Cadence does a better job of enjoying the world of Uniworld Online than the other players do, which really helps to set the feel and tone of the story. The only notable flaw is that Anneliese Rennie really needs to work on her pauses when narrating tables and section breaks.

portal litrpg at its finest!

Jonathon did an excellent job building the story, the game, and the characters. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the fact that the MC felt she was in a committed relationship after one hug with another PC. Odd but a great story overall!