Fun concept but poorly written

It is hard to find a good literary RPG. This one is just Ok. It is a good storey concept. And I thought I had the twist guessed but was surprised at the end. And the reading made the best of the writing.

But it is painful to listen to. Descriptions are basic, and the action of book regularly defies the rules that are stated at least once every chapter. There is also WAAAY to many cultural references, in 10 years there will be a lot of younger readers who won’t get any of the references.

The most frustrating part is the constant stating of the character names. It felt like every third word was the main characters name.

But at least this isn’t a post apocalyptic, overly vulgar, or sexualized book. Which seems to be the bulk of the rest I found in the genre so far. I liked the book well enough but won’t be listening to the rest of the series for the above mentioned annoyances.

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Story is good, the voice is great. 3rd person. Meh

I really can't get beyond the 3rd person. it's brutal. voice acting is great though.

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Outstanding Narration. Unoriginal LitRPG

Ray (in-game name 'Illume') is a professional video game reviewer (with a "ViewTube" channel, no less) that gets to test a new VR game. An accident traps him in the game and his only hope to get back to our world is to "finish" it by killing 'The Dark Lord'.
Yes, you've heard it before. Unfortunately, Jonathan Yanez & Ross Buzzell pile on the disappointing stereotypes with a straight DnD world (complete with Dwarves, Humans, Elves, and Orcs as player/NPC options.. and challenges straight out of the 'Monster Manual') and a cookie-cutter magic/gameplay system.
On the other hand, the prose/vocabulary is serviceable, the combat choreography/description is creditable, and the metagame notifications are satisfyingly unobtrusive. The unchallenging book was great to have playing in the background while doing other things.

Also on the positive side, reader Adam Gold manages to make some of the more sophomoric text tolerable. His diction, timbre, cadence, tone, and voice-acting are impressive - and his dedication to delivering groanworthy dialogue with dramatic flare is genuinely incredible. If given the option of a text version (paper or eBook) of 'Genesis' or this interpretation, choose this one every time.

The heavily-integrated pop culture references sentence this book to about a fifteen year lifespan (In 2038, no-one under the age of 60 will have a clue who 'Bill Nye' is), but the humor works fairly well now. Given how derivative the story is otherwise, however, I rate Book One of the 'Legends Online' series a disappointing 5.5 stars out of 10 (I won't be investing the time on further episodes).
As a 'Plus' selection, the book was a reasonable distraction for a couple of quiet afternoons - but should Audible ask for a Credit, better options beckon.

[NOTE: "See?!? It's not my fault that I'm awkward around girls.. my charisma score drops within the aura of females" is probably the best example of incel-fantasy nonsense that I have ever heard😅]

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Average pulpy fantasy.

The narrator does a good job with voices, but every non-dialogue line is pronounced in the exact same overly dramatic inflection. It almost made me stop listening to it, it bugged me so much.

The story is very much average. There are lots of minor plot holes and the characters act exactly like you'd expect in a video game... even the human. To be fair the world IS a video game and people can be dumb, but it made for a boring story.

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great narrator

I just discovered a gem! The second coming of Nick Podehl! Other than that, the story is ok. It's good, but doesn't got anything unique in the current market. Hopefully the narrator will get some good contacts.

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Its ok

This book is pretty generic, protagonist comes up against all the expected low level mobs, quickly progresses to legendary monsters and equipment. He is trapped in this game world and cant leave and has a limited number of lives which he of course burns down to his last one to up the stakes. Thing is why dont the developers just give him god like powers? He was a beta tester at the facility they never offer him any help in game why? I guess it's not really needed as the protagonist is given everything they need every step of the way. The money system is garbage, and the item descriptions are excessive and long but if you like stats I guess that's a plus for you.

Overall I didnt hate the experience but it wasnt great either. I finished the second book before writing this and I wont be continuing with the series. Worth listening to for free, otherwise I'd pass.

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couldn't finish it

ugh, i can't listen to this anymore, it is boring; the main character is the stereotype loser with women, at one point the main guy gets drunk and wakes up with a bunch of level ups, and stolen armor and no memory of the night before and all i can think is that it sounds way more interesting than the whole book to this point.

thank god it was free, i just wish i didn't waste my time with it.

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Do yourself a favor and don't start this series

This series had such great potential, I made it to book three and it turns to total crap tho, in this case the low reviews from other listeners are correct, save your self the time and credit and pick something else

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thrown together heap

honestly the story is very lack luster. feels like I'm reading a book from a first time author. The main Character is supposed to be bad around women but it's over the top and frankly just stupid. I couldn't even bother finishing this.

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