An interesting tale but not for everyone

First, this is an interesting fantasy. It reminds me a bit of the Matrix (movie), the Otherland series by Tad Williams (books), and Ready Player One (book and soon to be movie). It's that crossing of virtual and real worlds that many readers find interesting.



I mostly enjoyed this, though there are a couple of caveats and "heads up" you might want to consider before putting this title in your shopping cart.



<> There is a great deal of game jargon and acronyms. Some of that is explained but not all by a long shot. Unless you have a background in playing online games (as many people do these days, I guess) then you may well find yourself a bit confused.



<> The author appears not to be native English speaker. While his command of English is actually pretty impressive, there are a few slang terms and idioms that are... well, just off. An editor could have fixed this but this book may not have been through that process. In any case, if that kind of "issue" irks you, you may want to stay away from this title.



<> The main character is Russian. That's no problem for me. In fact, I found it intriguing. But if you're expecting a main character of a "certain" nationality, it's good to know this up front.



All of that is, at least for me, just falls into the caveat category of "make sure this title is for you." On the other hand, I found the main character's malleable moral stance annoying. He portrays himself as taking the moral high ground, and indeed does sometimes manage to do so, but over and over again gives into greed and clearly has issues with revenge. Given that this takes place in a "reward based" MMPORG, greed and revenge seem like they're predictable components. But personally, I found the discontinuity of what the main character saw in himself, and the actual choices he made more than a little off putting.



All of that said, I did listen to all four books in this series. It was entertaining in the same way as watching over someone's shoulder as they play a video game can be entertaining. I wouldn't want to do it all the time but its novelty didn't wear off. I ended up enjoying listening to most of this series so far.



If you're a gamer, and enjoyed it, then there's a good chance you'll get a bit of a kick out of this series.