This series was my first foray into the LitRPG genre, which I was interested in exploring as a player of RPG games. This story was fast-paced, and I liked all of the characters, although most of the action took place inside a full-immersion, online RPG and I found myself wondering too much about what was happening IRL in the character's world. (Why hadn't his wife left him for spending so much time in a game??) But I played the audiobooks on a roadtrip with my middle schooler, and he thought it was FANTASTIC. I think this just maybe isn't my genre, but the storytelling and game mechanics were really good.

Oleg - Username Cat is a trader of illegal currency in the online VR RPG Cosmos, when there is a crackdown by Cosmos Administration banning him and meaning that all his credits in the game are now frozen as are those he was trading for third parties. This leaves him unable to access cash and essentially penniless outside the game, virtual trading was his livelihood both in and out of the game, he has no back-up plan.



Having never had any other type of job Cat decides to try signing up for a new game recommended by a friend - The Sphere of Worlds. He sets up a profile and using his immersive VR pod, begins training. This tale follows Cat’s life and adventures within The Sphere of Worlds. Magic, battles, alliances and enemies abound.

I would have liked a little more backstory about the real world in the book and how VR got this level, also it doesn’t really explain much past him losing his job and the consequences of that. Most of it takes place in the VR world, which I think is quite a fun and original premise, I think more world building both in and out of the game would have really helped bring this book to life. That being said, it was still a very entertaining and lighthearted listen. This would be a good book for people who enjoyed Ready Player One, Magic 2.0 or twitch gaming streams.

Narrator was good, acting each character convincingly and keeping me immersed in the plot.


3.5 rounded up

Cat is more than happy to leave his real life behind every day and step into his VR world, a place where he brokers somewhat sketchy deals and cashes out for real money. But when issues suddenly arise with that game, Cat finds himself scrambling to come up with a new source of income that doesn’t involve finding a real job. So he tries a new game everyone has been talking about, a fantasy-like realm with endless worlds and opportunities. Starting with nothing, Cat does his best to fall back into his old schemes, until he stumbles across an item that might just cause the end of the world.

This was an odd sci-fi/fantasy read. It’s largely set in the virtual world, and as such the characters are either “modern” humans playing the game, or NPCs who are programmed to have that world be their only known world/existence. This work certainly wasn’t one that focused on character development or growth. Normally, that would be an issue for me. But as the focus of this book was largely on technology and the game world itself as well as its economics, I found myself not minding. Cat was a fine main character – stereotypical but good enough to not detract from the read.

The technical explanation of the game (stats, skill points, levelling up, etc.) felt clunky, especially near the beginning of the read. If you’re familiar with RPGs, then the information is pretty standard and a little boring. Thankfully, after the first 10% or so, it slowed down some but was still prevalent throughout the read. Other times (e.g. when taking damage), it got repetitive as well (“40 fire damage” repeated several times in a row). If you’re craving some DnD/Pathfinder-like games and can’t play, you might enjoy this aspect more. I did find myself enjoying it more as the book went on and as there were less lengthy explanations of the game concepts.

I liked the direction the author took this one in. It began fantasy heavy as the focus was on the game, but as the story went on the story slowly shifted from a focus on the gameplay to a focus on the game itself, taking the book in a more science-fiction direction. If you’re familiar with WestWorld, then you might see some similarities between the two.

This book ends with the perfect setup for the sequel, promising plenty more adventure and exploration of the game and its world. I hope to see some more developed characters and relationships in the next book. If you enjoy LitRPG, fantasy, and sci-fi, then this would likely be worth reading. My thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an odd book. The premise was a challenge for me to understand and the gaming aspect of the story was difficult for me.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this book. This is an interesting, fast paced sci-fi start to a series. A bit confusing at time, it was nevertheless an interesting read.

This was an interesting book, both futuristic yet there is also an RPG medieval-like setting. To be honest I was a bit confused with the premise of this, although the writing is engaging and actually creates a fun atmosphere, you're thrown right in without enough worldbuilding and I was left with no idea of what was happening. I think with more worldbuilding this would be a great book especially for fans of gaming, but at the moment I struggled to fully enjoy this.