Planet Hero: Civilian

A book so similar to a video game that, for a large portion of the story, the main characters grind for experience points in the wild lands. I mean this literally -- they hunt critters, experience points leave the carcasses in the form of nanobots, and then the characters absorb those nanobots. Further, and predictably, getting enough nanos lets a character level up and assign a point to some area of personal development. Multiple times throughout this ~six-hour audio book, the narrator gave a full rundown on the main character's specs. Good times.

The plot revolves around a doctor who comes face to face with a doppelganger from another world: Planet Hero. The two unwittingly switch places, and now a doctor is in this strange world populated by superheroes. His doppelganger, unfortunately, was a supervillain, so the good doctor must first earn the trust of these unfamiliar and tacky-dressing heroes if he has any chance of convincing them to help him power-level in order to infiltrate his doppelganger's secret lair.

There are some cool ideas here, especially the fact that this planet populated by heroes doesn't know what a medical doctor or a computer is, since heroes have healing power or super intelligence. Other than that, this is a lot like watching someone play a first-person shooter on YouTube. The narrator was great, but sounded like Rod Sterling from The Twilight Zone, which made things (perhaps unintentionally) a little funny.

This audio book is awsome and so hard to press stop wanting to know what happens next. Jeffery Kafer narration was fantastic keeping with the character Dr Davis Malory dry dead pan medical doctor attitude perfectly. He definitely made M.A Carlsons character and world really come alive. This book is highly recommended for fans of Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, Ready Player One, dystopian/parallel worlds and any person who ever wished they had superpowers.

Planet Hero: Civilian by M. A. Carlson, I enjoyed this book, it felt fresh and fun. A new and interesting concept in what can make a person a hero or a villian.