Ronald Shaw

To Hero or Not to Hero

Revisado: 01-14-25 El oyente recibió este título gratis

As is common with LitRPGs (because it is common among "gamers") The main character has an unorthodox way of thinking. This combined with a solid foundation in tactics and some time spent in martial training gives our hero? several tools to take on bigger opponents as well as a desire to shape his own progress with a specific objective in mind. If such a person is thrown into a crisis and manages to survive initially, the RPG like system might see them grow into a grand figure which is always fun to watch. The author is even able to piece in some things from his own life in a non aggrandizing way.
The narrator is "Zachtually" amazing! ("Zachtually" being a term used in good humor by his fellow voice actors at Sound Booth Theatre). His voice is the kind of voice that would be expected of a radio narrator during the days of action packed radio stories prior to television, or the narrator of early television hero shows and cartoons. He is therefore easily able to do the battle-cries of epic heroes and the dominating sneering of overconfident dastardly villains.
The only thing that irritated me throughout the book was the way that the main character seemed to get "lucky" nearly every time he needed something and "just got a new ability" or when the situation should have been fatal, and yet...
Hopefully the author will balance, force payment for, or at least explain, the main character's "lucky streak" later in the series. I'm looking forward to seeing how the main character navigates several of the situations that he has "stepped in".

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It Might have Been Better as a Tale in Two Books

Revisado: 01-14-25 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This is a book for those fans of a hero searching for Lost things like Famous Treasures or Family Members. It gives the reader both the thrill in the hunt and the highs and lows of some of the results. Unfortunately however this great level of detail is somewhat slow and lengthy for those who are less interested in those kinds of victories. Conversely, after the main character achieves what they Think is their main objective, they are then thrust into the consequences that come with achieving this particular goal. A whole other until now undiscovered side of their existence complete with new peoples, new politics, and new problems.
The narrator was decent, far better than some that I've listened to, however not as dynamic as others. The reader won't have any issues with character differentiation nor sleep inducing monotone.
Unfortunately from my point of view the second "half" of the book seemed condensed or rushed. Narratively the main character learning about the unknown side of themself, the language, the culture, the physical training, the alliances, and even the new people they meet... Relationships and personal progress that should normally take a fully immersed lifetime, are depicted in less than a a couple of months and a very small number of chapters. In my opinion it might have been better to end the book with the main character finding what they had set out to find and Maybe a bit of teasing or foreshadowing as to the character's previously unknown half which could be more fully detailed in the next book and therefore allow for a more reasonable / believable timeframe.

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Hooray for Sidekicks!

Revisado: 08-06-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Like a couple of the "other Hobbits", this is the story of the sidekick. He is the one that is usually in the one in the shadow of the main characters. But outside of their shadow, he can shine.

As always the narrator's distinctions make the dialogue easy to follow.

I was very happy with this installment of this series as it takes some time away from the powerhouses to focus on the intelligence and the ingenuity of a character that the story had previously seemed to just drag around. He steps up in this one and although the challenges are not as deadly, the results are actually much more far reaching.

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A Scapegoat of a Different Color

Revisado: 12-12-19

Combine Lost Memories, Racial Tensions and everyone having their own Agendas and you will get a feel for this book. The main hero often finds himself in situations with no way out.

This makes the narrator's ability to go from whiny to tough in an instant very fitting for this book.

This book does a great job of playing on peoples' assumptions. Just when you think you have everything figured out, because you've heard this story before... there is a twist in the story that keeps you guessing. The story also keeps the tension high with racial, gender, and socioeconomic differences and the problems and hatreds that those differences create. Therefore if you are the kind of person who takes pride in solving the 'who done it' before the end of the book, then you'll need to be able to pay attention to every detail and every character through the haze of emotions caused by the tensions that the author plays off of. If you cannot, you might end up feeling like a fool.

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Choose Your Own Adventure

Revisado: 12-12-19

Aleks has many choices to make in this part of his story.Choices about his nature, his friends and family and his people. There is a great deal of backstory to get through in this book, a lot of untold and unfolded history. There are also many twists and turns with friends that make this book chaotic.

Luckily the narrator's ability to vary and define her voice allows for some reference points of clarity amidst all the chaos.

Honestly this has been my least favorite book in a so far stellar series. There is almost too much political (and faction based) information that the author has to unpack in order to explain the story.I feel like much of this information should have been given in smaller portions in the two previous books, or that this book should have been broken into two books. The backstory and intrigue in this installment, although rich and full seemed to overshadow the story of Aleks and the continuing stories of his friends. I found myself having to go back multiple times so that I made sure that I could keep everything straight. Despite that however the book gives Aleks a lot to do and a lot to grow into. I'm fascinated by where the story will proceed to next.

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You Can't Go Home Again

Revisado: 09-12-19

First of all, it must be said that although this book and this series are good enough story-wise to stand on their own, this book series is a branch off (or continuation) of the Bowl of Souls series by the same author. As such it contains many strange and wondrous things that may leave the audience scratching their heads, if they, like me have never read the prior series and thus have little to no context or reference for many of the creatures, concepts, and social structure that the book presents. In that way however the audience can greatly empathize with the supporting characters who know nothing of the trials and tribulations of the main character, nor how skilled nor important he is in and to the other world and the people that come from there.

At one point in the book the main character makes a self deprecating comment that he sometimes slips into a droning, sleep-inducing tone of an academic lecturer without realizing it. Unfortunately, the narrator also seems to slip into this tone several times as he is explaining creatures or locations. Conversely the narrator can change voices well enough to showcase the different characters.

In this installment, the audience can see two contradicting sides of Tallow, one as he tries to return to a 'normal life' and the other as he is frustrated with those around him, who not only do not know what is going on, nor how to handle it, but also they do not believe that he does know what is going on and either how to handle it, or at least can come up with a reasonable plan for handling it. Further in the few instances when his friends and family do encounter someone who knows of Tallow's prestige, the do not believe them either, nor do they understand the awe or derision that Tallow is met with by those in the know. Through the course of the book however they begin to see the true skill and character of Tallow. It will be interesting to see how the character's reputation and perceived skill continue to grow.

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Social Gaming Changes Lives

Revisado: 08-19-19

First of all, it has taken me nearly a year to write this review, mainly because I did not want to relive the VERY accurate emotions that the characters and themes made me look at. Even while listening, I had to stop to regain my composure several times. The book itself examines many things with a great deal of nuance and evocative character choices. However there are three main themes in particular.

1) What do you do with the online social media and game accounts of a friend or family member who has died? What happens to all of their friends and "community building" efforts, and in the case of gaming, the assets that they collected?

2) How does Virtual Reality change both gaming and the real world?

3) Are there people who would choose to escape into the game if they could, leaving "real life" and all of it's hardships for a reality where they can be what they always dreamed of? What reasons would drive a person to want to escape so badly? Are those reasons good enough?

The narrator is fantastic, although she does not rely on a varied vocal cast as some narrators do, she never the less makes each character distinct and her rhythm and cadence are such that immersion into the book becomes easy.

Like most LitRPGs this book focuses on gamer culture and terminology, as such gamers reading / listening will find many familiar and perhaps funny references, locations, and stereotypes. However this author's writing style is fluid enough and explanatory enough that non-gamer listeners will not feel excluded or like they're missing something. Thankfully, at least in my opinion, this book, unlike many LitRPGs does not over-focus on the game interface and the minutia of using game abilities and leveling up. Some readers find such things informative, but for me they are immersion breaking when interjected too often. Despite, or perhaps because of the truly excruciating levels of pain that this book inspires, it is amazing for its detail, story, and narration and I can't wait to get the next one.

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It's in the Little Things

Revisado: 06-13-19

I read this book some months ago, unfortunately however it took me a while to get to this review. Yet many of the scenes and details of the book are still vivid in my mind, especially the ones that I missed, that is how powerful this book is. The author uses many themes such as family cohesion, family dysfunction, extreme mental health conditions and recovery to both obscure and support the main story.

The narrator does well with keeping up with both the varied cast, and the quick changes that the author employs. Sometimes the pace is so rapid that voice nuance becomes a necessity for the listener to understand the emotions of each character.

One needs to pay careful attention with this book. The author is a master at laying out key details and then hiding them by distracting the reader with quick scene and pace changes. I was pleasantly shocked that it took me all the way until 'the reveal' to realize the answers to the questions of the main story were all given long before that point and that I had missed them (usually I can figure out such puzzles near the beginning such that most modern mystery books are somewhat boring to me). Thus only a careful reader can spot the hidden clues before the end. Further, the ending itself has such a twist that the reader (at least myself) will be begging for more.

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A New Start?

Revisado: 04-29-19

This book includes threads of many common themes: Trying to leave the past behind, trying to start in a new place or start-up a new place, new relationships, rivalries, and obsession. The unexpected views and approaches that the characters take with these themes makes the story fresh and surprising.

The narrator is put to the test with this book, being a male voice and having to deal with several intense, emotional, and nuanced conversations between two of the female main characters is difficult, but as always this narrator's performance shows many varied voices and is excellent.

This book being the 5th book in the series was my first introduction to it. However, even though many of the characters have history, the focus of this book makes it easy to read as a stand alone and may inspire me to investigate the series further

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History is a Circle

Revisado: 03-22-19

What happens when the world falls apart? In view of cataclysmic events, does society hold? When the conveniences of infrastructure breaks down, how long can order last? These are the questions that the author asks in this book. When law and order are no longer commonplace, new versions of society emerge, or perhaps it is more accurate to say, older ones.

The narrator's performance as always is high quality. His ability to switch easily between the distinct voices in his vocal cast is amazing. This is more-so true when conversations are rapid-paced as when in battle or crisis. Since this book has many characters involved in both, his talents are well used.

At the time that I started reading this book, I had recently finished an anthology of classic westerns. I was both surprised and pleased when I started seeing parallels in the laws, the societal models and standards, and the ways justice is meted out. It is ingenious how the author injects classic western themes in a future setting as a kind of reversion back to simpler times and ways. The parallels were thoroughly enjoyable to contemplate.

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