Connie J. Cooper

Absolutely Understandable

Revisado: 04-24-25

Loved it. Cute story all around, good world building, an interesting twist, and understandable even for non- gamers.

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Interesting story, horrible production.

Revisado: 03-28-25

I have over 300 titles in my library, ALL of them sci-fi or fantasy, or some combination of those, and including LitRPG. Most are series, and long. I am a pretty consistent and dedicated listener.
Quite frankly, I'd never heard of this author nor the narrator. I chose it because of its length. I listen 10-12 hrs a day quite often while I work, etc. I'm actually going to try another book by this author, with a different narrator because I believe there's a storyteller buried in this godawful production.
This narrator has limited voices and with the number of primary characters, he was a poor choice. Quite a few common words (not fictional language or names) were repeatedly mis-pronounced. Other words MAY have been written in the wrong way, and read correctly, or they were mis-read. I'm talking very normal everyday words. The narrator also chose to include "sound effects". All were painfully awful and should embarrass him.
Then there are the dozen+ repeated chapters. At first I thought my player was buggy, I reinstalled, & it continued. I think at least one is missing entirely, but not sure.
I think the worst part tho, was the "music" which was inserted haphazardly at the beginning and end of some chapters, in the middle in some places...and 95% of it was clanging, random awful noise, mostly at a louder volume than the narration. It is jarring and I literally had to remove my earbuds many times. Oh, and volume changes randomly here & there during narration as well.
I'm actually surprised Audible allowed this mess of a production to be listed.

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The narrator & the actual story are great, but ..

Revisado: 12-20-24

Someone get this author an editor. Another review mentions it as well.. The repeated use of the same descriptive words and phrases, sometimes in the same long sentences, & the gross misuse of grammar really detracts from the listening experience. The story & world building are good, and the characters are interesting. I'm going to get the 2nd book and see if it's improved any. There are, I believe, 13 books. I'd like to think I will wish to continue with the series, but there are only so many "spit out a mouthful of blood" and repetitive adverbs I can stand.

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A Little History

Revisado: 06-09-24

Love that we know the backstory on this little guy! A lot of questions answered.

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Characters Rock!

Revisado: 03-05-24

Ok, I'm a 67 yr old woman with no gaming experience. Initially, I chose the 1st book in this series because it was long. I'm not a short story person. I literally got addicted. (I read some reviews that were a little negative around the gaming stuff. Since this meant nothing to me at the time, I ignored it. For those naysayers, I'll just say I learned a lot about how some games work.)

The character development is top notch. Everyone came alive. The narration is some of the best I've listened to in over 200 books. Every character was identifiable by their distinct voice. Each had their own inflections, their own accents, their own "mood". There is complete consistency from book to book. Superb.

I wasn't crazy about how MANY stats were included in a cpl of the books. At first I didn't understand it, but after a cpl books it all clicked for me & I got sort of used to it, so no big deal. The story is cool. It's rare I actually LOL for real, but I did. repeatedly.

There is an amazing humanity at play here in these universes- with all of its warts and all of its goodness. Kindness & cruelty and the oft experienced battle to choose a path. Heros & villans. Good & evil. Joy & sorrow. A bit of political commentary. And just plain silliness.

I mentioned I became "addicted". I literally borrowed $$ to buy extra credits to be able to continue listening through the series. So, Shirtaloon? Don't make this old lady suffer. Get on with # 11. Jason has a long way to go yet!

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Addicted!

Revisado: 01-25-24

I've now listed to 14 of these books abt Thorn & crew in the last cpl months. I am not a gamer, knew nothing about them, and now I wish I did! Delightful characters, and Mr. Ring has an extraordinary imagination as well as a dry sense of humor. I loved them!

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A bit of a challenge

Revisado: 04-18-23

and worth every second. It took me awhile to assimilate. I absolutely will listen again, now having a much better understanding of the world & terminology.
I love this author. He is so very proficient in details- the sort that are sorely absent from so many Sci-Fi stories. He plunges you into his world & you learn just like you would if you suddenly were moved to a foreign country without any preparation. it's well worth the trip!

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I can't give it enough stars...

Revisado: 04-18-23

This author understands every aspect of storytelling- and likely even more about human nature-the "being" of people. Love, hate, suspense, terror, joy- and the narrator? Superb ability, both with accents/dialects, and complete understanding of the idea of the text- the delivery.
I highly recommend this author in general, & especially this book.

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Fantasy for sure, but...

Revisado: 02-08-23

Yep. Fantasy. The unusual concept was the only reason I continued after the first book. It could have been so much better without the ridiculous "romance novel" threading through it. If I ever hear the words "delicious" or "smirk" again, I may puke on the spot. Repetitive, useless dialogue ... minutes on end of completely unrealistic "romantic" mutterings, and the "powerful" main feminine character turns into a simpering fool while teasing her male counterpart in extremely provocative ways because it's implied she's a "good girl"...gads. Reminded me of teens making out in the back of a car. Narrator made it tolerable. I'll say it did keep my attention because I wanted to find out not if, but how they'd achieve their intended outcome, but I fast-forwarded through several hours of pure dribble.

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Good story, but

Revisado: 01-22-23

it took hours of listening, rewinding & re-listening to figure out what the narrator was saying. He has no concept of phrasing with the way the words flow on the page. It's like, a pause at, every five, words, and he reads fast. Everything sounds like some sort of dramatic whine or question. Seriously. I ended up setting speed to 90% just so i could tolerate it.
Then there's the pronunciation. After the 1st few hours, I got used to words sounding like and including "now" being pronounced as "nigh", and a few others, which might be due to the very strong accent. But many other words were pronounced phonetically, as if the reader didn't recognize the word. I'm not talking unusual words here. Corral, as in horses, was coral, as in the ocean critter. That sort of thing.
I found a few anachronistic references a little distracting, but overall I liked the story itself. I'd love to hear it read by a better narrator.

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