Dominion of Blades
A LitRPG Adventure
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Dominion of Blades
Narrated by:
Andrea Parsneau
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Narrated by:
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Andrea Parsneau
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By:
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Matt Dinniman
About this listen
For over 30 years, Dominion of Blades has been the hottest online role-playing game in the world. Any gamer with an immersion rig can enter the world of sword and sorcery, of goblins and dragons, and they can hack and slash their way to glory. But the game is too real for some, and after an epidemic of real-life fatalities, public use of the immersion technology has been banned, causing the game to be shut down.
Jonah wakes to find himself in-game, level one, with no memory of how he arrived and no way to eject. With only two companions, trapped in a world that once hosted millions, Jonah must battle his way across a treacherous landscape, fighting virtual monsters, all too real pain, and a very human enemy in a desperate bid to survive.
©2017 Matt Dinniman (P)2017 Matt DinnimanListeners also enjoyed...
Very enjoyable.
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Fun adventure
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What can I say? I enjoyed it.
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Great idea. Loved it!
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The plot was solid and makes me wish (slightly) that this series had enough traction for him to come back to it instead of DCC. The characters were fleshed out and surprisingly deep. They felt like real people. And the setting, while fairly standard sword & sorcery sort of stuff, was well described.
My only real problem was the narration. Parsneau does a great job but the book being written from a male character's perspective in the first person with a female narrator threw me off a bit. Without going into spoilers I feel a female narrator waivered between confusing and offensive for this protagonist.
I would recommend this book.
Not Carl but pretty good
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Entertaining
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Now to the story. I suppose it sounds obvious, but you really do have to enjoy games to like this book. It is basically one huge piece of clever nostalgia and Easter egg hunting, much of which is put in without context and so would be lost on readers who didn't have a base knowledge of gaming.
Having said that, I think the author made some really creative choices with the magic lore and aspects of their journey and problem solving. The reason behind the game being switched on was actually very good and justified. I loved the set up of the first village, I thought it was depicted flawlessly and I could see all of the NPCs and their roles within the village perfectly.
I wish we'd have gotten to know Gretchen a bit more - Poppy and Jonah both had clear motivations and struggles, whereas Gretchen felt like the Mary Sue with all the answers and nothing more.
There were aspects of this book I really liked, but I did find some of it lacking, particularly the dialogue. Can a character please respond to a situation with a phrase other than 'what the hell', it got soo repetitive. The dialogue in general either felt like exposition speeches often found in games or really clunky ba k and forths that were quite robotic.
Secondly, the pacing. I actually loved the first part of this book and thought it was a five star story before they left the original town.And that is partly because I thought the pacing was perfect - the build up, the problems encountered, the initial and secondary Climax with a twist. exactly what you'd want. But I didn't feel like this continued. Things were either WAY too difficult, or WAY too easy. they encountered small obstacles that took up so much time and blockade after blockage to circumnavigate. Yet, the final hurdle felt massively rushed and easy.
I actually think this would make a much better game than a book. I'd play this, and I'm glad I read it, but I almost wish it had been a wee novella that stopped before they left the initial village.
again, the actress was out of this world so it's a great choice to listen to it on Audible if you decide to give it a go.
superb voice actor and a decent story
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Great story…not so great voices
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I did get a little behind in my reviews, but here are some thoughts on this as audio.
The main characters are really nicely done. We're thrown into the deep end of this story and world without getting to know them before, but during and in the game. I loved this more so than most might because some stories really do slow up the drama and tension of their world with the long intros with little conflict. Very nicely done here.
The fact that there was trans gender, and different sex's playing different characters was so refreshing and expertly handled by the writer and narrator. It really makes you think about not only the world inside their story but in our own and how people handle things in the wrong ways. (I've seen some of the reviews put up) but this really didn't deter from the story and enhanced it in a way that a lot of people can relate to and of course enjoy.
There's no rest up for us or the MC's as they go on this journey, and the narrator kept a wonderful pace throughout. I really loved her choices with each person, from the Mc's to the NPC's which each spoke just as if they were real people.
There really is a lot of twists and turns in here, some I did think were coming, but others were a total shock! It keeps you guessing and thinking which is what all the best books do.
Highly recommended and although this was a great book on its own although my only real jibe is the length, (cause I wanted more) I do think there's another on the cards, which I can't wait for!
Really makes you think! (and laugh)
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Listener received this title free
Besides an interesting and diverse range of characters, the underlying mystery over why these people are stuck in the game and the potential impact on their real world leads to an interesting overall story that draws in the listener and maintains a strong pace throughout.
The narrator helps greatly with drawing in the listener too, providing an extensive range of voices for the characters that helps to bring them to life very effectively.
Overall, an entertaining book in its own right that also provides a strong foundation to this series and I will be interested to see how it progresses.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
Interesting premise and strong start to series
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