TNT: Only Sense Online Volume 05 by Aloha Zachou

This week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m covering a series I haven’t covered in over a year! It’s Only Sense Online Volume 05 by Aloha Zachou!

Plot: The plot is much less action oriented in this volume sadly, and while that does fit this series well, it will turn away those who are looking for more action in a series that sometimes lacks it quite a bit. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the short action sequences were very lackluster and don’t really involve our heroine Yun. That said it’s definitely a more “fluffy” series like Kuma Kuma Kuma, but some may not enjoy it.

Characters: We don’t get any newcomers in this entry in the series, and it mostly reintroduces us to some people we didn’t see much of in the past volume. It was an okay entry, but short on character development.

Overall: An okay entry, but light on the action.

Bookish Wednesday: Gamer for Life by Daniel Schinhofen

Hey all I’m back for this week’s Bookish Wednesday with another LitRPG. It’s Gamer for Life, Alpha World Book 01, by Daniel Schinhofen!!

Plot Synopsis: Seamus is facing life in prison without parole. While doing his time he’s given an option by the Department of Justice and the biggest virtual game maker around, Mindblown Entertainment. If he will help them test long term immersion he will get the chance to play the latest game from Mindblown, Alpha World. All he has to do is sign away his legal rights and sign an NDA. Now exploring Alpha World, Seamus becomes the Summoner Alburet….

Plot: The plot is actually really great, and deals with some rather heavy topics, including mental trauma. That being said this first entry is more about setting up the world rather than any of those more heavy topics. But I figured given the incredibly heavy nature of those topics, I should mention them in case people don’t want anything to do with a series that deals with them.

Characters: Alburet is a great main character, but the entire cast is pretty amazing. My favorite is probably Fluff though.

Overall: If you like LitRPGs, or series that deals with tough mental health issues, Gamer for Life is a must read.

For those who like: LitRPGs, Fantasy, Gaming, Drama, Action, Adventure, Romance, Excellent Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Bookish Wednesday: Beta by Daniel Schinhofen

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m back with another LitRPG. It’s Last Horizon: Beta by Daniel Schinhofen!

Plot Synopsis: Advances in technology have led to the creation of ever more realistic virtual reality games but now Full Immersion Virtual Reality is finally coming true.  David and his oldest friends sign up to beta test the first game of it’s kind, Last Horizon. Last Horizon will give these old gamers the chance to live out one last adventure together.

Plot: The plot is pretty interesting, especially considering that the main cast of characters are all old people. It’s a rather unusual take on the genre, where most of the cast is all young people for the most part.

Characters: The entire cast is great, but my favorite might just Thaylen. That being said David is very much the main character, although there are frequent Point of View changes.

Overall: An excellent LitRPG, and a must read for any fans of the genre.

For those who like: LitRPGs, Gaming, Great Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Bookish Wednesday: EverRealm by Jake Bible

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’ve got another LitRPG’s series first entry. It’s EverRealm, Book 01 of the Level Dead series, by Jake Bible!

Plot Synopsis: In the 23rd century, the world is at an end, and a group of gaming and programming friends decide that their only way to survive is to discard their bodies and send their minds into the quantum matrix of a virtual gaming world. They have created the Domains and there they plan to reside forever. Except, the nightmares of reality have followed them into their new quantum dimension and those nightmares threaten to destroy it all!

Plot: The plot is pretty bad, in fact it’s so terrible that I ended up dropping the book entirely about 3 hours into the stupid thing. The whole world is at an end thing? Zombie outbreak, that somehow get’s into virtual reality because some of the smartest people left alive were so blindingly stupid as to let zombies connect to the system. It was such a stupid piece of plot mechanics that I was utterly disgusted and wanted to drop the book completely. I stuck through with it until they started describing one of the Domains, EverRealm, that is like an MMORPG that not only can you never talk bad about, but still includes perma-death for some god awful reason the author contrived up.

Even the main character says it’s a stupid reason, and this is the Domain run by the smartest guy of them all. No one that intelligent would have done such a thing by default.  I still stuck through with it as they proceed to high tail it into the world of EverRealm until they had an enemy NPC appear that literally kills you for badmouthing the game. I had had enough of the book by this point.

Characters: I’d like to tell you I remember the main character’s name, but I don’t remember it. In fact I don’t remember any of their names, the book was that dreadful, and I’m not going to listen to it to get some names again.  Sorry.

Overall: Stay far, far away from this book. This isn’t as terrible as some of the worst I’ve covered, but it comes darn close.

For those who like: Stupid plot devices and Casts of Characters who are equally idiotic.

Not for those who don’t like: Either of the above.

TNT: Praise the Orc Chapters 41-80 by Lee Jungmin

This week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m covering the second set of chapters in Crockta’s rise to power. It’s Praise the Orc Chapters 41-80 by Lee Jungmin!

Plot Synopsis: Jung Ian, a cafe owner with a dark past, jumped into the world of virtual reality Elder Lord in order to protect his sister from any predators. However, things may not be as simple as they seem, as the world and its inhabitants proved to be much deeper than he believed them to be. Witness as he explores the lands of Elder Lord as an orc, a species labeled as the “game creator’s mistake”, making fast friends and defeating any and all before him!

Plot: This set of chapters is where the story picks up quite a bit, although my previous criticism regarding how little attention his sister gets will hold throughout the book. Frankly while the story is good, it’s not amazing and there are many things that could’ve been improved, like including Ian’s sister in the plot for more than a few sentences here or there.

Characters: In this set of chapters we get introduced to one of my favorite characters in the entire story, as for who he is, dot, I’ll leave that for you to find out. I think I gave a big enough hint already.

Overall: A solid set of chapters in a good, but not amazing, series.