Biomedical Self-Engineering

A Blue Box Universe Series, Book 1

By: Jon Svenson

Narrated by: Justin Thomas James, Jude Erin

Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Divorced and working as a security guard in Portland, 73-year-old Carl is attacked by an unknown creature before he is able to taser it to death. After being released from the hospital, he discovers by accident that he is unwittingly acquiring DNA samples from other people he touches.

He discovers a number of shocking facts about himself when a blue box appears in his right eye. Most importantly, he discovers that his health is nowhere near what he assumed it would be. Can he reverse the negative aspects of his health using these blue boxes, somehow? And can he reverse his poor financial situation after his wife took half his pension just before retirement?

Biomedical Self-Engineering is a LitRPG slice-of-life adventure following Carl as he discovers new ways of living life when he is nearing the end of his own. There are no explicit scenes, no harems, and only one swear word at the very end.

©2020 Jon Svenson (P)2022 Jon Svenson, Soundbooth Theater

Hehehehe, that was fun

I'm old! I get bit by an alien aaand now I'm upgrading myself! Too fun!

A nice low stakes breather.

I gotten a copy of this audio book in a giveaway and was asked to review it once I was done.

Biomedical Self-Engineering is a litrpg slice of life centering around an elderly man named Carl who gained the ability to modify his body, with this he gain a new motivation to pursue a new lifestyle. Let me be the first to say that this is a much needed breath of fresh air from the endless amount of edge-lord power fantasy, harem fantasy, and apocalypse fantasy there is out there. The stakes are small, but there are hints of something more going on in the background and I can't wait to see what more Jon Svenson has for us.

Sound Booth Theater has once again knocked it out of the park with their performance. Justine Thomas James and Jude Erin are great narrators and gives story a whole new dimension to enjoy. SBT makes it really hard to listen to audiobooks that were not narrated by them.

what an intriguing concept

wow this story really gripped my attention. It not only plays with the fantasy of what would you do if you were suddenly rich but also adds a very nice syfy twist that has me excited for the bigger story. I also find interesting how the story facilitate rapid growth of the main character seeing what is essentially a boomer stuck in the past become a tech and business savvy entrepreneur. and both Justin and Jude do a wonderful job with the narration

given this book for free from soundbooth

asked to write a review. not my favorite book but is really enjoyable. I reccomend this book for anyone who can accept conspiracy theorists and would like to see a system in a modern day given to someone with no such knowledge of such abilities or tropes.

Brilliant! Great world building

If you are into world/business/empire development and litrpg and have some real world experience this book is for you.

This has been the most enjoyable read of the past few books I have read. It is light with a dash of slice of life and relatively well passed

The Narrators did a great job of bringing this book to light.

The artwork on the cover might be a bit off putting but don't let that stop you if you are curious about this book. I promise it is better on the inside 😉

Love the book and I can’t wait for the next one!

First let me start by saying I did receive this in a giveaway from Soundbooth and honestly it’s probably not one I would have thought to get otherwise, but man I’m glad I got this book. I have over 1200 audiobooks in my audible library so I listen and read a lot of books, so a lot of time I look at the length of a book and I hate to say it but that plays a lot into my purchases. Now that being said, this book is a little on the short side for what I usually listen too, but it was what I needed. I’ve been listening to a lot of more action pack fast paced litrpg and if that’s what you want then you won’t like this book all too much. It’s definitely more slice of life with light litrpg settings. Now with everything that went on in the book it has the foundation of having more action and and excitement later on if the author wants to take it that way. So I’m curious to see where Jon Svenson is going to take this story and can’t wait to go along for the ride. As always Soundbooth delivers in the narration. They have some talented people and I know when I get an audiobook from them I’ll have no worries about the narrator’s. I would love to write more but I’m writing this review while I’m at work so I need to keep it shorter. Need more money for more audiobooks. I swear I don’t have a problem. At least that’s what I tell my wife lols. But give this book a shot. It’s a nice relaxing listen that will make you want to know what happens next!

A solid slice of life GameLit-ish story.

This is one of a very small number of audiobooks I’ve purchased with a run time under 8-9 hours. Normally, I see any audiobook that comes in under 9 hours as a cash grab or a book by an author who isn’t yet ready to write a “real” book and thus is probably not yet a particularly good fantasy writer.

I was pleasantly surprised in this instance. This book is by no means great, but I don’t think the author was going for that. In the end this book was an interesting tale about an old man taking a chance to try new things and change his life.

While there is a GameLit element to this story the Game aspect is more of a catalyst for the MC than a structurally integral part of the story so far. There are no “stats” in the normal sense and like you’d expect from an old man who never owned a computer the protagonist spends very little time thinking about or interacting with “the system.”

On the whole it was an enjoyable experience and the book didn’t leave me feeling like the author/publisher was trying to pull a fast one. A lot happens in the course of the book while still keeping the SoL vibe.

If you’re looking for epic then this isn’t it, but if you have space in your cue for a different kind of story then this book might be your jam.

Good Job

I was kind of hoping for a more slow build on the guy. Like he’d level up and slowly repair his body. But that got trashed by the initial points he had to curing cancer and all manner of unhealthy body problems.

The story was kind of all over the place as he goes from old dude who just got the system to slowly making a fortune on treasure hunting. Going to see if book 2 slows that down a bit.

bitter 75ish yr old gets kinda OP gamer powers

spoiler alert old dude gets bit by alien, levels up both health and wealth. story ends he's now in a 35ish old body and knows how to make money due to alien stuff. also aliens are tracking his progress.

loved it.

loved it. I think anyone that has started feeling the degradation of their body due to age would enjoy this. it's not filled with action, but it has some. mostly uts just a fun story. fun enough to buy book 2!