Cyber Squad - Level 1

De: A.K. Mocikat

Narrado por: Zachary Johnson

Kai thought he had the best job in the world. Playing VR games for a living. Not if the games are trying to kill you. The Net is the last great frontier, a wilderness of data filled with mysteries beyond imagination. Bugs, a harmless annoyance in earlier decades, have become a deadly menace in times when gamers connect their brains directly to VR.

The Cyber Squad has been created to hunt them down. What used to be game QA in earlier times has become an elite, special force of the future, risking their lives to keep users safe. At first, joining the Cyber Squad seems like a dream job to Kai. He is paid well to be part of the coolest troop the gaming world has ever seen. But soon he discovers that the Net is a way scarier place than anyone would have suspected, and bugs are the smallest problem he and his team will have to face.

©2022 A.K. Mocikat (P)2021 A.K. Mocikat

A New Kind of LitRPG

Cyber Squad is different. I don't say this as a bad thing. Within LitRPG there are many established genres. If we had to put Cyber Squad into one then probably VR LitRPG would be the category. That doesn't do this story justice, however. Like I said, Cyber Squad is different. Instead of the game being the setting and the system, it is the backdrop here. Kai and company level and progress, but that all takes place outside of VR. This book is refreshing because it is such a different take on the genre. No one is trapped in a game or portaled to a new world. There is no apocalypse.

We find ourselves following a band of loveable losers trying to keep VR safe. Why are they doing that? They do it because it's their job. Everyone that is a member of a Cyber Squad is a high-level gamer. The top 1%. Kai is our everyman thrust into a job the is one part QA and one part police force. While it seems like it's a harmless gig on the surface, we find there could be nothing further from the truth. The stakes are real and so are the people. There is a giant universe out there and the general public knows nothing about it. That's how it has to be. The Cyber Squad holds the line because if the people knew what was really out there no one would sleep at night.

A note on the narration: Zachary Johnson is a treasure and brings this story to life. As good as this story is, he takes it to another level.

expertly written and performed.

Do not I repeat DO NOT sleep on this book!!!!!

cyber squad is a book that is placed in the future, where VR controls everything and that's about as much as I want to tell you because you need to experience everything else firsthand.

Excellent book

CYBER SQUAD - LEVEL 1: A GAMELIT/LITRPG LITE CYBERPUNK ADVENTURE by Anna Mocikat is a book about a man who gets the job offer of a lifetime: decoding bugs in a massive Elder Scrolls Online-like experience. Well, it's a lot better than the real thing since decoding in this world involves taking your avatar into the game and having them slay homicidal AI. Oh and if you die in the game then there's a non-zero chance that you'll go brain dead as a result. So maybe not the job offer of a lifetime except in the literal sense.

The basic story is about Kai living a fairly average but relatable life of a cruddy job at a Japanese restaurant and blowing off steam online between shifts. He doesn't have a girlfriend, his friends are dorky even by his standards, and his prospects are pretty dim. The chance to join the Cyber Squad happens after a chance encounter with one of their premiere team that saves his guild in virtual reality. Kai ignores the warning signs that his guild is a few members less in the next couple of weeks as it's all just a game after all. Right?

The story actually works primarily as a slice of life story with Kai taking the chance on a job application with the Cyber Squad. They look pretty badass online and it's not like he has much to lose my joining. Much to his surprise, he gets the job in and even getting in at the bottom level (Level 1 because the people at his new employers are cute) is twice his original salary. It also promises a lot more if he can meet their quotas and level up with Level 10 promising six figure salaries.

Kai is a likable enough protagonist and Anna Mocikat's real-life experience in the game development industry shines forth describing behind-the-scenes behavior. Kai's coworkers are a mixture of horny dudes, women struggling to be taken seriously, people doing it for the art, and a variety of super-pleasant corporate types who would rip out your heart without blinking. Okay, maybe that's just how I imagine the real life game industry to function but it's very entertaining to read. Kai quickly develops a crush on a number of the girls present but doesn't believe he has a chance in Hell.

There's a lot of humor to be found here as well as decent action. The whole premise of bug coding requiring you to actually fight it out with monsters doesn't make much sense but I think we all understand that it is a concession to drama. I'm not usually a big fan of LITRPG but I appreciate when attempts are made to make the leveling system make sense in-universe. The action is fun and the world-building is actually set up to become something greater. The ending of the book promises a good deal more in terms of the series.

Much of the book is set up for future volumes with none of the relationships moving beyond their early stages but a lot of groundwork being laid out. I think Kai is a good everyman protagonist and the way he adores his likely future love interest is fun but I hope he actually dates some of his other co-workers first. The supporting cast is also fun and the author gets a lot of humor out of one obsessed with marrying his video game character's spouse.

In conclusion, I recommend this novel and think if you like Lit-RPG then you'll enjoy this. I could have used a bit more spark between Kai and his girlfriends but I think that's destined to happen. It's got a lot of potential and I want to see how it all shakes out. This may only be the story to level 2 but it was well worth the money and I'm picking up the sequel when it comes out.

lit-rpg/ cyberpunk

going in I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I loved the ride! I'm really looking forward to book 2 and possibly 3. character development is great and you really start to care for the main character, Kai. he seems like the guy you would want to hang out with, like a true friend(maybe it's because we get into his head and know his dreams and intentions) but he's def a cool guy

can't wait for book 2!

One of my top listens of the year!

ver since I first discovered cyberpunk books with a kind of obscure series by Simon Hawke called Psychodrome back in the late 80's, I have been a fan of the genre. It led me to books like Neuromancer, and I've read various others over the years that were hit or miss. That brings us to today, with Cyber Squad being my latest CP read. I'll say it up front, this is not only one of my favorite Cyberpunk reads of the year, its one of my favorite reads of 2021 in any genre. The mix of entirely too plausible dystopian future with LitRPG elements is just a great combination that hooks the reader from the first page.

The worldbuilding has two elements tied together, the dystopian real world and the ubiquitous online worlds that the masses are addicted to for basically all forms of entertainment. With a 50% unemployment rate brought about by mechanization, everyone is given Universal Basic Income allowing people to survive, if not thrive. In a throwback to an old Roman trick, a new version of bread and circuses is provided for the masses: Free access to the online virtual reality for everyone as a basic right. It this world of haves and have nots that set the underpinnings for the world most people spend their days in, the virtual world. A world of games of every kind, that are as real as the equipment can make it. This also comes with it's own dangers, since the VR is hooked directly to the brain, meaning glitches, malware and hackers have a whole different meaning, sometimes with deadly consequences. This is where the Cyber Squads come in, testing virtual games and worlds pre-release to test for safety and quality, and as they gain higher levels, going in game to put fixes in place in the most dangerous live virtual situations. They are the thin line between life and death online sometimes.

This is where Kai and his companions come in. A talented amateur, Kai see's first hand the dangers of the virtual world, and when offered a job with the Cyber Squad, can't pass up the opportunity. Kai is just a great character, ambitious in a world that no longer values or really rewards ambition, working a low pay job that's beneath his skills and education by miles, and when an online disaster occurs when Kai is online, he finds himself with an opportunity to make a better life for himself. His arc as he joins the Cyber Squads really takes off, as his skills, natural intelligence and ambition create a potent mix to help move his new career and life along a path he could never have expected, both good and bad, since death is possible as his levels progress.

Kai's teammates are also a great bunch of characters. from his very competent and caring squad commander to the last newb before him on the squad, they are a nice mix of skills and experience. We get some really good moments with each of them both on and off work, and you can feel their bond increasing as the story progresses. They also get their own character development, making them feel much more like real people you can empathize with. These are definitely not two dimensional page fillers, but fully realized characters.

The antagonists are a bit of a mystery, as they are revealed later in the book. You get the sense there is a lot of stuff with them going on behind the scenes, and that as the series progresses, we'll get a more in depth view of what they are up to. There is also a hint of other antagonists within Kai's larger circle, who have their own schemes that might spell further trouble for Kai and his crew.

The audiobook version is narrated by Zachary Johnson. I was unfamiliar with his work before this book, but I was very impressed with the job he did. He really nailed the voices of the various characters, especially Kai. He really brings an emotional resonance to his work with Kai, and it really helps to immerse you further into the story. His narrative pacing is excellent, with no lulls or rushing. Overall, it was an excellent bit of narration.

As I mentioned the the beginning, this is easily one of my top reads of the year. The excellent characters and setting mix together with a fast paced plot to create an engaging read that draws the reader in. This book should definitely have appeal for fans of LitRPG, but should also appeal to fans of a more cyberpunk sensibility. Get this book today, you won't regret it.