A Jump into the Unknown

Reality Benders Series, Book 5

By: Michael Atamanov, Andrew Schmitt - translator

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

We put an end to the war with the Dark Faction, but still humanity's problems are far from over. More than half of the game's promised tong of safety has elapsed, and yet humankind is no closer to forming a unified front. We've just begun building one of the 12 planetary shield generators necessary to give Earth complete protection, but we don't have enough construction materials, players, or time. Should we ask the parallel magocratic world for help? After all, an invasion from outer space would hurt them just as bad. The mages, though, have plenty of problems of their own. 

What options does Gnat even have here? All he can truly count on are his own strength and his personal Relict faction. Should we put all our eggs in one basket and look for help in deep space? Might technology from ancient, long-vanished races allow humanity to grow strong enough to turn back the onslaught before it's too late?

©2019 Michael Atamanov; English translation copyright 2019 by Andrew Schmitt (P)2020 Tantor

Awesome!!!

Atamanov has written another wonderful novel in this amazing space/lit rpg/alt reality saga.

The series picks up where the last one ended and continues the adventures of Gnat.

Cliffhanger ending leaves me wanting more!!!

4 out of 5 stars on performance since the audio seems different then the other novels, slightly lacking in quality. Additionally, the reader didnt use the same tone that he used in previous books for certain characters.

Story ia still 5 stars!!! When is the next one coming?

Amazing book

WOW I thought the first four books were really good this book just outshines them all

This is so enjoyable!

Fully believable characters, very interesting science concepts and a well paced plot overall. Great value for each listening hour. Thank you!

cliff hanger

i am ready for the next one. i again got sucked into the book till i finished it amazing work.

Author and Narrator Up Their Game

While I enjoyed each book in the Series Box Set, they lacked a certain amount of polish in both the written content and mostly the narrating performance. As Neil Hellegers is one of my favorite narrators, it was noting him becoming the narrator in book 5 that convinced me to purchase the box set. It's not clear whether narrators have influence on how a novel is written, it seemed as though Michael Atamanov (or more probably, the translator Andrew Schmitt) had written/translated the passages with the intent on leveraging Neil Hellegers' style. Whatever the case, the difference was dramatic and well received. The voice transition took a bit to adjust to but it was worth it. Most importantly, the female voices became much more believable and less shrill. The story itself also had a refined quality to it.

Just purchased Book 6, Aces High, and plan to queue it up after posting this review.