Akillia's Reign

Puatera Online Series, Book 4

By: Dawn Chapman

Narrated by: Anneliese Rennie

Taking the day off work to surprise Andy with a ticket to the hottest fantasy VRMMORPG, Emma returns home to find his cheating ass in bed with her sister. Throwing them both out, Emma sits slugging back the wine they’d just shared.

Drunk and devastated she almost blows his gift, but watching the adverts for the amazing fantasy world depicting monster’s mayhem and adventure, Emma keys in her name and details - Akillia-F-22 - and decides to take on Puatera Online.

©2018 Dawn Chapman (P)2018 Dawn Chapman

strong female lead

a parallel story to books 1-3, delving into the player side of the world. Emma pulls you into her world of strength and personal fortitude, leading you through pautera with the joy of a first time gamer.

even explains the real world side of Puatera

This is the sixth book I’ve read/listened to by this author. All the books have been in the Puatera series. These are books I would listen to again and again. I am really enjoying them!

Akillia is the name Emma has chosen for her character in the game Puatera. She spent a lot of money getting one of the sought after slots to test out the new VRMMORPG as an anniversary gift for her husband. Planning to surprise him with it, she is instead surprised when she returns home and finds him in bed with her sister. She decides the slot should not go to waste- she’ll use it. Emma has no experience gaming so everything is a learning curve. She becomes emotionally involved in the world of Puatera and whenever she feels overwhelmed, the though of her cheating husband (and the fact he’s started a real world bet against her succeeding in the game) encourages her to continue. She has been given an important quest.

The book is written so the experience gained and skills acquired by Akillia is mentioned as it happens. We hear the prompts the games gives her. Periodically Emma/ Akillia logs out, so we hear the interactions with the employees that support the people playing the game. Each player is housed at the companies complex and monitored every moment they are in or out of the game. Because of this, we learn about the workings of the company too. This book eventually leads to a connection between Akillia and Jessica, Dahlia and their other sister (from other Puatera books).

This is the second book (previously A Woman in the Shadows) I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Anneliese Rennie ) and I would listen to another. I love the voice she gives to Akillia. She brings out Akillia’s fears, strengths, uncertainty and convictions. Her reading made me loose myself in the story. I did not want to put the book down until I was finished.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

This does not start as a continuation from book 3

In fact, unlike books 1-3, this one starts in our world. The best part is that the character we are following is not a gamer. She bought this for her man knowing it was a VERY expensive gift. Then he proved that he did not deserve it. As it was not refundable, she chose to try it out herself. This is where the fun begins. We get introduced to Puatera Online as a new player that has never gamed before. She is learning this game as we are. The game starts with an in depth tutorial that is made fun by an AI tutor with a snarky attitude teaching a newby with lots of questions in trying to understand how all this works. The fun is just beginning.

Now that I have finished the book I can really appreciate the story. The first three books were short pieces of one story. Akilla’s Reign is longer than those first three combined and it shows. The story is much better filled out. It is very easy to get lost in this story. The characters are well developed and the character count keeps increasing as the story expands.

Although this story is not a continuation of the first three stories, we can see where they will tie together eventually. We are just not there yet. More world building is coming.
I am ready for the next book in this series.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Engaging Continuation around New Character

This book is a great continuation of an engaging and different LitRPG series, Puatera Online. The world makes sense and unlike many LitRPG/GameLit books, while there is acknowledgment of player stats and a leveling mechanic in the game, it does not get bogged down in the details of that end of the game mechanics. The main character is understandable in her motives and actions. The world has an interesting blend of fantasy, modern, near-future and even some far-future sci-fi technology all existing in balance, but in a way that feels right. There are unexpected twists and a rapid pace that makes you want to keep listening even when you have other things to do. Recommended for anyone looking for a different LitRPG listen. While this is the second arc of the series (books 1-3 revolve around a different character dealing with related issues in the world), it is not necessary to have listened to the first arc to enjoy this one (although it certainly helps understand nuances of other characters and events encountered).

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Same game, new characters

It was interesting to see another story set in Puatera Online. The premise was interesting in getting to the game world and the MC grows a lot through the book. I’m curious to see how the sequels connect to this book. The narration is very well done.