Ball of Light: Evolution

By: A. R. Chen

Narrated by: Scott Ellis

After waking up, Steve doesn't know where he is. Heck, he doesn't know what he is. Despite his spotty memory, he's pretty sure he didn't used to be a floating ball of light.

He's also certain that he's not originally from this dangerous fantasy world...maybe. Okay, fairly certain. To make things stranger, he seems to be involved in something big, something magical...a game.

Who was he before? Will his memories come back? Why does he have an assistant explaining the game's rules to him?

He can evolve? There's a countdown timer?

One thing Steve does know is that he needs to figure out what's going on fast, and if he is playing a game, even a deadly one, he plans to win.

©2019 Adom Publishing (P)2019 Adom Publishing

interesting evolution book

i found this novel quite entertaining, it didnt rely on any common tropes poping up in the genre, the flow was well paced and had interesting characters.

good first book

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, the story is different and unique. There are a few issues but it's a first book by the author and most first books have some issues but nothing that really detracts from enjoying the book. I'm excited for the sequel.

Not sure if I liked this story or not.

Let’s get this out-of-the-way first, the writing is very good and well put together. The story on the other hand is a little bit questionable. I was first introduced to the story as a litRPG and after reading it I might contest that, for there was very little RPG elements in it. Keeping track of an energy count and potential evolution path does not really make up an RPG game. Plus there’s the fact that I’m very disappointed in the ending of the story. Having the main character lose all of his abilities at the end and swapped out with some other minor ones is just a way of resetting things so that way you can reuse the same approach in the next story. This story trick is often used in stories where the main character gets too powerful throughout the course of the book and the author doesn’t know what to do with them and so has to reset them back to the beginning so that way he can reuse some of his story tropes in the next book. It is because of this fact that I gave this book only three stars on the storyline. If the writing wasn’t so good I may have given it less.

Ok story but, the Narrator....

The Narrator, Scott Ellis reads this book like a kindergarten teacher reads a story to the children in class at story time. Really bothered me and took away from the book. It isn't that it isn't produced properly it is just the tone in how he reads it, like you are dumb and he has to read extra slowly and exaggerated so you can understand. It would be 4 stars book if the narrator didn't sound like he is reading to a 5 year old. I may just buy the eBook instead for the next one.

Shine on!

Ball of light fights right in with this episode since it deals with another god not a god MC. AS in God of gnomes a ball of light, rather than a gem, comes into sapience and begins getting schooled by a mystical entity. Steven, the ball of light pretty much wakes up somewhere he’s not familiar with and wonders about how he’s a ball of light, because he has very little memory. He finds that he has an unseen helping guide who advises him on the do’s and don’ts of his new life. The entire point of what he is doing is to evolve. Evolution depends on points he earns, and his evolution choices are pretty varied, going from a turtle to a god.

There are a couple of questions that I have, because out of the choices, none really intrigued me. There were pros and cons to all of them, but it seemed to me that in the long run the Ball of Light was the best form to take and keep. Why would you opt to become something else? If you have to choose I understand, but honestly the other choices for what to become were kind of lame. Also, one drawback that sort of drove me a little crazy was that all of the evolution bits were repeated over and over, as in every time he looked to see what other options appeared we got to hear the same thing for the dozenth time. It has been over a week or more since I listened to this and I still can hear the vampire’s description when I close my eyes and strain to hear silence as I sleep. Only slightly kidding there.

The book does take its time to get going, almost light it was just searching for its footing, but once it does it is really good. The big battles were fun, and I liked the POV shifts during the fights, it reminded me of how Quentin Tarentino shoots his movies. That sort of back and forth time jumpy stuff without being really bad about it. Steve is an interesting MC, and I liked how he kind of cottoned onto being considered a god by the people he found. I could see myself doing that, but then I have delusions of grandeur. My best friend once made me a tee shirt that had the words God who walks as a mortal embroidered on it because that was my attitude in my twenties. I was too cool for school. Steve somehow touches on that kind of attitude but manages to quell it for the most part. He has a pretty good handle on who he is even if he doesn’t know himself all that well. Does that make sense? There are some clues as to what is going on, and I think it all comes down to what his father talked to him about keeping secret. Honestly, if you think about it that scene is one giant clue, so keep your ears open.

Scott Ellis not only narrates but he plays drums and lead bass in this orchestra of fun. Actually, I liked him and think he did a pretty decent job. I actually know him from a book called See you Later, Ralphie which helps kids deal with grief and grieving. I’ve got a ton of books on the subject and try to check out anything new, and something for kids is fantastic. So I was surprised that I had the same guy narrating this book as that one. I think a few more of these kinds of books and he’d be a great fit for the community.

Over all score: 7.9 The repetition really got to me after a while, and the story kind of wandered about in the first bit, but was good once it figured out what it was supposed to do. I think it is like this because it was a web serial, so I’m trying not to hold it against it.