Gods of Blood and Bone: A Sci-Fi Death Game LitRPG

Seeds of Chaos, Book 1

By: Azalea Ellis

Narrated by: Natalie Duke

Leveling up would be fun...

If it weren't so deadly.

Eve is a survivor. Kidnapped and genetically enhanced, she wakes in an alley with the ability to level up. As a Player, her life now belongs to the Game.

Deadly Trials offer fantastic and powerful prizes, but as she fights against both alien monsters and other Players, Eve knows she would do anything to escape the Game.

She may have to risk more than just her life to gain the power to control her own destiny...

Gods of Blood and Bone is the first book in a dark and deliciously violent adventure series that combines science fiction, fantasy, and LitRPG elements. You'll love Gods of Blood and Bone because of the electrifying action, flawed characters, and kick-ass heroine.

Get it now.

©2015 Azalea Ellis (P)2023 Seladore Publishing

Not for me.

I knew this book wasn't for me when the MC decided to spend points or seeds or whatever on making herself look prettier than on strength, agility, intelligence, etc. This really happens. MC was almost killed. Beat up, lacerated, poisoned...I know, lets get hotter!

Imagine being in a survival situation and valuing makeup over food, water, shelter.

The other thing that bothered me was the sheer amount of inner dialogue and talking vs doing stuff.

I think this book would do well with angsty, YA, female readers. It isn't terrible, but I couldn't get through it.

good listen.

pleasantly surprised. good world building, well displayed without info dumps. good pacing. good prose. kept me guessing what was actually going on. realistic characters with realistic motivation and interactions. intersting story premise that was well executed. the stats and level progression of the characters aren't very well explained but perhaps next book will lay it out better. really enjoyed the narrator. though she doesnt have a wide vocal range she had a very pleasant voice to listen to and didnt try to push beyond her range creating annoying whiny voices which is a common issue with some narrators. definitely worth a listen.

Fast paced read that keeps delivering

I've read a few LITRPG series and really enjoyed this take on the genre. I really enjoyed the way everything carries over in to "real life". Having a female lead that was a nice change and Natalie Duke does a great job with the voices and tones she imparts in the characters. The end leaves you wanting to read the next book to find out what happens next. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.

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

Initially Great, Sort of Ran Out of Steam for Me

Small Suggestion: Listen at 1.1x Speed. Seems to flow better, and makes the back and forth seem more natural.

tl;dr: I liked some parts of it, but it began to run out of steam.


So... yeah. Just some impressions, as I have discovered I'm utter rubbish at writing coherently about book. (How /did/ I ever pass High School English?)

-- Minor spoilers. --

The first trials the main character is forced into is actually terrifying. I found myself sitting with baited breath, nervous about what might happen.

The trials themselves (at least initially) really convey the sheer horror of what the MC is going through. They are brutal, bloody things, and this coming from me who was raised on a steady diet of 1980s action movies and horror films. Not to say that they are cinematic or what have you. The better ones have a sort of... dread to them. That sort of 'locked in a leaking box, tossed into the ocean' sort of feeling. The pressure of the situation pushing down on you, unable to breathe, trapped.

I think where the book began to fall apart for me is when the author started to move away from that. The trials became less terrifying and more... just sort of there. Near the end, they began to be skipped entirely ('oh, a trial happened'). When that started, some of the emotional impetus for the attempts to get away sort of fizzled out. However, I can see what the author was trying to do there. The author makes wonderful use of fear of the unknown, but you can't dwell in the mystery box too long. (In his house at R'lyeh dread JJ Abrams waits dreaming.)

However, after the abduction/torture fear stopped, I started to notice some plot holes, or started finding some of the directions the characters took as not understandable. Maybe it was because during the terrifying first part of the book, I was 'in the car', so to speak. "Yep, totally ok to do what you need to, to get out of this situation." After, what the actions they took didn't have the same weight. For me, I think it was the shift in focus from a personal horror to a broader, nebulous threat. Author tried to switch Fear of the Unknown with Fear of the Other, near the end. It didn't quite... work for me.

P.S.: Great interaction between siblings. It felt natural; full of the strange 'I'll pull your hair out but will do anything for you' dynamic a loving brother and sister will sometimes have.

Again, I apologize if this is disjointed. Like I said, I'm horrible at this. Give the book a try, it might work for you much better than it did for me. :)

Excellent addition to LitRPG genre!

This book was so much fun! I’ve really enjoyed the blossoming LitRPG or GameLit genre but have found most stories lack a realistic female character. Not so with this novel! Yay! Eve Redding is easy to relate to and I love her character arc for the tale. She’s starts off as a somewhat awkward teen who gets forcibly tossed into this VR world of combat and deadly brain puzzles. By the end, she’s leading her own team of awesome players. Like that phrase says, toss Eve Redding to the wolves and she’ll return leading the pack.

Eve has a few flaws but that made her more personable. She spent her first few seeds (level up points) on Beauty instead of something useful like Life, Stamina, Intelligence, or Strength. She learns to regret that later on, even kicking herself over it. This made me like her all the more. Also, she has selfish thoughts of how to keep herself whole & safe even at the expense of other players, and then she regrets such thoughts and actions later on. She juggles all this while trying to keep up with school work and hide her various injuries from her mom and brother (Zed).

The world building is great too. The readers get the bigger picture in pieces, just as Eve does, making it easy to absorb the rules of this new world. And it’s not just as simple as getting sucked into a game world. There’s more going on here and the humans aren’t the only sentient things out there. Plus, there’s consequences. Eve learns this early on too when another player, Channel, gets taken out. Eve vows to do what she can to rescue her. Bunny, Eve’s moderator, provides info on how the seeds work and other game logistics. He has no part in the trials (where all the monsters, blood, and death occur). He could be a hindrance or an ally, depending on how Eve plays him.

Over time, Eve builds a small team. There’s Adam, Jacquie, China, and Sam. Each has a special skill or two and while most are reluctant at the beginning to join forces, they eventually become a great team. I really loved the banter back and forth among these characters. Sam is the most intriguing to me because he’s so secretive about the specifics of his special skill. I also enjoyed hating on the Big Baddie, Nix. Yet Eve learns there’s something more to be concerned about by the end of the book.

My one tiny little criticism is that the characters too easily avoid being tracked when they want to. I felt there would be a log of their movements, like a cell phone can easily log your movements even when not in use. So I would have liked a fancy bit of tech or something along those lines to help them out instead of them simply doing questionable things when no one happens to be looking.

All together, this was a fantastic story. At 16+ hours as an audiobook, you might think it could drag here and there. Not so! It flew by! 4.75/5 stars.

The Narration: Natalie Duke gave a really good performance. She was perfect for Eve and I loved how she covered all of Eve’s emotions throughout this story. Duke had distinct voices for all the characters as well and her male voices were believable. Duke’s pacing was perfect. My one little quibble is that there are a few moments when the volume goes up or down – not so much as to trouble you if you have earbuds on. Just needs a little polishing on the technical side. 4.5/5 stars

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Azalea Ellis. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

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