Battlecraft VR: A Battle Royale Adventure

By: Linden Storm

Narrated by: Steve Carlson

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Two brilliant sisters who don't get along. A frightened professor. A traumatized war vet. And a cannabis dealer....

The Untouchables aren't exactly the ideal professional video gaming team. But they have heart, skills, grit, and two of the best players the game has ever seen - Marina and Belle. When the team shocks everyone and wins the semifinal tournament, everyone thinks it's a fluke. Nobody believes they have a chance to win the championship.

And then things really start to go wrong.

Marina disappears, their sponsor won't help them, and they have no choice but to go on the road in the real world to find her, battling small-town cops, ruthless enemies, and their own fears.

Do they have what it takes to get to the arena on time? And who is behind the all-too-real attack on the Untouchables?

©2019 Linda Breneman (P)2019 Linda Breneman

VR Battlecraft

The book was a colorful team of characters whom all play for a VR battle team. Each character bring their own bit of appeal to the story. You won't feel confused by who any of the characters are as each one is unique. the story itself takes you on an adventure inside and outside of the game. A battle of trust, conspiracy, real world issues, and video game themes. Overall good story.

Think futuristic version of fortnite with more of an emphasis on fantasy then tech

The future is now. The main game that occupies the attention of most of the world is Battlecraft...teams and players compete to be ranked...now comes the tournament. The untouchables have made the top 5 with two women on the team....a lot of backlash about their team makeup. Nobody thinks they can do it, he’ll most of the team itself doesn’t think they can....then the unthinkable happens...in the real world their star player goes MIA, enter corrupt cops, rescue missions, abusive husband, road rage, kid napping and more with a twist as to who is behind it all that you will not see coming. And of course the great online battlecraft battles...enjoy! I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

A Good Thriller!

This book doesn't actually take place that much in the "game" world. It was not what i was expecting but it was really good. It is more about how a group of people become more a of a team and learn to better function with each other trying to help one of there own. I thing it was more of a thriller rather than a lit-rpg but that is not a bad thing. It was a great listen.

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

Grueling...

REAL Synopsis: The characters are a team that play a video game professionally. They have one more game in a championship tournament, but one of their crew goes missing. It's not like her to go offline, so they take a road trip to go find her.

The story has nothing else to do with VR/ RPG's, Only the first and last ten minutes are of them playing the game (something akin to Warcraft + Capture the Flag + Minecraft), If you're looking for Ender's Game or Ready Player One, move on.

I hated this book. After five hours I finally realized the biggest problem is the narrator. He sounds like my favorite great-uncle doing an impression of Ben Stein. Don't get me wrong, he has a pleasant voice... but he shouldn't be doing adventure novels. He'd be great at a self-help book that did not require a lot of inflection of his voice. It's hard to get excited about something being read in monotone. I made it through all eleven hours, but it can only be summarized as grueling.

Some of the events in the story were so ridiculous that I started analyzing the author, trying to figure out how a person could be so far out of touch with the culture they're writing about. Situations in the book are extremely unrealistic. Examples:
**Spoilers**
A person gets out of a car during a traffic stop (despite an officer yelling not to and pointing a gun at them) and then mopes about the result. They aren't scared, or angry at perceived injustice, nor are they willing to admit that their actions were incredibly stupid. Obviously they were arrested, but the judge sets bail for them at a million dollars. Yes, a million dollars. The worst of it was that NONE of the characters know why and from whom they're running until about three minutes before the book ends. (Usually the "why" helps move the story along).
*End spoilers*

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my (clearly) unbiased review.

Great VR/gaming book

Storm tells a great story about immersive VR and RPG with a ton of insider gaming knowledge and strategies.

Carlson does a decent job narrating the story and making it enjoyable to listen.

If you like immersive gaming or lit RPG type stories this one is for you.

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

Not what I was expecting, but still good

Don't be fooled by the title, there is actually very little VR within this story, which was a bit disappointing to be honest. But, in light of that, the story is good. The plot was interesting, and kept me involved with the story. I applaud the author for maintaining the many different personalities that are predominant within the story. relationships were well defined between characters and gave it a natural feel (especially loved Harold and Rupert's relationship). My only real complaint is the author's terrible use of the dialogue tag "says". Many times i found it's frequency distracting and frustrating. But it wasn't enough to dissuade me from dropping the book altogether.

As for narration, I would have liked to see a little more fluctuation between characters, but overall well done and pleasant voice for the story.


i received this as a free copy, but my opinions are my own.

Twin Quasars of Battlecraft

The gamer book for those who don't play games - and for those that do! As in the original Roller Ball, the reader doesn't need to be able to roller-skate to understand what is happening even when a Battlecraft game is in progress: and that takes up only a small proportion of the book, anyway.Sent

The game itself is a survival one, where teams of five fit, healthy, and (usually) young men competed against other like teams to be last man or men standing in a simulated VR world. One new team on the screen had surprised the growing audience to this sport by reaching, and winning, the semi finals so gaining a chance to play against the major winning teams for a prize of over four million dollars. But what is different about this team is that two of the players are female, and half sisters, and, by their own admission, the best in the world. A lot of people didn't like this.n

Bartlett VR is a fast action mystery thriller: when one of the sisters goes missing, the others in the team set out to find her, only to discover they are not the only ones chasing her. If she can't be found and brought back quickly, their team Untouchables will have to forfeit their place in the finals, alongside all of their dreams. Their billionaire sponsor is too immersed in corporate business to want to put up any money or help, involving the police would put at risk the residency rights of one of them and, anyway, they soon don't know who in the police they can trust. time was short and she could be anywhere.
Who is behind all of the extreme unpleasantness in which they find themselves embroiled? Will Miranda be found, and, if so, alive? And in time? As the various team members and a couple of friends desperately search to save their gaming chance, the reader moves with them around the country, between situations and the internal thoughts and fears of each person. Such a well observed portrayal of different personalities thrown together in a common but seemingly hopeless task. Each protagonist is subtly different, each also observing the others, forming opinions: anger, fear, fristration, hopes, jealousies, humour as well as kindness and optimism, of a kind. The dialogue is natural. The writing flows naturally. The reader gets to know the various members of the group pretty well. It is a surprising book, almost a road trip.
The narration is surprising, too. Not surprising that Steve Carlson performs with a gentle ease and brings the whole story until focus, but that he does so with a tired, downbeat reading, so that the exhaustion of the protagonists is fed through too the reader along with all of their emotions. It is a remarkable performance, a great interpretation of an already exceptional story.

There is excitement here, and all that can be expected from a mystery thriller as well as the gaming aspect, too. But above all it is a study of a group of people, singularly and together, in crisis. And it is highly recommended. My thanks to the rights holder of Battlecraft VR who, following my request for a copy, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. It was a book I very much enjoyed and I was sad to close the pages on these people.
Definitely recommended.