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Reality Benders Series, Book 1

By: Michael Atamanov, Andrew Schmitt - translator

Narrated by: Rudy Sanda

Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

At long last, an extraterrestrial civilization reached out and made the First Contact. However, no one on Earth took their communique for the genuine article.

In a similar vein, very few people appreciated just how little time our new suzerains had promised to keep our planet safe. Regardless, the end of their message showed humankind how to access a mysterious game. The objective of this game is unclear. No one can say where its servers are located, and its inner workings are beyond comprehension.

But the game slowly gained momentum, pulling in more and more players. Soon enough, it became impossible to ignore the fact that things that happened in the game had a direct impact on our reality. And not only ours....

But as people figure out this mysterious game, the countdown timer ticks away. And no one can say exactly what will happen when Earth's safety is no longer guaranteed.

©2018 Michael Atamanov; English translation copyright 2018 by Andrew Schmitt (P)2018 Tantor

A great beginning to a LitRPG series...

I really enjoyed this series. The Overall story and narration were both engaging and entertaining. Just a few cons and a lot of pros.

First the good: Loved the story, pacing, and character development. A LitRPG with a twist; the game is reality bending. Meaning, the game imposes on reality. Not in a world-ending way, but more in a "effects on the game body flow back to the real body... somewhat". The pacing is great, I'm not a fan of "Level 10 out of 100 by end of the book, wow now that's progress!". That for sure is not progress. The fast pace allows for great character development and he was able to squeeze in world mechanics at the same time.

The cons: The Main Character fits solidly in the sea of Main Characters... full of snark and a disdain for any rules. Like following a blueprint for Main Characters, Not that there aren't people like that in the world today... just not Every person needs to fit that mold. Plus, not sure if this is a cultural thing since the author is not from the US, there are some male chauvinistic over-tones laced through the MC. But there are plenty of supporting characters that are well fleshed out and balanced so the population seems diverse and helps add range to the fictional culture presented.

Overall, I liked this new series. I will definitely use a credit on the next one.

two thumbs up

what a great story. can't wait for the next one to come out. so I got to go back to other stories of his until then.

Next please

Omg this is a Great series. I cant wait for the next installment. A player built character that isn't afraid to buck the system but remain loyal as well. By building himself up, he builds the alliance. GREAT stuff.

Great story, okay narrator

The story is honestly very good. I almost stopped listening due to the more monotone voice, but after a few chapters it gets better. The female voice narrator adds great listening value, which make the book 100x better for listeners.

Loved the book but the narrator.

The story is the best I have heard in a long time. But too many characters sounded like Grimace from Sesame Street.

Interesting take on VR litRPG

I enjoyed this well-written audiobook as well as Rudy’s voice acting.

Melding alien mythology with the gaming world made for some interesting plot twists. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Made it's way into my te litrpg series of all time

Just finished the third book and I'm sad there isnt a 4th book. My family gave me dirty looks all thanksgiving dinner since I spent the whole time listening to this series rather then spend time with the family. It was just to good I couldnt put it down ;(

Speed x1.3 recommended! - Cool story

The narrator speaks to slow, but speed increase fixes it. The story is cool, interesting and pretty action packed. Highly recommended!

among the best of the best

very few series have stood the test of time for me, and even fewer are consistently excellent. this is one of those few.

the sense of scale and depth in the whole series is awe inspiring.
this is "the series" that defines the best of litrpg and SciFi for me. both. it's better SciFi than anything and better litrpg than 99%. I'd say that the Disgardium series is just as good litrpg but it is inferior in other aspects, while Defiance of the Fall series is equally brilliant, but very different in its approach.

almost anything I could say about the book or series would be spoilers... it lives from all the surprises and wow-moments.

if you love books that create believable worlds without politics, bullshit tropes and pandering, just old school storytelling for entertainment, look no further

OK Narrator but great story.

I love this story and will be following the series if it continues to get recorded. The game is fun and interesting, characters are interesting, humor is funny, and this is the first LITRPG with star ships, lazar beams rifles, and aliens that I liked. Been looking for something that wasn't the typical sword and sorcery LITRPG setup. The narrator tries and he does a good job. But he gets rated for doing a good job not a fantastic one. Multiple characters have the same or almost same voice (chain smoking for 30 years voice), and the female voices were not that great. This is a great read though and you should definently spend a credit on it if you like the LITRPG genre.