Desert Storm

Puatera Online, Book 3

By: Dawn Chapman

Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau

Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Forging a new quest, Maddie and Alex unite the desert runners in order to find enough food to feed the Tromoal through their birthing. But there’s descent into chaos at the mayor’s farm on the discovery of a stolen Tromoal egg and the fact he’s hoarding zombie cattle. Maddie's choices are limited, but her fight isn’t.

©2017 Dawn Chapman (P)2018 Dawn Chapman

A tasty Dessert in the form of a desert storm

Maddie and friends return for the third installation of this sandblown serial. No spoilers, but we do kind of get to see what Alex's final fate is, and we get to see (as I sort of suspected) why Maddie isn't just any NPC.

This book has a very different feel than the first two books, and not in a bad way. There are real elements that made me think of the Dark Tower, but considering that Maddie's world is a Virtual one it amped up the coolness of it all. The end battle between Maddie and the big bad was too brief for my taste, I really wanted to see her give it to him just a bit more, but the end result was most satisfying. I really do not want to give away anything, but the story rocks and pops, has the proper dash of mystery (what is up with Alex?), and leaves the door open for the next chapter.

Some things to look out for are the Tromoal, Karma and character sheets, and the proper way to do some stacking. A lot of things are answered, some left for later, and more mysteries sprout up.Chapman does a great job completing one plotline, continuing another, and starting something new in just a few spaces. I think she is getting really comfortable with Maddie now, and has a sense of who she is (because Maddie told her), making writing her all the easier now.

Andrea Parsneau has cemented her place in my parthenon of narration. She really plays the characters like a fine violin, and helps make the setting all the more real.

I can't wait to see more of the Desert's Daughter, Maddie, in action.

Another Heart Wrenching Story

As with the other books in this series – I’m hooked. Chapman writes of a world that I would both want to live and play in. That’s pretty great for a LitRPG series.

Desert Storm – aka Puatera Online Book 3 – continues the story from the first two. Maddie is performing unlike any NPC anyone has ever seen or played with and must continue to make the hard decisions to keep the players (visitors), other NPCs, and maybe even the whole world from collapsing.

Desert Storm wasn’t as emotional as book two was but it was a close second. There were a few scenes (post-portal for example) that were just absolutely heart wrenching. Chapman has my emotions all tied up in this series and I’ve heard that it’s going to take an interesting turn in book 4.

Maddie is such an interesting character (the play on words intended). She finds out a lot about herself in this chapter and it’s been fun watching her grow and become her own in the three storylines. Her arc has been one of the more enjoyable ones in the LitRPG stories I’ve read so far.

I can’t imagine what will continue to happen, but I’m sure that Chapman is hard at work trying to make this world come alive even more. I can’t wait for it. I’ve really enjoyed the first three books.

I received a free copy of this audiobook - it has not affected my review in any way. If you enjoyed this review, please vote for it! Every vote helps.

not as good as the last two

I enjoyed the book, although not as much as the other two. a lot of the story came together, but a lot more points came out that seemed random. that said, you need to read this book after the other two, so plan on reading all three. As usual, the narration is amazing.

A great addition to a great series

What made the experience of listening to Desert Storm the most enjoyable?

the voices have stayed the same through all 3 books, it's a great addition to the series and shows amazing character development

What other book might you compare Desert Storm to and why?

Its a hard one to compare too, there are not many books with the MC being in the same state as this one. Most lit RPG's also have a "real world" portion and this one does not.

Which scene was your favorite?

After she spends her karma and tries to figure out how it affected her had me chuckling.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have gladly listened to it in one setting but due to my work time constraints I could not.

Any additional comments?

Dawn and Andrea have put together a great partnership. I don't know if I can think of Andrea's voice as anything other Maddie after these 3 series. The way Dawn has spun the plot and storyline keeps me guessing and wondering what other revelations she is going to drop next. I can't wait for the 4th installment.

ever a surprise.

this one caught me again off guard. always liking the spin of it. I can't wait to see what comes of the series. short and easy to listen to.

Great progression!

Book 3 finds Maddie trying to rally trips to assist her quest in saving the Tromoal (Dragons) eggs. The journey is filled with emotions, team efforts, self discovery, action, and fighting. Great victory for the team at the end! Lots of mini plot twists introduced that I’m sure Ms. Chapman will expound on in later books! Love these short stories! I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Filler with some world-building

This third book in the series isn't as strong as the first two. The main point of this book was to explain more about the world of Puatera and it's place in the real world. IMO, what the book lacked most was real direction. There was a lot of action, but it seemed mostly like "busy work" until the final quarter, at which point the story funneled to a rather eventful climax. By the end, however, the book did leave me interested in continuing the PUATERA series as it did a good job of setting up the next storyline(s),

Took a weird, completely unexpected turn.

The narrator is really good, I’ll be looking for more of her in the future.

This book was good, covered way more of the games mechanics and the main characters history and mechanics.... but that’s also where is kinda lost me, aliens... not sure that need to happen. On to book 4 to see if It did.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Loved It!

I requested this audiobook from Audiobooks Unleashed and have voluntarily left this review.

If you enjoyed the previous books, I recommend listening to this one too. In this book, Maddie continues learning about her past, her world, and Earth. There are further developments with her boyfriend, new revelations, she takes advantage of the system, and confronts her ex-boyfriend. Lots of things happening in a short book. I liked the book. It keeps you guessing about what the nature of the world is precisely and wanting to know more about Maddie's origins.

Again, waaaaaay too short.

This book was interesting. I just wish it was longer. It was a light snack compared to a meal. I still enjoyed it.

The Story teller.

Man I was sure this is a trilogy, now I absolutely know it's not which is good and bad.
Good because it's an awesome story!
Bad because I want to know how it ends.
Yes this is one of those creation that grabs you from the beginning and that you can't wait to finish it, but when you do you get sad because you want more, in short which ever it goes it always suck :-).
I truly love this series as you can already tell.
Hoping that number four is on its way, beside a great story, all those twists and turns blow my mind away, which is a great part of why I love this series especially on this third book which totally twisted me around all the way to the last minute !
There is nothing else you can ask from an author, a good story which you can't predict or know where it's heading is magic which only a few authors have mastered accomplishing it !
As is with the first two books, performances is perfect on this one to.
There is absolutely no way that I can find not to recommend this book or the entire series.
I can't see anyone not liking it so I'm not worried recommending it, I truly can't see how anyone won't enjoy this series it's absolutely impossible!!!

this series get better each time

this series get better everytime you start a new book you just cant put it down

This was a great third book in the series

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

This was the third book of a really great series. I found that I enjoyed this book just as much as the first 2. The action was great and the narration was entertaining. My only wish was that they were longer so I could enjoy more from this author and narrator. Here's to hoping for more in the series.