Eden's Gate: The Arena

A LitRPG Adventure, Book 4

By: Edward Brody

Narrated by: Pavi Proczko

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Audiobook four of the best-selling Eden's Gate series!

Edgewood is under attack, and the threat of war lingers across the Serpent Sea. A thief is becoming a thorn in Gunnar's side, and a tempting elf is getting a little feisty.

In order to protect their village, the members of Unity will need to work together to level up and find better gear. They'll need to lay the foundation of a castle that can serve as a fortification from intruders.

But what if there's a better way?

When Gunnar learns the king of Highcastle will grant an audience to anyone who wins an arena championship, he decides to enter the competition as a gladiator. If he can earn a meeting with the ailing king and persuade him to stop Dryden before his dragon flies, he can save Edgewood and countless lives. He'll also get his name posted in every arena, which could lead Rachel one step closer to finding him.

The arena is a spectacle where people gather to watch fighters put their skills to the test, earn fame, and take home gold. Does Gunnar have what it takes to become a champion, or has he bitten off more than he can chew?

©2018 Edward Brody (P)2018 Edward Brody

Why is the MC stupid?

This has been my over riding question during this series. He never seems to grasp blatantly obvious things. Constantly judges other people without seeming to realize he did similar things. His actions are justified but no one else’s actions are. Please please make him less stupid and these books will be better for it.

Could have been better

I absolutely love the world the author created but this book is the worst of the series.

The main character is quick to dismiss possible options, or incapable of thinking out of the box, uses only his basic spells well after he's been attacked, and is locked in his fear of the pain from death. This isn't an avid gamer adapting to and loving the world he's in, this is the same scared person that was left behind in the real world.

Disappointing.

I will count this as my review for the entire series.

*This review is entirely my own opinion and you have a right to ignore, disregard, or disagree with it*

TL;DR : This first book is okay and then it drops off quickly. The main character never learns from the consequences and is basically dragged along for the entire story. He doesn't make decisions, he only reacts to the plot, in stupid ways mind you. Do not read this series. If you want to read good Litrpg's read "The Land", "The Completionist Chronicles", "Life Reset", and my personal favorite "Everybody Loves Large Chests" (If you can like dark satire).

The first book was interesting, it had the typical setting of a character being stuck in a game but was interesting nonetheless. I found his motivations to find his "girlfriend" to be half-hearted as we were only given a few lines about her. We didn't have enough time to get attached to her so I really couldn't care less. Anyway, I like the premise of him realizing its not a game anymore and that there are consequences for his actions.

The second book was exciting that he did these extraordinary feats. However, the main character makes several assumptions and dumb decisions that wouldn't be made by a gamer. This continues throughout the series.

The third book was terrible. I liked how to touched on the darker aspects of the game and it could have been done really well. If not for my hatred of the main character by this point. He is utterly stupid, he falls for the dumbest traps, cannot read a situation, makes absurd false assumptions, never thinks ahead even for a moment, and only ever reacts to what happens to him. He gets dragged along for this huge quest that he didn't even want to partake in. He doesn't have the wits to realize whats happening to him or around him unless it is fucking spelled out word for word. No gamer acts like this.

The fourth book, he continues to make mistakes. He now has this odd character progression where he becomes this savage after being in the sands, but also thinks he is kind. Kind of like saying "He tortures people? I would never do such a thing" and then continues to do so. He doesn't think ahead in his battles, seems to keep getting caught in this limbo of romance, and ignores blatant clues that a child would pick up on.

The fifth book is more of the same only I hate Gunner even more as he doesn't seem to have any real substance to him. He is a prop that the author drags around. It is like a toddler attaching a crayon to a string and then trying to draw a picture only by running around holding the end of the string. The main character is not a person, he is a tool, and a bad one at that.

This whole series feels like it was written by a college fratboy who wanted to try to fit in with geeks. He thinks gamer lingo are things like "For shizzle my nizzle". He thinks the main character and Aaron would actually get along. Gunner is supposed to be a recluse gamer shut-in, yet somehow befriends Aaron who talks about chicks like their objects. All of the love interests in the books are "Damn, she is drop dead gorgeous" or "She has this perfect hourglass frame", never once did he actually inquire about who they were behind their looks, yet these women somehow fall for him? Fuck off.

The narrator is okay, he did a decent job but he wasn't amazing in any way. Many of his voice were the same and he added little to no inflections or emotions in his acting.

Concluding.... Don't bother with the series. Read the TL;DR for better Litrpg series. This series certainly isn't worth the money and I wouldn't bother spending your credits either. Taking the time to read these has actually hurt my heart and I want my time back.

Intelligence low

This book is well written and the narrator is very talented. However the main character is Extremely frustrating. For most of the book he is portrayed as a very intelligent and quick witted character and yet there are times where he asks the most Idiotic questions. Everyone in the entire Room will know what's happening the reader will have known from the most obvious clues and the main character stumbles and will literally ask what's going on here. He acts glaringly out of character and incredibly stupid when he has all of the information to know exactly what is happening and I am not sure why the writer did this. It was never a problem in the other books but this one it is so glaring that it's almost story breaking. I don't want to give any spoilers but there are a few times when it is quite obvious what is happening or that he is being tricked that my four-year-old son would know and this character who once again has been portrayed as intelligent either walks blindly into the situation or takes a good 10 15 minutes to figure out what is going on when it Is obvious. So incredibly frustrating listening to 10 minutes worth of the character wondering what's happening when you knew within the 1st 3 words of the situation. Then telling yourself it won't happen again only for it to happen 10 more times in the book...

Good story Narrator fell short

So loved the story however the narrator fell short. He has two of the main characters using the same exact voice. It’s confusing especially because they talk alike on occasion. That really bothered me.

Looking to see if I can return it.

Kept saying that the MC might get better in the next one. It was the opposite. I think the drugs were the last straw. I stopped in the middle. So I can't tell u if it got better. Not the kind of Fantasy adventure I am interested in. This is the first time I am unable to finish a series. Also my first review.

bleeding

can anyone tell me what type of damage bleeding is I just can't remember at all

bored

I am a gamer and live/love mmorpgs. With that said i am also "that type of gamer". The type that enjoys optimizing and working towards a great build to accomplish my goals. I find the main characters lack of focus as well as his naivete to be disturbing. Things seen to fall into place based on nothing but plot driven railroaded luck. I appreciate characters who are written to gain power strength or achievements through smart thinking and/or cunning. But this character reminds me more of how a young teenager would play a game. Though I blame myself, i should have done more researxh before investing so far into this. Now i am stuck, invested in 5 books and have already spent my money. Perhaps i will have my son listen. Maybe it will be much more enjoyable to him.

Though to be fair, I enjoyed the first book.

I can’t continue

Having a main character make such a blatantly stupid decision.. it’s baffling. And completely disheartening.

...Gunner...

In almost 40 years, I have never hated a main character, any character, or even an evil character as much as Gunner.

I love the story...I abhor Gunner. He is in ever way a detestable character, has no redeeming qualities, and as an "experienced gamer" is beyond inept. Here is hoping he dies and someone else fills the main slot.

Naive characters

The charecters are too naive and slow thinking. Even basic logical thinking seems to be a challenge and helping items and coinsidenses comes way too easy.

good book

it was a good book but the character development on gunner was very frustrating. it seems as if he has no common sense. but other than that it is a good book and would recommend the series

Still a noob after 4 books

Main character spends most of his time in battle watching other people do things and occasionally reacting. He seems to alternate between a below average iq and an average one as suits the authors needs. MCs thoughts portray him as a semi-incel and as paranoid yet he does things like ensuring his respawn point could lead to infinite deaths over and over again twice throughout the books. The ending is a kind of deus ex in that the MC goes from iq 90 to iq 55 to suit the authors cliffhanger

brain dead hero

Why the protagonist became a brain dead at the end?

A different solution but similar ending would have felt less rushed! Just to fulfill the prophecy!

good story up until the end

really good story so far except till the last hour of the book main character has been getting better and improving then you get near the end of the book and the guy becomes a idiot again really disappointed in how this book ended

great story

narrator was good. story was interesting, if only it focused the "arena" bit more it would be much better.

Good, BUT...

I enjoyed this book and am addicted to the series, BUT as others have mentioned, the character development on Gunnar is really frustrating in this book. He is incredibly naive/slow to realise what is happening and painfully bad at basic logic in several scenarios that occur during this part of his story.

I really hope Edward can make him a bit smarter/give him a bit more credit/common sense in future instalments as I found myself annoyed at Gunnar quite a few times. I'm not sure if it's the arrogance of the author thinking that a listener couldn't possibly realise where he's leading the narrative, or if he wants Gunnar to take ages to catch up for some kind of character flaw, but either way it was the only downside to an otherwise enjoyable book.

I look forward to the next one all the same!

Narration is really good.

I enjoyed the narration, and the storyline as well. I am officially hooked on this series.

GOOD BOOK

I have over 300 audible titles and I have to say that the narration and performance of this book is one of the best I've heard. It's a compelling universe with a great story and awesome characters

loving every second

Just a really good story and great characters.
The whole concept is brilliant.
Thank you.