Forsaken

Mountain King Saga, Book 1

By: Cebelius

Narrated by: Rebecca Woods, Daniel Wisniewski

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

The game real heroes are dying to play....

When an invitation to try a cutting-edge game promising darkly sensual adventure drops in Abram's lap, it's an offer he can't refuse. After all, as an agoraphobe who never leaves his apartment, his social life is defined by, and limited to, games.

Yet an interesting premise quickly shows its dark side as his mind is filled with memories of unspeakable torment, forcing him to rely on his meta-knowledge just to stay sane. The game is like nothing he's ever played: It has no tutorial, no HUD, no levels, no experience system, no respawns, and no mercy.

Surviving against all expectation, battered by memories of a woman he can't help but hate, Abram's only hope for survival is given to him by a chance encounter with Angrboda, the legendary mother of Fenrir. In her arms, he learns that only through sensual exchange can he advance, and with her support he sets his sights on power, rulership, and a harem of mythical, or murderous, women.

Celestine is a world of monsters. The strong rule the weak, trust is in short supply, and the only real options for the true survivor are to lay it or slay it. Thank goodness it's only a game.

Warning: This book does not pan to waving curtains and fade to black. Those uninterested or under the age of 18 are strongly warned of explicit content.

©2020 Cebelius (P)2020 Podium Audio

Forsaken is fine if a bit clunky.

To start off, I'm reviewing this purely on the basis of Cebelius's other books and not the works of other writers. I would also highly recommend you listen/read cebelius's other work "the celestine chronicles" before purchasing this one.

Lets start off with discussing the lead character Abram is NOT like Terry Mack. Abram is much more child like, a literal man child in many circumstances. He is fundamentally a much less stable much more sheltered and broken character. He is one part a caricature of a computer anime nerd, one part conniving like a loki-esq character, and just a dash of batman's psychotic joker. There are moments of cringe and moments where i could see the more interesting character he might become if he were to grow up mentally/emotionally.

The overall plot is fairly flat that is propped up by much more interesting characters and locations, though i admit the overall setting is a bit more grimdark than your typical celestine story.

It is at this point I feel i should warn the reader this isn't your typical harem fantasy. I also feel I should warn readers of the celestine chronicles that the "romantic encounters" this time around are much MUCH more bizarre, bordering on nightmare fuel at times.

The narrators do a great job not only in the performance of new characters but also in their interpretation of established character voices, with the exception of a certain dragons voice near the end.

Overall I think this was a fine attempt to expand on the world of celestine in terms of overall story, a different leading character, and litrpg elements. However, not all of these changes will sit well with everyone and I hope Cebelius buffs out some of the rougher elements in the next book.

MC is an idiot and a man child

MC is an idiotic man child. Could not even finish the book due to the way his personality flop back and forth.

Got Annoyed Often

Alright, I LOVE the adventures on Celestine, but this new guy is just ..to unlikeable for me. There's some parts that I'm ok with him, but most times he's a bit to far gone. There's a point where I almost stopped the book after he says "it's only a game" for the 47th time.

More of this please

Okay normally I’m not a fan of harem novels and I especially don’t like litRPG elements. However Cebelius creatively and skillfully works these into a fascinating story with a protagonist who is not at all like your typical hero. Mostly because he’s not a hero nor has any interest in being one. It’s incredibly refreshing to find myself genuinely wondering what an MC is going to do. The characters are extremely likeable which contrasts very well with the very VERY dark themes in this book. It’s certainly not for everyone but if you liked Mask of the Template or want a divergence from the typical while in familiar territory give this a shot. The next book can’t come soon enough. If the story carries itself but if it didn’t the narrators would. Rebecca woods and Daneil winiewski are a fantastic duo and put so much life into this production.

NERD!!!

I'm not going to lie when I listen to this I cracked up so hard. honestly need to finish the first series by sibelius via audiobook do love me some audiobooks.

If its your thing itll be a fun listen.

So to start, if you can handle cebelius charecter, specifically the main charecters, youll probably enjoy the book, a few cringy moments, but its somethingnive come to expect.

I do enjoy the suprise for the main charecter if you piece it together threw out the book, but over all my favorite part of the story and always will be for cebelius books is the side characters, i enjoy the main girl for this one, and most of the surounding cast, mc still kinda repugnant, but thats sort of the point.

As for the naration staff i have one and only one complaint and that is Tess Irondale is the only voice for Euryale. Nothing the voice actors can do about it ive just herd her do that charecter for like 5 books now amd thats the voice stuck in my head.

love the book

When an invitation to try a cutting edge game promising darkly sensual adventure drops in Abram's lap, it's an offer he can't refuse. After all, as an agoraphobe who never leaves his apartment, his social life is defined by, and limited to, games.

Yet an interesting premise quickly shows its dark side as his mind is filled with memories of unspeakable torment, forcing him to rely on his meta-knowledge just to stay sane. The game is like nothing he's ever played: it has no tutorial, no HUD, no levels, no experience system, no respawns, and no mercy.

Surviving against all expectation, battered by memories of a woman he can't help but hate, Abram's only hope for survival is given to him by a chance encounter with Angrboda, the legendary mother of Fenrir. In her arms he learns that only through sensual exchange can he advance, and with her support he sets his sights on power, rulership, and a harem of mythical, or murderous, women.

Celestine is a world of monsters. The strong rule the weak, trust is in short supply, and the only real options for the true survivor are to lay it, or slay it.

Thank goodness it's only a game ...

Warning: This book does not pan to waving curtains and fade to black. Those uninterested or under the age of eighteen are strongly warned of explicit content.

Excellent

This is just as good if not even better than the original Celestine series. I love the main character. Dual narration was superbly done.

A Welcome Change of Pace

Abrum is the opposite of Terry Mac in the best way. Having a protagonist with serious flaws makes for an interesting contrast with the first 5 books, where noble crusader vanquishes evil. The approach in this book is darker, the cruelty of Celestine shown without remorse. However, watching templates overcome that cruelty will always be rewarding to read, no matter who wears the shoes.

Just bad story

I love all the other books from the author. Then there is this one. The main character is trash who makes no emotional connections with anyone, and has no redeeming features. The whole book is edge lord cringe without break and no turning point. The narration is fantastic though and I love the VAs

Exceptional!

A new story that subtly interlocks with and springs out from the previous series, with an MC that utterly contrasts with the previous one, interesting support characters, and a hooking story that kept me listening until it was finished. Highly recommend and eagerly await the sequel!

Awesome

Amazing story. Though I recommend reading at least 5 books in Celestine chronicles first to get the full context. I actually like Abram better than Terry. Applying brain rather than brawn and virtue to problems is often more interesting. Abram face impossible challenges and doesn't escape unschated. Will he descend further into madness or regain some shred of sanity in the next part of the saga? I'm eager to find out.

exceptional

I was hooked from start to finish, I eagerly await the next in the series!