Foundations

A LitRPG Adventure (Tower of Somnus, Book 1)

De: Cale Plamann

Narrado por: Andrea Parsneau

First contact gone wrong. Humanity judged and found wanting. Unlimited power up for grab.

The Galactic Consensus arrived on ships as large as skyscrapers, crafted from glittering alloys that no human scientist could even begin to understand. They followed the trail of century-old television transmissions to welcome us into the galactic community...only to recoil in horror at what they found.

They concluded that humans were unfit to be trusted with the advanced technologies that member-states of the Consensus freely traded with each other, installing a relay to warn other ships that we were under embargo, but more importantly, allowing humans entrance into the Tower of Somnus, a multiplayer game of sorts that could be played in one’s sleep. The hope was that humanity would learn proper behavior from playing the game with our more civilized neighbors.

Katherine "Kat" Debs, a hereditary employee of one of the megacorporations that ruled the world, eked out a meager existence in a massive arcology of glittering glass and chrome. She dreamt of one day earning enough money to buy her freedom and was more than willing to break a law here or there in the process. When she is offered an opportunity to enter the Tower of Somnus free of corporate control, she jumps at the chance. After all, the "game" was more than just a status symbol; players retained the fantastic powers they earned in the game in the waking world as well.

A perfect opportunity to take control of her destiny or die trying.

©2022 Cale Plamann (P)2022 Mountaindale Press

Friend said I would like this one

A very intriguing story of a mix of cyber punk and lit RPG. What an interesting world can't wait for the next book to download.

Glorious cyberpunk drama I didn't know I needed

This may be the perfect sci fi/fantasy litrpg. The fantasy game and leveling is important both physically and socially, the cyberpunk intrigue and action is thrilling, and the combination of the two genres seamless.

It's been a long time since I listened to something that sucked me in this deeply; I tend to listen to audiobooks while doing other things, then pause and move on, but with this one I found myself lingering to continue the story.

The main character is strong willed and clever, a joy to follow in both her days of running for criminals and her nights of fantasy gaming with aliens.

The narration is amazing, as expected of Andrea, and I can't wait for book two!

Highly recommend.

A good start to a new series

When, early in the story, our heroine turns out to have particularly bad taste in men I almost bailed on this one. I found myself communicating telepathically to ask the author, "Please kill that character, please, please, please..." Luckily, Cale Plamann heard my telepathic pleas and did not make me wait long for his MC to grow a spine. After she "wakes up," the MC becomes more fun to follow. Overall, this story is a cut-above for the LITRPG genre, and despite some overly-long, play-by-play descriptions during prolonged, extended, really quite drawn-out and extensively, throughly, carefully explained battle scenes, it is a well-told story with a good premise and genuine characterization. Of particular note is the MC's little sister, who in several scenes comes off as a 'three-dimensional' and genuinely cute little kid. Congratulations to author Cale Plamann!

not great, but generally fun

If you can't stand manipulative, bullying boyfriends/husbands or women who submit themselves to them, you will have a rough experience starting this story. This should be labeled a dystopian because it is a world of slavery with aliens creating a ghost of a hope for improvement. Kat initially has an informal boyfriend who is intolerably ungrateful for life, what others do for him, and friendship. Kat willingly favors his wickedness, though such a foolish main character usually doesn't stay a fool.

different but good

I really don't like the minimum word count requirements for audible reviews. . .

Good story but annoying naration

I found this a decent enough story. Enough to keep me listening even through some ear piercing whinny narration. Hope the next book comes out soon and that your narrator stops using high pitch whinny voice.

Andrea Parsneau makes the book 11⭐'s!

Ohhhh wow! To be honest the deciding factor and reason I picked up this book was because I love Andrea Parsneau ❤! And then I dove headlong into the book and immediately fell in love with Kat the very hands-on kickass protagonist and the book very quickly moved up to number 1 on my chart!
We follow Kat as she navigates her troubled existence in the very distopic world she lives in and then as a player she can slip into Tower Somnus and play the game while sleeping.
You're gonna need to put this in your library because this action-driven story will have you on the edge-of-your-seat, both in and outta game. And you'll find Kat can't do things small and she won't give up. My only regret is book 2 hasn't been released yet!!!
My verdict is Andrea Parsneau deserves 11⭐'s!

Oops my bad book two is out, and you betcha boody I'm gonna jump right back into the series!

Slow to start but great overall

This one had an uphill battle with me. It started with a "capitalism gone too far" future which I generally dislike and moved on to a "girl ignores abusive and controlling boyfriend even though she should be smarter than that" story. But that ends pretty early on and then the ball gets rolling and it gets great from there. The future that's portrayed has the best kind of cyberpunk action mixed with the odd magic granted by the tower, almost making it into a sci-fi fantasy story that's done well rarely, and I'd say this story does it well.
TLDR
A slow start which leads to a great story.

Interesting take on cyberpunk meets litrpg

Good story that focuses on both a super corporate controlled dystopian future and it's mixing with a game beside it. The book is more story driven than mechanics driven on the lit rpg side making it easy to listen to for fans of both genres without throwing out good game mechanics in the process. Narration was very well done. Very fun listen overall.

Great just great

Couldn’t stop listening. Great story, with great voice acting. Can’t wait for the next book!