Hero of Thera

By: Eric Nylund

Narrated by: Jeff Hays

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Be a hero in the ultimate game.

Are you a top-rated gamer?

Then you might have the skills to play the Game...where players are sponsored by actual demon lords, gods and goddesses, or Lovecraftian nightmares.

Enter Thera, a real kingdom at the crossroads of many other worlds, but with all the augmented-reality interfaces, character progression, and game mechanics that players know and love.

And the stakes of the Game?

Nothing less than Creation - every world in every universe and reality.

So...no pressure.

Thus Hector Savage, gamer extraordinaire, comes to Thera. Nothing can prepare him, though, for the schemes of Abyssal Lords, rampaging barbarian ghosts, and a host of nefarious forces who want him dead - before he can even make fifth level!

©2017 Eric Nylund (P)2017 Eric Nylund

About as Good as it Gets

If you could sum up Hero of Thera in three words, what would they be?

A real story

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character, likely because the story is from his perspective, so you really get to know him well.

What does Jeff Hays bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He grants the story a sort of Noir feel to it, and lends each character an excellent, distinct voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Devil Will Have His Due? The Great Game? I'm not really good at this sort of thing.

Any additional comments?

In my opinion, the best in the genre, hands down. It is short but oh so sweet, and goes ahead at a break neck pace. The character succeeds by gaming the system, so to speak, and while he gets lucky with his companions, the conceit makes perfect sense, and leaves you feeling giddy rather than irritated.

Overpowered hero? Girls throwing themselves at the hero? Insane early game loot? He wishes. If your tired of lit rpg novels that don't match up to your recollection of the slow climb of a real RPG, if you need a real story with a breathless pace, look no further. The only disappointment with Hero of Thera is how quickly it ends, and that the next installment isn't here yet.

Decent start

Looks like an interesting series that I'll be burning through. Give it a shot if the blurb catches your eye.

Really Well Done

This was a refreshing take on the LitRPG genre. There were familiar tones with regards to multiple universes and races fighting within the game as a means to avoid fighting among themselves (The Game3, Delvers LLC, etc.), but having only one life, with no respawns, really heightens the suspense of every battle, which I appreciated. Jeff Hays, as always, brings the story to life, better than any other Narrator within the genre. If only there were more to binge on...Eagerly anticipating the next installment of "Hero of Thera."

a must listen

wow, just wow.. the character building and the story development took me for a ride that was wonderful and left me wanting more and ready to jump into the next adventure

Not predictable

Several turns that I didn't expect. Mostly enjoyable and no endless reading of stat screens, a major plus in this genre.

you will have a load of fun

If you are looking for a Literary Role Playing Game (LitRPG) that is not only immersive but also tells a great story, look no farther that “Hero of Thera”.  The book is wonderfully written by Eric Nylund and narrated by none other than the expert voice of the genre; Jeff Hays.  What events occur when a condemned man on death row is given the chance to engage in a game that is not your run of the mill, “I’m stuck in a virtual world story.”  Not at all, this story is also not simply involving the life or death of a single person, but instead, the outcome determines the fate of everyone because the makers of the game are actual demons, gods, and other nightmarish creatures.  For almost any person faced with these events would be driven insane, can our main character survive and save all creation? If any of this sounds remotely interesting, I recommend you pick up a copy and have a listen.

The game our main character joins is not one where you simply die and come back to life at a specified location.  This game is instead played in “Hard Core” mode, meaning that if you die in the game, you die physically.  No pressure here.  The story itself is quite weighty and involved, yet at the same time, the author uses humor at appropriate times, and not excessively.  Even on a plane while traveling I laughed out loud as the main character faced the dreaded End User License Agreement (EULA).  Should you read all the terms and conditions fully before clicking “I Agree”, or do you simply click and get on with the game?  After selecting that you agree to the terms, what choice did he have, and clicking on the “OK” button, our character is forced to watch the initial game title screen.  Once again, this brings me back to my gaming days when it was nearly impossible to skip these opening sequences.

On the surface, the book seems like a standard LitRPG story.  But, it goes much deeper and wider the more you dive into it.  There is mystery and suspense that will raise your blood pressure along with some humorous wit.  Sometimes it is the little subtle things that keep you laughing such as a few of the quest names or story events.  There are many of the standard character types one would expect to find in an RPG story such as skeletons, ghosts, gnomes, and elves.  However, you are also introduced to “Mr. Pinchy” one of the childhood pets of our main character.  So, what about our main character?  Who is he?  He was raised a gypsy elf who was trained in the skill of martial arts from birth, but he still does not know how to fully utilize his powers.   He struggles when he is drafted into the world of evil.  What I enjoyed was the main character was not invincible and instead required assistance from many of the friends he picked up along the way.  There are friendships, relationships, and a few shocking and unsuspected events along the journey.  I found the story to be enjoyable and inspirational.

I would have liked to have had more time and action during the many battle scenes because they seemed to start and finish rather quickly.  The story appeared to lack some of the more intense or graphic aspects, but this may have been intentional to keep the book available to younger audiences.  On that note, I do not remember any use of vulgar language, nor were there any sexual subject matter that I recall while listening.

Let me turn to the book’s audio narration by Jeff Hays.  It is no surprise, and I would expect nothing less from one of his narrations, the audio is expertly and professionally done.  Jeff continues to amaze me with his ability to voice multiple characters while giving them all unique personalities.  I am able to quickly get a picture in my head of the character simply by listening to their accents.  Jeff always includes that extra effort by adding some special audio effects to so of the characters and he never over uses them.  It can often be a fine line, and Jeff knows when to quit.  There were no noticeable audio artifacts such as swallows, page turns, or other distractions.

In summary, if you want to hear a high-elf speaking to the main character about the unified theory of the universe, or if you are in the mood for a town that serves bacon and eggs with cheddar cheese as one of their staples, or a cola beverage that not only allows you to see in the dark but comes with an interesting side-effect, I think you will not be disappointed by picking up and listening to “Hero of Thera”.  You will laugh, you may cry, but you will have a load of fun along the way.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Finally found what exactly what I wanted!

The main character was perfectly written. I loved every second of the story and the fact the main character uses martial arts is really what I've been waiting for.
Finally someone has the sense to punch!
The Narrator was absolutely brilliant, and I'll remember Mr. Null I think forever. I felt like I was in the room with that guy. A wonderfu performance from start to finish!

worth it

great book, very engaging and hoping for plenty of more stories to read from thera

One of the best LitRPG' out there

One of the few LitRPG's I've done in one sitting. Well structured, well written and leaves you wanting more. Excellent work Mr. Nylund. Jeff doing an outstanding performance as always.

My favorite of the genre

Some of the story elements are a little convenient but I loved it in the end. What really did it for me was the supporting characters. Each of them felt unique and interesting. Though, that's not to say that the main character wasn't great too. I personally loved the choices he makes in creating a character that stood out in the genre as something different. I'll take a six-fingered elf any day over a sneaky archer anyday. Narration is excellent, as I have come to expect from Jeff. Overall a great listen.