Travail Online: Soulkeeper: A LitRPG Series

By: Brian Simons

Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

A corrupt server, a murderous NPC, and an impossible quest: Save the game. At all costs.

Coral joined the immersive virtual reality video game Travail Online because her waitressing job, like so many other jobs, was automated by a growing robot workforce. She starts as a Seamstress, hoping to craft useful clothing in-game to sell for real life cash. The game, however, has other ideas. She soon discovers a knack for peeling the skins off creatures she never thought she'd lay hands on and crafting grotesque wearables from them instead.

What starts off as job replacement quickly launches an adventure of epic proportions through a virtual reality world filled with magic, intrigue, and betrayal. Can she and her new friends rescue the MMORPG world of Travail from death and defeat before it comes crashing down, taking the world economy with it?

©2017 Brian Simons (P)2017 Brian Simons

Unexpectedly good

+++very good lit rpg book. I put the series off for a while because of the cover art which isn't that great. I know I know never judge a book by its cover.

A Fun Romp

I picked this title up because of the seemingly mundane class choice of the protagonist. I was a little worried that it would have been tossed by the wayside, but I was glad to find that even as the main characters dug into their strange adventure, the matters of crafting still managed to be at the forefront.

The book was definitely enjoyable. At no point did I feel like the pacing was rushed, and all of the major story points seemed neatly tied together. No solution to a problem felt like it came out of nowhere, and even the character development felt like it made a good deal of sense.

It's definitely not a brilliant epic, but it never claims to be. I feel as though this book delivers a little more than it promised, which is always a sign of something worth picking up.

Tailor turned boss

MC: "I don't want to kill anything" like a half an hour into the game and she's killing things. But it's funny how sometimes we can end up really far away from what we thought we'd start out as. this book is entertaining and what I see that more are out I'll definitely check them out

Nice solid story

This was a nice solid story. Very well done not to heavy and like the newb view. Good for a lone player like me.

under rated treasure

I found out about this book as just a lucky click and sure enough I loved it, very different class styles, good friendships, attitude and personality changes and was all around a good litrpg.

narrator was amazing she had a good range of voices and made it seems very fluid.

excited for 2nd book.

Short, but good.

It was a breath of fresh air. Once the concepts fully took root in my brain, I definitely wanted more. Luckily, Brian Simons has a good set up to continue the story, with plenty to dive deeper into and expand upon. Andrea Parsneau does a great job with the female characters and the Regent, but perhaps falls a bit short with the delivery of the male party members' lines, Daniel especially.

Excellent read!

I really enjoyed this story. I liked the fact it was in a game universe but didn’t center on repeating stats all the time. To me that gets boring having to hear the same stats over and over again! Excellent author and excellent narrator!

This Deserves a Sequel

When I looked at the cover art I mistakenly assumed this was a comic attempt at "Ready Player One". Not a clone, not a rehashed rotten tomato version of anything else I can think of. Not even time for a romance, all action. The author can easily make this a series, the characters are easy to like. The narration is fabulous and the characters voices are distinct.

Addictive and pleasantly surprising

Very addictive, and completely surprising. I loved it. Great and plausible escapism, with a really well-drawn female lead, NOT stereotyped, and a great cast of supporting leads. All the NPCs were interesting. The set up and world-building were very well described, throughout the book. I went through it fast and hope to move on to the sequel immediately.

Narration was just right.

Decent if horrible game mechanics don't bother you

Very minor spoilers.

The major saving Grace of this book is Andrea parsneau. whoever created this game clearly out sourced the engine 2 the smallest firm they could find in India. Because if they're not busy making no sense, being completely impractical, absolutely game-breaking, or inconsistent, then at least they resemble a sweatshop. The gold to money aspect is so hilariously flawed that I don't think the author has ever played a game with an economy. A futuristic world where jobs are scarce and inflation has undoubtedly skyrocketed by then, people playing a game and being happy with $5 as a payout after 2 days is baffling. While that might not seem bad if you're playing for fun, these guys are playing 8 plus hours a day as a job, not for fun. not to mention the fact that no company would implement this system to begin with because it makes them absolutely no money. there is absolutely no reason for them to buy gold from players no matter how bad the rate is. They stand only to lose money with the system the author implemented. Lastly, the book literally says the game is pay to win. yet a seamstress who is brand new dirt poor is the only one that can take on the job of slaying the extremely overpowered antagonist? and does so,... without even using her seamstress skills! it was good as background noise, and Andrea parsneau does a great job as usual, completely carrying the author on her back.