Sentenced to Troll

Publisher's Summary

Punished for his toxic online behavior, Chad faces a 30-day sentence of full-immersion therapy designed to improve his anger issues. For his endless trolling in real life, he's forced to play the most hated race in Isle of Mythos so that he can finally experience what it's like to be on the other side. 

To make matters worse, the heroes sent to rid the world of evil aren't heroes at all - they're violent felons on their own twisted paths to redemption. 

Now, Chad must survive his one-month sentence in a world where anything goes.

©2019 Steven Rowland (P)2019 Steven Rowland

Full Dive VR, where you're the "bad" guy

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I loved this, the full-dive VR concept is becoming a bit of a troupe at this point, but it works extremely well as a basis for the main character knowing things they shouldn't. No time travel, new world, nonsense, just a smooth explanation.

Getting on topic, the main character is sentenced (literally by a judge) to sever time in a VR simulation. The idea is to use VR to rehab criminals, the main character is barely a criminal (I enjoyed the direction the author took here), but ends up in the VR anyway. He's stuck as the most hated race in that world, a troll. There's a healthy mix of gaming, fantasy, and enjoyable characters. There are a lot of chances for this to be pretty comedic, but the author plays the situation straight, and I think that really helps the story. There are no forced jokes, everything progresses in a way that makes sense (in a video game world anyway). Given the ending there almost has to be a sequel and if it holds up as well as the first this will be a series to get invested in.

This is the first time I've listened to Eric Martin, and he did an excellent job on the voices. Making them feel and sound like trolls must have been tough on his voice after a while.

TLDR; If you like fantasy, and particularly the out of time/world genre, you won't regret this one.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

4.5 stars. True LITRPG

4.5 stars. This was a very enjoyable LITRPG with actual RPG elements. I think some authors have a difficult time adding RPG elements such as stats and lore to their books, but Rowland does a great job without it being cumbersome. The explanation for the full VR experience was very good and the story building goes along at a good pace. The characters are all very well done and likeable. This wasn't really a funny book, but it didn't need to be. The game elements keep it fun and enjoyable. Any gamer would enjoy this book. The narration was very good with unique voices for all characters. I have added Rowland and Eric to my list of Authors and Narrators. Look forward to listening to more from them and book 2. "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review." #uniquevoices #litrpg #truelitrpg

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great story, good lit rpg

The story was really good. it didn' rely on Sexual content to push the story forward Like you see in a Lot of lit RPG these days. It's also nice Seeing the story told from a different perspective other than to typical fantasy Races that are favored I.e. Humans, Elves, Dwarfs. This story is told from the perspective of A player that has to take on the character build of a troll. I like the Over all world End the way that the RPG system works. I enjoyed the book very much and over all I am impressed. I was Not expecting to get as good a story as I got.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

it was so good

It's a Wonderful book such Especial men are to write a book I loved it I enjoyed it it was everything without a lot of things you don't need to understand the story it was crazy and I adored it I felt so in tune with the book it was the wonderful ride I loved it

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Can't wait for book 2 aaaaannnnnnndddddddd more

Before i started the book i had looked reviews online. After reading some i was hesitant to start. Needing a break from other books i started it up.

Being a gamer i loved the book. i can't wait for a continuation. The character building was great. Even the characters you don't particularly care about, you can easily identify within the story.

The story line progressed perfect. Found myself taking the longer way home from work, or sitting in my car to hear more.

i want the next book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great litrpg!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I love this book and can't wait for more! If you like litrpg books deffinetly give it a shot.
Chapter titles can be kind of spoilery but that's just a personal opinion. And there's some things that should've been caught in a reading of the rough draft such as the color of troll blood changed.
And I hope to see some deeper connections with people or characters hopefully in the future books.
For the narration Solid job from the narrator doesn't do anything special but doesn't do anything negative and voices individual chargers well.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Surprisingly Good !

What I.expected to be a typical RPG story, turned out to be a story of great moral challenges, healing, and a personality transformation.
Well written and well narrated.
I recommend this book for ages 15 and older due to some suggestive situations.
I was given this audiobook for free and I freely give my opinion and rating

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

exceptional

the best book I have listened to in 2019

extremely well written
narrated superbly
I would love to listen to the next book... as I know there has to be a follow up story

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

loved it

the narrator was awesome, the writing was spectacular and there were some one-liners in there that made me laugh out loud.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

What a LitRPG Should be!

Sentenced to Troll is a masterful LitRPG. Having read dozens of books in the genre, it has become exceedingly rare that I find one that becomes an instant favorite. This is as close to perfect as I could ask for. With interesting and endearing characters, Artful world building, and a unique plot, this story bring it all together to tell one entertaining tale. The writing is polished, the pacing is superb, and it is apparent that this is an author who is excellent at his craft. If you like LitRPGs that take place entirely in the game world, like the Chaos Seeds or Play to Live series than this book is not only for you, but be prepared to be pleasantly surprised with just how enjoyable this genre can be.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning- This book contains mild violence and some language.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

absolutely brilliant

loved this book so much it has such a fun and punchy tune to it and honestly one of the characters first thing I thought was gollum from lord of the rings honestly if you enjoy a humourous book with some awesome fight scenes then this is the book for you

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

a great start look forward to the rear

within litrpg you can often find alot repeat it's self it's so nice to find something new and refreshing I really look forward to the rest of this series .

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Very entertaining LitRPG

First I would say this isn't for everyone but if you have ever played a MMO, RPG, Dungeons & Dragon or even read a Choose Your Own Adventure (you make a decision and go to x page), love stats and game mechanics or compelling fantasy stories I would highly recommend this.

It's a interesting idea to try and rehabilitate a troll who has undesirable negative emotionational episodes against other people when things aren't going their way and they are probably losing, especially when they believe someone else is to blame and immersing then in a fully VR game as a in game Troll (the most hated in game race).

The story was fun and kept me entertained throughout. There was some very interesting game mechanics that I liked and I honestly cared about all the main characters. The narrator was spot on. I'm hoping there is a sequel or this because a trilogy.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

This is a great introduction in to litrpg genre

I wont say it's the best book I have ever read as it would be a lie but it is a good book it keeped me entertained from the start and it shows some true potential to be a great series. i believe the best description of the book would be as a gateway book in to the litrpg world of books.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

To Troll or Not to Troll!?

Well, To Troll obviously, because this was a great listen!!
My first experience of a LitRPG novel (at least I presume that’s what it is!?) and I loved it!
A great adventure story in its own right even before Eric’s great performance is thrown in the mix.
The story is filled to the brim with action and adventure and is just such an easy book to become absorbed in and I was thoroughly disappointed when it came to an end!
I think as long as you enjoy fantasy, then no matter your age, you’ll enjoy this book!
This is my honest opinion of a free review copy.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I Really Enjoyed this Adventure!

The characters were likeable and the adventure engaging. The narrator made the story come to life and gave it a unique and enjoyable feel even when listing notifications. I really enjoyed the thought process of Chod and his growth. The book is enjoyable and brighten my day when listening. The only problem is I want to know more about the history of the Isle of mythos the parts shown were interesting and I can only wait patiently for more!
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved it

Great story and characters. This is well worth a listen. Looking forward to book 2. Didn't want it to end!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Stands out

A very good audiobook, the narration is good, the author managed to get you emotionally involved, was wishing for an extra couple of hours but i can understand why it ended where it did. Without spoilers, prepare to troll smash.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Entertaining, but premise mostly overlooked

The idea of an online troll being sentenced to play as the unliked race in a new game was an interesting one, but the book didn't really use it for anything beyond getting the player into the game, right from the outset he was a likeable protagonist and only developed from there and his repeated behaviour in the real world was effectively hand-waved away as him basically being lonely and misunderstood rather than anything worse.

Thankfully, this approach didn't detract from the story as both it and the main character developed quite quickly in an interesting manner, with it having the right balance for me of focusing more on the actual events over the game mechanics & stats.

The narrator's performance was a good one that helped to increase my enjoyment of the book quite a bit, his tone suited the book and he was sufficiently distinctive with the various characters too.

Overall, an enjoyable listen and I will be interested to hear more from this series in the future.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

One of the best LitRPG stories!

I bought this audiobook on a whim because the blurb for the story sounded like it had a lot of potential to make for a super fun story and it really did live up to those expectations! The story was engaging from start to finish. The world was a lot of fun, the lead character was one of the more likeable I've come across in LitRPG stories, and the plot was pretty enjoyable. It mixed action and adventure and was never dull.

The best thing about the story was the main characters personal development. There was nothing preachy about his growth as a character. He was simply a guy who got the chance to grow more as a person due to having a shot at a different sort of life he found in the game world compared to the life he left in the real world. I loved how well done that aspect of the story was.

The other good thing about this story was it did not get bogged down in those mindless stats that plague a lot of books in this genre. We got a few to track Chad's progress in the game but nothing that overwhelmed the story or hurt the flow of the action. This is the way it should be. Most of the stat laden LitRPG's are just gaming the Kindle Unlimited system and it never translates well in the audio format!

I felt like Eric Martin gave a great performance with the audio. His general narration was engaging and his character voices were good.