Shattered Sword (A LitRPG Adventure)

Eternal Online, Book 1

By: TJ Reynolds

Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau

Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

A broke gamer. A deadly online world. Can Dhalia level up fast enough to keep the debt collectors at bay?

Dhalia has to pay off her dead father’s bills or risk her life in the lithium mines. Which...no thank you. Besides, the world is run by tech, and this gamer girl is determined to explore the virtual world her father was so obsessed with and get rich while she’s at it.

So, she sells everything and rents a premium VR pod to play Eternal Online.

Enter the toughest realm available? Check.

Discover the fastest way to loot without dying...in progress.

But when Dhalia finds an epic quest chain that others have overlooked, she thinks she’s struck gold. What she doesn’t expect is to make friends with two deadly warriors and one powerful creature, or find a world boss gunning for them all.

Experience the start of an Epic LitRPG adventure perfect for fans of Travis Bagwell, Carrie Summers, and Outspan Foster.

©2020 Aethon Books (P)2020 Aethon Audio

Overrated and Overstuffed with Melodrama

This book had a lot of opportunity to be really good, which is why I think it has gotten so many undeserved 5-star ratings. The writing mechanics are better than average for this genre and the story itself is compelling. The game-world, although narrowly explored, is also interesting and exciting.

So you’re asking, with all that said why am I only giving it 3 stars?...

Because OH...MY...GOD!!... it is slathered, smothered, and covered with 16-year-old anxiety, emotional turmoil, and YA melodrama!!! If the author had kept these elements in the book, but limited themself to only include 300% of the introspective, ham-handed self-flagellation, this book would have been a slightly annoying but entertaining 5 hour listen. Too bad we instead had 13 hours of poorly executed, soul (and ear) crushing, Drama.

Add to this Andrea Parsneau’s typical over-acting and unnecessary stressing of semi-dramatic statements, and you get an audiobook that I only barely made it to the end of. This is sad, because it really should have been a pretty good book. Either the author wasn’t able to find a decent story editor or they didn’t listen to them.

So if you don’t mind having two thirds of your LitRPG story filled with in-elegant, overstated trauma and regret then you might like this. As I said there’s actually some good GameLit buried under all this depressing cheese, but I can’t say that it was worth the slog.

Incredible story. Perfect performance.

I am in love with everything TJ Reynolds writes! This story is nooo different. It's witty, fast-paced, hilarious. We have a female MC who's brave from the start, and only gets bolder as the book goes on. Even when shit hits the fan, even in a RPG realm where pain is real and death looms everywhere, she's optimistic and always willing to crack a joke or squeal over something ridiculous (looking at you, broccoli).

I am in love with Hana's band of unlikely friends, too. In some books, side characters can appear interchangeable. Not this one. Every character is a breath of fresh air, and Andrea does an incredible job bringing them to life. The adventure they find themselves on makes them stronger, brings them together, and reveals a larger, more sinister plot that I can't wait to finish. I need the next book ASAP.

A cringe riddled mess

I started seriously questioning this book at around the 5 minute mark. At that point: gamer had been used to describe various aspects of life maybe a half dozen times, nom was used to describe a character eating, and a general feeling of contempt had settled over me.

But I continued anyways. An utterly pathetic 16 year old protagonist was described. Yet I did not ditch this dumpster in the form of a story. Maybe the game will be worth? As I asked myself this question it is revealed that apparently this kid has been carrying a katana around in their backpack. My hopes die .

Now we get to the game: it is nothing. The best comparison I can find is to something like Second Life. A set of disparate worlds with assorted requirements placed on users like speech patterns, dress code, etc. Also somehow the world economy functions on this game?


This story is an utter mess. 1/5
Narration wasn't bad. 3/5

Dynamic Character and Compelling Story

What isn't to love. Great story, built around characters who are easy to relate to and fun to see in action. Add to that the marvelous narration by the peerless Andrea Parsneau and this is a must listen.

Definitely will be looking out for more from this author and can't wait for book 2.

found it kinda wierd and airheaded

it's good tho, and MC is female so you dont get too much tit glaring. but the MC started to play couse she have a huge debt, and i think it's wierd she stays so much in town eating dinner at npc's houses, the starting zone and dont rly focus on the time limit looming over her. also alot of anxiety and feeling sorry for herself and all the npc's.
wish Andrea could have done something else with the rats aswell.

Not my normal type of book but...

Loved it. Narration was spot on for what I was visualizing. Very engrossing story. I felt like i was there.

One Down

Great start, can't wait to read more. Loved the characters, the story, and the narrator.

Really good

I've been really enjoying this story and the narration is top notch!! the characters are very relatable. give it a try if you like vrmmo litrpgs

Excited for new!

LitRPG is such a growing and diverse market and this one brings some of the best in storytelling and narration. Parsneau remains one of my favorite narrators, and Mr/Ms. Reynolds proves to be something fresh in a sometimes stagnant genre!

A must read LitRPG!

I feel like the Shattered Sword is a must read for anyone who enjoys LitRPG stories! It stands out in a way that I wouldn't have expected, and I love it.

First, there is a large lack of female MCs in LitRPG books, and this book not only brings an amazing female MC, but follows it up with strong and amazing female supporting characters. That isn't what makes the book great and unique though. What makes it stand out is that instead of following around this uniquely overpowered character that stands out from everyone else, like many LitRPG series do, you follow this mostly common girl who is just starting out in the game. She isn't very unique, in fact, she is very real. She has some real life issues, both current and past that she needs to deal with, and she doesn't have any friends. You follow her story both in game and out. She meets NPCs and some players and creates real bonds with these people. I think what both the author and narrator have done best is really pull out this girl's raw emotions in such a way that you feel this bond with her personally, and that is a really hard thing to do.

I cannot recommend this book enough, I can't wait for the next one!

Going back to the narrator, Andrea Parsneau. I've never heard her narrate before, but she did an amazing job. She has great voices for all of the characters that are different, and she narrates the male characters very well, which I often find are harder for women narrators to do. The emotion and inflection that she is able to convey in all of the characters is so well done that I wish I could rate her higher. There is really no one better that could have been chosen to narrate this book.

Great performance, generic LitRPG

No spoiler review.

I picked up this book because I listened to the narrator before. The performance was good. The previous book (Wandering Inn) was slightly better in terms of narration, but I don't think the difference is enough to make me rate this 4 instead of 5 stars.

The story however was quite lackluster in my opinion. I have read several LitRPGs before and this hasn't offered me anything new.
Without spoiling the story too much, can sum it up with underdog getting incredibly lucky with a few inconsequential setback and winning where has no place to even be.

Skip, unless you have nothing else to listen to.

Brilliant Adventure!

T J Reynolds has created a world full of intrigue and excitement with Dahlia’s Shattered Sword tale, I’m not going to ruin it for you, but if you love adventure and LitRPG? Yeah you’re going to love this book!

a nice surprise

this book and audible was amazing. the narrator can put on lots of voices,she's pretty good at Scottish but Irish I'm sure n 2 minds over I think since I am Irish it's not how we sound but it's how the world thinks we sound like which is fine. the story is nice and well paced and will connect with people who don't even play games.

love this

So first when will the next book be in ?
Love the story and all characters and the performances is spot on all voices of the characters are for me just amazing and added a spark to them .
I would personally not charge anything to the story since is perfect just the way it is 😍 .
I recommend this book 100% 😊😉

Great, really well written story

A fantastic story, enjoyed the mc Hana and the other characters. Good quests, good action and a story with a lot of depth. Narrated by the legend Andrea Parsneau with her usual superb performance.

Best LitRPG since The Land

A true diamond in the rough. I haven’t been this engaged by a story in months.

I don’t know if it was the amazing performance of the narrator or the tantalising story, but I couldn’t get enough of this fantastic world.

A new take on the classic coming of age story that sucked me in and gripped me to the end. I felt like a ran beside the main character as she battled her way through an engaging and rich new world. But I still feel I haven’t seen the first scratch of EO. I laughed, cried and shouted with rage along the main character, as she struggles through what’s seems to be just the noob zone. I can’t help but root for her.

I actually cannot wait for the next title. TJ Reynolds now joins Alexey Osadchuk, Aleron Kong and Vasily Mahanenko as my favourite Authors of LitRPG novels.

Great job. Really great. Thank you TJ and Andrea

enjoyable

A nice start to the serise, decent characters and good world building, it's very interesting and well written.
the narration is really good and deffinatly brings the story to life.
Well worth checking out

What a Story loved it!!!

I can I have truly enjoyed this book its on my top 50 bur not near the top. support the writers. It's lit rpg like the Game bits the outside needs something more...

An interesting start

I recieved a review copy of this book. The story is well written and the narration is excellent. The main character is relatable and interesting, whilst the combination of the real and game worlds create a unique experience.

If you a fan of Edens gate, or the land THIS IS A MUST FOR YOU

brilliant story well crafted characters who you fall in awe of from the get go .

The performance from Parsneau is second to none

In short buy this book you will not be disappointed