SpeedRunner

Tower of Babel, Book 1

By: Adam Elliott

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Launch day.

That was what they called it. The day when over four million people vanished in an instant from the island of Manhattan. The day earthquakes ravaged the east coast. The day a 101-kilometer tall tower rose from the wreckage of the now empty city. The day every screen, newspaper, and smart phone displayed a single message from an unknown source: The Great Emperor has issued his challenge. From the ruins of the Old World rise the Tower. Its doors will soon open, and the great game will begin. A hundred floors and a hundred challenges await the worthy. And to the victor? A Wish of Unlimited Power.

Cayden Caros yearned to play that game. His only problem? The Terms and Conditions. A strict set of rules that, among other things, prevented anyone under the age of 16 from entering the tower.

Forced to wait for over two years, Cayden did the only thing he could do to pass the time. He researched, he practiced, and he prepared. It would take a lot to catch up to players with such an enormous head start. Lucky for him, he was a special type of gamer.

©2017 Adam Elliott (P)2017 Podium Publishing

Honest Review; No Hype No Hate

I really liked this book and it was hard to put it down once I started. It's geared more towards the younger generation and has it's bumps along the way. However the main character is believable and develops slowly along the way. I will break it down for fellow readers.

1. Story Consistency
The Story starts out as a Speed run, but it slowly diverges away from that. In my opinion this is a strength since it adds real story instead of kill this, go here, and repeat. However it still keeps some of the tropes of the "Streamer" generation to be relateable. The main character is going to encounter roadblocks. The same roadblocks you encounter in life that regular video games are devoid of. I feel this makes the tower of babel seem more realistic than anything.

2. Plot Holes
This is probably the weakest part of the book. There are quite a few deus ex machinas in here. But unless you only read the best of the best it's hard to get around. Part of the tower though is it's mysteriousness and the hidden aspects that power gamers will probably miss and casuals won't understand.

3. Character Development
This is a strength of the book. The main character starts out the same way many of us as the same dumb kid next to us. But no were all super unique am I right? He starts growing up in the tower, facing real life consequences and deciding why he is the person he is. It isn't a great work of literature but it does a decent job and gave me a few laughs along the way.

5. Character likeability
The main character is generic in a lot of ways but echoes a lot of what the gamer generations feels. Perhaps (Spoiler Alert, fyi this isn't word for word) my favorite line is this "Exploration, seeing new worlds, quests, etc. It's all I ever wanted and I feel like I was robbed of something that doesn't exist."

6. Overall
I rated this a 4/5 because it is way better than most litrpgs out there but not a show stopper. If you like the genre you'll love the book. If not it's still a good book to pick up and enjoy.

If you are into Litrpg, it is worth the credit

The plot line is different from the usual approach to Litrpg. Usually it people accidentally get transported for some reason or the world is ending and people go in the game to seek refuge.

Tower of babel instead went the route of a tower mysteriously appeared in NYC. A real life tower dive with game like mechanics. Kinda like SAO where you will perma die but you are not trapped in the tower where you can leave any time. People just live there for there own reasons.

Its not perfect but it is a good enough listen.

Wow

I really hope that the next book is on audible soon, this was a very good listen!

Yeah, I'm going to be that guy.

Since no one likes long ranting reviews or spoilers, I'll try to keep this short.

The book in whole is boring, predictable, unoriginal, rushed and full of cliches. The speedrunning aspect feels like it was added as an afterthought and is forgotten after the first chapter. Character interactions are forced. Rules are convoluted to cover the plot holes and plot devices are just...ugh.

Narrator was pretty much the only good thing about this audiobook. Definately getting my credit back from this one.

Great story

Beginning = good, Middle = great, End = cant wait for the next book. Story was way better then I expected and I'm glad I decided to purchase.

Good read

Cons: the author likes to explain things after the fact. Ex. Drones are introduced as part of Livestreaming equipment and aren't mentioned again until after a plot hole develops. Reading a book with a plot hole is frustrating by itself but to later see the author cover it up and correct it shows that another effect was intended and completely missed.

Pros: good character interactions that produced a couple laughs for me.
Good plot development that, in the end, felt believable enough to pass par.
Neat innovative mechanics are thrown in here and there, that I really like, as part of the main characters speedrunner background.
And to top it all off the tower is nostalgic as its style form and function is a nice interpretation from the anime swordart online.

interesting world, spoiled main character

a decent story and interesting world. I find the main character to be spoiled, unlikable. the worst stereotypical gamer that is self obsessed, ungrateful and has no specific strengths. he has and succeeds only with great luck. I actually like the villain and parts of his plan.

Good, but not great.

A good story with an interesting premise, but it tries to hard in places. Some of the comedy seems a bit forced. The main character also seems to lose his motivation and focus about half way. Overall though a good book.

Very slow start.

Only problem is first half is lots of world building and the game's mechanics. Game skills are easier to deal with on paper. In audio book format it much more jarring.

just OK

it was just ok, I can't recommend it. I like the genre, but there are better choices

Seriously? 4mins of just reading out menus

I started enjoying the book until it keeps reading out the new menus and stat points. Wouldn't be bad if it only took 10 seconds. But really! Reapeaing it over and over. One time A full 4mins just reading out new menus that got a bit too much. Sorry I'm not a mmrpg player, maybe you all like to hear every menu every hp, lp, and whatever else there is. But it really grated on me.

made it through quickly but not great tbh

managed to make it to the book but the story wasn't cohesive and I felt as if it jumps all over the place. I wasn't sure if it's game or if it was reality.

performance was good but story not so much

A fun journey

Well written for the genre, fun and unique with some twists to catch you off guard.

If you enjoy this genre then you’ll enjoy this book.

Excellent

Absolutely loved it. Brilliant story and narration. Can't wait to listed to the next one.

hooked from the first...

An absolute must for any fan of the fantasy gamer genre. I was hooked from the first to the last.

Not My Type of Audiobook

If you like books like Game of Thrones you will enjoy this book.

As I am not in to fantasy books I did not enjoy it and will be giving it back.