Stratus Online: Awakening

A LitRPG Series, Book 1

By: Drew Cordell

Narrated by: William Turbett

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Edwin Morris has been playing Sakarn Online almost his whole life. In fact, most people have. While he considers himself a skilled player, he never could really find the time to take his game to the next level and pay the bills. After he is finally pushed over the edge with his job at Burger Planet, Edwin stumbles upon a man representing a game company called Stratus Labs.

Edwin is offered a lucrative position within the company to test and beat Stratus Online, an incredible, fully-immersive MMO designed to dethrone Sakarn Online. Edwin will have to unite with his friends and compete against other teams, but not everything is as it seems within Stratus Labs, and the stakes are much higher than he could have ever imagined.

With the clock ticking, will Edwin have what it takes to complete the seemingly insurmountable task of beating Stratus Online before it's too late?

Stratus Online: Awakening is the first book in a LitRPG series featuring awesome game mechanics, an epic high-stakes quest, and lots of legendary loot.

©2017 Drew Jacob Cordell (P)2018 Drew Jacob Cordell

Sometimes the prize isn't what you expect

Stratus Online is a good break-in novel for people new to LITRPG game novels. It has the traditional set up, entry into the game, a quest to complete, and the normal catastrophic consequences that appear once you are in game. It is perfect for the noobie reader because it is not overwhelming in game stats or games speech, and when gaming terminology is used it is quickly explained. Additionally, this is not a book in which the party just travels around leveling up by grinding. I think the highest level they reach by the end of the book is level five. No, there is a long-term goal that the team is trying to reach, and so there is not a lot of time spent grinding. Another reason I think this book is ideal for newer LIT readers is that the party is feeling their way into the game, they aren't given manuals to study before entering, nor is there a wiki they can run too whenever they have a question. The party learns as they go, and so does the reader.

There are a few small flaws, but nothing major. The first for me is that it takes a long time to actually go into the game. I'm not sure, but I think it was somewhere around the two hour mark before the team makes their way in to actualy play. Granted, alot of that which came before was set up, and it does show you that the MC is not an idiot as he does things in a logical manner, such as having a lawyer look over his work contract, but I have to say that a lot of that is something that another writer would have glossed over in about two paragraphs. Still, it helped you get to know the characters, and show you that they actually use their heads. The other thing was that the narrator, Turbett constantly pronounce the word attribute as Ah-trib-ute. As in when some one might ask, "what do you attribute to the team's failure?" Instead, for gaming stats he should have said it as At-trib-bute. As in, "Strength is his greatest attribute." It really is a minor thing, but I have to point these things out if I am going to be honest.

The story itself really pops once you get into the game, and it was nice to not see the party hunting 35 rats to gain Exp. Points. It is more like a story with LIT elements than is is a LIT story laden with burdonsome stats. The team itself is fun, and Edwin is a likable character. The story itself is filled with several twists and turns, and ends up having a Matrix feel towards the end. The end game revolves around the gaming gods fighting back evil Titans. They end up backing . . . .well, I won't spoil it for you, but no matter which side they pick they are going to be on the opposite side of some other gamers. One or two just happen to be out for their blood. As beginning books go the series looks to be a worthwhile investment, considering the flippy trippy twist that came at the end. I have to admit that I havenot seen that one in a LITRPG setting before, so it was fun to get a new twist and turn right at the end. It does end on a cliffhanger of sorts, so if you don't want a book that feels like it could be one and done then forget it, because this series sets up a long game, and is not even partially competed when it ends. There are a lot of loose ends that are yet to be wrapped up. So expect a lot more to come, and if the series progresses like the first book did it will get better the further it goes along.

Turbett's narration, aside from the attribute issue, is great. He provides voices for each character, and really gives the evil PC a snotty huaghty tone that just oozes disdain and malevolence for everyone around him. He certainly has some fun with the nonhuman voices, I've listened to him narrate a few other books, and he has never let me or a tale down yet.

If you are looking for a new LIT series, or are new to the genre, then this is an excellent place to start. Like I said, this is not a grind away for 10 chapters kind of book, it sticks to important things, although there are a few points that the stats are run through as you might expect. The book does take some time to build, but the ending has a good turn that will make you wan to come back for the next book.

Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

Epic!

Great story and narration!

Edwin works at burger planet, but in the evenings he plays Sakarn Online - the leading MMO of all time. He has a small online following, but nothing major. Getting fed up with the abuse a t work he quits, and gets a strange offer from a startup company developing a new MMO. Everything is about to change...

William does a great job with the narration!

I really enjoyed this one! It had an interesting twist...

I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Really Good

This is actually a really good book. It involves a group of younger adults getting together to play and be immersed in a game. I have been skeptical of RPG books in the past but this one is interesting with a good plot and a lot of action. It sort of reminds me a lot if Tron with the game immersion. I wonder if this may be the future with VR. Hopefully, there will be more books in this series. The narration was very well done and I enjoyed listening to him.

If you love video games you'll love this book.

As an avid video gamer I can honestly say I really enjoyed this book. The author, and maybe the narrator, understands video game mechanics as well which only helps to flesh out the book. The narrator's voice also helps this book as well, we're not listening to the adventures of a beefy, brawny guy who flexes his muscles to save the day, we're listening to the story of a down on his luck 20-something guy who gets caught up in more than he bargained for. Like most books that begin a series there's a twist at the end that will catch a reader's interest, and this one doesn't disappoint. Won't spoil it 'cause I want other people to buy this book and enjoy it. Last thing I can say is that this book is a good way to introduce yourselves to the litRPG subgenre of books.

Interesting twist

An interesting twist on the genre. A little predictable at times, but some surprises as well. The characters are realistic, which I really appreciated. I actually care what happens to them. I look forward to the sequels, and hope to see more development of the supporting characters as the series develops.

The narration was strong. It took me about a chapter to get used to how he was speaking, but he's one of those narrators that is very clear and easy to follow, even when playing at a high speed. I appreciate that a great deal!

one of the best litrpg books Iv heard

this book really sets up the story as a result it is slow to get to the game play however in setting up so we'll the storyline is griping and you can't quite listening. I was unsure about this book from the description it sounded like one more generic litrpg but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was a 4 star ⭐ and I got this book for free to review Im not giving a false review I really liked this book and if litrpg is your thing give this a go you won't regret it........

One of the better LitRPG audiobooks

I'm a fan of litrpg, but there are various time-wasting tropes I don't care for when they go on and on for 20, 40, 60 pages.

Stratus is a tightly written book without any time-wasting. For example, at the beginning, the main character's awful minimum wage job and details of the Dallas Fort Worth area are rounded out to be amusing, impactful, and interesting, but they don't overstay. I was greatly amused by the "Cheapest Lawyer in DFW" character, even if he seemed quite competent.

Highly recommended. Satisfying closure, but I'll be getting the next book in the series.

Great Story!

I've listened to several litrpg tales, but this one has a special twist to it. I'm definitely looking forward to book 2.

I would do it differently

William Turbett makes Drew Cordell’s work sound like $1,000,000. I personally thought the book was good, but there are things about it that are weak. I love the beginning, and I love the aspect of that it’s a competition to see who can beat the game the fastest, and a lot of the NPC characters are super cool and funny. Two of the four main characters aren’t totally fleshed out, John and Kirsten, so it’s kind of hard to grow attached to them. I had trouble understanding how the antagonist Jason got into the competition and how he was sort of just in a random team. there does seem to be long term plot threads being sewn in, so I’m happy to give them a chance before critiquing them, but if their not sewn in well this book will be worse. What gets me though is the twist that makes the company evil, it’s not that bad to me, I won’t spoil it because it’s important to the story, but it’s honestly not that nefarious. Ultimately I will listen to the second one, and i greatly enjoyed this one.

New to the genre

Wasn't expecting anything mind blowing book was fun. The author still has a lot to learn the beginning of th ebook start off strong but sort of lost its stride as it headed in to the finale

Great story without all the drama!

This Litrpg was a surprising find! I was expecting a Litrpg that started out with a cookie cutter book plot but was surprised by how much it stood out from others in the genre. Very well paced and story line kept me intrigued!!!

Definitely a book that i would recommend to friends and family.

decent "game within a game" litrpg.

Storywise this is quite well done, with a bit of twists and some nice setup, the only issue being that it seems the author thought it was a good idea to put too much "all-powerful" into the immediate start of the actual game.

Narration is good and easy to follow, there is some errors with repeated lines in the book that hopefully will get fixed soon.

The story is decent, starts slow and obviously is intended as an introduction, the first 3/4 of the book works really well this way, and it is a bit strange that the author tries to crank up the "enemy" so fast instead of making it more smooth and interesting.

all in all a good story with minor flaws.

Book 1

This was a nice take on Litrpg, well balanced and nicely paced, the characters are familiar and easy to like, the world building is great, nice twist involved.
the narration is really too.