The Arbiter: Midgard

By: Devin Auspland

Narrated by: Nicholas Cain

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Is it possible for justice in a Virtual Realm full of criminals? Jailed for eternity for a crime he didn’t commit, Toaby is sent to Yggdrasil, a virtual reality prison based on Norse Mythology. Artificial Intelligences embodying the Norse Gods run the prison. They offer Toaby the unique class of Arbiter and task him with bringing order to their world full of Earth’s worst criminals. Reluctant to accept, the Gods offer him the chance to clear his name for a job well done.

With the arrival of the arbiter, a virtual cage of linked minds receives a new dose of truth. Finding unlikely allies in his new prison, Toaby sets out on his mission to lay down the law. He proceeds to do so until he crosses paths with a raiding group led by mass-murderer and psychopath Max, who vows to destroy everything Toaby stands for.

Can Toaby bring justice to a land full of lawless rangers? Will he ever be able to convince his daughter he's not guilty of her mother’s murder? Can he survive amongst the world's worst criminals? Find out this and more in, The Arbiter: Midgard!

©2021 Devin Auspland (P)2021 Devin Auspland

Is the lawless lands need a sheriff

this lawless land Is in need sheriff in a land full of criminals somebody who is an honest man wrongly convicted trying to make it with the help of some people who just want to turn their Is life around in this new virtual world while trying to set things right for himself This is basically a good story starting a new series it has some interesting points points that will have to be figured out like or no it's like if he wants to go back how's it going to do it This current circumstance

great story

this was a great story and was well written. it is litrpg so a lot is the trope but the author does well in not following the same old same old. this is not to crunchy or to full of stats to say, there's just enough to keep you up to date. this allows the storyline to unfold with limited interruptions. negative for me was the narrator, I am a ferm believer in the saying. a good narrator can make or brake an audiobook. this narrator struggled to breath emotion into the story, it wasn't to bad but it was noticable. not the worst I've heard and it doesn't kill the book, the story and development make up for the narrator.

awesome book

what a great book it captured me and sucked me into the story I can't wait for the next in the series. there is a next book coming right Devin?

Struggling to finish

I just struggled to finish this. The narrator just wasn't made for this book. The concept is fantastic and the narrator would be good on other books, just not this one. His voices don't really vary and sometimes, I feel like the characters are portrayed with a little naivety.

Great 1st Story

The reason this got a 4 Stars instead of 5 Stars is when the System is giving updates on levels there is so much echo that it is difficult to understand what is being said. The Narrator did a wonderful job with the characters voices and the storyline otherwise. I am not into RPG,but I throughly enjoyed this story and will be interested in listening to the next Audible book in this Series. Enjoyed the Narrator's out takes at the end of the book, really made me laugh!!

Bringing law to the lawless

Toby is an innocent man that has been convicted of the murder of his wife and sentenced to life in prison. He immediately has his consciousness transferred to the prison game like program of Yggdrasil. There, he finds that not all criminals are evil and some definitely are. He is given the task of bringing law to the land for a chance to reach out to the outside world and tell them the truth about him being framed and get justice.

The story is very well written and fun to listen to. The narrator does a great job of distinguishing between characters. There were two loopholes that drive me nuts though. Spoilers below.

If someone is being held captive and tortured, kill them the second you can and have them respawn! Also, “mistresses” are being kept as sex slaves. This infuriated the MC and prompted him into action. Then, they are never mentioned again, nor are they rescued!

Content warning: this book contains cursing and mild descriptions of torture.

I did receive a free review copy of this audible on my request in exchange for a review.

Interesting concept, not for me...

The concept in this book a virtual reality prison where the prisoner’s real body is destroyed and your mind is uploaded is interesting. The real world is some kind of capitalistic dystopia as there is little oversight on how the prison is run. The “gods” of the prison are the AI’s that operate the prison. There is some back story related to the prison, the AI’s and the corporation running the prison.

I just could not get interested in this book, I made it about half way through and just stopped caring about the characters or the plot. There is nothing major wrong with it, it is a fair LITRPG book with a decent “system”. The characters came across as flat and not overly interesting. How does a new player days after entering, with an admittedly not OP class kill a bad player that has been in the game for many years?

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

EXCELLENT!

THE ARBITER is the first in the MIDGARD series BY DEVIN AUSPLAND.

Toaby,falsely accused of murdering his wife is given the option: Go go prison forever or be sent to Yggdrasil , a virtual prison world created by the very people Toaby worked for,but also, the very company that set him up to take the fall for his wife's murder! Toaby, finds Yggdrasil a violent world,run by the Norse gods. Murder is common and the the gods want Toaby to become the Arbiter,the sheriff of Midgard and bring law and order . Not a very easy task Toaby finds out. The creatures of the forest are deadly and the raiders and bad guys do NOT want Toaby to do his job. As a matter of fact,they want Toaby dead!

I loved this audiobook! It starts out a bit slow but once Toaby gets a few deaths under his belt the excitement and action mounts. The narration, done by Nicholas Cain was excellent. He brought just the right amount of tone to each of the multitudes of characters

I cant wait for book two!!!

I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review.

Engaging Prison LitRPG Story

Thus far, I have listened to a couple virtual game as prison stories. This one, however, still felt fresh and enjoyable. We get introduced to the world, powers within it, and learn enough about major charactees for them to feel real. The MC wasn't completely likeable for me, but he was interesting and had a real feel to him. The task of bringing law to the lawless masses was interesting. Overall, strong start for a new series.

Narration was competent and clearly showed a lot of effort was put into the performance.

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

The Crossroads!

Tiberius (Toaby), an accountant for a large corporation, is sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife. He is framed by the president of the company for discovering irregularities in the financial accounts. If this is not enough, he is drugged, and his conscience is uploaded to the virtual world known as Yggdrasil. In this story, Yggdrasil is a virtual reality prison, administered by AI representing the Norse gods. The author’s conception of Yggdrasil is incorrect. Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, is The World Tree; an eternal green ash tree in the middle of the world, with branches that stretch out over all of the nine realms. The author makes his concept fit by sending prisoners to Niflheim (hell) after their virtual death. Niflheim, the underworld; one of the roots of The World Tree. There may be other Norse mythology references but I’m not positive. In The Crossroads village, they purchased a well. The clean water made the food taste better and when eating, received a buff (a temporary status increase). This may refer to Mimir’s Well within The World Tree, which bestowed wisdom when drinking from it. Toaby found himself the new sheriff in town. Getting used to his new position and the abilities provided within was the least of his problems. Imposing his new position on the inhabitants of Yggdrasil was going to be the real issue, especially when it came to Max, the lead psychopath for a group of murdering raiders. While administering justice, Toaby had to kill many offenders, which began to wear on his soul. Toaby was in danger of crossing the thin line between hero and villain. We follow Toaby as he builds The Crossroads and imposes justice. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.