The Level One Bookshop

A Cozy LitRPG-lite Fantasy

De: Arthur Glenwood

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Edwin Salamand has lived on a farm his whole life. The problem? He's not very good at farming, or anything involving the outdoors, for that matter. When his salamander farm goes belly up, he decides to move to a nearby city. A deal too good to be true goes awry, and he ends up with a dusty old bookshop filled to the brim with unassuming level one skill tomes. Pamphlets, really. It's not the most exciting windfall, but it's a path to an honest life, one that Edwin is confident he can handle.

Because running a bookshop for beginners has got to be safe and simple, right?

It turns out Edwin's little shop is sitting smack dab in the center of not three, but four magical schools for people that actually enjoy getting soil underneath their fingernails. Also known as, adventurers.

As eager warriors-in-training, alongside the occasional rowdy orc, descend upon Edwin's humble little shop, he's going to find himself unexpectedly teaching lessons big and small. Maybe learning them, too, because sometimes it's not the size of the book that matters, but how hard you throw it...

The Level One Bookshop is a cozy LitRPG-lite story that blends slice-of-life episodes and the occasional bookworm-worthy adventure.

Light and easy but inconsistent.

I enjoyed the overall story and the obstacles that the main character had to overcome. The characters were likable for the most part. On the other hand there was a feeling of inconsistency with the timeline as the story moved forward. It seemed it was the final day of the festival for what felt like five days in a row. There was a lot of repetition of the same situations over and over as well. As far as free books go it wasn’t a waste of time. I really didn’t like the AI narrator though. Pretty rough.

A potentially great story turned into a good story

I found the idea this book presented very interesting and the blurb was enough for me to go ahead and get it. Story wise I very much enjoy the book. Excellent idea of a zero level character just doing what it takes and finding joy in their work. My only real complaint is to much emphases on trying to enforce/reenforce(?) an idea or point across. When this happened it pulled me out of the story and sometimes made me roll my eyes a bit. There may have been some opportunities for plot twists too, but Im glad they were not taken. I do look forward to the next book.

The virtual voice though.... I gave a Performance of a 2 mostly because there was a decent and different tone instead of being monotones. There were several words that were either pronounced wrong or outright the wrong word was said and it was obvious it should have been another word.

Over all I enjoyed the book, thank you for bringing this into the world.

Virtual Narration May be "Too Cozy" That It Flattens Story.

This was my first virtual narrated book. The voice was more inflexive than I expected and did a mostly decent job of not pausing in odd places and not sounding uplifting during scenes that were more like chastisements and vice versa. I'm not sure if the voice was AI based and coached into sounding "cozy," but there was a certain flatness to the experience. I was glad to have it finished and a little dismayed to hear there was a sequel. The story itself could do all right with a sequel, but I don't want to sit through another 10 hours in this series.

...There is also a level where the voice sounds like it was told to project its voice, so there is also a kind of shouting quality to its sound, which is kind kind of anti-cozy.

Loved the setup and the theme of the shop.

What I did not particularly care for is the repetitive story, wealthy store owner, does not like competition. This same wealthy guy knows just which officials to bribe to make life difficult, and when he still does not get his way uses increasingly nasty attempts to causes issues.
That being said, Its well worth the listen if your in between books.

The level one book store

The computer automation voice has no soul. The pitch never charges. It like listening to someone read a manual.

Lovely lowlife story

I liked the story. The author seem to setup for a series and I can't wait for the next part.

Pleasant, but unrealistic

I found the book a pleasant way to pass several hours, but there were multiple times when I found myself rolling my eyes at how problems were handled. The “as long as I stay honest, upright and true, everything will be alright “ attitude got a little unrealistic. Not that sinking to the villains level would have been acceptable, but even when he could have countered with the truth, he didn’t.
As far as the narrator goes…Why would anyone think a flat unemotional dialogue is good? I almost abandoned the story several times out of sheer boredom from trying to listen to the computer generated voice. Which, by the way, sounded exactly like one expected a computer generated voice to sound like.

The AI

Please just pay a person and don’t stoop to using AI to save a buck. Turns a 10 of 10 audiobook into a 2 of 10

AI voice is a no for me

The story is ok, but the terrible narration isn't doing it any favors. I was looking for LitRPG and this didn't really scratch that itch for me. Not recommending this one.

Good

slightly repetitive but a good read. Seems like a set up for a series, so I'm waiting for follow up books.