The Player's Lounge

The Player's Lounge Series, Book 1

De: Dan Calley

Narrado por: Dan Calley

A reincarnated soul who remembers his previous life’s happiness and heartache...

Quint is a Player. Unlike most of society who restart with a blank slate after they die, Players make the choice to reincarnate with their memories fully intact. He’s using his past-life knowledge to make his way in a new world, and he’s taking full advantage of it to help him find someone he’s lost.

In their past lives, Quint and Leo were in love. In the afterlife, they made a pact that when they were reborn into the next life, they would find each other again. Except Leo doesn’t seem to be keeping his promise. Running out of leads, Quint turns to his last option, an exclusive, mysterious app where lost souls like him can reconnect with their past lives: The Player’s Lounge.

But what he finds is not what he expects...

'The Player’s Lounge' is the debut novel from prolific M/M audiobook narrator Dan Calley.

©2023 Dan Calley (P)2024 Dan Calley

See you in the future...

3rd person, past tense, multi PoV (though mostly Quint and Leo)
Quint Steele (30), Senior Talent Producer at Wrap'd Records
Leo (31), musician/one half of the viral TikTok duo, Konshus


Audiobook Narration (5h39m) - Dan Calley - 4 stars
I'm a fan of Dan's narration from my exposure to his work with Charlie Novak, which I absolutely love. Hearing him narrate his own words made this book feel extra special. I loved how easily the book flowed and how natural the banter and conversations between characters felt. I did struggle with a few unfamiliar references/terms/phrases as a Canadian listener unaccustomed to the accents of the characters (story is set primarily in London), but nothing that impeded my enjoyment of the story.


Story - 3.5 stars
I've not read a lot of speculative fiction/sci-fi so I thought the premise of this book was quite clever. Player's go through life with their memories of previous lives intact, while Reboots do not, and they are given the choice between the two paths as they embark on each journey.

While the synopsis talks about Quint and Leo, there is a secondary couple who are also trying to find their was back to one another; Cory and Tim. The tandem exploration of these relationships and extraneous friendships made for a compelling read. It was a little more solemn than I was expecting, but I did love this little take on the fated mates trope, where there was a deep spiritual soul-deep connection between the characters and I appreciated that it was not only romantic partners that could form connections. Given that, I was expecting to feel more emotion from the characters.

This story meandered a bit with flowery, descriptive writing that I found quite soothing in a meditative, lyrical way, but was also distracting to listen to at times for people whose minds tend to wander when not given a plot focused narrative to concentrate on, causing me to have to occasionally re-listen to passages. At times it felt like more effort was being given to describing the details concerning the character's surroundings - navigating London, consuming food/drink, ruminating about the differences to the existences of Players vs Reboots, rather than character/plot development.

While technically we get an HEA, it feels much more like an HFN and there are a considerable number of plot threads left dangling as more questions are asked than are answered.

Still, I'm eager to dive deeper into this world and these characters.

Fated Love…Yes please & Thanks!

Narration was superb as always from Dan Calley who is one of my absolute faves. I actually enjoyed the story more than I thought I would. I would suggest not starting it like other audio books where ya pop in the earbuds and do something else while you listen. I did that and missed the setup for the actual story and after a couple of head scratches I stilled myself and actually listened. I like it. It’s a beautiful story where it had me guessing who belonged to whom and of course I was wrong (nice twist there). The only reason for 4 stars was because it ended at an odd place for me. I’m sure there’s more to come but just seemed odd…maybe rushed to end the first book I’m not sure but all in all I liked it. Hope it’s successful. Keep them coming please!!!!!!!

Intriguing start to new series

Maybe he’s picked up a few things from all the books he’s narrated, or maybe he’s just that talented, but Dan Calley sure knows how to craft a vividly descriptive story with interesting characters and a unique, intriguing plot. The Player’s Lounge draws the reader in right off and makes the book hard to put down, or hit pause if you’re listening to Calley’s excellent-as-always narration of his varied cast of characters. A fascinating start to a series I look forward to continuing.

just yes

what can i say, Dan Calley narrating a Dan Calley book but pure perfection! Dan made his words even more beautiful, hard-hitting, and transporting to his world. just pure magic to listen to. Every emotion just hits that much better when done well with good narrators. I can't wait to see what he has in store next for this ensemble of characters.

Player's Are Going to Play

The Player's Lounge is a well written story that is so mind twisting that it's hard to tell the difference between what is reality and what is fantasy, and I love it. The plot is good and easy to follow. The steam is a low boil, but the story more than makes up for that. I can't wait to see what the author has planned for Quint and Leo because i know it's going to be juicy. I received this book for free upon my request. This review is honest and unbiased, and I am leaving this here voluntarily.