Traveler's Zone

A LitRPG YA Fantasy (The Revelation Chronicles, Book 2)

By: Chris Pavesic

Narrated by: Natalie Heng

Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Escape from a world of darkness into a magical realm of limitless adventure.

Magic, combat, gear scores, quests, and dungeons are all puzzles to be solved as Cami navigates the Realms and builds a better life for her family. But an intrusion from her old life threatens everything she has gained and imperils the entire virtual world. Time to play the game.

©2018 Chris Pavesic (P)2018 Chris Pavesic

Critic reviews

"Wonderful world building and filled with twists. Even if you're not a gamer, you'll love the journey this story takes you on!" (Award-winning YA author Sharon Ledwith)

"Both sisters are strong female characters who are good role models for young girls. This story is filled with suspense and adventure with a taste of the gaming world." (Teresa O, educator)

Fun LitRPG

Years go, scientists discovered how to imprint human consciousness onto a single water droplet and then stored those water droplets in tanks called Aquariums. The Aquariums were set up to be realms similar to MMORPGs, and the wealthy spent millions to be imprinted and spend their immortality there. When war broke out and the Aquariums were broken, the imprinted minds entered the ecosystem where they destroyed the world as it was. Cami and Alby were just trying to survive day to day when they were captured and imprinted, forced into a new realm with no idea what was in store. This book begins six months after the first, when Cami has leveled up enough to leave the safe Starter Zone and explore more of the new world.

This is the second book in the series, and you'll need to read the first book to fully grasp the storyline. This series has a pretty interesting premise, an intriguing way to get the main characters into the game world. I like my LitRPG to be character driven, heavy on the world-building, and light on the stats, and this book served up all that and more. I love Cami and Alby's relationship and thought it was really well written. Cami is still finding her way in this book, and isn't taking an active role in the new world, but it's setting up to be an awesome showdown when she does. I'd recommend the book for young teens on up, and to fans of both fantasy and LitRPG.

The narration was really well done, with the perfect voice for Cami. She performed accents for each of the characters and I thought it was a good performance. I read the first book and listened to the second, and preferred the audiobook. I requested a copy of the audio, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Loved it!!

I cant decide if I love book 1 or 2 more. I thoroughly enjoyed this and cannot wait for the next!!!

*I requested this book and am voluntarily leaving this review

This is pretty good, I think

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

This is the 2nd book in the series and I thought it does a good job of continuing the tale. As with the first book, the game mechanics (and stats) are pretty light. The premise is also very different from your normal LitRPG story. To me, this is a good thing. All in all, it is a pretty solid entry into the LitRPG genre and one I'd be cool with my 10 year old listening to.

Not the best but okay

Fantasy - big fan of the genre

I am a big fan of this genre so i really wanted to give this book a try. It however was nowhere near as good as some of the other heavy hitters in this genre. Maybe the sequels will be better but there isn't much to get you to give this a chance when there are a lot of other options already.

Great YA LITRPG

The amazing genre of LITRPG strikes again. I did not read the first book so I fear that I missed some of the backstory that set up the characters immersion into the world and the classes that they have rather than being of a lower status class. The characters are what remains of a close knit family, grinding in a game to make a life for themselves. Danders abound especially now that they are about to leave the introductory zone and enter the travelers zone...can they make it? Will old allies become enemies? Will their abilities be enough to make it? Will their secret be revealed? Listen and find out. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

Unique world

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by this author and I would gladly listen to another. I’m excited to listen to the first book and the rest of the series. I did not have difficulty understanding what was going on, but obviously listening to book one will covers their story prior to and shortly after being inscribed.
This book starts as Cami and Alby have been in this inscribed world for a short while, learned how to navigate within the world, and levelled up a bit. Alby, being a minor, must stay within the Starter Zone until she comes of age, but gets to go to ‘school’. Cami, being the family’s founder, is able to enter the game. They get to choose a homestead (which is a safe zone for them) and start to really build their life. Of course, things won’t be as easy as this seems. Adventure and quests will present themselves.

I like the curse blocker beep. We get to hear their stats and upgrades but it is not constant or overly intrusive.

This is the second book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Natalie Heng) and I would gladly listen to another. She does a fantastic job with the character voices, tone of the story, and overall cadence. She made these books come alive.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing. This is a great story for preteens and up

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Middle Book Syndrome

Traveler's Zone suffers from Middle Book Syndrome, but we'll come back to that.

A year after Cami and her sister scammed their way into the Realms as players and not NPCs, they are ready to claim their homestead and move further into the game. However, an unexpected Nemesis emerges and an old "friend" returns, each threatening to topple their precarious existence.

This is the second book in the series and suffers from being the middle of the story. While it does a good job of exploring the new world and adding additional layers of intrigue, the story isn't self-contained enough to be a satisfying listen. There's no dramatic arc that I could discern and no resolution at the end of the book. In fact, I was surprised that I had come to the end so quickly. There were too many things left hanging.

As such, this book is aptly named Traveler's Zone since it does feel like it's just traveling through to get to the next book.

I did listen the first book and I still say this is a very intriguing premise and I certainly am rooting for Cami, it's just that I felt this book could have taken the story further and been all the better for it. I felt the first book was better and I'm hoping the next installment recaptures some of that magic.

As far as the narrator, I love Natalie Heng's voice and it fits very well with this first person YA story. She really does bring Cami to life for me. I still find it disconcerting, though, that she mispronounces so many common English words. The English Teacher in me wants to reach through my iPhone to correct her more times that I would like. I can almost believe that it's a trait of the character since we know Cami isn't well educated but if it is, it's never made clear; so it just comes off as Natalie Heng not knowing how to pronounce words.

Further, the production quality of this title is lacking. The whole thing sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom with that annoying echoing effect that distracts from the narrative. Also, there was at least one noticeable time where a correction was made and the levels and tone didn't match, making it glaringly obvious.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story and will look for the next installment when it comes out because I have to know what happens next to Cami and her little family.

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

Kinda bleh

This unbiased review was endorsed by the author. This story I'm not sure if it was the actress or not I could not engage my self in seemed rather bland and dull.