War for Maicreol: The Final Battle

Puatera Online, Book 8

By: Dawn Chapman

Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau

Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

The hunt for Lila is in full swing. With the help of Travoy’s guild, Maddie must reunite the three sisters for the success of her mission. Yet, side quests abound. Maddie saves a succubus and untangles more secrets about herself and the digital, but all too real, monster from her past.

Discovering parts of herself she never thought possible, Maddie journeys to the Tromoal homeland sparking a gruesome battle for control of a role that is rightfully hers. With the sisters united and the ultimate army under her command, the War for Maicreol is on. Puatera’s future lies in the hands of the many, for the love of all.

©2019 Dawn Chapman (P)2019 Dawn Chapman

Loved it!

A brilliant ending to a wonderful series. So many characters and plots expertly woven, it was a joy to listen to. Andrea’s vocal performance was amazing as well. As I said before.. loved it!

Killer way to end

So, in the spirit of talking about NPC’s I have to bring up one of my favorite NPC heroines, who I no longer think actually qualifies as an NPC just because of her complete and utter awesomeness, and that would be Maddie the original star of the series. Maddie’s return is just one of the things that this finale has going for it, the other two are Dawn Chapman’s deft storytelling abilities, and the ever incredible narration of Andrea Parsenau. Seriously, aside from the great Duchy/Dooky debacle of 2017 has she ever been anything but perfect?

This book marks Maddie’s return, only for her to find out that she is not alone in her quest, but that she also has Akilla, Lila, Dahlia, and Jessica to help her take care of business, so this really is the culmination of all the preceding novels and it brings them together in a very nice and cohesive storyline that can’t help but grab your attention. Also, this has been a very unique series in that it started out with one MC and then went and added more players as it went on. The entire concept was new, and it was played out brilliantly.

So let me say one little thing about the narration. I absolutely adore Andrea Parsenau, and it was such a treat for her to return to close out the series that she and Dawn started together, it is very fitting and honestly it would not have felt right otherwise, BUT, BUT I would have really loved to have had the other narrators, or at least one of them, come back to voice “their” characters. For example, Annaliese Rennie would have been brilliant to have snuck in a cameo, as would Suzanne Barbetta who did just as many of the Puatera books as Parsenau. I realize that monetarily it was probably not possible, but I do want to give a tip of the hat to the other ladies who kept this series going while Andrea was elsewhere, although I have to say that keeping Maddie solely as Andrea’s character was very fitting. I honestly had hoped that Andrea would return before the close of the series, but had no idea if she would. For me, Andrea is a conundrum. She’s like Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way, but every time I listen to her I hear something new. She continues to improve and evolve as a narrator and she simply blows me away every time she narrates.

Chapman, has played some cards very close to her chest because you really will be surprised who the big bad is. There is a change in perspective as we bounce between Maddie’s POV and that of Lila. Now Spoiler, we don’t get a real happy ending. We get one that is tangled in real life, something that doesn’t come with clean fairytale endings even though the resolution to the problem could be considered fairytalish in nature. In other words, Lila manages to get a resolution, but you have to ask if it is something that she can live with, and I like that. I like books that don’t just wrap things up in a neat little bow and pretend that the real world doesn’t have emotional cures. I can’t really say much without spoiling things but I have to say that this is Dawn at her absolute best. She crafts an excellent tale and brings it to life with dashes of the way things really are. It is definitely an edge of your seat fast paced story that unspools its secrets at just the right time. The only bad thing about it was that it was only 12 hours long.

Final score 8.4 stars. Hell of a way to wrap up a series.

This has been on helluva awesome ride

This is the culmination of an 8 book series of LITRPG that has been truly amazing. It’s one of those series that when it finally comes to an end it leaves you feeling fulfilled and satisfied but the same time just a bit sad at the idea that it’s over (and inwardly hoping the author does some great spinoff novels). Don’t read this on its own, you would be doing yourself and the author a disservice. Start at the beginning, make the journey it will be worth it, I promise. Our MC is an NPC the likes of which haven’t been seen before, the online world of Maicreol is also unlike any gaming world has ever been. The quest that is being undertaken is for the future of this world. The truths that are revealed can make or break the game and far more than the game is truly at stake. LITRPG hasn’t seen a series like this before and won’t again. Unique and wonderful and well worth the time.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

Epic!

Great story and narration!

If you liked the rest of the series you will love this one too!

Simply Brilliant!

This was a Brilliant conclusion to Puatera Online!  Andrea Parsneau, takes the reins of this fantastic LitRPG, and does so fantastically... We find ourselves right-smack-dab at the ending of book 3 where Maddie stepped out of the game and the storyline, and now, she has to play catch-up in order to get up to speed! Now we get to find out what she's been up to during her absence! Maddie has long since left behind her designated roll as an NPC, and become So Much More than that, but what, exactly? What does Puatera, this "game world" have in mind for her? What is Maddie's true destiny? But it's not like she has to face the War alone. Puatera has trained up 4 players to ally with her... So with Akillia, and the three young sisters, Jessica, Dahlia, and Lia, they're as ready as they'll ever be... and the clock is ticking!
Having Andrea Parsneau do the final book in this series  narration was simply Awesomesauce served over a generous helping of Badassness!
Will all your questions be answered? Maybe not... Will you be like me and want to log back in to play again, maybe even start a new campaign? I think that would be A-freaking-mazing! Let's meet up... in Puatera!

Nice conclusion to a fun series

It was fun to see the previous books’ plot lines all come to fruition. The story was pretty intense. It was nice to have Andrea Parsneau back for this book. She is an excellent narrator.

Very wild

Bouncing all over world and between worlds, and twists, this was a wild story.

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

wrapped up.

Wrapped up pretty well. would have rather seen it in 2-3 part book so we could have had more time with each of them, but still done well enough.

Saving Puatera Means Joining Forces

Maddy and the crew learn from each other that nothing is ever as it seems. The Demons join the fight to save Puatera and Maddy finds out that she can shapeshift into a dragon. Or at least that is what the visitors call her. So many twists and turns while fighting the oncoming dark menace threatening to take over their world and others. The ultimate battle that you must listen to and cheer for. Can't wait for the next book!

great series

this is a great series and I really enjoyed this story well written and the narrator is good!

Strong finish to entertaining series

Firstly, it wouldn't make much sense for somebody to jump into this series with this book, there's simply too much you'd be missing out on in this book if you did, not to mention that the rest of the series is highly enjoyable too.

If you are approaching this book as somebody who has already gone through the rest of the series then the important questions are whether or not it manages to tie everything together in an interesting manner and produce an enjoyable read/listen while doing so and in both cases the answer to that is yes because the author manages to conclude the series with most of the threads being tied off nicely with only a few lesser ones being left in case she decides to return to puatera in a spin-off series or book.

The narrator's performance in this books was a clear asset, enhancing the story nicely while delivering distinctive tones for a large cast that ensured the listener would not end up confused when things were getting more hectic in the story.

Overall, an enjoyable listen and a satisfying conclusion to this series.

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

well that was an amazing journey

Dawn have crafted and amazing world, with multiple stories taking place all around, and this is the book that toes them all together...
it's an impressive piece of literature accomplishment that had me entertained from the moment I pressed play
don't cheat yourself out of this amazing adventure and it's apparent conclusion.

Andrea returns to narrate and as expected overdelivers, how this woman is not a national treasure yet I don't understand