Good start

Thoughts –

I saw this book in some of the LitRPG groups, and seeing there were some reviews that talked in depth about it, I noticed the audiobook and thought I’d give it a chance. Also the narrator I actually really like this narrators voice, from some of his other audiobooks.

So here we go. Some of what I liked.

In terms of story, the idea that the game creator kills 5 million people, eeek. Starts out hitting the ground running for sure, and eases us into this plot with some pretty horrid ways to think. The fact that anyone who has a crappy life, for whatever reason can enter the game and live a totally different life, seems a real sure fire way to get the rest of the human population on the cards for suicide. And that’s one of the biggest plot points in here. That even after the game is turned on, and 5 million people die, that others are killing themselves.

The MC Gunner, is a really down to earth person. And that is what made me love this story more than anything, he hates spiders, I’ve only ever known one guy run from a spider and he was 6ft3 and pure muscle, but he couldn’t stand them haha. So the depth to this character and his reasoning inside the game when he gets there is excellent.

The narrator really has a good soft and expressive voice, he’s super easy on the ears and speaks with amazing clarity. I’m watching him for more books for sure. : )

Some of the things I wasn’t so sure on and I think could have been worked on and what I’d liked to have seen a bit more, of, but of course all my own personal opinion.

In regards to the POV shifting from Gunner to those out of the game, I think this was set up well enough in advance, though I would have essentially liked some more from that POV and maybe even from Gunner and his Girlfriends family. There was a lot of extra potential to really dig in from that view to make us think and feel more for the characters in the game and those out of it. Even from the POV of someone desperate to get in. I think that might have tipped the odd for us really then wanting the people on earth to save them and close the game down.

There were some really overused words in here and a decent editor and proofreader would have chopped a massive amount of this out. I think Pavi did a great job of working around some and still maintaining the flow of the story with only slight bumps in me wanting to click stop. It takes a lot to bring me out of the story world when I’m listening, but there were some in here, that were really avoidable with the right people behind the author.

Story world and game mechanics.

I am a firm believer of you can do whatever you want in your own written world. There’s no need for you to stick to tropes and things done in the past. So, these are easily moved past by myself, but I liked them and it brought this story away from tried and tested methods.

I noticed some other reviewer’s comments on gore, swearing and sex. In all honesty, I’m a varied reader and writer, listener and reviewer. To me this was not over the top for this genre, coming into it having read some reviews I actually expected a lot more and then was disappointed that there really wasn’t.

Gunner really does stick true to his nature. He might see other creature/people in the game as beautiful and visually appealing, but he also doesn’t sleep with anyone, and his mind is consistently thinking of and he’s active in searching out his girlfriend. I think most gals would love a guy to be that honourable and don’t the statistics actually say women think more about sex than men do. I think this was very well written in regards to the portrayal of a young man in a fantasy world, despite it being now his ‘life’ and he’s no way out.

The author and narrator do get 4 stars from me. There are some things to work on in the future, but I believe they will be and I’ll look forward to more, this was defo a little shorter than I’m used to, but a big hook into the world that is Edens Gate and the life that Gunner and his friends now have.

67 of 75 people found this review helpful

A great LITRPG series starter

Brody pens one helluva book here. I give him credit, he takes a few tropes here and turns then on their head. For me, this was a really fun ride, and I felt that this is one of those series that has a lot of potential, which means it is either going to soar or crash and burn horribly. Personally, I believe it is going to be the former rather than the latter, there is just too much beefy goodness here for the series to drop off. I can honestly only see it getting better.

So, here is the book in a nutshell. A new innovative virtual reality MMORPG is released, and everyone who is in the game on launch day dies as their minds are uploaded into the world of Eden’s Gate unwittingly and against their will. The games creator happily accompanies them and promptly shuts the game off from the outside world. There is no communication between the game world and the real world.

Gunnar, the protagonist, is told what happens via a message alert, but like you or me, he doesn’t understand nor believe what he’s been told. So he goes forward looking for a way out, and for his girlfriend, whom he believes had entered the game in a distant land due to her being a different race when they started out, but he admits he has no idea if she was in game when the great massacre occurred.

Now, where this book really stands out is the characters, Gunnar and his pals are fully fleshed individuals. I think the best example of how realistic Gunnar is comes when he makes a deal with Jax, a man who takes him in when he first arrives in the game, and then tries to weasel out of it. The entire event had the ring of truth to it. I could see a player doing that to an NPC. The repercussions were even better which just shows that the writing is excellent, and the plot is paced perfectly. Normally, I hate interludes with info from the “real world” but real world event had actual significance and had bearing on events in the game world in spite of there being no communication between the two. And that is the issue. People in the real world are killing themselves to enter the game, and the government feels it has to be stopped. So they implement a plan to shut down everything in an effort to wipe the game out. When Gunnar finds out he reluctantly agrees at first to help try to initiate contact between the two realities. And that is the crux of it all. The gamer’s reluctance to actually try to save the world he is in because of doubt is very believable, as is the staunch belief by the politicians that the game is just a game that must be shut down. The reactions, the reluctance, the revelations are all believable, and I enjoyed the whole aspect that Gunnar wasn’t out to win any prizes, nor was he an uber super character. He was just a player who happened to be at the wrong? Place at the right time. He is drafted more than he volunteers, but once he is onboard he is all in. Plus, he has ulterior motives, getting where he needs to go might just help him find his girlfriend. All in all, this book is really fun and my only concern is that the rest of the books will just focus on Gunnar’s lost love, and if it is just a secondary quest then great, as Gunnar really makes some strides in other game related areas then fantastic. I’ll wait and see, because I am most definitely going to be picking up the next book.


Proczko is an excellent narrator. He hits every mark that I can ask for. He does excellent voices, he is crisp, clean, and easy to follow, he paces the story well, he adds emotion and emphasis where needed and he makes you care about the characters in a way that the written word can’t convey. I keep going to Jax and the betrayal, he handled very well.

This is a solid book that was music to my ear holes. For that, I am going to say that this is a firm 8 out of 10 stars. Excellent work.
Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. Getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

As seen on the LITRPG AUDIOBOOK PODCAST, please check it out on Youtube.com

30 of 34 people found this review helpful

very melancholy narrator.

men sound like men.
orcs sound like men.
women sound like men.
There is no variation. listen to The Land to understand a better narration of the same type of story.

73 of 86 people found this review helpful

Fantastic

I thoroughly enjoyed the narration of different voices. I have listened to a few books were the voice doesn't change much at all but this doesn't get to be categorized like that. I loved the concept of this book and how they implemented the MMORPG aspect. I had already been recommending this book to friends and will hopefully be able to do the same with the next book.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

One of the most overrated LitRPG novels around

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I would not recommend it to anyone.

Would you ever listen to anything by Edward Brody again?

No

What about Pavi Proczko’s performance did you like?

It was a good job, but not remarkable or exceptional

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not that I could find them.

Any additional comments?

A word of clarification: I discovered LitRPG genre over a year ago and have since read or listened to many LitRPG books (my collection on Kindle alone approaches some 60 titles). In this case, I purchased “Eden’s Gate” on Audible. I am also a great fan of fantasy and sci-fi novels in general, which allows me to put any new release in a perspective and (hopefully) stay objective when assessing the quality of the work.

Having said that, I found “Eden’s Gate” thoroughly disappointing on several levels. First, the plot, after an interesting start, quickly becomes utterly unbelievable on the real-life part (and severely tests the patience and intelligence of the reader/listener), while it turns annoyingly predictable in game at the same time. Still, I could have enjoyed it nonetheless if the world/character building and the dialogues/interactions between the hero and his companions would compensate for this flaw.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. After going through several chapters you get the impression that no effort went into customisation of the very generic fantasy clichés (beautiful and wise elves, ugly and stupid goblins, tricky merchants…) and that the author just copy-pasted some of the scenes and settings from well-known fantasy novels/movies/games into this book. Furthermore, the way our hero, Gunnar Long is presented, does not make things any better. At the beginning of the story he is presented as a kind of a pro gamer, who spent thousands of hours playing different games, including RPGs. You would however never know it from the dumb way he behaves in the Eden’s Gate. As a result you feel detached from the main character and your interest in the story development and the world becomes lukewarm after reading just a third of the book.

Another failing of this novel is the implementation of RPG mechanisms into the story. Every now and then we read how the hero and other people are taken aback by the ultrarealistic and immersive character of the game world. The NPCs are realistic, physical sensations are top notch… Yet when it comes to quests they are so standard and unimaginative you have the feeling that they were taken from an old, second-rate cRPG. Surely the hero would note that, as you clearly spot it right on? On top of that I found the character progression completely schewed. If you ever played RPGs, how often did you get 5 legendary items in a row (+ a super-powerful pet) just at the start of your adventures? Well, this is what happens to our hero…

In summary, there are many LitRPG novels around that are just way better written and more interesting than “Eden’s Gate”. My recommendation: stay away.

54 of 67 people found this review helpful

not as good as i was hoping

So I recwntly read the choas seed series and compared to that this book has alot of faults that seem to take me personally out of the story/immersion. Without ruining it for others ill just say this the main character is supposedly a major gamer before he starts the new game yet seems to make horrible choises most who play alot of rpg games wouldnt make. the way the real world reacts to the game seems so unrealistic.

12 of 15 people found this review helpful

Intriguing enough concept but the protagonist is an idiot

The author has a great world to share with us. And it seems he has a great grasp of the adventuring genre. However, it’s hard to root for a moronic character who consistently chooses the dumbest action in a myriad of possibilities. The author needs to move the plot with better contrivances than just blatant stupidity. I am hopeful that the author will improve this aspect of his writing.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good world bad MC

MC is another "expert" gamer that is a complete newb about games. The world is interesting though might give next book a try to see if MC stops being written as a newb. Voice actor is horrible very monotone and will put you to sleep during an action scene.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

smh

for such a avid gamer, poor judgment screwing over npc's for greed, he should know better, what was he thinking

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good story

Good story, it drags in parts but this shows a lot of promise. The narrator is ok but nothing special with his variety of voices. Still a lot better than I could of done.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful