Mirror World Shines

Lately there have been a lot of LITRPG books coming out into the market, some good and some not so good; “Project Daily Grind,” book one in the “Mirror World,” series is a great LITRPG experience.
I really like the pace of this story and the main character, Oleg. He’s not out to conquer the world and just wants to grind it out in the game hoping to make enough money to care for his sick daughter. Of course it wouldn’t be a good story without some twists and there are many quests and surprises as is fitting an LITRPG book, enough to keep the story very interesting.
As an old time gamer this genre appeals to me but it also intrigues the imagination for possibilities that may be coming in our real world. These LITRPG books are works of fiction but the immersion into a digital reality, where people can work and live an alternative life does not seem that farfetched of a concept; after all when Jules Verne’s wrote “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea,” in eighteen seventy submarines were a work of fiction as well, anyone can look on the internet or explore the latest in gaming technology and see the possibilities.
I’ve nearly completed the second book, “The Citadel;” it continues were “Project Daily Grind,” ended and, so far, it’s just as good as the first.

26 of 26 people found this review helpful

Overrated Journey through the Mundane

This book spends an inordinate amount of time detailing mundane tasks like getting a job, getting a hair cut, getting a room at an inn, all towards the end goal of getting a loan. That’s right, this entire book is about getting a loan. Unfortunately for some unknown reason the game designers made all of these tasks difficult.

On the design of Mirror World, nobody would play this game. To start their are three stats in the world Strength, Speed, and Stamina. How three physical stats determine the casting of curses, the crafting of items, or the selling of items was not explained. Secondly, the designers for some reason allow you to put all of your points into a single stat, e.g. Strength and then be unable to move from your initial spawn point. The bunch of masochists will then allow you to redistribute your points to allow you to actually play the game for just 20% of your points! Also, they make players clean the streets, mine, and other menial tasks, but then invented bots that run their bodies while they do it. So, the player will be looking through the web while the chars mindlessly do the chore. Facepalm, what is the point of making people do meaningless work, and then not actually making them do it. They could just have an AI do it, or program the streets not to get dirty. There are a lot more gripes, but I honestly just want to move on.

My last point, is that our MC is a Gary Stu who constantly gripes about rich people and his problems while consistently ignoring the advice of others. He has loads of internal monologue during conversations with other people. Also, I found it annoying how he would interrupt the flow of the conversation to say some quick quip like “uh huh” “you don’t say”.

Apparently other people really liked this book, I found it on good reads, but it is one of very few books that I put down without finishing. I stopped about 3/4 of the way through realizing this was not going to get better. Honestly, this book was a chore.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Doing It for Love

Unlike most stories of this type, this protagonist isn't an adventurer; instead, he is a daily grinder, working on earning money to save his daughter's life. He's one of a kind, in the game, and a 'crazy' now ex-employee programmer has made sure that his life would be interesting.

Well written and narrated. I found it a fun listen and look forward to the next book.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Love this genre

Completely addicted to LiTRPGs. Audible needs to keep these coming. This one is just as good as the way of the shaman and play to live if you like those series.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

Such a strange book

I have played MMORPG's such as Runescape in the past. Listening to the audio of this story was like listening to someone talk about the step by step progress they made through that world. Which could be painful beyond belief, but for some reason, I didn't mind.

The writing is not great, its not bad either. The main character is flat. As other reviewers have said, he is a whiny little dude. The story structuring is so patently a blow by blow account of an MMORPG I cant get beyond it. I mean, what we are watching unfold is one guys journey through this world with a built in cheat code that levels up his characters stats so that things come more easily to him. Why is this interesting?

This story was interesting to me because it was sort of like taking crack. As a game junkie, I could vividly dive into the feelings here. But the story itself? Pretty dull.

17 of 22 people found this review helpful

I'm so happy that there's already more!

I highly look forward to the second book and this intriguing story the main character is interesting and has a compelling reason to be doing something completely foreign to his familiar life. It's interesting to see all these different books that are involving virtual reality MMO games

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Truly a Fun LitRPG story.

I'm in love with story's about people being made in to video game Heroes. The "play to live" series is very close to this book however they have very different plots. The narrator is a true gem. I picked this book with a hope that it has fully satisfied. I can't wait for more books! Please take my money!

9 of 13 people found this review helpful

brilliant

such a fantastic book I couldn't stop reading I can't wait till the next one in the series

9 of 14 people found this review helpful

Ehhh, a bit overrated.

It got good reviews on Goodreads, so I decided to pick up on it. But it was a disappointment.

Daughter needs money? Overused but sure. But the character is just bad. He is very whiney, by both the author and narrator. He complains about everything. He always think this and that is not important and a waste of time and ends up regretting it after.

Then, there is the game itself. It just makes little sense to me. The author isn't much of a game designer, not enough of one to write a LitRPG. I don't want to spoil it but it just doesn't work.

Next is the narrator. He needs to google how to pronounce many words. It is bad, like "elves to alves". And his narrated the main character into an even more annoying character than it already is. It is literally like a snobby whining kid.

The character is mediocre.
The game is less than mediocre.
The plot is mediocre.
The narrator is just bad.

22 of 35 people found this review helpful

Decent book but voice acting sucks.

Where does Project Daily Grind rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

3.5 out of 5 - Not a bad book but not really is his best. I found the book kept me entertained but the narrator wasn't my favorite. Refer to additional comments below one why.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Project Daily Grind?

nothing stands out really.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kyle McCarley’s performances?

I plan on getting them all.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Nope, not really. His other books made me laugh a few times.

Any additional comments?

The narrator is awful. It seems like he was tired of saying a lot of lines over and over such as "I said", "I murmured", etc... So he recorded it once and just used the same voice line which often doesn't fit the current mood.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful