WOW!....JUST WOW!

if you're looking for monster fighting, epic lootz, stunning magical arts.....

this book is not for you. while the game world holds the promise of such experiences this book is masterfully written in a way that just pulls you in without any of the litrpg fan fare.
I was pleasantly surprised because I'm a sucker for levels and epic lootz but this book really did it for me. and there were some good lolz too!

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Strikingly Realistic

D.J. Bodden presents his riff on James Hunter's VGO world by introducing 'Alan Campbell' - an adventurous bureaucrat in Robert Osmark's Silicon Valley corporation who takes it upon himself to save the endeavor by engaging in Alpha-testing of the nanobot-based immersive technology/AI-driven virtual reality experience that the company pioneers.
The story is well-planned, well-scripted, and well-executed - yielding an entertaining & thought-provoking LitRPG entry that feels so plausible that it was incredibly easy to suspend disbelief - but paced *terribly*. It takes far too long to get into the VGO world, the IRL elements are intrusive (Alan's technician colleague 'Jeff Berkowitz' repeatedly pondering his marriage dynamics, for example), and the VR world plotlines are overly-complicated (Godlike AI Entities competing with each other for supremacy & religiously-motivated Elf Assassin-mages attacking a Human Noble family, among others). Bodden repeatedly took me out of the illusion of reality with unfortunate overwriting and makes a baffling decision to reveal the treacherous bad guy very early in the story - advancing the plot but being annoyingly anticlimactic (I don't think Bodden has read many Mystery-Thrillers). A really good editor could have corrected these issues.

Fortuitously for audiobook afficianados: Daniel Thomas May turns in a truly outstanding performance - nearly flawless, in fact. His diction, timbre, cadence, and pacing are unimpeachable.. but his spot-on voice-acting and legitimately pitch-perfect tone make it so that I will browse for audiobooks simply because Mr. May is cast for the project. This is a solid listening product.

Altogether, 'VGO: Nomad Soul' - the first in 'The Illusionist Series' - merits 8.5 stars out of 10. It is definitely worth your time as a remarkably cerebral entry in the genre (more about establishing a viable VRMMORPG system than about gameplay).. but has enough deficits that I will personally pass on continuing with Bodden's vision (free or not).

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