/lit/ - Literature

1/2

I've spent the entire weekend reading Life Reset series, six books of VRMMO LitRPG series, I think I have something to say about it, so bear with me. Some years ago, when my passion for reading fiction was at all-time low, by accident I stumbled upon a book that was unlike any other I'd seen. A book where the story takes place in a virtual world, more than that, it's a GAMING world. As an avid gamer, that was incredibly interesting to me. That book was, of course, The Way of the Shaman, a really popular series that got some fame in some circles back then. I read it, really liked it, liked the rest of the series way less. Still, a sudden hunger for game-like stories, that 'LitRPG' genre, was awaken in me. The next series that I tried was Life Reset by Shemer Kuznits. And that blew me away. It wasn't perfect, but it showed that you can do a decent storytelling inside a video-game setting. I liked the first and second books, but the reviews about the third made me drop it, as I didn't want to spoil the memory with a bad book. So, distraught, I delved deeper into the internet, getting into webnovels, trashy litrpgs, stuff like that. Now, years later, as a veteran reader of the genre I've returned, to read the entire series. And boy, I don't think I've made a bad choice.

With experience comes understanding, so the things that previously seemed fresh and amazing to me, were put in perspective. I not longer the series is amazing, even though there's a lot I can respect. I won't review it book by book, just give my general impressions with the series. First off, the world-building is kinda shit. Not only is the real world outside of game barely mentioned, the game world is also barebones. I can't recall a name for the world or continent ever comming up. Nothing is really mentioned, not kingdoms, gods or any lore, made by players or by developers. The author dropped the ball in this department, which is shocking considering the plot of the series. Not to spoil, it tackles the issue of the gaming world being real-like a lot, and yet the author didn't even try to make the game world even appear to be likable or worth spending time in.

The story is mainly a kingdom-building, not my favourite sub-genre, but I can bear it. Most of the time you'll be reading how the protagonist tries to make his Goblin tribe more powerful. I honestly started skimming some of that in the later books, I can bear reading about wood transporting or making new building only so far. It might be just me binging six books in three days, while they were written in the span of 5-6 years.

Okay, to be concise: The author had a solid vision behind the story, admittedly written due to dissapointment with other litrpg stories. I can believe that, considering it reads like the author planned everything out from the start. I'm actually suprised how consistent the story was throughout, especially the ending. I feel satisfied. But there are problems.