5 stars. A book I bought on a whim turned out to be pretty good.
Every once and I while, I pick a book at random and purchase it. This is one of those books.
I liked the title and the thumbnail, and hit “Buy now.” And started listening to it.
Pretty much immediately, I began to regret the decision. The main character was killed in real life and got trapped in a VR game. Due to circumstances, he became a hybrid class in the game – half human and half panda. No, not at the same time. He was a human during the day and a panda at night. His panda character would be considered an NPC in game, while the human was a player.
However, this half-and-half class idea didn’t really interest me. Especially a panda. That didn’t sound too exciting. I would not have bought this book if it mentioned that the main character was a panda bear.
Additionally, there were a list of rules in the game that made it super-clear that this was a PG-13 game and nothing bad would be allowed. No swearing, no nudity, no attacking other players in the starter zone, no stalking, etc. This seemed to be setting the game up to be a bit boring. I ended up being wrong on that.
I think around chapter 8, we were still learning about the basics of the game and setting up the character sheet. I think I would have advised the author to get into the game quicker than 9 chapters, as that’s really when the main story begins.
After that, I warmed up to the story. The MC met a couple of characters that seemed fun. He very quickly got around a couple of players camping out in the newb zone to kill other players, and found a spot to farm for experience points. He found an effective method to farm experience, and I thought we were all set.
The book had a touch of humor, which is always appreciated. And the briefest touch of romance.
Needless to say, there were a couple of more twists and turns than I expected. By the end of the book, I wanted to hear more about the adventure of the three main characters. There was more to their story.
It felt like a short book at around 7.5 hours. I guess the author did not make a sequel, since this book has been around for a few years. But it would have been interesting to learn more about their future story.
