The AI “guide” to the game, a talking axe named Frank, has the strongest character arc in the book. I found the story and the characters engaging, especially the AI characters. The blurb for the book makes it sound like it’s about PVP, but there’s no actual PVP in it I expect subsequent books will be centered on PVP, however. I decided to read Shadeslinger based on this review on “All the Spoilers”. Mild mannered computer programmer by day, evil megalomaniac conqueror by night all in one person.Shadeslinger is a LitRPG novel, and the first book I’ve read in this genre (although I’ve read a couple of fics by Terrycloth that are LitRPG-adjacent, if not squarely in the genre.) The vast majority of Shadeslinger takes place inside Earth Bound Online, a VR MMO in a future where virtual reality is fully immersive, and gamers use pods that provide full life support, so they never have to log out. I only mention it primarily because the 'RP' element of litrpg is often entirely forgotten and it's one of the areas the VRMMO setting could potentially corner and one I essentially never encounter it in my reading. So you have the protagonist (Ned) who has one persona and his merchant alter-ego which has another persona, so he's clearly playing a role when he dawns that particular character. However Black Sand Baron also does something very, very few LITRPG books manage to do, it includes the RP part of LITRPG role-play, where the protagonist is acting as an individual different from their own innate character and it is accomplished this through an interesting use of the mechanisms set up in the gamified world. Usually all stakes in the 'game world' are lost in such a setting and stakes are created in the form of a sick loved one, a climbing debt, being stuck in the game or some other convoluted issue.Įven Black Sand Baron (The Ripple System Book 2), which is quite good, falls into some of the traps prone to such series, it follows in-game events virtually to the exclusion of the outside world for example. While still managing to give the events stakes, which is something many authors struggle with when using that particularly concept for their series. There are very few books like Shadeslinger (The Ripple System book series). However I will upvote and add to the thread for visibility and hope to see some of these suggestions myself. Unfortunately I don't think I have seen any other books like the Ripple System, so I have none to suggest.
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