Alex and Enea are back in the Crystal Sphere where in their absence a catastrophe has struck. Virtual reality is now controlled by the Reapers: hybrid identities evolved from high-level NPCs who kill human players to harvest their neurograms.
Reapers are constantly on the prowl for more neurograms. No one is safe from their cannibalistic greed.
Survival in this new world becomes an ever-increasing challenge. A Reaper army is about to invade the Agrion cluster. Rion Castle has become the players' last outpost - but the struggle is too unequal.
My Opinion: 461 pages, $5.99, Not Available on Kindle Unlimited
If you’ve been following the series, this one may throw you off a little. It’s set three years after the last book, though for Alex and Enea it’s only moments. The time jump is explained, repeatedly, and it’s just something you’re going to have to accept otherwise the whole story is going to bug you.
Another big shift in the story is that it gets more Sci-Fi. With the connection to the author’s other LitRPG Sci-Fi series, The Phantom Server, becoming bigger and more apparent, that makes sense. But since this series started out as a fantasy story, it may be a bit jarring to read about.
Still, the story is entertaining. It resolves just about every story thread I can think of. All the questions you may have had about things are answered: Where did the reapers come from? What’s happening with the real world? What the neuro enhancing devices are? What’s the connection to the Phantom Server? You get answers, though some of those explanations may feel a bit rushed.
There’s plenty of action and adventure in the story as the guild and the remnants of the human players try to defend themselves from the reapers that can kill them in game and in real life, permanently.
The ending wraps things up well enough to end the series but also leaves an opportunity for more story if the author wants to continue later.
Overall, I had a good time reading it.
Score: 7 out of 10.