Shards of Reality

by Timothy W. Long

Walt and Ozzie will need to gain experience and level up if they hope to survive but every moment is going to hurt.
Walter LaPointe and Oswald Blackwell are QA techs for SlynderSoft, one of the hottest gaming companies around. However, the pair have just awoken inside Realms of Th'loria, the most popular video game in the world. This would be an exciting adventure except they appear to be living in the original and brutally unfair 1.0 build of the game that existed before the MMO became a theme park RPG.

Not only will they need to level up to survive, they also must figure out how to get off this ancient version of the game, and onto an upgraded server, if they hope to find their way back to our world.

Timothy W. Long, a life long reader of epic fantasy and best selling author of 17 novels, brings his wit and love of all things pop culture to the LitRPG genre with fearsome effect. If you think you know how this game ends, you are going to be in for a surprise.

Genres: Fantasy

310 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2017

About the author

When not sitting around watching Rick and Morty reruns in a bathrobe, Timothy W. Long writes stuff. He has a predilection for weird literature and sometimes drinks Coke for breakfast. Don't tell his mom.

Tim is the author of over 30 novels in genres ranging from cozy/Isekai, to all manner of post-apocalyptic because no one has managed to take away his word processor.

Tim is an active member of SFWA, HWA, and Thriller Writers. He recently signed a three-book deal with Aethon Books for his Dark Lord Reborn Series.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can NOT stress enough how much I HATED the main character for being a whiny self important prick who can't see how OBVIOUS some things are and then being completely surprised when it hits him. It was SO bad that it completely ruined the book for me, since it is ALL about this retard.
He LOVES the game, but doesn't read the update notes which might very well DIRECTLY impact his game play.
He thinks he is AWESOME at the company. WHAT does he base this on?! He seems to only do minimal amount of work he needs to do.
He LOVES the girl. It doesn't sound like he's had very much in the way of conversation with her. A crush, I could understand. LOVE? Moron.
He follows the main bad guy when he is VERY much aware it will accomplish NOTHING, and then is surprised when it turns on him.

[Patrick D'Orazio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shards of Reality is a story written in a new fantasy subgenre that I haven’t been exposed to previously called LitRPG. Given that I spent several years buried in the world of Norrath via Everquest, the Sony Online Entertainment massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG for short), this seems like a natural extension into the realm of literature for me to check out. This of course means I haven’t been exposed to other LitRPG works before reading this book so I don’t know all the tropes or rules involved.
Of course, if you’ve read fantasy, you are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of leaving our reality and entering an alternate fantasy universe, whether it be something along the lines of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever or Magic Kingdom for Sale. Those are tales not attached to any sort of game, though Joel Rosenberg’s Guardians of the Flame series took that step with a Dungeons and Dragons type game where the characters/players are involuntary thrust into the world where they role played warriors, wizards, and rogues. LitRPG takes this a step further, at least with Tim Long’s new series (this book is Enter The Realm Book 1) by making it so those entering the realm realize they are still actually in the game, not some alternative universe, and this game is an MMORPG, similar to the likes of Everquest or World of Warcraft. Furthermore, the game elements stay intact. There are still levels, experience to gain, stats to get from weapons and spells, mana pools to be used when casting spells, hit points, and all the lingo gamers are familiar with, like ‘Ding!” when a character gains a level, “mob” which is short for mobile, or a non-player character that you can attack, or in many cases, a monster, and plenty of other bits and pieces of jargon.
Our main character, Walt, is a game tester and slacker who has been thrust into a version of the MMORPG his company made and runs, Realms of Th’loria. He has no idea how he got there, and when he discovers another co-worker, Oz, is there with him, they set out to figure out what the heck is going on. While Walt is intrigued by the idea of being in the game he has played for years, he isn’t his favorite high level character that took him years to build up, he is instead a “noob” or a level one character with no skills or weapons. Oz, who is even less happy with this situation, is in the same boat. Being familiar with the game environment and monsters gives them some advantages, though they quickly realize that this is a rundown, grungier version of the world they have played in their virtual reality helmets back in the real world. After hooking up with another co-worker who is stuck in Th’loria with them, they discover that this isn’t just a different version of the game they’ve played, but that there is plenty more mystery involved with this place, and why they’re here. Of course, this is the first of a series of books, so more questions are posed than answered as these unwilling heroes of the realm are forced to venture forth to gain the experience needed to provide them with a few answers and the skills they need to survive.
I’m not sure how much I like the comparison and contrast between LitRPG and the more immersive, for lack of a better word, fantasy realms that people from our world end up stumbling into. The idea of looking at a weapon and knowing its stats because they are emblazoned on the hilt, having a HUD inside your skull that shows your health, mana, and how much experience you need to hit the next level does take a bit away from the fantasy aspect of it for me, though I appreciated being in the know as a former gamer, as it were. Reading this book made me nostalgic for those times, a decade ago, when I was grinding experience and was the leader of my own guild of players in Everquest, all of us striving to get better loot and gain levels so we could unlock new skills and go on even tougher adventures. Of course, we weren’t trying to escape the game like our main characters here, and their whining complaints, especially Oz’s, was a bit annoying, though realistic; a character on a screen getting hit and taking damage is a whole lot different than feeling it when a dagger gets shoved into your back.
Overall, this story was fun. Someone who hasn’t gamed in an MMORPG may feel a bit confused at points, and for those who want full-fledged escapism from reality, they might find this type of book a little bit too self-aware, but if you enjoy the idea of being thrust into an adventure and a mystery to boot, the LitRPG subgenre and Shards of Reality in particular is something to check out.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

TITLE: Shards of Reality: A LitRPG Novel (Enter the Realm Book 1)

AUTHOR: Timothy W. Long

GENRE: LitRPG/Fantasy

PAGES: 426

In the spirit of fairness, I have to say I am a gamer. I love games, from traditional RPG’s (Role Playing Games) to video games, especially if the video game has a RPG element to it. So, when i heard of the LitRPG genre, I had to give it a try.

Shards of Reality takes a gamer (Walt) and puts him, and an acquaintance (Oz), smack in the middle of a game world that he loves, Th’loria. Walt knows everything there is to know about the game world he is stuck in, or so he thinks. Things are different, and the same at the same time. The two run into another friend of theirs (Karian), and all they want is to get out of the game and go home. The problem is they have no recollection of how they got in the game to begin with, and getting out is going to be harder than they can imagine.

For my first foray into the LitRPG genre, I have to say that Shards of Reality was an excellent read. The story was engaging, fast paced, and fun to read. The characters were relatable, especially to a gamer like myself, but you do not need to be a gamer to appreciate this book. It gives a good fantasy story as well.

If I had to nit pick, the only problem I had with this book, and it is a minor one, is that I wish there was a glossary wither in the beginning or the end for some of the terms and abbreviations used in the book as it related to the game. BUT, this is a very minor thing to worry about and it does not take away from the overall enjoyment of the book.

5 Bookmarks out of 5

[Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish Goodreads allowed negative stars. The scene writing in this book is mostly fine but this book absolutely fails to tell an actual story. This is nothing but a very bad introduction to what comes next. All that happens in this book (and I don't give a darn about spoilers since I wish someone would have spoiled this book for me and keep me from wasting my time) is:

Three people are abducted into a beta VR MMORPG. Stuck they begin to play the game in the hopes of at least enjoying themselves and possibly learning what is going on. Oz, one of the MCs, shows virtually no coping skills, constantly becoming pissy about being stuck in a game, even to the point of picking a fight with the other MCs while in hostile territory. The other MC, Walt, then shows an absolute lack of anything resembling intelligence and runs into a trap contrary to the advice of the one person who has a clue about what is going on. This lands Walt in a dungeon cell with no hope of escape.

THAT IS WHERE THE BOOK ENDS. DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A COMPLETE STORY TO YOU???? THIS BOOK COMPLETELY LACKS ANYTHING RESEMBLING RESOLUTION. This means the author is either trying to milk his readers for money or lacks the ability to write a book that has resolution. Either way, he should not be rewarded for such behavior.

Bottom line: No one should buy this book ever.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could use another round of proof reading, but otherwise, it was pretty good.
It wasn't what I was expecting from the title, I'd figured each shard was a completely separate world, and the characters would have to complete each one to get a piece of the puzzle to return home, but this was literally what it said, shards of reality, find the shards, and rebuild whatever it is that shattered to create them (well, we never learn their actual purpose, but that's my guess). Overall, it was a fairly decent story, and I liked it. Perhaps there could have been more character development, but since it's only the first book in the series, I expect we'll see more of that later on. I'd recommend this one to folks who enjoy their LitRPG books without a lot of stats and things. This story didn't have your lists of skills, stats and so on, but the story more than made up for that lack, although I'm not sure if it stuck to it's own rule of only being able to have two spells at a time, perhaps that restriction was lifted when higher levels came into play, or perhaps it was the item the character had, either way, it was never mentioned when the character obtained a third spell, so we never found out how that works, and I guess that's ok, because it just leaves more to explore in future installments.

[Chris Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, the characters were fine, the setting was fine, and the writing was fine, but the author just completely failed to get me to care about any of it. The story is about as generic as you can imagine, it has the standard opener with the main character playing their high level toon in some big opening hook. I should have known there was trouble right there since the epic opening hook he attempted ended up being rather dull with no connection to the rest of the story, or explanation of what the deal was. Since this is a trapped in the game LitRPG, the big openers was followed immediately by the equally standard awakening in the game sequence. A bit of originality here, as there are two people immediately stuck rather than the typical solo, an the promise of a third. They then set about the newbie quests, find the third person, yada yada yada. Long attempts a mystery and grand story thread here and there but just never manages to make it land. By the end I was just happy it was over and left it with no desire to continue on. Sorry.

It didn't help that I just came off of a Stormlight Archive book and this book kept throwing around 'shard bearer'. Stop making me think of a vastly superior series Long, it isn't helping!

[Rick Rivera · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could never like the characters

Sorry, I wanted to like this story. I purchase the book at full price. I read the book, since I paid for it, I was going to finish it. No spoilers but the characters never rise above whiny brainless idiots. Allegedly the MC was an accomplished game player, yet despite that acted like a total noob. Seemed like very dialogue sentence was laced with curse words. It was hard to get behind and root for the characters. I would not recommend this book.

[Travis Rumple · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the action scenes and the overall mystery the story presented. It takes a more realistic approach to telling the story of an average guy who gets thrown into a messy world. I enjoyed this approach due to the fact that too many stories have the OP adapting to violence and death like its a walk in the park.

[John #Audible · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those litrpgs you need to pass on. The MC is a total whiney asshat the entire freaking time. Always getting in trouble and then turning to companions and blowing it off or blaming them. Todd Menesses, did a rock star job keeping me awake. But even Todd can't save the MC from this story.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like the mc

I had to force myself to finish reading the novel, because I did not enjoy the MC. The two main characters seemed to whine to much for my taste, and they acted like total newbs in the game, when one of them was a raider.

[Marty Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. I'm constantly looking for a LitRPG series that gives a flavor of the real thing...This was pretty close. Characters are well drawn (Oz is irritatingly whiney, however.) Am hoping Long continues with #2.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great litrpg

I enjoyed this story. The humor was nice and the story set a foundation for future novels. There was enough explanation about what’s going on to keep me intrigued but still leave lots of mystery for how the players ended up in the game.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gamers in a broken game

The story for this Litrpg has a good twist. A little too much whining prevented me from giving five stars but the rest if the story is well put together.

[Johnie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I enjoyed reading this book very much and would recommend it to everyone that like litRPG type of books. Awaiting the next book.

[Stanislas Sodonon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quit 2h into the audiobook.

It had started well. I was hoping for another take on the player interface thing with the book, but it got totally ignored. The MC is arrogant, uncouth, childish, petulant. The attempts at flashback at the beginning of each chapter were distracting as hell. But what finally did the book in was absolutely horrendous fight pacing. You can't say be having a conversation with your friend while a bull-sized rat is rushing at you from 10 feet away. That's just stupid.
I'm out.