What do you think?
Rate this book
9 Levels of Hell: Volume 1
Die to Fight, Fight to Live: Welcome to the Hell Games
Yesterday, Clint and his girlfriend died in a car accident. Today, he woke up in Hell with dozens of other humans in a game of life or death devised by Death himself.
There are only two rules:
1) If you lose, you're dead—permanently.
2) If you beat all 9 levels, you win back your soul and the soul of the person you died trying to save.
If Clint can reach the end of the game, he can save his girlfriend and himself—if the other players don't kill him first.
Yesterday, Clint and his girlfriend died in a car accident. Today, he woke up in Hell with dozens of other humans in a game of life or death devised by Death himself.
There are only two rules:
1) If you lose, you're dead—permanently.
2) If you beat all 9 levels, you win back your soul and the soul of the person you died trying to save.
If Clint can reach the end of the game, he can save his girlfriend and himself—if the other players don't kill him first.
- GenresFantasy
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2021
23 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
E.C. Static
4 books7 followersE.C. Static is a sentient AI monster birthed on Reddit and given human form.
...just kidding. Mostly.
E.C. Static is my pen name, backformed from my Reddit username (ecstaticandinsatiate) to create a space for my Reddit serials-turned-novels. You can expect fun characters, occasional poetry, vulgarity, and violence from me under this pen name, whether I’m writing urban fantasy, sci-fi, or litRPG.
I’m most active on Reddit, over at my personal subreddit, /r/shoringupfragments, or at my website www.shoringupfragments.com
...just kidding. Mostly.
E.C. Static is my pen name, backformed from my Reddit username (ecstaticandinsatiate) to create a space for my Reddit serials-turned-novels. You can expect fun characters, occasional poetry, vulgarity, and violence from me under this pen name, whether I’m writing urban fantasy, sci-fi, or litRPG.
I’m most active on Reddit, over at my personal subreddit, /r/shoringupfragments, or at my website www.shoringupfragments.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 6, 2021
I picked this up because of the title, although I had no idea what I was in for.
The story is pretty straightforward. Clint gets himself into a car wreck with his girlfriend Rachel, and Clint dies. Rachel doesn't, not yet at least.
Clint meets the Angel of Death, who also doubles duty as Satan. It's confusing, and I don't want to get into religious philosophy, but I always thought of them as two separate entities. The Angel of Death does the reaping on God's orders, and the other guy... well, we all know what he does.
Moving on.
Clint is presented with an option. He can go straight to hell, or he can play the new game the Angel of Death has come up with. Clint accepts, and if he manages to win, he gets to save his girlfriend from dying too.
Not that the devil ever plays fair. Or the angel of death. Ugh. It's confusing.
After taking the option, Clint finds himself in suburbia, another kind of hell depending on the person. He needs to survive, gain levels and grow his stats, while not being killed by everyone else here.
I won't go into the dynamics on the first level, but Clint pairs up with someone else, and together they manage to knock the top group pretty good. The way to get to the second level comes down to Virgil in Dante's Divine Comedy, who acts as guide through the levels of hell.
Now, having outlined the plot, I'll give what I thought was the good and not so good. Clint isn't a very dynamic thinker, but together with his partner they do manage to come up with some decent strategies. Guns are readily available in this game, so it gets bloody quickly.
The editing is fine, and the notifications are regular and well detailed. I think what was missing for me was the 'something else'. I have no problem with PVP, but that's all this is so far. There's little in the way of crafting, and besides running around to escape, there's no strategy.
Even the big group they're facing off against aren't very good. Maybe that's more realistic, but it doesn't help make for an exciting book to read. If they're in an unfair game (and they are), then I expected Clint to come up with ways to use that to win.
Anyway, the book is a quick read, and I enjoyed it for what it was while still hoping for more. 4/5*
The story is pretty straightforward. Clint gets himself into a car wreck with his girlfriend Rachel, and Clint dies. Rachel doesn't, not yet at least.
Clint meets the Angel of Death, who also doubles duty as Satan. It's confusing, and I don't want to get into religious philosophy, but I always thought of them as two separate entities. The Angel of Death does the reaping on God's orders, and the other guy... well, we all know what he does.
Moving on.
Clint is presented with an option. He can go straight to hell, or he can play the new game the Angel of Death has come up with. Clint accepts, and if he manages to win, he gets to save his girlfriend from dying too.
Not that the devil ever plays fair. Or the angel of death. Ugh. It's confusing.
After taking the option, Clint finds himself in suburbia, another kind of hell depending on the person. He needs to survive, gain levels and grow his stats, while not being killed by everyone else here.
I won't go into the dynamics on the first level, but Clint pairs up with someone else, and together they manage to knock the top group pretty good. The way to get to the second level comes down to Virgil in Dante's Divine Comedy, who acts as guide through the levels of hell.
Now, having outlined the plot, I'll give what I thought was the good and not so good. Clint isn't a very dynamic thinker, but together with his partner they do manage to come up with some decent strategies. Guns are readily available in this game, so it gets bloody quickly.
The editing is fine, and the notifications are regular and well detailed. I think what was missing for me was the 'something else'. I have no problem with PVP, but that's all this is so far. There's little in the way of crafting, and besides running around to escape, there's no strategy.
Even the big group they're facing off against aren't very good. Maybe that's more realistic, but it doesn't help make for an exciting book to read. If they're in an unfair game (and they are), then I expected Clint to come up with ways to use that to win.
Anyway, the book is a quick read, and I enjoyed it for what it was while still hoping for more. 4/5*
September 13, 2021
In a word, this book is... boring.
At its core this book is to writing what movies like Hostel and House of 1000 Corpses are to movies: Murder Porn genre. If you like those then by all means, read on. For me, this may be the least interesting "LitRPG" book I've ever read. The genre is in quotes because the reference to RPG elements is shallow and superfluous.
At its core this book is to writing what movies like Hostel and House of 1000 Corpses are to movies: Murder Porn genre. If you like those then by all means, read on. For me, this may be the least interesting "LitRPG" book I've ever read. The genre is in quotes because the reference to RPG elements is shallow and superfluous.
September 11, 2021
Innovative world building
It's not very common that someone can create a new take on a basic idea that's been done many times.
Making death into a RPG game with lots of action makes a fun read and a very promising start of a series.
The editing is very good with only one or two minor errors. Not always the case with self published books.
It's not very common that someone can create a new take on a basic idea that's been done many times.
Making death into a RPG game with lots of action makes a fun read and a very promising start of a series.
The editing is very good with only one or two minor errors. Not always the case with self published books.
July 13, 2022
I read this book as part of judging in Phase 1 of SPFBO8. My full review is available at BookNest.eu, whose team I am on for the competition judging.
Link to Review: https://booknest.eu/reviews/spfbo/2440-9-levels-of-hell-volume-1-by-e-c-static-spfbo8-book-review
Link to Review: https://booknest.eu/reviews/spfbo/2440-9-levels-of-hell-volume-1-by-e-c-static-spfbo8-book-review
September 6, 2021
Hi ouch MMO ty IG
December 27, 2021
9 Levels of Hell is a remarkable book. In Book 1 of a future series, we follow Clint, a man who recently died from a car accident while trying to save his girlfriend. Except he's not dead, but he's not alive either. Death, a character fashioned from the Grim Reaper, sentences Clint to play nine levels of a surreally realistic videogame in the hopes of saving his life and the life of his girlfriend. If he succeeds, then all is good. But, if he fails, they both are dead and stuck with Death for eternity.
E.C. Static does a fantastic job at telling a story, and you don't even realize time is passing by. You sit down to read a few pages, and before you know it, you've read five chapters or more. Getting lost in the story is effortless. Static has great descriptors, a good plot, and characters that intrigue you so that you keep reading. One of my favorite things about the book is how Static did not hesitate to let their personality shine through. The humor in the book is unique and well done, always placed well in the plot.
When I first got the book, I was immediately worried. When I ordered it, I did not realize that the author uses some gamer vocab throughout the story. I believe it's simple enough vocab, most people would be fine, but as someone who has never gamed much in the past, I didn't know what HP, or HUD, and a few others meant. For anyone else in this dilemma, you do not need to worry. Static does a great job understandably explaining the vocabulary without coming off as a dictionary. If this does not help, there is also a page in the back to help explain how the stats work and fill in where you might not understand. In addition to this, there are also many fun pictures and interacting pieces that add to the story.
9 Levels of Hell is a book you do not want to miss. It's seriously not like any other book I have read, and I like that about it. I will be first in line when the second book comes out.
E.C. Static does a fantastic job at telling a story, and you don't even realize time is passing by. You sit down to read a few pages, and before you know it, you've read five chapters or more. Getting lost in the story is effortless. Static has great descriptors, a good plot, and characters that intrigue you so that you keep reading. One of my favorite things about the book is how Static did not hesitate to let their personality shine through. The humor in the book is unique and well done, always placed well in the plot.
When I first got the book, I was immediately worried. When I ordered it, I did not realize that the author uses some gamer vocab throughout the story. I believe it's simple enough vocab, most people would be fine, but as someone who has never gamed much in the past, I didn't know what HP, or HUD, and a few others meant. For anyone else in this dilemma, you do not need to worry. Static does a great job understandably explaining the vocabulary without coming off as a dictionary. If this does not help, there is also a page in the back to help explain how the stats work and fill in where you might not understand. In addition to this, there are also many fun pictures and interacting pieces that add to the story.
9 Levels of Hell is a book you do not want to miss. It's seriously not like any other book I have read, and I like that about it. I will be first in line when the second book comes out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews