The virtual world of Barliona is a place of rest and entertainment – but not for everyone. It has become a survival arena for Daniel Mahan after he was sentenced to eight years in its virtual jail. Mahan has been through it all: the back-breaking work in the mines, betrayal by other prisoners, and finally, the retrial which has released him into Barliona’s common world. What more could one want? Mahan could have kept a low profile and enjoyed relative freedom while serving the rest of his time. But being a Shaman, he can’t help himself. Soon he’s a clan leader, taking 50 of the continent’s top players to claim the secrets of the Dark Forest.
Recommended… Generally a very good book, perhaps the best of the series to this point. There were a few errors in grammar and translation, but nothing that would prevent a reader from enjoying the story.Â
Fairly Enjoyable If you enjoyed books 1 and 2 of this series, then you are going to continue to enjoy book 3. Secret of the Dark Forest is a straight continuation of the storyline from the moment that book 2 drops off. There’s no attempt to catch readers up on the events of the previous books so I had a bit of trouble jumping back into the plot. I ended up “having” to re-read the entire series from the beginning. (Oh noes!) The author isn’t the best English speaker so it takes a couple of chapters to…
A true, no kidding. Masterpiece of LitRPG. I’ve read a whole lot of LitRPG since I stumbled across Alterworld as a limited time deal for .99. After Alterworld took a turn for the crazy train, (not gonna list my reasons here, as this isn’t about Alterworld). I had given up on this genre for awhile.Â