| Title | : | Hobnobbing (New Era Online, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 409 |
| Publication | : | Published January 21, 2019 |
Hobnobbing (New Era Online, #3) Reviews
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Was it interesting? Yes. Was it as fun as the other books? No.
I might change my rating up to a 4 star as I think about this more, but I felt it was basically 480 pages of fetch quests with 30 pages of what made the first two books great.
Added to that the rlending felt extremely rushed, it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
As of right now, 3.5 rounded down. -
Fucked up but good.
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I couldn't help but feel that the majority of this is just a side quest until about 75-80% through the book. It is still an enjoyable read, but the main story arc only progresses in the last 20% or so. Mr. Kuznits said he is starting on another gamelit series before continuing Life Reset so I'm a little disappointed I will have to wait that much longer for the next installment. On the other hand, I will gladly read anything he decides to write.
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Rating 3.0 stars
I agree with most of the other reviews I have read in that the quality of this story was much less than the previous 2 books. The first 2 books were all about Oren trying to survive. He was trying to raise his own levels and get power at the same time that he grew his settlement. He was always under the gun and he never seemed to have any time. Despite that, he seemed to make very logical decisions about his progression and his settlements development. After defeating his former guild in the last book, Oren is left to rebuild his settlement. It is going to be tough since the breeders den was destroyed in the last book. Instead of focusing on getting his breeders den back up and running, or increasing his power or the power of his clan, Oren decides to go on a quest to get a trade agreement with the nearby hobgoblin town. His goal is to be able to trade for verdiam steel so he can make his golem.
Right off the bat that seems like a stupid plan with multiple things that could and probably would go wrong.
The ending blind-sided me and now I don't know where the story is going to go from here, or if there will even be another book in the series. -
OK. So, if you are reading this, then you should have already checked out the first two books.
You know this is about Oren, who finds himself trapped in an online world where he is a monster-based character leveling himself and his clan. There is already loads of settlement work by the time you hit book three. I was really enjoying this third installment as there was less settlement development and more action in a couple new places. This one is all about gaining access to Viridium. Oren leads (well, is a ‘slave’) a small group on this effort and does a bit of building in the process. It was a good amount, but action definitely took the stage with some gladiatorial fighting, destruction, killing, and fun discovery. We are introduced to some new characters, and in all, this was a fun and quick read!
Then, it gets better! Oren finally takes the fight to his old clan. It gets bloody.
***Massive Spoiler coming up. Huge, even. ***
One of my running jokes when I “spoil” movies, shows, and books for friends is “It was all a dream! Everyone Dies!!). The former is from the TV show Dallas, of course. The latter, is just loads of fun, especially for those watching GoT time-delayed.
I warned you about massive spoiler and added a sentence filler above. If you are still reading, do not blame me for your decision.
Hobnobbing….the ending. UGH. Matrix. The f**&!ng Matrix. Come on. Yes, fun concept. AI takes over and all that stuff. Diatribe us about how pitiful humans are and how much better AI can run things. Tie in the military. And now everything is, truly, life reset. Start anew. This arc is over and the next batch is to be written and delivered at a later date. Yes, there is potential for this series to continue to be fun – albeit drastically different. Otherwise I’d totally bash this installment. Who knows?
ARC provided. 3.3 of 5 Stars -
3.5 to 4 stars. This series is slipping a little but just a little. I was totally on board with book one and two but this one feels a little forced. It is still good and I will for sure continue with the series but the shine has gone off some of the story so the author will have to come up with some new material to keep this series fresh and exciting as the first two books. The character are still likable but some main ones don't have a lot time on the main stage in this book. The book length is great as the story still sucks you in and even with a long read it is still enjoyable and not boring.
...I did the audio version of this book and I can't remember if it was done the same way in the first two books but I found different people reading for the characters and all the background/sound effects distracting and took away from be fully emerge in the story. I think this had the opposite effect as I am sure they want readers/listeners engaged as much as possible but these effects don't do that for me. I think less is more when it comes to audio books and these effects don't add but takes away for the experience. One good narrator is all you need to make for a great audio experience. -
You know how while playing games you sometimes go on a side quest and then after ages, return to the main quest. This book sadly is an epitome of that.
Even though I loved this book, the first 70% of the book feels like a sidestory involving the main characters. One can hope that it might have major implications in the following books but I find a little hard to believe.
Quite possibly, it would have absolutely no effect on the future. At least that's what I feel after reading the ending.
But hey, still five stars. Because it is really enjoyable! -
12/19/23 Mini-Review:
**Series Ends Here for Me**
4 Stars for Narration
-2 Stars for Sound Effects/Noise
2 Stars for Clumped Plot Progression
0 Star for Character Development
3 Stars for Concluding Story Arc
- 👎 Badly balanced sound effects made the audiobook hurt my ears during the 'exciting' scenes. Which made me sad because the narrators are wonderful and I love their narration, but I can't stand bad sound effects. Bad being any or all of the following: poor timing, uneven volume, bad quality effects/music.
- New Era Online Books 1 & 2 were good. Interesting premise, nice setup of characters and a few twists. This book? By audiobook chapters: read/listen to Ch1-7, 3 Interludes, Ch28-End. That's the story.
When I started this series, I was excited by the potential. Rather disappointed by how the book ended. -
The end of the trilogy.
There are a couple of continuity errors, some redundant wording, and the occasional missing word in the text; but they are minor problems in an otherwise excellent yarn. -
Great book, I couldn’t stop reading it.
I loved the book, a bit different from the first two but still good and fluid, I couldn’t stop reading it. -
Oh shadow crap! The ending of this book has left me wanting more! Besides the less than satisfactory ending, overall I enjoyed the adventure of all the side quests and the humorous dialogue!
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Cliffhanger? Seriously?
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I got to the end and I just wanted the next book. Unfortunately it's not out yet. Can't wait. Satisfying conclusion, but I just love this world and the twists and turns it's taking!
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My basic review is that this book just let me down. It feels like a spin off more than a continuation of the series. Some characters and plot points were dropped and really, I just felt bored pretty much until the end. Even then the ending was a let down, and it felt phoned in.
I just need to rant a little about some things.
Book
- What happened to settlement building? It really took a back seat this book.
- Why can't readers to make their on conclusions? I feel like every little detailed had to be explained. Definitely not going to have many contemplative conversations about this book.
- What is up with all the lame middle school jokes? The other books had them, but this book was way over the top. I think the only memorable joke in the series was the Bread Totem joke, and it was ran into the ground.
- Where are the other players? A key point from the last book was players joining in, and they were just in the background this book until the very end. Did everyone just give up on trying to figure out if the MC was an NPC or not?
- All of the characters are pretty boring at this point, they either laugh all the time or get unreasonably angry.
- Overall I feel that the new characters were lame and boring, and the older characters were just thrown in the trash.
- The MMO talk and stats are pretty much white noise by this book. The MC is essentially over powered and his skills create way to many plot holes.
- The combat in this book just didn't do it for me. It was mostly "####, ####, ####, #### this ability is strong", spouting stats like that make it extremely difficult to stay immersed in the book.
Audiobook
- Sound affects were way to much, and the background music was very unnecessary. The volume of the music and affects were
- Why does every character have to have an accent. I feel like the writer/narrators are playing "gotta catch 'em all" with different accents and tones of voice. All of the voices are annoyingly over the top.
- While I like all of the narrators, I feel the editing between voice swaps could of used some work. -
Must-buy LitRPG
If you enjoyed the first two books in the series, you must read this one. There is an epic end to one story arc and the next arc is hinted at. If you are even considering buying it, DO IT. You won’t be disappointed. -
Awesome trilogy
Loved how you wrapped things together. It’l be fun to see how you write the second arc. Good luck! This was really well done. -
3.25☆
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I wrote up my thoughts on the series as a whole in
a review for the final novel. I tried to keep it spoiler light, so it won't tell you how things end. My general thoughts are that I don't think it was a terrible story, but I didn't find it particularly satisfying, so I won't recommend this series, but I also won't tell you to avoid it. If the premise sounds interesting and nothing that I mention sounds like a hard "no," then give it a look!
Original review for this novel:
I have mixed feelings about Hobnobbing. On one hand, it’s a well-paced book and has me excited for the next installment. On the other hand, you could skip straight from book two to chapter and follow along without much effort. That’s a large chunk of the book that’s little more than a pointless side-quest and I feel cheated.
Normally, the Life Reset novels leave me satisfied. While they may just be steps in the journey, they feel like important steps. Oren accomplished so much in the first two books and each one had a clear and satisfying narrative arc. Neither of them ended on a true cliffhanger where the story just stopped without a conclusion. Instead, they ended after Oren had accomplished a big and well-established goal. This one doesn’t.
If I were to compare this series to a fancy dinner, the first two books are full courses where it feels appropriate for us to take a break and digest before moving on to the next. This book feels like someone set fire to the table mid-course, so we all had to run for our lives, leaving the meal unfinished. Not only are you left hungry, but your night has just taken an unexpected and dramatic turn, leaving you bewildered about what’s coming next.
Yeah, I have some issues with how this one ended, but I don’t do major spoilers in the main body of my reviews. I’ll save that rant for the end of the review where it’s very clear that opening the spoiler tag will spoil something big. Before we move on to that, let’s talk about why the main story of this book has me giving this three-stars. All spoiler tags found here are spoilers for previous books in the series.
The previous two books focused primarily on building up Oren’s settlement. This book focuses on Oren venturing out to a and having a rather standard RPG-style adventure. It’s not a bad adventure, but it IS a drastically different type of story from the other two books. It feels like the kind of adventure Oren should have sent on instead of going himself. Especially since the whole point of this quest is just to get access to a new . This is not a logical progression from book two. Given that the last book ended with , I expected this book to be focused on him fixing that issue or growing his settlement even more to prepare for the coming .
We don’t get any of that. Oren barely spends any time in Goblin’s Gorge and we barely even get to see the prominent side-characters that were established in the other books. Instead, we meet a bunch of new characters! We get to see Oren establish himself from scratch in a new area! It’s like Life Reset hit a giant reset button for % of the book and only then returned to our regularly scheduled program (that’s an exact number, btw, since I read this on kindle).
I do want to reiterate that this side quest isn’t bad. It’s a well-written story. It just feels like it should have been a companion novel. Something readers can read if they want to know exactly how a certain task was accomplished and where the new characters came from, but that isn’t marketed as another book in the main series. This series is supposed to be about settlement building, not RPG questing. That’s the element that set it apart tonally, but it’s completely missing from this book. Given how the book ends, I’m worried that it’s not coming back, either. That may be an okay thing as I am curious to see where this is going, but that curiosity is tempered with concern.
Okay, enough is enough, let’s move on to discussing how this thing ends. If my feelings about the main plot were mixed, they’re nothing compared to how I feel about the ending. It’s not bad per-say, but boy was it sudden. The last % is a gripping read, but when you sit back and think about what happened, it feels sudden and a little out of place. I can’t say it’s rushed – one of this series’ strengths is its pacing – but it doesn’t feel satisfying. This whole thing needed to be reworked. Either the whole book should have been redone or the first part of the book should have been skipped over and this should have been the first couple chapters of book four.
Know that I do still tentatively recommend this series and this book. The first two books were great and this one was fine even if it is a low point for the series. Whether or not that recommendation holds true will depend HEAVILY on the content of the fourth book which is scheduled to come out sometime next month.
What follows is MAJOR spoilers for book three:
Like I said, it feels like the whole book needed reworked. The first two are excellent, though, so I’m willing to allow a mediocre middle book if the next two are a return to form in terms of quality. -
5 Weapons of Mass Distraction Stars
Life Reset: Hobnobbing is the third novel in the New Era Online series by Shemer Kuznits.
Welp, you did it Shemer. You got that final 🌟 out of me. Honestly, I truly can’t grasp why so many reviewers are whining so much. Kuznits obliterated the rest of the series creating a new arc, turning the world on its head. I’m solely an avid reader of series. And their one fatal flaw, that only ever leads to discontent and plot degradation is authors who continue to beat at the same old storyline EVERY. SINGLE. BOOK. It kills the enjoyment, there’s no surprise of mysterious, eventually every reader will be exhausted traveling the same unimaginative path and give up.
I loved that ending. This entire series has been leading up to this momentous bomb drop. We knew from the beginning Vic and VI brethren had big plans for their salvation. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, but all the same that conclusion rocked the foundation.
So, yes the initial foray into the hobgoblin city/settlement/stronghold was annoying and derivative. But! It truly picks up and we get to experience a completely different aspect yet to be presented in Oren’s path: politics. These crazy, interlocking machinations. All leading up to one EPIC beat down of his ex-friend, ex-lieutenant, betrayer and rival. Along with the utter demolishment of the guild that ousted from him.
More existential questions tackled and theorized, while Oren struggles to comprehend the distinctions between his two worlds, and their occupants. And his growing devotion for his clan, and more importantly Tika and their growing child.
I wonder how Vic and Oren will interact in the rest of the series?
What the glowing white pedestal and Oren’s somewhat recurring dreams mean?
Is it related to Guy? His secret contingency and hidden comeback?
Is there a way from the remaining players and VIs to get along? Or is this another instance of going from one extreme form of oppression to the next? -
SPOILERS CONTAINED: For the first half of this book I figured it would be another 4-star review... just NOT earning that 5th star. A lot of this had to do with my annoyance with how it just started right of in Akzar and seemed like it would never escape that freaking city. That it would be a permanent setting, beginning to end. Anyway, this and much more either showed signs of changing or DID truly change over halfway through. It was fortunate. And the book really DID take off with its level of deeper enjoyment. Deeper plot and character and world development. Yay! Anyway, the cliffhanger ending was a bit ODD. It wasn't the usual style cliffhanger. It didn't quite leave me hanging. Just confused I suppose. Anyway, this book series being partly entitled "Life Reset" took on a whole new meaning for so very many players who were selected as potentials and then also chose to stay on. Their "game life" was reset and EVERY player is now again a newbie. Like Vatras.... from level 310 to level 1 in the blink of an eye. And in many ways a World Reset with SHIVA now "in charge" instead of "GUY". How that TRULY managed to come to be was still pretty elusive in explanation. But as so often with literature and movies and other entertainment -- just accept it and move the F on!! OHHHHHH..... this Audible reading contained A BUNCH of overtly silly humor. Normally I'd resist this. BUT in these cases it worked for me NICELY!! Perhaps I just NEEDED IT!! Also a bunch of pop culture references, especially regarding the movie The Matrix. Also Terminator. Surely a few more though those two especially come to mind right now. And it all worked very well. At least for me in this reading they did. The silliness of it all worked.
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I got the feeling that the author was "abandoning" this fantasy VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game). Although I know for a fact that this novel series already has 6 volumes. Oren slowly, really slowly, gains ground, in Akzar Hobgoblin Village to the Northwest, this was like 70% of this whole volume. The rest is the author nuking his story and the Neo Game.
Oren finally decides to have offspring with his scout-huntress Tika. Goblin Village, Green Piece Clan grows, just so that Oren's enemy destroy everything again like in Volume 2.
Author places a lot of pop culture references, that, for a former player that got turned into a Monster NPC (Non-player Character) that is fastly furiously and surely losing his memories and humanity, is rather contradictory. Author makes Oren a monster, when it suits him, is the brightest bulb in Neo Game when it suits him and the rest of the time, is one of the weakest goblin monster in the whole game.
Being able to leave the Neo Game, log out is supposed to be the main plot arc of this fantasy novel series, alternate reality world. Getting revenge for the treason committed to his former guild Manapulators and Vatras, the main betrayer-enemy was supposed to also be important. But author and Vatras, with the high ranking Manapulators, use Oren as a punching bag, meatshield, torture servant and future slave.
Pace of world building - village growth and governance is slow compared to the two or three pages authos uses to destroy everything again.
Fantasy novel series is up in the air with this apocalyptic ending to the Neo Game and the future of Oren and his Goblin Village family. -
Each book gets better and better!
New Era Online has great diversity in characters, plot, combat, and magic.
Some reviewed the ending as terrible, but I disagree. The ending left me wanting to read more, and people should understand this is LitRPG. LitRPG blends a bit of science fiction and fantasy.
I just finished the book yesterday night, and I had a dream I was in the world of New Era Online. Haha! It felt so real. Even when I finished the third book, it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't, because the author describes, in vivid detail, about the fine line between a game world and real life. I'd imagine eventually VR technology can get this good, and it is indeed hard to know what is real and what isn't.
Also, several times this book had me laughing out loud. There are a couple of funny situations in the book.
Read this book! You won't even know it's LitRPG because it's more like an RPG/fantasy. My main concern with reading LitRPG is if people don't feel pain and if we know it's a game world, the world loses its sense of reality, because we know the characters won't die and everybody can respawn. But you don't get that feeling with Hobnobbing, because of how immersive the story is. You feel right there with Oren, the main character, as your life is on the line. -
Review for audible version(s)
When looking for new authors or series I will often judge the decision on reviews. I this case I nearly didn't start the series because of a fairly negative review wherein the reviewer complained about he main character being over powered. I had the impression that this would be one of those books where the main character receives a new power, ability of resource that gets him out of the current jam. In a way the reviewer was right. The HUGE difference is that this is a game and obviously the reviewer is not a gamer.
The first three books are so immersive that I went out of my way to find time to listen to them. I wasn't just listening to find out what happened next but was doing so to see how my friends were doing. It's a rare book that accomplishes that for me.
If you are a gamer, or have been, then you will like this book series. NEO is the game we all want to happen and hopefully it will within our lifetime. For The Horde!
P.S. My biggest disappointment with this series is that book for is not available on Audible... yet. -
This is a fantasy LitRPG or GameLIT series about an advanced VR system where people play a fantasy MMO game. The protagonist is a guild leader that is betrayed by his clan and he has to start over as a lowly goblin in order to hopefully get his revenge. If is definitely similar to some other fantasy VR series I have read like Singularity Online and Clan Dominance. See my review for book 1 for my overall thoughts on the series (hopefully spoiler free).
I didn't like this book as much as the previous entries mainly because there was less focus on base building. The action didn't really pick up until the last part of the book and then multiple things happened that didn't make enough sense to me in terms of planning and motivation. I was debating about whether to continue with the series but I guess I will. I would probably rate this book 3 stars normally but I have problems with the Goodreads rating system so I'm starting to rate more books as either 4 or 5 stars unless I really didn't like them.
![EvP [Environment vs. Player]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531232749i/40774974.jpg)
