| Title | : | Salvation (New Era Online, #6) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 582 |
| Publication | : | First published January 19, 2021 |
The mighty city of Everance lay in the GreenPiece clan’s path, but as Oren soon discovers, he’s got even bigger obstacles to overcome before reaching his final goal.
Salvation (New Era Online, #6) Reviews
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I just finished reading this series. Overall, I enjoyed the it for its adventure. There were enough "unexpected twists" to keep it interesting, and there was some compelling character development with various protagonists, which is a big plus in my eye. The world itself is familiar enough to be relatable while unique enough to be intriguing. I especially appreciate the (to my mind) believable ways that limits were placed on power (and to exploits of game mechanics, etc.) throughout the series. Also, as a long time fan of MMORPGs, I found the "gaming experience" aspect of the story to be very pleasing/attractive/familiar.
At the same time, I found the constant thread of low-grade sexism and gender-based microaggressions to be off-putting. The author's voice comes across like an incel struggling hard to be mature and to not come across as such an incel (keeping in mind I know nothing about the actual author, and am just speaking to how their writing voice sounds). I'm left with the impression that the book perhaps has a specific target audience in mind with a specific mindset about the relationships between men and women, and that this aspect missed the mark with me.
I very much enjoyed investing some time in a genre I hadn't explored before (i.e. litRPG), and I value the experience of having dipped my toe in. Still, I'm not particularly compelled to dig further into the genre for the moment, and I probably won't recommend this particular series or author to others, given my reservations. -
Perfect ending
The end of the epic series is very satisfying. Lots of clues and lose ends were wrapped up and can honestly say nothing is left amiss. Can't wait to read other NEO universe books. -
Wow! What an epic, satisfying ending to a pillar series in the LitRPG genre. This is how you cap off a multi-book series. 👍🏽👍🏽
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A fitting end for both Oren and the series.
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This was an epic journey and I loved every bit of it!
I will miss Oren and Vic. -
Bulldites? 🤔🤭 They are scary af! So much combat! Loved this! What a nice ending to a great series ❤️❤️❤️
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The end of a saga. This book culminated in a very large battle. It was fitting, the whole series lead up to it. It did mean that the city building, and personal growth got left behind since it was so concentrated on the strategy for that final battle... but it felt like a fitting ending.
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I wouldn't call this series a waste of time, but also I wouldn't recommend it to most readers. I think a lot of people will walk away feeling unsatisfied, which is always a risk when a series sub-genre dramatically shifts midway through.
While the series is all LitRPG novels, the first book -
Life Reset - was a settlement building novel whose driving conflict was survival via resource management. There's almost no fighting to be seen and most of the tense moments were tense discussions or one-on-one conflicts. Salvation is a war book featuring battle after battle with minimal discussions of building or managing anything.
While those elements are still there, Oren - the main character - is no longer the one handling them. He's handed everything off to advisers, so he'll just show up and find out what other people did in his name while he was off doing other things, normally fighting. It's a wildly different feel from that first book and not something that I was excited to read. I don't tend to enjoy war books and those who do may not enjoy settlement building novels, so be sure you're someone who can say "yes" to both before you check this series out.
That's unfortunately far from the only flaw. The second big issue is that a lot of beloved characters just vanish or get relegated to minor appearances as the story moves on. For example, one of my favorite characters in book one was Gooba, an older goblin female whose passion was chemistry, aka making stuff blow up. She's a strong presence in the first two books, but I don't think that she even shows up in this last one which makes me question why she got all that development in the first place. The point of establishing characters is to use them. Don't make the audience love a character and then forget about them!
Along similar lines we have Tikka, Oren's love interest. She's a mighty huntress, but Oren is obsessed with keeping her safe, so instead of her getting promoted to be part of the army, she stays a huntress who remains at home while Oren goes off to war. She makes occasional appearances for Oren to have some cuddles or fade-to-black style sex scenes, but she doesn't really feel like a character anymore because she has nothing meaningful to do. Her character development ended in book two and her narrative importance ended in book three. Which is a shame. It would have been so cool to have her be part of the army since book three mentioned that she was leading hunts and helping the soldiers train. Instead we get random new characters to lead the army.
These new characters are hard to care about because they're mostly underdeveloped. It didn't help that I wasn't invested in the war. While the stakes of the conflict are high, they don't feel high, so it was hard to care about the battles. Especially when it's a video game world where people don't actually die. The only real tension was the reason for the war and it was not done well.
At the end of book three, which is an excellent driving force for a narrative! The problem is that none of the affected players seem all that worried. They're still treating this like a game. A much greater emphasis needed to be placed on The way that the story reads, I'm not sure why everyone was pushing so hard to fight. Nothing felt time sensitive even if people kept saying that it was.
The last major flaw was the lack of payoff for story elements that were set up in earlier books. In book one, I was on the edge of my seat, worried for Oren because the stakes felt so high. As the story goes on, though, it gets more and more video game-y. Yes, a litRPG novel was video-game like, shocking! But book one wasn't like that! Everything felt like it was leading to something because this was an adventure merely set in a video game, not a story about playing a video game. But from book three onward, the stakes are more, "you did the quest, here's your reward, don't worry about consequences."
For example, at the end of book three And I expected to see fallout from that. I expected But nope! That enemy just vanishes from the story, never to be heard from again. That's what I mean by video game-y. It was incredibly disappointing.
My biggest payoff disappointment was how book one hinted that Oren was going to
The final two things I'll mention as potential negatives are:
1. Extremely overused humor. Back in book one and two, there was some occasionally lewd humor, but the later books took it to painful excess. Starting in book three Oren began using golems made of pink balls and the testicular humor just Never Stopped. So many balls jokes! So many! And they were never funny. It felt like we got at least one every chapter, which is absurd and I would be fascinated to know if anyone enjoyed that.
2. Gender based microaggressions. This is another element that didn't bother me early on. Even back in book one, Oren would make the occasional, odd comments about women. Stuff like "I'm never going to understand women." It wasn't great, but it was subtle and there are a lot of important, meaningful female characters in the story, so I ignored it. As the story goes on, though, the weird gender-based comments get more and more common to the point where I noticed - and was bothered by - every one. Especially when they made no sense. For example, there's a scene where the player characters learn that they have access to a major market and all of the female characters immediately run off to go shopping while the guy's stay behind because of course they wouldn't want to upgrade their gear or anything like that, right? Only female players care about things like character builds and magical armor!
I loved book one and thought book two was solid, but given where those books lead, I'm not going to recommend this series. I do think it's good for a litRPG novel because I've yet to really love any of the ones I've tried. But unless you love litRPG, I don't know if this is worth your time. -
Very nice wrap up to an enjoyable series. Although I wasn’t expecting this ending, the conclusion was satisfying. And I highly recommend the audiobook format for this series! Jeff Hays and soundbooth production knocked it out of the park! Well done everyone👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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Fantastic series
This was the fantasy-gaming series I never saw coming. After reading all of the best books out there by the biggest names, the first book of Life Reset was supposed to be a palette cleanser read, a silly little story to snack on in between "real books." I had no idea how entranced I would be. I guess the in-depth character-building presented within the story filled my own RPG power-gaming fantasy, because I couldn't put the first book down until I'd finished it. Now, most series start out strong, and then peter-out to a weak ending by book number three. Not so with this series. Each book changed the system and the stakes so that nothing became monotonous, and I stayed interested and engaged through each new novel. Sticking the landing at the end of the series was the final pleasant surprise. I'm happy to think that the few dozen dollars I've spent enjoying this series helped this fantastic writer retire from his previous job and go full-time as a writer.
Do you like Sword Art Online? World of War Warcraft? The Matrix? Then strap yourself in and begin an easy, light-hearted read. You just might find yourself as pleased as I am. -
Stuck the landing!
This last book in the series was really well put together. You can tell a lot of love and editing must have gone into it. There were so many epic battles, satisfying storyline conclusions, and some fun extras thrown in for fun, but it all was juggled much better than most authors manage. The pacing and emotional rises and falls all worked for me, and I honestly got a bit choked up towards the end! I can't tell you the last time an adventure story, especially a LitRPG, was able to do that. Kudos to you, Shemer Kuznits, well done! I'll be following you on Amazon and watching for your next books. -
A great conclusion
Brilliant ending to a fun series. Filled with action, emotion and most importantly, testicular quips.
Sad to learn the series is now over and no more will come, but better to end on a high note then fizzle out. -
Solid conclusion to the series. Would have loved to see a couple more teary reunions of in-game Oren with Vic and the players, but that's a personal opinion. Props to the author for not dragging it out like other Litrpg authors.
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Rating 3.5 stars
I feel bad about that star rating. I don't think the quality of this one changed that much but outside influences led to me not liking it as much. The first problem was that it had been so long since the last book came out. I was starting to get into something a little bit different. The story started off a little bit slow and I didn't get into it that much. A lot of other audiobooks came out at the same time so I put this one aside after I started it and picked up other books. I put it aside for 2 years. Yep. This one has been sitting on my currently reading list for 2 years. I felt bad about that so I forced myself to pick it up again and move it to my Read list. I feel bad about using words like that for this book. This book was fine. The series was good. I am just trying to explain how I was feeling at the time of my reading. Most of my reviews are like that. It isn't how good the book was, but how I was feeling. We don't live our lives in a vacuum. Sometimes the stories affect how we feel (this is what is supposed to happen), and sometimes how we feel will affect how we interact with the story. If I was upset and read a comedy, I might not get as much out of it because of how I felt before I started to read. Sometimes reading something that is opposite to how you feel is a good way to get out of that feeling. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This book is better than I am giving it credit for, not because of the quality but because of how I felt while reading. I feel bad about the lower review but I have to be honest with how I feel, hence the lower rating. -
This is the final book in 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.
For some reason this last book dragged for me and I had to push myself to finish it. It was a solid ending overall though maybe a little predictable. If I was honest with my rating it would probably be 3 stars but I'm giving it more due to the algorithm that does not favor smaller authors.
I'm not sorry I read this series but I'm glad there is not any more of it. I have mostly mixed feelings for this series. It did some things very well and differently but it didn't grab me. I think I prefer LitRPG series where the protagonist is a solo badass rather than a clan chieftain whose focus on building an army. And I also prefer it when death is permanent and you can't respawn so I think these VR video game stories maybe aren't for me. -
Engaging read with satisfying conclusion
I enjoyed this series through and through. Unlike many litRPG series that seem to dribble off into interminable sequels, the story arc here was clear. The characters are written with enough personality that I genuinely felt for many of them. The writing is generally strong and the point-of-view characters each have a unique voice.
One critique I’d offer is that The wife and daughter of the hero were, unfortunately, some of the flatter characters. This is the author’s first series, but he slips into making wonderful ideal woman (though thankfully not over-sexualized) whose lack of flaws make them less real. He does a better job with the protagonist’s niece, who is one of the best developed characters with her own development arc.
That critique aside, I recommend this series to anyone looking for legitimately good writing and world building. Thanks for a great series! I look forward to reading more from him. -
I got chills from this last book! Heart tugging finale ties up the series!
It was a wild, harrowing journey through the world of NEO for Oren. No one could predict that ending and it tugged at my emotions, definitely a great ending.
Throughout Oren’s adventures and quest to save the players, he pushed ahead at every instance driven to save the players trapped in the game world. Little did he know that they were all pawns in a much greater game.
One final climatic battle, a few series close calls and some surprises from both sides of the battle as the VIs pit their strategic skills a(and an army of stone giants) against the players grand strategist and the combined forces of the Greenpiece clan and their vassal cities. And that’s just to get to the entrance of the cave they need.
An exciting well written conclusion to a great series!! -
Heart pounding action inside and out!
A high stakes ending if a little predictable and yet at the same time unseen. I am so glad that they just couldn’t be seen and the battles were amazing with the fighters growing so much and far more strength being given back to the players as the book went on. It was such a power levelling series which kept me hooked! All the characters grew so much within the game and the ball just seemed to continuously pick up pace. I am very much looking forward to seeing how it goes from here and the world changes in itself. A heart twisting ending in so many ways and thank you for not just doing a because I can ending without backing up the full logic. -
Ok I admit it, this author was the first time I’ve ever signed up to a newsletter because I just needed to know when the next book was coming out. The perfect book for someone wanting to dip their toe into the world of LitRPG books, this one has levelling, crafting, special powers, bad guys to hate and a foreboding worry that the MC’s world is going to crash down around them at any point. I listened to the first book in the series while in the car going to a meeting and it ruined my day that I had to leave it behind to deal with boring work.
This year I finished the series with the last book and it was wrapped up rather well though it was a bit of a bitter pill for me to swallow. I didn’t want it to end. -
Epic ending to a very well written series. The characters grew, all of them had a satisfying closure to their arc. The final battle was full of grand moments and had the most epic fight of them all. And the finish was not what I expected--but totally fulfilled the promises made by the series.
As a bonus, the production value of this series grew along the way. Book 1 had a single narrator. We eventually added one more, then multiple narrators for different characters, sound effects and even a dramatic score (which was actually quite good). If you like this genre, highly recommend reading this series and doing so in audio format. -
Excellent, superb and terrific litRPG series!
I am so sad that this series has come to it’s grand finale but, I’m tickled purple that the extremely talented author, Shemer Kuznits, has promised more books in the New Era Online universe, hurray! Excellent characters that I grew to care deeply about and awesome world-building created a near perfect story. I highly recommend it to anyone! This series should be read in the order written to fully enjoy.
Read via Kindle Unlimited -
Well done conclusion.
As a series Life Reset suffers from a handful of missteps, the third book in particular. However in the whole it is a fantastic entry in the LitRPG genre.
It has character, action, a cohesive story, ever increasing stakes, and is just plain fun to read.
This finale is an excellent ending and I live that it was left open for us to return to the world from another perspective. Can't wait for more adventures in NEO.
![EvP [Environment vs. Player]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531232749i/40774974.jpg)
