Eternal Dominion Omnibus, Volume 1: Books 1-4

Eternal Dominion Omnibus Edition

By: Bern Dean

Narrated by: Zachary Johnson, Annie Ellicott

Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Year 2286. Alex Bell has put in 20 years of work in the VR game Eternal Dominion—a full dive fantasy VRMMO game that accounts for around 20 percent of the world's economy. He had risen to the top as a vice guild leader, and thanks to his work, his guild was steps away from truly standing with the other top guilds. Only fate decided to rip it all away at the last moment. After his fall, Alex awakens to see his 18-year-old self looking back at him in the mirror.

It's 2266, and Eternal Dominion is set to launch in a matter of hours. But this time, things will be different. This time, he will succeed in life and make sure his friends and family are along for the ride, even if he has to drag them along to do so.

As a fair warning, this book contains a harem element, but no explicit scenes.

©2023 Bern Dean (P)2023 Soundbooth Theater

Does not include the side stories/bonus content!

While I do recommend the series, I don't recommend the packaging. The series has a large cast of characters, and sadly a lot of them are not fleshed out in the main books. The author however offers for free on the SBT direct app several side stories per book for books 4-13 which flesh out a lot of the characters. The side stories for book 1, 2, and 3 were included at the end of the individual audiobooks, but not in this Omnibus. I can't find any place that offers them separately, you would need to buy the first 3 books individually to hear them. I think the side stories are pretty necessary to really enjoy the series so I can't recommend picking up the Omnibus.

I have heard two real complaints about this series, they don't bother me, but I can understand to a certain extent. The biggest being that this is very much a harem series and I can definitely see it feeling like a bait and switch to some. The first book is pretty much absent of any harem elements, but it starts in book two and the MC's relationships take up a large chunk of every book. He starts of with two girlfriends, and by book 12 he basically has 5 IRL girlfriends, 4 NPC wives and several more waiting in the wings, so if sizeable harems is a problem for you, I really doubt you can get around it.

The other has to do with one of the characters pursuing the MC. She is 17 at the start of the series, a year younger then the MC(if you don't factor in time travel and time dilation). Some view it as predatory, even though he rejects her, tries to get her help and keep her at a distance(she is his sister's friend, so he can't completely shut her out). I'm fairly sure the author added it to make the MC look more virtuous by getting her help and not taking advantage of her, but some people can't see past the fact that she isn't "legal".

harem.

sigh... another book ruined by Harem Story. should have read the reviews. great performance, though. always love dual narration.

A great story, well acted

The start: the MC needs to delete a 20-year character, but somehow goes back in time to the launch of Eternal Dominion. The player is suddenly 18 again. That's the first few sentences of the whole thing ... Sure, it's an okay set-up.

So, the MC knows a lot about a brand new game. He's likeable and the game start is fun. Eternal Dominion is a fine game, but I suspect that there would be better options available in 2260. He's not a jerk and acts intelligently. Since he's acting differently, the past is changed enough that he needs to rely on game knowledge to stay ahead of the curve. It's at least 95% believable.

The narrators are great. Lots of different voices, easy to keep track of who is speaking, great production values. One item of note: Harem. The main character has two girlfriends. I wouldn't mention it except for the fact that other characters complain about it dozens of times, "but you're adults, so we'll have to accept it."

I had lots of fun with it. Highly recommended.

the disgusting harem cringe

a typical litrpg. a good initial hook. ruined later by what I can only describe as the authors own lack of personal depth.

pitty

Takes a HARD left turn into Haremville

the books starts out well enough, a guild leader goes back in time to the release of Eternal Dominion (your standard litrpg VRMMO) and quickly becomes the best player in game with his 5 best friends. Two of his (girl)friends become clerics of a sex God, and they both decide to date the MC. by about book 3 of this omnibus his relationship drama takes about 75% of the page count

Harem

Startet out fun and then turned into a dating show were mc collects all the girls. do not recomend

WARNING WEIRD HAREM!

Book one was absolutely brilliant, but the sequel completely ruins it with this bizarre harem nonsense. Seriously, why did the author decide to derail the story with this? The protagonist’s casual disregard for his best friend's feelings toward one of the girls is infuriating. He’s juggling multiple love interests while pretending to be conflicted about it, which just comes off as disingenuous.
Instead of focusing on a genuine romance with Nicole and addressing their past, the protagonist brushes off the time travel element as if it’s nothing important. It’s maddening! The world was rich and captivating, but it feels like the author turned it into a playground for his self-insert fantasy, prioritizing 'coolness' over coherent storytelling.
I wish I had been warned about this drastic shift before I bought the book. The first installment was fantastic, but everything after that spirals into a frustrating mess centered on the protagonist’s romantic antics. It’s like he’s never heard the word 'no'! What a disappointing turn for a once-great series.