Cosmic Games: An Isekai LitRPG

Cosmic Games, Book 1

De: Wilbur Woods

Narrado por: Eric Jason Martin

Suddenly finding himself on an alien world, a reluctant soldier becomes Earth's ultimate champion in a secret war, in this portal fantasy adventure.

Max Cromwell was only fifteen when his mother died of cancer. Angry and depressed, he spent the rest of his teenage years a rebellious troublemaker, neglecting school and playing video games. Having barely earned his high school diploma, he didn't even attempt applying to college.

But after drifting through a series of uninspiring jobs, Max joins the military for a year of service. The discipline snaps him out of his inertia, the physical exertion increasing his strength and stamina, the focus quieting his restless mind. With his discharge approaching, he feels for the first time like he finally has a future ahead of him. That is, until the sky tears open during a training exercise, casting him through a portal to the world of Alpha Ludus . . .

It seems Max is one of many people abducted from Earth to participate in the Cosmic Games, conducted by the Intergalactic Consortium of Civilized Beings. Humanity and three alien species have been recruited to wage war on behalf of ICCB members in a conflict over resources. The species that wins the game for their benefactors will return to their home planets, rewarded with the knowledge to guide them to peace and immortality. The other, losing species will be made extinct.

Now Max must learn the ways of the intergalactic warrior: channeling mana, developing powerful abilities, and acquiring supernatural weapons. And with every victory against natural threats and alien enemies, he'll evolve into humanity's fiercest protector.

The first volume of this LitRPG adventure series—with more than 600,000 views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!

©2024 Ville Aarne Elmeri Väisänen (P)2024 Podium Audio

Well written

I'm well versed in Lit RPG audiobooks, having listened to over 300 in the last 10 years. There are good, and there are bad. There are those that you simply can't finish because they are so sloppy and bad, and there are those that have a good enough story to listen to, and good dialogue, but still lack that "something" that actually makes the story flow seemlessly and be a joy to listen to. You listen and finish the story, but sometimes it seems more like a chore to finish than the escape you want.
This is neither of those. This is well written and well narrated. This falls in that top 10 percent that you literally and actually ( I know) look forward to getting back into each day and regret when it's finished.
The author reminds me of Kyle Kirrin in his writing style and I'm sure there is some influence there. I easily enjoyed this as much as the Ripple System series, as there were several similarities. The narrator used was new to me, but I will go ahead and put him on the level of Travis Baldree. That man has some competition now.
Anyway, I know this was long winded--- so if you made it this far I apologize. However, I thought this book deserved more than just a thumbs up.
ALSO --- loved the fact that I wasn't subjected to pages and pages of repetitive stats every 20 minutes. Wilbur Woods understands what needs to be said and what doesn't. Thank you for a refreshingly enjoyable Lit RPG style book.

this is A-1LITRPG

I loved the whole level up and the the gun is cool for me also the powers are different from many others.

A LitRPG with a 3 book arc, you dont see that every day.

I got the first book "free" with my subscription and liked it well enough to buy more of the series, which ended up completing in book 3. Of course there is possiblity to proceed but there is no need to.

I found this to be a lot like the Obelisk -system integration story wise. Though I thought that was a little better done as the side characters were more engaging and Earth didnt just disappear from the story. This book series has some interesting side characters but they get very little development as this is mostly just about the MC and his soul bond....who is rarther annoying. He is written annoying and voiced annoying but he is not too prominent either so it was acceptable. As for Earth. It is not clear what actually happened to the planet and for much of the story I wasn't sure if just a portion of the population or if everyone was taken to the game. Ultimately I dont think the author considered it important.

Anyway the story didn't follow its own script and took a turn I didnt expect, at least when it happened, but was actually pretty happy with it. Overall I enjoyed the story.

Characters. Sometimes I liked the main character a lot, sometimes notsomuch. I was not a fan of Maverick. There were others I would have liked to know more about. I wonder if the author had bigger plans and then just eventually edited the story way down. I liked the length so I am not complaining but it just seemed like there could have been more with side characters. (though one quick resolution was very satisfying as I can see some authors dragging it out).

Narrator: I have no real complaints. He did do a voice for Maverick I have personal issues with as it sounds like another narrators bag guy voice in a book that particularly irritated me. Other people probably wont have an issue with it, its not whinny or anything, so he did a good job.

Overall: I enjoyed and recommend the series. though it was nice to get the first book for free I have no regret spending the credits for the other two.

constant new places and action!

great story, keeps you wanting more. gets better all the time, ready 4 next one!

Great LitRPG from a new author.

It wasn’t perfect. There were a few points where I wished the author had done a better job of justifying the MC’s behavior, but these moments didn’t happen frequently enough to spoil the book.

However, for a new author and in light of how terrible the majority of audiobooks in this genre are, I decided to give it five stars. If this was from an established author I would have leaned closer to 4 stars. I went with 5 because I believe that anyone who manages to push back the blight of haremRPGs, and the practically-unedited dross that Audible is constantly recommending to me, deserves encouragement and appreciation.

I will definitely grab the next book in this series.