A new groundbreaking Virtual Reality MMO, a giant corporation with unknown motives, and a regular druid lost in the mix.
Atlas finally gets the chance to play the latest VRMMO game with the first-of-its-kind Full Dive experience. Picking a druid, he charges forward into an unknown land as he tries to master an odd combat system. Luckily for him, the crafting system is ripe to make money and the game’s currency is tied to the real-world market.
But a strange dungeon forces him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew. Is the company behind this game truly what it seems to be, or is there a nefarious purpose hidden below the surface?
Why not start this review with a stat block, considering the genre?
| Genre | Virtual Reality Litrpg |
| In-game Setting | Generic Fantasy |
| Pages | 369 |
| Protagonist Class | Druid |
| Protagonist Personality | Bland Gamer Nerd |
| Hope You Like | Lots of Crafting Leather Items |
| Plot | Not Much |
As far as Litrpgs go, I found Atlas Rising to be very middle of the road. Those looking for a plot will probably have to wait for the sequel, as most of the book is spent with the eponymous Atlas methodically playing the game. It’s slice of life, if your life was mostly playing an mmorpg, complete with crafting, learning new skills from trainers and completing fetch quests and kill quests.
The dialogue is a little stilted, the characters two dimensional. The rpg elements at least felt fairly meaty, and combat scenes were usually interesting, with a combat system I’ve not seen before in a Litrpg. It did satisfy the usual ‘numbers go up’ parts of my brain, and was readable enough for me to breeze through it.
Those looking to read their first Litrpg should probably avoid Atlas Rising, but fans of the genre may enjoy it, depending on where their tastes lie.
Verdict: Cut.
