The Bookwyrm's Review of Magical After By David Gunter

Author: David Gunter

Length: 314 Pages/ 7 Hours, 47 Minutes (Audio)

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: November 14, 2020/ February 4, 2021

Narrator: Aaron Smith

Genre: LitRPG

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"David, let yourself be touched by the celestial bodies. Then yours will be one of imagination and invention. Take this path to find the greatest joy in your new world. When you look up to the great expanse, you will see what others do not. For you, the stars will be a marker and a sign. All that you imagine and create will be touched by the might of the stars..."

PLOT SYNOPSIS

A man whose world has been shattered embarks on a daring and dangerous adventure. In a last and desperate hope, he enters a virtual world only to find that it is so much more. Join him as he faces werewolves, dragons, and fairies. How will he escape assassins, deal with the rise of the zombie demons and uncoil the control the gods have on the two worlds of Atsia Major and Atsia Minor.

REVIEW

I have to say up front this book caught me by surprise several times. The first surprise was, even with a pretty short amount of the books time set in the real world, it was surprising well written and in-depth. The struggles the main character has after the death of his wife are just so well plotted out. The cause of his wife's death is also is also written in such a way as to create a great conspiracy story, with a lot of unknown factors being revealed both in game and in the real world. The second surprise was how little the story resembles the usual crunchy stats LitRPG. While there is a bit of character progression and the like, it mostly plays out like an epic fantasy, although the use of a narrator describing scenes and the NPC's clueless about who this voice from the sky describing everything is quite humorous. 

The characters are a a lot deeper than you would expect in what is considered a light and fluffy genre. The main character, David, is a widower mourning the death of his wife while struggling to raise small children. His diagnosis with a life threatening illness opens a new possibility for him, as he's offered the chance to go into a game world while his body heals, and his children can visit with him there. His character arc really takes off from there, as in game, he discovers all is not as he was promised, and the game world is certainly not what he was told it would be. 

The secondary characters are a fun bunch, and run the gamut of fantasy game characters. I especially enjoyed the undead sisters Syl and Slow, who added a lot of levity, and the pirate Sinbad, who is just a hilarious stereotype of a pirate. The villains are well done, with realistic motivations and actions, not just mustache twirling and cackling. Whether it be the supplanted company CEO, or the former Spec-Ops soldier who's consciousness was copied into the machine, they are both dealing with situations beyond their control, and trying to complete their tasks, no matter who they have to hurt to accomplish them. 

The world building in the story is top notch. Atsia Major and Atsia Minor are so well conceived and executed, and provide a wide range of fantasy settings for the story to take place in. Whether is a fairy forest or a city where the dead walk and "live" fairly normal lives, and every kind of setting in between, there's something here for any player. and over it all, there seems to be a ghost in the machine pulling hidden strings, a ghost with a connection to David that could change things forever for him. And just who is that pesky narrator, who keeps interrupting all those villain monologues? You'll have to read to find out.

The narration for the audio book was handled by Aaron Smith. I was unfamiliar with him coming into this one, but I enjoyed his work. He has a nice British accent, and did a nice job using a variety of British accents, tones and pacing to create unique voices for each of the characters. His pacing on the narration is excellent, never slipping into a monotone, keeping the listener engaged. I look forward to hearing more of his work in the future.

All told, this was a positive experience for me reading this one. Its a creative world with interesting characters I think a lot of readers can sympathize with. There's a lot for fans of LitRPG and fantasy to enjoy in this story. I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: 8.5/10 Stars