*I edited this novel and received a free ARC of the final book, with no obligation to review at all. This review is unbiased and represents my own personal opinions.*
Blurb: In a world grown used to grasping at shadows, there’s nowhere to turn when the shadows start grasping back.
After somehow surviving the day, Michael and Rhea are still no closer to finding Lainey and stopping the chaos spiraling around them. And as the sun goes down, the game ramps up. Armed with strange new powers and a fresh understanding of the danger, they dive into a volatile new update that fills the city and their minds with wild phantoms and desperate echoes of their past. And when the Prometheus virus finally ignites and the revolution begins, they find themselves dragged ever deeper into the rapidly fraying border between reality…and something threatening to become more.
The Dyrnwyn Strain is a new sci-fantasy trilogy with litRPG elements, set in a near future where attention is a commodity, imagination is a weapon, and objective truth is more like a suggestion.
Review: This is Book 2 of a trilogy, so please do read EVOKER first if you want to understand what’s going on with the characters and plot here, because this is very much the continuation of an ongoing story.
We pick up right where we left off for main characters Michael Balder and his younger daughter Rhea, who are on the run from both authorities and terrorists through a city now populated with VR monsters and magic that can actually kill you for real. Their aim is still to find missing daughter/sister Lainey, who is responsible for some of the chaos they are facing, but the stakes are now higher and the decisions they have to make are getting harder.
I love the addition of new player-character Olena to the Balder team, along with the new skills and resources, secrets and uncertainties she brings. Through her background, the story touches gently on issues of domestic violence and PTSD, in addition to continuing to explore grief, loss and the attempt to move on afterwards, the changing dynamics of parenting adult children, and the moral dilemma of standing against people with similar ideals and struggles but dubious (or downright abhorrent) methods.
Packed with plenty of swords-and-sorcery style battles, monsters (virtual, real and human), some clever “computery stuff” and lots of emotional, touching family-drama moments, this is a fast-paced and thrilling LitRPG sci-fi which takes the time to explore ethical questions and human nature along the way.
I’m so excited for Book 3!
About the author
Josh Erikson doesn’t have any fancy credentials to tell you about here. He lives in rural Nebraska (US) with his wife and two children, where he mostly reads, writes, and reads about writing. His many awards and accolades include some beautiful certificates he printed at home, and a yo-yo trick contest he once won at a fun fair in a grocery store parking lot.
Website: https://josherikson.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EtherealEarthSeries/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/Josh_Erikson
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18049265.Josh_Erikson
