Shadeslinger

Difficult one to rate for me.

On on side, It's VR, so imo there are 0 stakes here. This makes it so that I've skipped or skimmed most combat in this series.

On the other, the side characters Frank and House are comedy gold and carry this entire series to the point where I've actually finished 5 books while still skipping most combat.

Ended up being better than I was expecting :)
It's clear the author is pretty familiar with MMO/raiding-style games from the integration of lots of systems, aggro mechanics etc. This makes the combat more interesting, and combined with the cool loot and abilities, makes it feel like I'm getting the buzz from playing a great game (which I don't have much time to actually do these days).

This is the first book in this genre where the death penalties aren't game-ending, which was really refreshing! Allows the main character to not feel overpowered or too lucky.

There are some blocks of stats in there which aren't usually my favorite but it's not too often, so it was alright.

Fun, enjoyable ride

A fun book and looks to be the start of an entertaining series. I can't wait for book 2. I need more House in my life.