Level Zero: The NextWorld Series, Book 1
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Level Zero: The NextWorld Series, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Jaron Lee Knuth (Author, Publisher), John Pirhalla (Narrator)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 370 ratings
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The never-ending wars, pollution, and overpopulation of the near future have caused the outdoors to become uninhabitable, and the government is forced to create a new world, a virtual existence that allows civilization to continue. Shopping malls, schools, concert venues, and religious gathering places all exist in the infinite confines of this new reality, yet the most popular domain for most teenagers is the one that houses the endless array of digital games.

When the sequel to a popular title is released to the public for a special beta test, a group of players eagerly log in to try out the new experience. What seems like harmless violence quickly turns all too consequential when the players realize the game's biggest error: They can't log out. Forced to battle their way through an endless army of monsters programmed to kill their avatars, the players must fight against the clock and find a way out of the game before the real world catches up to them.

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  1. Listening Length
    7 hours and 12 minutes
  2. Author
    Jaron Lee Knuth
  3. Narrator
    John Pirhalla
  4. Audible release date
    January 24, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Jaron Lee Knuth
  7. ASIN
    B01N4QAI7J
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 7 hours and 12 minutes
Author Jaron Lee Knuth
Narrator John Pirhalla
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date January 24, 2017
Publisher Jaron Lee Knuth
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B01N4QAI7J
Best Sellers Rank #442,752 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1,012 in Science Fiction for Children
#1,207 in Cyberpunk Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#7,654 in Cyberpunk Science Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
370 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Razor
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2015
Verified Purchase
It was a very captivating book. Great character development. In fact, so good that Cyren's truth didn't come to me as a surprise. Kade couldn't connect with people. He was so immersed in the game that it was an easy plot to uncover. Kade's character development was done so well that I wonder if the author poured some of himself in the character. I am not a writer, but my suggestion would be to create confustion around who Cyren is so it is not so obvious. It was also obvious that Kael was going to help out at the end and that Kade was going to stay there.

The character development was great. Really easy to picture the characters. Different characters pop up at different times and Kade gets to know them over a period of time. But we hear about the characters' real lives in a single setting. I thought that was a little rushed. Maybe talk about the characters in different settings.

The story had a great flow, great adventures, and I loved the writing style.

Just bought the second book. Can't wait to start reading it.
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Davey's Mommy
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting world and characters
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2013
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Level Zero was an interesting take on teen dystopian. In this particular world, overpopulation became such an issue that people were basically herded into incredibly tall apartment towers. The towers seem to be pretty tiny, but that's okay. Nobody lives in the real world, anyway. They all live online, in a virtual reality world, logging off only to use the bathroom and eat a gooey "vitapaste" that has all their nutritional needs in it. Our hero, Arkade, would stay logged on for the rest of his life if he could. He strongly prefers gaming solo to anything social. I thought my social awkwardness was bad... This boy makes me seem like social butterfly of the year. He has no desire whatsoever to interact with anyone, not even in his games. The game he prefers to play allows grouping and chat, but he refuses to group with anyone or even say so much as hello to other players. When the long-awaited sequel to his game is released in beta and he is chosen as a beta tester, Kade eagerly logs on to try it out. Soon, however, Kade finds that he cannot log off. Nor can anyone else. Forced to team up with his only friend and a few other players for survival, Kade slowly learns to socialize and even to love.

Level Zero was a good, solid story. The characters were interesting, and the society was intriguing. I would have liked to know more about the world's society and how it got to where it was. What exactly led up to the apparent single, world government? Why were North Americans discriminated against? The no teeth thing...what's up with that? Did they just evolve to not need teeth because of the paste they eat, or do they have them removed? I really want to know this. I know, it's not important to the story and doesn't really matter, but dang it, I just want to know! Oh, and Fantom's "slang" drove me like crazy or whatever, yo. Seriously. There has to be more than just three slang words. I wanted to shake her. Also, the ending left me a bit unfulfilled. I don't know, I just think it could have ended better. It didn't really seem like Kade learned as much as he could have learned. Still, great story.
One person found this helpful
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Benjamin Efinchuk
3.0 out of 5 stars Review
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2013
Verified Purchase
Not a bad one. Parts of the plot are somewhat predictable, but it's an interesting take on the idea. Worth the read, well described combat, moral is played on slightly thick for my taste but not to the point where it interferes with the narrative.
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Kora87
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun YA Story
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2013
Verified Purchase
This was a really fun story. It was easy to get into and hard to put down. This story involves a world where most of it is lived in a virtual reality. Some people still need to live in the "real world" most of the time to take care of maintaining the system, but most people want to live in the "NextWorld" as much as they can. When Arkade, a 15 year old videogame junkie gets an exclusive invite to test a new game, he`s thrilled. The videogame is unlike anything he`s ever seen and it starts behaving in very unexpected ways.

If you are looking for a fun, quick read, this story is a good one. Also, if you know any antisocial, teenage videogame addicts, it will remind you of them.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kuro_Neko
3.0 out of 5 stars I can't really recommend this. The protagonist starts out unlikable in the ...
Reviewed in Canada on June 30, 2015
Verified Purchase
I can't really recommend this. The protagonist starts out unlikable in the beginning and is only tolerable by the end. All the plot twists were easily predicable and the plot in general was fairly simplistic. Even the litRPG elements were pretty weak, with virtually no details about how the game mechanics worked.
One person found this helpful
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Bluesarat
5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyed !! One for Otherland fans!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
Did you like this?? Otherland: City of Golden Shadow Bk. 1 ????
If so then grab this one too...easily just as well written...the theory behind this dystopian adventure set in a fantasy gameworld is that earth has literally become so overpopulated as to be uninhabitable...when there was no more room to build out we built up..you do not actually need more than your living quarters..somewhere to sleep/bathe/eat and an e-womb to connect to the virtual "Nextworld"..the best ones you don't even have to leave..regular people still have to leave their e-womb to take care of their bodies thus enabling their minds to be productive in the virtual!!
It has everything you need..schools,socialising,work and online gaming,so advanced it is amazing...all you need really to exist is a brain BUT be careful you may not be the cleverest species after all.I will not leave any spoilers this is a must read for fans of dystopian/fantasy/gaming fiction and a good read for anyone else!!
2 people found this helpful
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Rob
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in Australia on August 4, 2015
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I enjoyed this series but it isnt the best book in the genre
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Techno Hippy
4.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively interesting read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 17, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book managed to deceive me (in a good way!), at the beginning I thought 'nice idea', but it had a bit of a trashy feel to it, as if pitching at the lowest common demoninator. However as I progressed I realised there was an interesting and quite philosophical thinking going on beneath the text. I appreciated it even more by the way it kept it as subtext hidden beneath a gamey and fast paced action story. Unfortunately it slightly spoils it by explaining everything near the end, but it still felt satisfying.

The story is set in a dystopian future where population overcrowding means that many people spend most of their time in virtual space. This future is described in an interesting and plausible way. One of the key areas is entertainment, in particular online and competitive gaming. These future games are of a calibre only dreamed off with present day technology.

Everything centres around a young man who prefers the virtual world to the real one and thanks to his skills is invited to a beta test for the new version of his favourite game. This new vision is an order of magnitude advancement on the previous version, but the players encounter a problem, they cannot log out. From that point it is a race against time for them to find a way out of the game before their real bodies die in their e-wombs.

It's certainly a fun idea and well executed, it's a quick and gripping read. I figured out what was going on very early in the story, but that didn't ruin my enjoyment. Once aspect I did find interesting was the authenticity of the gaming action, it had a surreal element to it that works in the context of actually experiencing the illusion of a game with all of your real senses. All in all a fun read and worth checking out.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Sucked into the game
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2014
Verified Purchase
A story of young gamers sucked into a game and forced to battle to the end to escape.
Largly aimed at a young adult audience and lacking in the depth or characterisation to be another - Ready Player One.
2 people found this helpful
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