Alpha Company: Alpha World, Book 3

Well written and easy going. Lots of fun had by all. It is interesting to see how the characters unfold. I am looking forward to see how the story progresses in the next book.

*Just an FYI, Adult themes exist in this story but they’re not a huge part of the story. Also, non-traditional relationships are discussed in this novel.*There are three story threads in the novel. 1) Guild stuff: Recruiting, guiding, Dealing with jerks, plans to grow, contests, raid plans. 2) Plot advancement: deal with nobles, heir thing, deadlands stuff, stuff with the dark one. 3) Personal stuff with MC. Polyamory stuff. Dealing with psychological issues. Personal stuff with Karen and Fluff.The first two story threads are good. The new developments that happen with all the new guild members and plans to help the guild grow are fun and interesting. The main plot of the story advances too. These are good storylines and lots of great RPG action occurs in the story. There are plenty of cool fights. On its own, these elements of the novel would get a 7 out of 10.However, the author does something in this novel that elevates the story from good to great. That third thread is so interesting and is developed in such a cool way that I couldn't help but give the story a score of 8 out of 10.*Minor Spoilers ahead*Ok. The details about that third thread of personal development are going to get minorly spoilery.There are two things that I found utterly fascinating about this novel.The first is that there are several frank several discussions, mostly late in the story, about polyamorous relationships. Even though I personally, am not interested in this type of relationship, it was still utterly fascinating to see these characters talk about it. It was almost like I was getting a transgressive peek into the pillow talk of a group of friends I knew. The dialogue in these sections reveals that each person has their own issues and hangups. They each also have their own specific needs both emotionally and physically. The attraction of the polyamorous relationship for these characters is as much about emotional needs/fulfillment as sexual desires.The second extra interesting aspect of the story is the psychological exploration of the past of several characters by exploring their memories. Stacia, as a succubus, has some dream/memory walking power that allows her to explore a person’s memories. Think of the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and those memory explorations. It’s like that but less weird and more revealing of traumatic pasts. I mean, there are some serious revelations for some characters through this. The disclosure of these traumatic memories and their exploration in the story create a bond with the reader. I think it’s a great way to reveal backstory and hidden motivations of the characters.Overall, I had a good time reading about all the normal action-adventure MMO stuff and the guild expanding adds some interesting stories. However, it’s the exploration and discussion of polyamorous relationship and the psychological exploration through memory sifting that pushes the story to a 8 out of 10.Score: 8 out of 10

This would easily be a 5 star book and series if not for the ridiculous assassin subplot.They're in a city devoted to a God of justice, but assassins are allowed to operate with impunity. The king even openly supports them, since people are allowed to send assassins after anybody, but if they kill somebody themselves they go to jail, even if the person they killed is continually sending assassins after them. This makes no sense at all.There's also the ridiculous notion that the son of a middling noble somehow can spend a lot of money ("a tidy sum, even for a noble") to constantly assassinate somebody for...calling his brother the wrong name. This is made even more ridiculous by the fact that our protagonist was specifically told that having the favor of a specific noble would be a deterrent against being attacked. It was not. Even having the favor of the king means nothing.This is further compounded when said noble spends what must be a truly staggering sum to target an entire guild, despite that guild including nobility and having a charter from the king. Why would this be so completely ignored in any society, much less one devoted to Justice?

Alpha Company is the third book in the Alpha World series by Daniel Schinhofen.I find it upsetting how understanding and comforting everyone is towards Fluff and her need to hold back from anything more than friendship, when you take into account how they pressure Alburet. Sure, it's nearly entirely different... But it still comes off in a disappointing manner. That these women who claim to love him can't be more patient with his qualms, and instead keep trying to force him into the situation. While you can tell he is still interested in further exploring a deeper connection to more women, it's almost insulting that they aren't willing to understand and work at his pace. While it appears the author is trying to lay the blame solely on his head with his self inflicted wounds and memory repression. I think it all truly adds more credence to view their actions in a hypocritical fashion, when comparing the way they treat two people they claim to care for whom share similar insecurities. It comes off really forced to skew towards a harem.I was really hoping this book would pick up and force the story into more development for Alpha World. However, their questing was all over the place compared to how they previously acted and seemed moreso to shake up the foundation of their previous growth, than to add to it. Taking into account, also, that they merely spent a slim fraction of the book exploring one small section of the Elven Lands. All adding up into a combobulation of randomness.I'm going to at least check out the next book because the Dead Lands as a concept are an intriguing mystery hinted at since the very first book in this series. But if we don't at least tackle some of Seamus' deep seeded internalized issues, or have some compounding world building, I won't be reading further.

Third book in the series and I am truly hooked. I love the way the characters react with each other. The NPCs and the real game players react so great together. This is like a fantasy role player dream come true. Can't wait to see where the next book leads.

I was skeptical of this series at first but having read almost non-stop through the first three installments I can say this is a well done story with plenty of fun and excitement. I can not wait to continue.Also, I have spotted a few references to various pop-culture media\people, I especially found the "Rock" reference amusing.

The story continues to keep me enthralled and wanting more it is very hard to put down once I have started reading I love the story so far

Didn't feel this book was as good as the first two. Always felt like it was just killing time till the 4th book as the ending of book 3 sets up what should hopefully be a spectacular battle in the next book.It could be that I am more interested in the alpha world characters than the real world characters and although I can see that the author is trying to provide substance to the characters and provide depth for me every page was a wasted page when it came to that.I will buy the 4th book and am hoping for the battle that has been set up to be on a grand scale, bigger nastier enemys to fight and the alpha world plot to move along more.

Continues and evolves a very good story. Starting the volume off in the real world was a nice touch as it introduced you to old characters with a new feel.As the story progresses the subtle hints in the previous volumes become a lot less subtle - all is not as it should be with the memories of our central hero. It doesn't take much to extrapolate and have a good stab at the reality of his past but hey, I'm enjoying the book so there's no complaints from me.Other than too long between releases ^_^

I'm loving the characters and story more each book and cannot wait to see what happens next. There are some mistakes here and there but they are just bumps in the road of a good story. Cheers!

I do really enjoy these books however I think more story less game details are required it’s a book so more story

As stated in other reviews only a few authors or books get 5* so a 4 can be considered the highest rating i can give. This series in the litrpg genre is easily up with the top 10 writers & if "Ready Player One" can be made into a movie i don't see why this series (or some of the others) can't be turned into one or more movies though Alpha Worlds would have to be 16/18+ due to some of the more adult content.