Dive : Endless Skies
The Dive Sequence Book 1
by Chris Reign
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Pub Date Mar 01 2021 | Archive Date May 08 2021
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Description
For fans of Sword Art Online and epic fantasy in the vein of Malazan, Dive delivers a punchy, team-focused adventure through a simulated fantasy world that reveals the cost of ideals, and the value of sacrifice. If you're looking for a character-driven, action-packed story to introduce you into a deeply imagined realm existing alongside our own, then Dive is your gate. Step through into Endless Skies and join the adventure with Eyre, Sworn, and the team.
Endless Skies, a reality in a game. For most humans, it represents a second life away from the horrors of a broken Earth. To Eyre, her first full-dive into the fantasy realm is a long shot gamble at finding independence, from her family and her past.
Determination, cleverness, and luck get her far enough to pick up a quest from a shady wizard, with the promise to fulfill her deepest desire. The catch: become a lodestone to danger as the quest leads her into dubious salvation at the hands of lethal Guild mercenaries.
Caught up now in the calculations of the team’s enigmatic leader, Sworn, she finds herself aiding them on a march to clear their own objective: the Dungeon of Ironcross Depot and its master, an Unaligned warlord feared by the Guilds. As the body count grows and the subterfuge deepens, Eyre is forced to decide how far she is willing to go to become the vision she has for herself.
Advance Praise
"5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and unique ride
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2021
A novice adventurer finds herself involved with a veteran guild team tasked with a mysterious mission involving king a dangerous dungeon delve.
Very different sort of read. Epic characters, all unique and interesting with a tactical focus almost like a rainbow six squad in a dungeon. Strongly written with style and humor."
Featured Reviews
this was a fun start to a series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed going through this book. The world was built perfectly and I enjoyed reading this.
This is author Chris Reign’s first publication. Dive: Endless Skies was published in 2021 and is the first book in his Dive Sequence series. It is the 16th book I completed reading in 2023.
Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature language, I categorize this novel as R.
This book combines two different genres. On the one hand, it is science fiction due to the immersive Virtual Reality DIVE pods. These (without much explanation) enable the user to become deeply immersed in a game. For the purposes of this novel, the characters are playing the Endless Skies game. Endless Skies is set in a medieval fantasy world complete with magic. The players have access to their User Interface, allowing manipulation of their character settings and viewing their stats.
Eyre is a young woman who has entered Endless Skies hoping to find her independence. She is overly anxious to get into the game, skipping the new user explanation and training. Something that she will regret from time to time.
She picks up a quest, but it is more challenging than expected. She throws herself into it, but finds she is ill-prepared. She luckily falls in with an experienced team from the Reckoning Guild. At first they reluctantly include her, but as she learns and gains experience, they accept her as a full member.
The team is led by Sworn, an old hand at Endless Skies, and is their ‘Tank’. Other team members include Zephyr, Juke, Kerner the warlock, Thera, and Raize. Each has their own special skills. Each of them is deadly in their own way.
The team mentors Eyre, teaching her and helping to guide her character’s development. Together, they face several confrontations, Eyre’s skills grow with each encounter. Zephyr takes a particular interest in the young woman, and a budding relationship ensues. The team’s ultimate goal is confronting a powerful Warlord who has seized Ironcross Depot, threatening the neutrality of the border region.
Will the team complete their mission? Will newbie Eyre complete her quest? Will she even survive?
I enjoyed the 13.5 hours I spent reading this 422-page science fiction novel. I like the story, but I felt like I had missed a couple of chapters at the beginning. I was thrown into the story without much background. While I like the chosen cover art, it does little to prepare the reader for the story. I give this novel a rating of 4.5 (rounded to 5) out of 5.
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