Excellent story, compelling telling!

Managed to listen in one sitting & loved every minute, waiting for the next one.

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Some humans are evil.

Radioactive Evolution is set generations after nuclear explosions have destroyed most of the earth and it's people, The wealthy have built havens for themselves away from the radiation, leaving any other survivors to take their chances with radiation and the mutations which followed. Only regular injections of nanites help them to stay alive outside of dwindling 'safe zones.'
The .main protagonist, Jared, wandering alone in search of salvage, unwiting!y bonds himself to a bossy baby dragon, each vowing to help the other's species. The initial 'getting to know you' part of the book is presented with status screens, as in a LitRPG story, an interesting feature. The bonded companions travel through a gross dystopian world having adventures in their dual quest of revenge against the cites and the return of Scarlet's brothers.

The story is action packed with several near death experiences. The world building is imaginative and vividly executed. The narration is also creative with Armen Taylor theatrically reading the text and most of the encountered players whilst Anneleise Rennie voices Scarlet, giving good contrast and increasing the feeling of double bonding. Together, they work very effectively..
Unfortunately, however, this reader could feel little empathy for Jared and also has an aversion to dragons, so found the whole adventure overly long, especially since there is frequent recalling of earlier information. But this is a personal idiosyncracy which would probably not affect other fantasy fans. The book has all of the elements necessary for a solid story: the evolution of the main protagonist from man to hero, the struggle to stay alive in an hostile environment, not one but two quests to fight injustices, the rescue of innocents, the evil enemy, lots of action: it's all there, and more.

My thanks to the rights holder of Radioactive Evolution, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. It was not exactly what I had expected from the brief synopsis given and, although I personally found it difficult to enjoy, I would still recommend it to fans of the fantasy genre.

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Radioactive Evolution

This audio book is an urban fantasy mixed with futuristic science fiction. Lots of video games, historic fantasy, post-apocalyptic narratives, or Dystopian. This fast-paced, heartrending novel of a world after nuclear destruction, a world of mutations from radioactive poisoning.

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2 people found this helpful

Entertaining

This is the story of a future following nuclear devastation with a few elite on a protected island dominating the survivors who attempt to survive on the mainland. It is a world of mutated animals and radioactivity in which people scavenge to obtain what they need.

In the midst of this Jared steals a dragon's egg and becomes bonded with the hatchling. At this point their adventures begin. It is filled with Jared making way too many mistakes and Scarlet having to save him. The narration is mostly excellent except for some of the outburst that are not really needed. While this was not a LitRPG it did exhibit many of the same basic features.

This book was provided free of charge with expectation of an honest review.

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Radioactive Evolution

This was not what I was expecting from the description. I just read a gamer book that I really enjoyed.This one was good to start then just got boring,I listened to about half way through. Armen Taylor was a good narrator.Anneliesse Rennie was ok,but sounded like Alexa most of the time.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

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very addictive

this story grabbed my attention from the first paragraph and clung to it till the last word.
Mr. Hummel have done an excellent job of crafting the world and the story.
The MC quickly become somewhat OP along with his companion, so their struggles rarely seems like they will fail, but the story remains compelling, which is a testament to Mr. Hummels skill.

Armen tailor does a great job voicing the MC and the male cast, however it is Anneliese Rennie that elevates this story to something more than a reading of the book, turning it into an experience.

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My first game lit, but not my last.....

Great story with lots of depth in both the characters and technical details. Dual narration worked really well and delivered a more immersive story. Hope there will be a part two.

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Interesting new series

This was a random reccommended listen and as such I'm very pleased with it. Not only does it harken to LitRPG but takes a new look at the post apocalyptic aftermath and gives the characters a great opportunity to showcase Hummels writing. Narration by the team of Armen and Anneliese worked very well and I would recommend them again.
Outside feeling like it went too fast, I have no bad things to say about this and only ask hurry up with the next audio

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More LitRPG than PostApoc

This story started off strong, grabbing my attention right away. Jared was easy to connect with and then also Scarlet the dragon. The first third of the book was well done and I really enjoyed it. Things do slow down a bit for the final two thirds of the book. Still, I was attached to main characters and needed to know how things would turn out for them.

I really enjoy post-apocalyptic stories, and I also enjoy LitRPG stories. This book combines both. While starting off firmly in the post-apocalyptic genre, it quickly moves to the LitRPG genre with the nanites providing the mechanism to level up. I did find the nanites stuff a little confusing, a little clunky. Even after finishing the book, I’m still not sure what the deal is with the nanites. Are they evil, virus-ridden itty bitty robots? Are they humanities last chance at repopulating the Earth? Perhaps both.

In the beginning, Jared was daring and decisive. Even after he meets Scarlet, he’s still the man with the plan. But as the story progresses and he meets more people, he becomes less decisive and really, really polite. In fact, he becomes so considerate of everyone’s feelings that his personality really gets washed out. This aspect really slowed down the story despite the action scenes rippling through the plot. Jared becomes a rather emotional character.

Overall, the strong start was worth my time. I hope Book 2 can recapture that and carry it forward for the rest of the series. Polite emo Jared is a boring Jared. Give me action-craving, decisive Jared! 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Armen Taylor was a joy to listen to. His deep, smooth voice was perfect for Jared. Taylor did a great job of imbuing Jared’s voice with emotions as well. Taylor also did well with distinctive male voices for the other male characters. Anneliese Rennie voiced all the female voices. Her voice for Scarlet was spot on and she also did a good job with Scarlet’s emotions. She voiced 4 other females (another explorer, an older dragon, a romantic interest, and a teen girl). For the most part, there was little to no distinction among these voices. However, the story’s context was almost always good enough to easily tell who was talking. Taylor narrated the bulk of this story and I think I would have preferred him to do all the voices. However, it wasn’t bad this way. On the technical front, Scarlet’s voice (Rennie narrating) is seamlessly incorporated into the recording. The other female voices were sometimes not as well incorporated. Other than that, there were no tech issues with the recording. 4/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Richard Hummel. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

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1 person found this helpful

Everything about this book was great.

I really enjoyed this book. I was given the opportunity to receive it from the author, Mark Gomez with the understanding that I would review it.
This had similarly with "The Dragon Riders of Pern" series of books by Anne McCaffrey. A human bonds with a dragon and their lives are intertwined thereafter. That's where the similarities end. This setting is a radioactive, post-dystopian earth, where the Earth's elete have abandoned the rest of humanity.
The narration was very good and in no way hinders the progression of the story. I have no problem recommending this book.

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