Blurb: More than just a game, Valhalla Online was designed as a permanent repository for the uploaded minds of mortals afraid of death. An artificial afterlife.
Samantha’s world is turned upside-down when she arrives in Valhalla - because as far as she knows, she isn’t like the other people uploaded there.
She isn’t dead. At least...she hopes she isn’t.
Now Sam must solve the mystery of her own abduction - or murder! - while trapped inside a virtual world, cut off from communication with the outside. To do this she must do more than simply survive Valhalla - she needs to win the game!
Review: Samantha wakes in the virtual world of Valhalla Online. The biggest problem, other than the constant battles, is that a person has to be dead to have their consciousness put into the game, and she's pretty certain she's not dead. Though her short term memory is fuzzy. She starts on a quest to make it through all nine realms, but she might not even make it through the first when she's trapped in a dungeon.
This fantasy LitRPG is a fun and fantastic short read. We're thrown right off into the game and learn the rules along with Sam. She's smart, but she's not much of a gamer, and that might be a hinderance or an advantage. Being in the armed forces, she already has combat experience, but fighting with swords and shields is something much different. Plus there's magic! There are different factions labeled with colors and there are factions within factions. A lot for Sam to learn as she's led into battle the first moment she wakes. Harald is a great teacher, though, and I love him as the wise old warrior helping her out. (Which makes me fear he might be killed off later!) This is a marvelous introduction to the world in which people have their consciousnesses put into the game after they die. Which could mean a lot on a spiritual level, and the reader does not know what that means at all for Sam who is sure she didn't die. I'll definitely be picking up the next book.