Guild of Tokens
She wants to level up her humdrum existence. But her next quest could spell life or death.
All Jen Jacobs has achieved in life is loneliness. So when she stumbles across a real-life game of epic quests on the streets of New York, she jumps at the chance for some excitement and gold tokens. Little does she know that the items she strives to collect hold a darker purpose…
After a particularly harrowing quest pairs her up with Beatrice Taylor, a no-nonsense and ambitious mentor, Jen hopes she’s on the path to becoming a big-time player. But as she dives deeper into the game’s hidden agenda, she realizes Beatrice has her sights set on the Guild, the centuries-old organization that runs the Questing game. And the quests Jen loves are about to put both of them in grave danger.
Will Jen survive the game before powerful forces cut her real life short?
Guild of Tokens is a thrilling urban fantasy twist on conventional LitRPG. If you like determined heroines, gritty cityscapes, and vampire-free adventures, then you’ll love Jon Auerbach’s rollercoaster tale.
Title: Guild of Tokens
Author: Jon Auerbach
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
Genre: Urban Fantasy / LitRPG
Edition language: English
Format: Audiobook
Listening Length: 11 hours and 12 minutes
Publication Date: 05/11/2020
Publisher: ARC Worlds Publishing
Language: English
ASIN: B0887VXSCQ
My Review
Incredibly imaginative!
The book that keeps on giving.
Guild of Tokens is one of the most imaginative and ingeniously choreographed novels I have ever read. I had the pleasure to listen to this novel on audio and was blown away by its dimensions. Elements from history, fantasy, and fiction all play in concert to create a uniquely crafted plot filled with surprises and suspense.
Jen works in the gaming industry and leads a lackluster life. Days in and out are just mundane. She's in a long-distance relationship, overworked and under-appreciated. Then, one day comes an email, she casually discards, like advertising. Upon receiving it, again and again, she wonders what it's all about: Join the Quest and receive tokens for it.
It turns out that this is a real-life RPG game in which questors collect items or do challenges to gain tokens. Jen is at a prime location in NYC, and her quests start from collecting rats and apples at the beginning and range to tracking down old texts, dodging blows by other players, and ultimately lead to a haunt of life and death.
Somewhere midway in the story, Beatrice, a high-level expert at the game becomes Jen's mentor and they enter a binding contract to work together in this game. What they are after is the centuries-old guild and it hurls them into an adventure of epic proportions.
This novel was amazing and I can't quite wrap my head around how one can think this all up and put it on paper. There was a bit of magic, friendship, heartache, and funny moments that added up into an exciting and dangerous adventure, entertaining and captivating to read.
I liked Jen's character, she is a tenacious one and catches on quickly, but it wasn't until Beatrice entered the novel that everything really revved up. Beatrice is a no-nonsense person, almost blunt or to the point of disregard. She practically takes command of the situations until Jen follows through and they become a team. However, they are not always on the same page and their own agendas don't always line up. The added tug of war complements a hair raising plot with missed chances, backstabs, and secrets.
The idea of questing in real life (role-playing / RPG) may not be far fetched, but Auerbach took that concept to a whole different level when he added historical bits and the old guild in this treasure hunt of clues and mystery combined with what's at stake for the players.
Initially, I had no idea if I would get on with this premise. I never was a gamer but it really wasn't intimidating at all. I'm glad it stayed on the path of a quest, say like geo-caching in a sense on a much bigger scale. It's definitely an exciting story, and I seriously want more people to read this.
Definitely recommend it :)
I received the audiobook of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.
All opinions are my own.
Thank you.