In the future, the megacorps rule the Earth. When emissaries of the galactic community come to evaluate humans for membership, they are appalled that the corps not only tried to bribe them for a favorable review but by the corruption and repression of the population. They embargoed Earth, but also left behind a gift. A game played while sleeping called Tower of Somnus, where players advance and weakened versions of their skills can then be used in their real lives. The true purpose of the game is to promote community and cultural understanding among the varied races, but naturally humans see it only as a way to gain a bit more power. Kat is just finishing her mandatory schooling at 18, but despite her high scores, she couldn't afford to go to college even if the slots didn't all go to the children of managers. In her spare time she is a runner for an information broker hoping to save up enough credits to someday pay off her corporate debt. Everything changes when a friend offers her a subscription to the Tower if she helps him advance. Kat loves it, but Arnold is a terrible player and constantly risking their "lives". If you die it's game over, and you have to acquire another subscription, which neither can afford. Her new skills come just in time to help her in real life, because someone is out to get her.

The book starts off a little slow and spends more time demonstrating how repressed people are by the megacorps than I thought necessary, but I like that it's 60% reality and 40% game storylines. Real life focuses on Kat's career as a runner and how her new abilities allow her to keep up with the street samurai found in the mercenary groups. It seems to me that this is heavily influenced by the Shadowrun RPG setting, especially the cybernetic augmentations of the samurai. The information broker she works for got hold of some evidence regarding the assassination of an executive which has drawn some heat but the mercenaries are quite clear that Kat herself is a target for some reason. Since she ended up as an Elementalist in the game with gravity spells, she manipulates her weight and that of her enemies in creative ways to take down stronger opponents. In the game, she has joined up with a couple of aliens who died and are starting new subscriptions. With their help she makes steady progress through the first level and then up to the second. Power progresses very slowly compared to most LitRPGs I've read. It actually seems that she's advancing faster as a runner than she is an Elementalist.

Tower of Somnus is available in e-book or audio format. It has 4.5 stars both for story and 4.8 for performance on Audible.