Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman Book #1)

I understand that the author is not a native English speaker but the prose in this book is horribly stilted and downright painful to read at times. A good proofreader/editor could have alleviated a lot of the problems with this story.

An example:
"Yes, I did recently make a few crafted items," I replied and saw the regional governor's eyes fire up. He almost jumped off the chair, wishing to quickly run to me and snatch, take and appropriate everything I had. The orc narrowed his eyes, piercing me with his gaze. What? You didn't expect this did you? Yes, that's what I'm like."

As another reviewer mentioned, the perspective also randomly changes between present and past tense, making it necessary to re-read passages repeatedly in order to figure out what the author was attempting to get across.

Lastly, the book is incredibly slow. The experience is reminiscent of watching over the shoulder of someone else playing a computer role-playing game. There are moments that appear interesting that are followed by vast stretches of boredom.

Loved the story. Lot of grammatical errors, but it's a young author starting off and the book was cheap so they were easy to overlook. Can't wait for the next book. I've always loved my Shaman classes in MMORPGS so it's nice to see someone giving it some love :-)

Remembering my youth playing D&D is what caught my attention. This book reminded me of why I don't play anymore. Too many stats. The hero in the story is to smart and always seems to be ahead of the curve. Just interesting enough to finish but not good enough to read the next one.

The world where the prison system is now a virtual reality game where if you are a criminal you get kicked around plenty of times. The story is slow paced with no gratifying ending to the book with little explanation to anything. For example, the main protagonist gets sent to prison because he hacked a system for a bet where he was told nothing illegal would happen. Mind you there were witnesses to this bet, and yet at his trial no one comes forward and from what I can tell his defense was useless. Fast forward to the game world and you realize it is slightly messed up in terms of a gamer point of view (If you die you lose all your skill points and almost all your money) there is no possible progression in this game unless you are a player killer. It was a serious task to complete this book due to the fact it was absolutely slow. 5 chapters were literally dedicated to the protagonist looking at his skills and spending day after day of grinding them. It was so boring that I skipped some chapters.

The book was recommended by a friend, so invoiced it up without investigating. The writing style is awkwardly first person. The first couple chapters are poorly edited and meandering. I didn't get farther than that.

The author is Russian. So this wonderful book is a translation of his creativity. The translation was a just a little weak for me in the prologue. It sounded like a Russian telling a story and a Russian (who knows English) translating his words. However, once the actual story begins - the translation is PERFECT. I mean it. In fact, I adore the person or team that is painstakingly translating this amazing Russian creation into an English creation. So the bulk of my gratitude goes to the author for creating a character we care about. But also my sincere thanks goes to the person or team who is re-writing this Russian story as an English story - NOT JUST TRANSLATING! If you like LitRPG into a story told in English.
A real person named Mahan is sentence to 8 years of imprisonment in the game world. His strategy...and possibly a guardian angel...lead to unforeseen adventures. Real creativity combined with real consequences kept me glued to my Kindle. I just love this genre. If you like/love this book - and if you're around 40-50 years old - you gotta ready Ready Player One!

This series is a well written story, revolving around a prisoner and focusing on how he interacts with the game and it's mechanics, as well as the people around him.

The story overall is very well done, it had me going from start to finish of all six books. I binge read them all over the course of a week, and greatly enjoyed every minute.

The writing is fairly well done too. The editing could use a little work (various mis-spellings and grammar mistakes, nothing major, and nothing that distracts from the story). The main writing issue I had throughout the series was at points it felt like it moved VERY quickly. I would get lost in my reading, and feel like I missed something, but upon going back and re-reading, simply found that it wasn't very well written out or described.

*****SPOILERS****** DO NOT READ BELOW BEFORE BOOK 6

The ending of the series felt VERY rushed. It wrapped up some stuff, while leaving others waaaay open. It was satisfying, but when you think more indepth on the book, it didn't close a lot of the circles that it started. It felt rushed. Very rushed.

The author did something very clever.

Everything around the book sounds like a great mix of sci-fi, tech, and fantasy. Seeing the title of the book referring to a "shaman", I have also read enough urban fantasy to not get my hopes up -- the vast majority of urban fantasies I've read leaves me cold. The authors writing it were not connected with themselves, seemed to be writing things to just make a buck. They don't understand magic, or spirit, or consciousness. Given that the book centered around an MMO, I figured the author will treat the shaman's class as just another game mechanic. But that's ok, it looks like great fun anyways.

And while the vast majority of the book involved just that, a protagonist that finds clever exploits to move him through the system, it's not what the book is grounded into. Even from the beginning, the main protagonist was being guided. And so the ending is awesome :-)

But there are also larger questions this story surfaces up. Within the first chapter, the author laid out some ideas on where our "real" society is headed to: we have seen advances in AIs which may well threaten the way we make a living as humans and immersive VR technologies capable of inducing existential crises. What's missing from this book is a pervasive sense of malaise many of us feel here, probably because the protagonist was able to level up quickly enough.

This story is a spiritual journey disguised as a sci-fi. That's what makes it awesome. That disconnection with spirit is something many of the modern day medicine men and women have discussed, something accelerated by technology. Yet somehow, this story weaves that in, as the protagonist discovers deeper aspects of himself.

One of my friends initiated in the ways of the Dagara likes to speak of the Keepers, the Breakers and the Menders. The Keepers are the ancients with a pre-modern view. The Breakers are most of us, with modernist and post-modernist views. We like to separate the Good, the Beautiful, and the True into little pieces until the wonder has been sucked dry. Then we search around, wading through our malaise and existential misery wondering how things can have gone so wrong. The Menders are those of us who, even now, seeking ways beyond the Breakers, beyond modernity, while honoring the ancient ways.

And you can see that in this story.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series. I hope to see deepening of the story. Well, maybe it will turn into a spy thriller. Who knows?

Okay definitely LitRPG.

Our main character is an okay guy. Bit of a bragert, but good natured.

We're set in the near future. After a mistake causes a disruption and our main character is it cause. He finds he is sentenced to 8 years hard labor. This means he entered as a indentured servant in the mines with both his race, class, and profession chosen.

Even virtual prisons aren't nice, but he begins his rise up.

This for me is a great book. Somewhat formulaic, but still clever.

This series is a well written story, revolving around a prisoner and focusing on how he interacts with the game and it's mechanics, as well as the people around him.

The story overall is very well done, it had me going from start to finish of all six books. I binge read them all over the course of a week, and greatly enjoyed every minute.

The writing is fairly well done too. The editing could use a little work (various mis-spellings and grammar mistakes, nothing major, and nothing that distracts from the story). The main writing issue I had throughout the series was at points it felt like it moved VERY quickly. I would get lost in my reading, and feel like I missed something, but upon going back and re-reading, simply found that it wasn't very well written out or described.

*****SPOILERS****** DO NOT READ BELOW BEFORE BOOK 6

The ending of the series felt VERY rushed. It wrapped up some stuff, while leaving others waaaay open. It was satisfying, but when you think more indepth on the book, it didn't close a lot of the circles that it started. It felt rushed. Very rushed.

The author did something very clever.

Everything around the book sounds like a great mix of sci-fi, tech, and fantasy. Seeing the title of the book referring to a "shaman", I have also read enough urban fantasy to not get my hopes up -- the vast majority of urban fantasies I've read leaves me cold. The authors writing it were not connected with themselves, seemed to be writing things to just make a buck. They don't understand magic, or spirit, or consciousness. Given that the book centered around an MMO, I figured the author will treat the shaman's class as just another game mechanic. But that's ok, it looks like great fun anyways.

And while the vast majority of the book involved just that, a protagonist that finds clever exploits to move him through the system, it's not what the book is grounded into. Even from the beginning, the main protagonist was being guided. And so the ending is awesome :-)

But there are also larger questions this story surfaces up. Within the first chapter, the author laid out some ideas on where our "real" society is headed to: we have seen advances in AIs which may well threaten the way we make a living as humans and immersive VR technologies capable of inducing existential crises. What's missing from this book is a pervasive sense of malaise many of us feel here, probably because the protagonist was able to level up quickly enough.

This story is a spiritual journey disguised as a sci-fi. That's what makes it awesome. That disconnection with spirit is something many of the modern day medicine men and women have discussed, something accelerated by technology. Yet somehow, this story weaves that in, as the protagonist discovers deeper aspects of himself.

One of my friends initiated in the ways of the Dagara likes to speak of the Keepers, the Breakers and the Menders. The Keepers are the ancients with a pre-modern view. The Breakers are most of us, with modernist and post-modernist views. We like to separate the Good, the Beautiful, and the True into little pieces until the wonder has been sucked dry. Then we search around, wading through our malaise and existential misery wondering how things can have gone so wrong. The Menders are those of us who, even now, seeking ways beyond the Breakers, beyond modernity, while honoring the ancient ways.

And you can see that in this story.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series. I hope to see deepening of the story. Well, maybe it will turn into a spy thriller. Who knows?

Okay definitely LitRPG.

Our main character is an okay guy. Bit of a bragert, but good natured.

We're set in the near future. After a mistake causes a disruption and our main character is it cause. He finds he is sentenced to 8 years hard labor. This means he entered as a indentured servant in the mines with both his race, class, and profession chosen.

Even virtual prisons aren't nice, but he begins his rise up.

This for me is a great book. Somewhat formulaic, but still clever.

As a former RPG gamer, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I think that those who have at least played a great game once will appreciate this interesting take on dystopian futures. I have read a few where virtual reality games are part of the future, but never in this specific way. It definitely made me want to go back and play.
Meanwhile, in the real world, I will absolutely continue this series and recommend it to friends.

After reading D. Rus's Alterworld, I absolutely had to find more LitRPG to read as I found I loved this genre. Unfortunately, I quickly found most LitRPG atm is pretty crappy with a few being good but nowhere near the same level as Alterworld is at. Maybe it's just because the majority of LitRPG seems to come from Korea and Russia while LitRPG for us here in the states is practically brand new. This is the second book in the LitRPG genre that I'm planning on always reading the sequel to. Truth be told, the format is almost identical to Alterworld. The plot is different, but... it wouldn't be too much of a stretch if I suddenly heard that the author was actually D. Rus and this is a spinoff in the same universe but with different characters. It's top notch and a brother to Alterworld.

Bottom line, if you liked Alterworld by D. Rus, I guarantee you'll like this series just as much.

This book was great. The beginning about how he became a prisoner was kinda boring but the explaination of how and why they imprison people in the game is interesting. They explain the breakdown of the penal colony how it functions, why the character got sent to that colony and what leveling up entails when your a convict. The rules are established early on and consistent no matter what. The character isn't OP and doesn't have random plot armor that lets him take over. Instead he makes friends and allies and begins to learn the true power of his character.

I really enjoyed this book. Similar to Play to Live. This one is about a prisoner who is put into VR with the lockouts disabled so that he experiences full pain.

We get to follow as the MC struggles to adapt to his new character and the harsh conditions in the prison VR mine. Skills are leveled up, innovative solutions are found and madness and mayhem soon ensue.

The Deposed King

This novel deserves all 5 stars just based on its story and it's ability to keep you hooked from start to finish. But it has some issues with its wording and a few scrambled sentences but that can be fixed with a edit or two.
I've read quite a few litrpg and this is a fresh and new perspective.
MC isn't your normal game fanatic who could tell you almost anything about the game, noire is a newbie still learning how to crawl. Instead he's somewhere around the middle who's been around the block a few times and knows what he needs to know.
Normally in litrpg's you have a MC who knows everything from past games and utilizes it in New one or a MC who's new and doesn't have a clue and wings it.
Instead this character discovers that the game he thought he knew was nothing compared to what it could be.

Really, Really enjoyed this one.

If you've read and enjoyed Play to Live by D. Rus you're sure to love this series. Mahanenko did a superb job with writing this book. the plot hooks you right away and I enjoyed the way the character turned what was supposed to be an extremely crippled/misunderstood character into a powerhouse that surprises both himself and those around him.

This is a excellent book but not everyone will like it (duh!). It will appeal to people who enjoy reading about the details and inner-workings of systems, in this case, a Matrix like game system. It has some "action" parts but it's not really about epic battles or tense sword fights.
Imagine a player in a Dungeons and Dragons version of the Matrix. The player has a "Google Glass" like HUD where they can see their status. They get quest, grind professions, everything this is done in a typical MMORPG. This book is basically that player's story. They write about when they level up, they describe the pro and cons of raising one attribute over another, they grind out experience points, they geek out over loot, they make trades with other players, etc. If that sounds interesting to you this book is must read.

This novel was simply incredible. Read this book and the second one in a day each. Very rarely do I enjoy books to this extent. I have read other litRPGs as well, but this series and author are my favorite, by far. I hope that the next installments in the series are translated soon. There is so much that can be built into this story.

I truly enjoyed this book. I love how the protagonist went from self involved to seeing how his actions affect others, his growth was believable and understandable. I also like how the role playing stats were included. Fun. I'm really looking forward to buying the next book.

Delivers on the core promise of a Game based novel. It has actual, detailed and believable game elements wrapping a story that more than carries its own weight. In a sea of misses and almosts that a lot of the non publisher the store titles turn out to be, it is the rare gem that would have been published with a Darrel K. Sweet cover in the old paperback days. If you know fantasy books you know that is high praise. I was completely satisfied with this very good series starter and eagerly await the sequels. Don't hesitate to get this one.

Surprisingly good.

People mentioned this author but I wasn't; sure. Glad I gave it a go.

Its one of those books that can take you somewhere else, that allows the psychedelic world become the reality, the flow from boring earth to fantasy world

I liked the first book on Kindle unlimited. But. Not paying six ars for the rest in the series. That's why I subscribe to KU in the first place. Litrpg is booming, and it's not worth it to me to pay extra.

I am incredibly impressed with this genre of book! I had no idea what to expect, and I had no idea this is John or even existed. I am looking forward to all of the following books and I will purchase them immediately when they come out in English!