Survival Quest is one of my favorite example of LitRPG and was written by Russian author Vasily Mahanenko. The main character is sentenced to jail for eight years for a crime he inadvertently committed. As part of his punishment, he is immersed into a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (VRMMORPG). He does not get to pick his character and is assigned to be a human shaman, one of the least popular categories. In the first book, our hero learns what life is like in a virtual prison (so he is initially sentenced to hard labor in a prison within the greater gaming world). One of the reasons why I enjoyed the book so much is that the character keeps a positive attitude and learns how to make the best of his brave new electronic world. He is not perfect – the jail sentence is at least partially deserved – but is a sympathetic character and the author does a great job showing how a virtual world might work. His thoughts on making part of the virtual world a penal colony are fascinating. I haven’t read a book about prisoners that I have enjoyed so much since The Moon is Harsh Mistress.
I highly recommend Survival Quest for anyone who enjoys a good read and/or wants to see what LitRPG is all about.
Updated 11/11/15 – the sequel came out today. Will read and review shortly.
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