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The Way of the Shaman #3
The Secret of the Dark Forest
The Virtual World of Barliona is a place of rest and entertainment - but not for everyone. It has become a survival arena for Daniel Mahan after he was sentenced to 8 years in its virtual jail. Mahan has been through it all: the back-breaking work in the mines, betrayal by other prisoners, and finally, the retrial which has released him into Barliona's common world. What more could one want? Mahan could have kept a low profile and enjoy relative freedom while serving the rest of his time. But being a Shaman, he can't help himself. Soon he's a clan leader, taking fifty of the continent's top players to claim the secrets of the Dark Forest.
596 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 4, 2013
605 people are currently reading
784 people want to read
About the author
Vasily Mahanenko
80 books1,082 followersBe the first to know when Vasily Mahanenko’s next book is available! Follow him at https://www.bookbub.com/profile/v-mah... to get an alert whenever he has a new release, preorder, or discount!
Vasily Mahanenko is a fantasy author working in the new genre of LitRPG - the MMO-based fantasy and sci fi. His Way of the Shaman series took Russian literature by storm in 2012.
Vasily dipped into his college-days insider knowledge as a hardcore gamer in order to create a believable world of the virtual-reality MMO game. His bestselling series combines fiction and video games, telling the story of Shaman and his friends stuck in the ruthless reality of Barliona. He used his more than ten years' experience as an ERP implementation project manager to approach his writing in a well-organized manner, working to a strict schedule, a set of deadlines and even a budget. At the moment, the series boasts six novels with the seventh one in the works - this time the author expands on stories of Shaman's companions and those who helped and supported him in his trials and tribulations.
The first book of the series has already been translated into English, with more translations to follow, aiming to make the Way of the Shaman series available to the English-language reader in its entirety.
Vasily's other passion is space exploration which is why he now works on a follow-up series entitled Galaktiona. Set in a space-simulator based world, the first book of the series in already finished while Vasily works on its sequel.
Vasily Mahanenko is a fantasy author working in the new genre of LitRPG - the MMO-based fantasy and sci fi. His Way of the Shaman series took Russian literature by storm in 2012.
Vasily dipped into his college-days insider knowledge as a hardcore gamer in order to create a believable world of the virtual-reality MMO game. His bestselling series combines fiction and video games, telling the story of Shaman and his friends stuck in the ruthless reality of Barliona. He used his more than ten years' experience as an ERP implementation project manager to approach his writing in a well-organized manner, working to a strict schedule, a set of deadlines and even a budget. At the moment, the series boasts six novels with the seventh one in the works - this time the author expands on stories of Shaman's companions and those who helped and supported him in his trials and tribulations.
The first book of the series has already been translated into English, with more translations to follow, aiming to make the Way of the Shaman series available to the English-language reader in its entirety.
Vasily's other passion is space exploration which is why he now works on a follow-up series entitled Galaktiona. Set in a space-simulator based world, the first book of the series in already finished while Vasily works on its sequel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
July 26, 2023
3.5/5⭐️
March 19, 2022
Póki co jest to bez wątpienia moja ulubiona część! Dzieje się tutaj najwięcej niespotykanych rzeczy, a zakończenie pozostawiło mnie w szerokim uśmiechu. Szaman Machan po raz kolejny zaskakuje nas na każdym kroku! Tym razem namieszał bardziej, niż kiedykolwiek wcześniej, co podobało mi się o wiele bardziej, niż w poprzednich częściach!
September 3, 2025
Jestem pod ogromnym wrażeniem tej części! Bez wątpienia była to najlepsza z dotychczasowych i nie mogę się już doczekać dalszym przygód Machana.
Nie będę zdradzać fabuły, jednak akcja się zapętla, wątki rozwijają, a akcja wręcz pędzi. Na prawdę nie wiem kiedy pochłonęłam całość, ale poczułam ogromny niedosyt.
Pióro Wasilija Machanienko jest wręcz obłędne. Sposób w jaki potrafi wprowadzić czytelnika w swój świat jest zachwycający. W dalszym ciągu jestem zdania, że jest to obowiązkowa pozycja dla fanów gier, jednak nie tylko, ponieważ nawet totalny laik będzie mógł zakochać się w wykreowanej przez autora rzeczywistości.
Nie będę zdradzać fabuły, jednak akcja się zapętla, wątki rozwijają, a akcja wręcz pędzi. Na prawdę nie wiem kiedy pochłonęłam całość, ale poczułam ogromny niedosyt.
Pióro Wasilija Machanienko jest wręcz obłędne. Sposób w jaki potrafi wprowadzić czytelnika w swój świat jest zachwycający. W dalszym ciągu jestem zdania, że jest to obowiązkowa pozycja dla fanów gier, jednak nie tylko, ponieważ nawet totalny laik będzie mógł zakochać się w wykreowanej przez autora rzeczywistości.
February 22, 2018
The author tells a complete story in this book, for which I'm thankful since he completely failed that simple test in book 1 of this series. He actually is a pretty good and intelligent writer in many ways but his management of the "big picture" leaves a lot to be desired. Here the author tells the story in a somewhat convoluted way and is constantly adding characters. Plus he does things like tell the story of how the main character keeps missing connections with a girl he knows from the real world, a story that has nothing to do with the actual focus of this book and could be told in a sentence whenever these two finally get together.
Still, I don't regret reading this book, largely because it is intelligent. I once read a superhero LitRPG series where the main bad guy hid her identity from everyone always until about 1/3 of the way through book 2 when she literally flew down out of the sky without warning and announced to the main character who she was, what her power was and what her greatest weakness was in two sentences. This author, at least, will never do anything that stupid.
Bottom line: Okay read but not great.
Still, I don't regret reading this book, largely because it is intelligent. I once read a superhero LitRPG series where the main bad guy hid her identity from everyone always until about 1/3 of the way through book 2 when she literally flew down out of the sky without warning and announced to the main character who she was, what her power was and what her greatest weakness was in two sentences. This author, at least, will never do anything that stupid.
Bottom line: Okay read but not great.
June 10, 2025
audiobook
June 19, 2017
Mahan's Journey to godhood continues. (2.5/5 stars)
Our protagonist is finally able to fulfill his obligation from book 1 and with his buddies create their own clan to go on their first quest together.
In the previous two books whatever happened to Mahan was the direct result of his own actions. here however the focus shifts to the side characters as they do all the work while Mahan reaps the unique rewards because chosen one.... who got Mary Sue as a girlfriend because ofcourse he did...
This one has Pacing problems and I'm not sure why the forced Dialogue of them talking about their RL was in there this time, it comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere and everyone goes both deaf and mute when two people are talking... it's weird.
What I don't understand is the logic behind it all, Mahan's goal from the very beginning is 100 Mil in game to get bail and hopefully some rainy day funds for RL.
But at this point His armor is probably worth that much with all the uber special one of a kind items being thrown at him left and right, he was offered 200 Mil for a quest item in his pocket tax free (yes double what he needs) and his current status as a unique craftman, odd jeweler and MMO game fame is more then enough to get him an income from the game when he makes bail...
So why doesn't he? because there are more books in this series, that is the only real reason and yet the Author refuses to bring his character down a bit from mount Everest where he currently stands.
Honestly I found this painfully hard to get through, I really do hope this series doesn't take the "chosen one" path of narration, it's just too boring. I don't recommend this one.
Our protagonist is finally able to fulfill his obligation from book 1 and with his buddies create their own clan to go on their first quest together.
In the previous two books whatever happened to Mahan was the direct result of his own actions. here however the focus shifts to the side characters as they do all the work while Mahan reaps the unique rewards because chosen one.... who got Mary Sue as a girlfriend because ofcourse he did...
This one has Pacing problems and I'm not sure why the forced Dialogue of them talking about their RL was in there this time, it comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere and everyone goes both deaf and mute when two people are talking... it's weird.
What I don't understand is the logic behind it all, Mahan's goal from the very beginning is 100 Mil in game to get bail and hopefully some rainy day funds for RL.
But at this point His armor is probably worth that much with all the uber special one of a kind items being thrown at him left and right, he was offered 200 Mil for a quest item in his pocket tax free (yes double what he needs) and his current status as a unique craftman, odd jeweler and MMO game fame is more then enough to get him an income from the game when he makes bail...
So why doesn't he? because there are more books in this series, that is the only real reason and yet the Author refuses to bring his character down a bit from mount Everest where he currently stands.
Honestly I found this painfully hard to get through, I really do hope this series doesn't take the "chosen one" path of narration, it's just too boring. I don't recommend this one.
November 10, 2020
Zdecydowanie najlepsza część. Czekam na kolejną.
❤❤
❤❤
January 23, 2022
Ta książka pomogła mi wyrwać się z zastoju czytelniczego. Jest bardzo dobra, ale nie idealna. Były momenty, gdy miałam wrażenie, że książkę pisano jakby "na szybko", ale ogółem mega mi się podobała.
September 1, 2018
Rating 3.5 stars
I dropped the rating for this book a little bit. The first 2 books in the series I rated 4.o stars and this one had a couple of issues which caused me to lower my rating a little bit. In the first book, Man is in the mines as a prisoner, so there were limits to his actions which I could see being placed on him. In the second book, he was out of the prison, but still could not enter the main game yet because of his sentence time, so again there were limits placed on him. In this book he is now in the main game. He still can't leave the game for another 7 1/2 years, but a lot of the limitations he had in the first 2 books are gone. There are still hints about the downside of his situation. First of all the pain sensation is still in place. So anyone can attack him, kill him and he would feel all the pain that ensues. On the flip side, if he attacks anyone (NPC - non player character, or another player) without cause, he will be sent back to the mine to finish out his sentence? How fair is that. He can only fight back to defend himself, and yet players who aren't prisoners can do anything they want. If man attacked another player, they would not be hurt at all since their sensations are turned off. Also, there is no real death in the game, so this really does not seem reasonable at all. And if he attacked an NPC, he would go back to the mines too? They are not real! That would be like being sentenced to prison for killing someone while playing Call of Duty.
There was a little too much going on in this book. There is the real world. People play this game so they can make money and use it in the real world. But everything in this world is not real and created by the company that runs the game. So if Man is put into a terrible situation, is it his fault or the developers fault? There was also a bit in here about players losing control of their own actions whenever they were hit with a buff. That starts leaning into coercion and mind control.
I still like the overall story and the way the character analyzes problems. If I ignore the parts I don't understand/agree with, this is a very good book.
I dropped the rating for this book a little bit. The first 2 books in the series I rated 4.o stars and this one had a couple of issues which caused me to lower my rating a little bit. In the first book, Man is in the mines as a prisoner, so there were limits to his actions which I could see being placed on him. In the second book, he was out of the prison, but still could not enter the main game yet because of his sentence time, so again there were limits placed on him. In this book he is now in the main game. He still can't leave the game for another 7 1/2 years, but a lot of the limitations he had in the first 2 books are gone. There are still hints about the downside of his situation. First of all the pain sensation is still in place. So anyone can attack him, kill him and he would feel all the pain that ensues. On the flip side, if he attacks anyone (NPC - non player character, or another player) without cause, he will be sent back to the mine to finish out his sentence? How fair is that. He can only fight back to defend himself, and yet players who aren't prisoners can do anything they want. If man attacked another player, they would not be hurt at all since their sensations are turned off. Also, there is no real death in the game, so this really does not seem reasonable at all. And if he attacked an NPC, he would go back to the mines too? They are not real! That would be like being sentenced to prison for killing someone while playing Call of Duty.
There was a little too much going on in this book. There is the real world. People play this game so they can make money and use it in the real world. But everything in this world is not real and created by the company that runs the game. So if Man is put into a terrible situation, is it his fault or the developers fault? There was also a bit in here about players losing control of their own actions whenever they were hit with a buff. That starts leaning into coercion and mind control.
I still like the overall story and the way the character analyzes problems. If I ignore the parts I don't understand/agree with, this is a very good book.
March 19, 2023
I’m sorry, ale drugi tom podobał mi się bardziej… 3.5 - tutaj duży wpływ na ocenę miało świetne zakończenie, bez tego byłoby gwiazdkę mniej
July 26, 2022
4.5 gwiazdki
Fajna książka, świetny plot twist na końcu
Polecam
Fajna książka, świetny plot twist na końcu
Polecam
May 7, 2023
Reread. Tak samo jak dwie kolejne części pochłonęła mnie całkowicie. Gdyby nie zobowiązania i obowiązki to brałbym w tym momencie urlop na kolejne 4 tomy 😍
April 2, 2024
Troooche nudniejsza niż poprzednia część ale i tak kocham
November 16, 2018
This book had a lot of tiny issues that bugged me. I'm giving it a 3.5
The story is good and the plot was really interesting. But as a gamer I have to lower my rating for this novel just from my gamer view because a lot of things just don't make sense.
Anyhow, I like The Way of the Shaman more than his previous work (Alterworld) and I'm interested to see the author's development in his newer books.
The story is good and the plot was really interesting. But as a gamer I have to lower my rating for this novel just from my gamer view because a lot of things just don't make sense.
Anyhow, I like The Way of the Shaman more than his previous work (Alterworld) and I'm interested to see the author's development in his newer books.
July 6, 2016
I read it as the book was being translated, This is once again on of the best series of this type of books available. absolutely love reading them, Very hard to put down!
July 7, 2016
Better and better
Has good flow, characters are developing depth and humor. Doesn't bog down with pages of stats. Ready for book 4
Has good flow, characters are developing depth and humor. Doesn't bog down with pages of stats. Ready for book 4
June 21, 2021
4/4.5 gwiazdek
Jak na razie jest to mój ulubiony tom serii Droga szamana. Widać, że autor nie hamował się z różnymi określeniami, sytuacjami, nazwami i ogólnie całą akcją. Książka jest momentami tak zabawna, że normalnie płakałam ze śmiechu - a niektóre sformułowania mam ochotę wcielić nawet w życie. Styl również trochę się poprawił - najlepiej czytało mi się tę część, bo nie było w niej suchych faktów czy praktycznie samej terminologii typowej dla gier, nie było tutaj też samych questów (tak jak było w tomie 2.). Ewidentnie coś się zmieniło na lepsze i czytało się to naprawdę przyjemnie.
Machan tutaj także staje się takim bohaterem... zmienionym. Nie jest już tym samym więźniem, którym był w pierwszym tomie; nie jest tym graczem, który próbował zrobić wszystko, żeby tylko odnaleźć się jako wolny gracz w drugim tomie. Tutaj mamy do czynienia z Machanem, który ma już doświadczenia w grze; wie, jak sobie pogrywać z życiem i innymi graczami; wie, jak się dorobić, jak postępować, jak przeżyć. Staje się więc bohaterem bardzo dynamicznym, który z tomu na tom rozumie coraz więcej, dojrzewa do swoich funkcji i powołania. Fabuła zarysowana w pierwszych dwóch tomach oddziałuje tutaj tak silnie, że nie sposób nie zauważyć analogii, a zakończenie sprawia, że chce się sięgnąć od razu po kolejny tom.
Pomimo tego, że pierwszy tom był dosyć sztywny, książka tonie w terminologii typowej dla gracza (oraz dziwnych metaforach - słyszeliście o chomiku, ropusze czy wewnętrznym zoo?), a styl autora jest dość potoczny i chaotyczny, tak historia jest zajmująca i dostarcza dużo radości i emocji. Czyż nie o to chodzi w grach? ;)
Jak na razie jest to mój ulubiony tom serii Droga szamana. Widać, że autor nie hamował się z różnymi określeniami, sytuacjami, nazwami i ogólnie całą akcją. Książka jest momentami tak zabawna, że normalnie płakałam ze śmiechu - a niektóre sformułowania mam ochotę wcielić nawet w życie. Styl również trochę się poprawił - najlepiej czytało mi się tę część, bo nie było w niej suchych faktów czy praktycznie samej terminologii typowej dla gier, nie było tutaj też samych questów (tak jak było w tomie 2.). Ewidentnie coś się zmieniło na lepsze i czytało się to naprawdę przyjemnie.
Machan tutaj także staje się takim bohaterem... zmienionym. Nie jest już tym samym więźniem, którym był w pierwszym tomie; nie jest tym graczem, który próbował zrobić wszystko, żeby tylko odnaleźć się jako wolny gracz w drugim tomie. Tutaj mamy do czynienia z Machanem, który ma już doświadczenia w grze; wie, jak sobie pogrywać z życiem i innymi graczami; wie, jak się dorobić, jak postępować, jak przeżyć. Staje się więc bohaterem bardzo dynamicznym, który z tomu na tom rozumie coraz więcej, dojrzewa do swoich funkcji i powołania. Fabuła zarysowana w pierwszych dwóch tomach oddziałuje tutaj tak silnie, że nie sposób nie zauważyć analogii, a zakończenie sprawia, że chce się sięgnąć od razu po kolejny tom.
Pomimo tego, że pierwszy tom był dosyć sztywny, książka tonie w terminologii typowej dla gracza (oraz dziwnych metaforach - słyszeliście o chomiku, ropusze czy wewnętrznym zoo?), a styl autora jest dość potoczny i chaotyczny, tak historia jest zajmująca i dostarcza dużo radości i emocji. Czyż nie o to chodzi w grach? ;)
April 22, 2021
4,2⭐️/5⭐️
dobra, z tych 3 które przeczytałam tak szczerze najbardziej podobał mi sie pierwszy tom, był chyba najciekawszy i taki najbardziej spójny ¿?
nie oznacza to oczywiście ze źle sie bawiłam, wręcz przeciwnie! bardzo mi sie ten tom podobał ale brakowało mi tego „czegoś” co było w 1 tomie
na bank sięgnę po 4!
dobra, z tych 3 które przeczytałam tak szczerze najbardziej podobał mi sie pierwszy tom, był chyba najciekawszy i taki najbardziej spójny ¿?
nie oznacza to oczywiście ze źle sie bawiłam, wręcz przeciwnie! bardzo mi sie ten tom podobał ale brakowało mi tego „czegoś” co było w 1 tomie
na bank sięgnę po 4!
May 15, 2018
3.3 ☆
June 17, 2021
Tak jak przez drugą część się trochę przedzierałem, ta bardzo mnie wciągnęła. Postacie stają się coraz ciekawsze, a przygody bardziej nieprzewidywalne.
August 13, 2021
Czytanie książek z tej serii jest bardzo satysfakcjonujące
December 17, 2021
4.25 ⭐
August 6, 2024
Konečně se série víc rozjíždí a začíná být zajímavá. Těším se co přijde dál.
September 5, 2022
Najlepsza recenzja w tym wypadku jest to, że skończyłem czytać tą książkę wczoraj a recenzje pisze dzisiaj wieczorem. Dlaczego? Bo jestem już w połowie kolejnego tomu. Tak bardzo wciągnęła mnie ta serią. Polecam
January 26, 2021
Chyba najlepsza część do tej pory.
June 15, 2020
This book was a bit too long, with too much inter-guild squabbling and too much talking. There's a little too much of everything going on in this book. The main character Mayan is also transformed into an indisputable Mary Sue in this book, with no real urgency or tension to the narrative, because at this point we know Mayan will always come out on top. He's always smarter than everyone else, and more importantly, he's luckier. Seriously, the "luck factor" is dialed up to an 11 in this book, to the point that I felt the story got away from the author and rather than coming up with good ways for the main character to earn his victories, the author just shrugged and made everything fall into his lap.
There is still some subtle sexism throughout, but I'm just chalking it up to being written by a Russian male. Considering their rather famous national sexism, it's surprising that's it's not more overt. There are actually numerous female character that are treated (mostly) respectfully, if it is usually implied that women are emotional and erratic, and there is always mention of their attractiveness level - as if that is their defining feature, whereas none of the male characters have a description of how attractive they may or may not be.
Otherwise, this is still a very entertaining series, though I think I'll take a break for awhile and come back to the series later. Each volume is a little too similar, and if I binge the whole series I feel I'll likely be tired of it soon.
There is still some subtle sexism throughout, but I'm just chalking it up to being written by a Russian male. Considering their rather famous national sexism, it's surprising that's it's not more overt. There are actually numerous female character that are treated (mostly) respectfully, if it is usually implied that women are emotional and erratic, and there is always mention of their attractiveness level - as if that is their defining feature, whereas none of the male characters have a description of how attractive they may or may not be.
Otherwise, this is still a very entertaining series, though I think I'll take a break for awhile and come back to the series later. Each volume is a little too similar, and if I binge the whole series I feel I'll likely be tired of it soon.
September 24, 2024
Mě vlastně docela fascinuje, jak neuvěřitelně comfy zábavné mi to přijde. Poslech si užívám, zvraty si užívám, Mahana si užívám, a to i když vidím, jakou "z prdele kliku" chlapec má a jak se z každého průšvihu díky svému štístku dostane.
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