AlterWorld/The Clan/The Duty

Play to Live #1-3

by D. Rus

A new pandemic - the perma effect - has taken over Earth of the near future. Whenever you play your favorite online game, beware: your mind might merge with the virtual world and dump its comatose host. Woe be to those stuck forever in Tetris! And still they're the lucky ones compared to those burning alive eternally within the scorched hulls of tank simulators. But some unfortunates - the handicapped and the terminally ill, shell-shocked army vets, wronged crime victims and other society misfits - choose to flee real life willingly, escaping to the limitless world of online sword and sorcery MMORPGs. Once a seasoned gamer and now a terminal cancer patient, Max grasps at this final chance to preserve his life and identity. So he goes for it - goes for the promise of immortality shared with a few trusty friends and the woman he loves. Together they roam the roads of AlterWorld and sample its agony and ecstasy born of absolute freedom.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

822 pages, Paperback

Published November 2, 2016

About the author

D. Rus is a young Russian author whose books took the Russian literary market by storm in 2013. AlterWorld - the first novel of his Play to Live series - made him a bestselling author overnight as critics now credit him with single-handedly creating a new science fiction genre: LitRPG. Set in the virtual reality of MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games - his books tell stories of real people who'd become stuck in the game and are forced to follow its rules while preserving their intergrity and fighting to make their new world a better place. The five books of the series have created a huge following as more authors followed suit, making LitRPG the latest bestselling Russian genre that merges science fiction, fantasy and gaming conventions. D. Rus has been nominated for Start, one of Russia's prestigious literary prizes for the best debut science fiction novel. The first two novels of the Play to Live series - AlterWorld and The Clan - have been translated into English, and talks are under way to have the rest of the series published on Amazon.

Reviews

[Milo Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book :)

I love the game elements built into the story. Couldn't put the series down!

[Scott Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a book by D Rus I did not love. He's a very talented author of LitRPG, a genre I am beginning to seek out more and more.

The Play to Live series is a fast paced, well written story of a young man struck by a cancerous brain tumor who is forced to transfer his consciousness into the full immersion MMO, Alterworld. Alterworld has been trapping thousands of people's consciousness in the game for years due to what is called the "perma affect." For some it is tragic, but for people who are about to die, or need to escape the real world, it is a way to not only have a new start in a world of swords and magic, it is a way to gain immortality.

I love this story and the main character who overcomes the many obstacles and hazards of this new and brutal world where might definitely makes right (or at least defines ownership).

[Phleghm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a russian relationship connection for 5 years, and this series took me closer to learning russian than the relationship did. Nevertheless, not quite close enough. English translations got published speedily for a reason! Reach your own conclusions.

D.Rus, I’m a fan. It is easy to get lost in your world. Reality integration is done amazingly well, it never feels quite like a game. It feels like a connected coexisting reality. I also like the chapter beginnings, emotional buildups, ...

Well. Should stay short. Will say this. I’ll be back for more.

Never stop improving.