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Dark Covenant #1

Stranger Among Strangers

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Kris Venom is a loner by nature. When the infamous Patch 17 hits the Realm of Arkon, he gets swept up in the maelstrom along with all the rest. Nothing about the old game world is the same; still, a professional gamer will always find a way to not only survive, but thrive. And thrive he does--that is, until he casually equips a rather peculiar ring...

A new series in the Realm of Arkon universe! As told through the eyes of Kris Venom, a drow rogue and professional arena player.

422 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 17, 2019

65 people are currently reading
21 people want to read

About the author

G. Akella

29 books191 followers
Georgy Smorodinsky.
44 years old, live in Moscow, married with three daughters. Akella has been my game nickname for almost 17 years. My love affair with the MMORPG genre began with Ultima Online, and I played WoW from its release date. My main classes are Warrior, Rogue and Death Knight. Back in vanilla WoW I made Grand Marshall with my warrior, for those who still remember what that is. Throughout WoW’s existence I was present for the slaying of roughly 70-80% of raid bosses; in those encounters, I was the main tank about half the time. In vanilla, I was the guild master of Shadow Angels on the Executus server. The guild had approximately 250 members, with an average of 80 people online every day. Sometimes I led raids to MC and BWL (for those who remember, in vanilla raid groups maxed out at 40). I also spent some time playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Presently I’m playing Black Desert.

Patch 17 is my first book. I had never written anything before it. I was inspired to start writing after reading D. Rus, A. Vasilev, R. Mikhaylov and V. Mahanenko. I wanted to create a world that lived by the game’s rules, to write a book that even gamers would enjoy reading. The same gamers who killed skeletons at the Vesper graveyard, stormed castles in Lineage 2, battled in Alterac Valley, and spent months chipping away at Nefarian and the Lich King.

Of utmost importance to me are: the logic of the game world, the immersion factor (for readers to feel as if they’re part of this world), and logical behavior of the book’s characters. So far so good, it would seem. Five of the books in the series are finished. Book three is in the process of being published. The first two books have sold out their initial print run, and more are being printed. The reviews from critics and fan feedback grow better with each new book. I sincerely hope that you will get to read book two of the series, The Cursed Princedom, in February.
Oh, and one day I dream of visiting San Francisco, the city where Patch 17 begins. Thank you, everyone, and happy reading.

Georgy Smorodinsky (Akella)

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5 stars
72 (75%)
4 stars
13 (13%)
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Clint Young.
849 reviews
November 22, 2019
Alert

I hate trying to write reviews because there are really only pass/fail results for me. Did I make it all the way through? Yes? 5 stars. No? There would be nothing here to read. In all fairness, if an author holds my attention from page one to the end, they’ve done their job. Anything less than 5 stars is petty criticism from someone incapable of even doing the job let alone doing a better one.

So in respect for the author and their work, I am going to start pasting this along with a generic review I found somewhere. “This was a fun book. I am glad that I read it. You should try it too.”

Cheers
Profile Image for robert.
35 reviews
May 6, 2020
As always

Big fan and anxiously await the next... hopefully it wont be too long of a wait due to the world being crazy atm
71 reviews5 followers
July 27, 2020
I found it hard to put the book down. A very enjoyable read. I shall now go and read this author's other books and see how they compare.
2 reviews
December 9, 2020
Excellent

Excellent book, twists and plots and well structured society. Loved the previous series and Can’t wait for the next book.
7 reviews
November 4, 2021
Nice continuation

Great continuation of the Realm, really enjoyed reading the story of another player. Hope to see another in this series sometime!
165 reviews
February 19, 2020
Excellent book

I found the story unique and interesting and look forward to seeing the next installment of this series of books
37 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2019
Awesome!!!

I expected nothing less than a stellar book from my favorite author, and I was not disappointed! My only issue is that I wish the book was 10 times as long! Great character development and an intriguing plot. Very well edited and loved the footnotes. Allowed me to finish the paragraph and then read the footnotes in order to explain any confusing issues. Five Stars!
166 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2019
Great second series

Great off shot series. This time about a Drow Rogue. The storyline is good, the plot thick and twisted and leaves waiting for book 2.
80 reviews
November 23, 2019
Fun read

It is as good as any of his other books. I have enjoyed this a lot, i am sure you would too
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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