AlterWorld Audiobook By D. Rus cover art

AlterWorld

Play to Live, Book 1

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AlterWorld

By: D. Rus
Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
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Buy for $22.80

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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.

©2014 D. Rus (P)2015 Audible, Inc. Virtual World LitRPG Fantasy Science Fiction Fiction Epic Epic Fantasy Cyberpunk

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LitRPG means Literary Role Playing Game. Simply put, it’s the book version of watching someone play a video game, usually one that’s set up like an MMO (massively multiplayer online) RPG. It’s a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, depending on how it comes to be that our main character ends up living inside a virtual reality. the point of LitRPG is not how we get there, but that we get to be in this virtual reality period, living life as a badass video-game character. Beat the grind and submerse yourself in these addictive LitRPGs.

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Innovative Premise • Detailed Game Mechanics • Excellent Narration • Likable Protagonist • Compelling Cliffhanger

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I must admit I wasnt expecting much from this book, kinda sounded cheesy when I read the description. upon reading it though I found myself emersed in a well thought out world where the main character actually used his brains and is not your typical hero. loved this book and will start on part two tomorrow.

Death is perhaps NOT the end.

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If you could sum up AlterWorld in three words, what would they be?

litrpg, mmo, fantasy

What did you like best about this story?

This story takes place in the future. A man, dying of cancer, sends his mind into a massive multiplayer online (MMO) fantasy game. This game, with its game rules and setting, becomes his reality. I enjoyed how lifelike the author made it seem--fighting monsters, doing quests, finding rare items, etc--all the things that are done in MMO games, but as if they were real. I also liked how the author didn't just leave it there, but wove in tension and mystery from the real world as well (i.e. what happens when the game developers aren't completely in control anymore? or what happens when powerful, unscrupulous, yet old billionaires also want to upload their minds to cheat death?).

Have you listened to any of Michael Goldstrom’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Michael Goldstrom gave a great performance. I haven't listened to any other books he has narrated, but he was easy to listen to and had nice intonation. My only gripe would be that the book is told in first person but I don't think Micheal Goldstrom's voice matches my idea of what the main character would sound like. (To be fair, most books don't match my idea of the main character, but most books are also written in third person.)

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Alterworld, an alternate fantasy reality awaits...

LitRPG -- where a game becomes reality

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Entertaining story that made me remember playing Everquest back in the day! Some phrases and culture references either because of translation or prospective seemed out of place. "Inner Greedy Pig" which is said about a 100 times. However that is just a small issue.

The larger issue i have is with the female characters. All have almost no purpose other than to be referred to almost as objects. One female character (and pretty much one of 3 in the entire world of the book with a name) has a riveting back story that is totally unexplored and imo interesting. All characters that speak or do anything of note are male. Main character even says things like "female logic" and cheers on a male character that seduced a female character for personal gain saying "What a real man!". This is not in irony or sarcasm. Its just one of the clunky things of note in this book.

I'm unsure if this because of cultural differences or something lost in translation but, every time one of these things happens i get kind of bummed out. The female character in the story has such an interesting motive but is reduced to nothing more than someone to be viewed and a pretty object that must be entertained or protected by the main character. Bummer.

That being said if those kinds of subtle sexism doesn't ruin works of fiction the book is worth the listen. i feel the sexism isn't intentional. So check this out!... only if you've already read "Ready, Player One" that is lol.

I enjoyed the story but i have issues with it.

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Heard a Sci-Fi author from Russia has captured the imagination of his country with the story of becoming an Avatar in a Multiplayer Online Role-Playing game. While listening, I became like my gamer friends, skipping meals and bathroom breaks until completing my mission of finishing the book. Now I’m off to find out what I missed in the real world.

Captivating

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The best way to describe this novel is a modern version of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. Just as in the Twain novel, our hero is transported into a medieval "digital" kingdom and forced to use his modern know how to not only survive, but rise up to become one of the driving players in this new realm. I normally take a week or so to finish an Audio novel. With this one, I finished it all in one day and immediately purchased the second book. This author has a created a story that has wide appeal and an engaging narrative that will go down as a classic. Fantastic!

One of my new Favorite Books!

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