Friday, December 30, 2016

The Dark Herbalist - GIF-trailer



Dark Herbalist: Video Game Plotline Tester
by Michael Atamanov

Would you be prepared to work for free? How would you like to bust your hump for a large corporation 60-plus hours a week without a wage or a single day off for the vague promise of some mysterious perks in the distant future? You'd refuse point blank, wouldn't you? But what if the job in question was playing a state-of-the-art fantasy MMORPG game? And what if this was the only thing you're really good at? Especially considering that your in-game partner is someone really special to you - and this person already lives a virtual life? Knowing all this, would you consider the mysterious future bonus worth your while? I dare you to try it!


Buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9F1AM7
A considerable part of the book is published in our blog.




Monday, December 26, 2016

The Sublime Electricity, Book 2: The Heartless

The Sublime Electricity, Book 2: The Heartless
by Pavel Kornev



Release: February 28, 2017
Preorder now - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZ3B2KK

The Sublime Electricity, Book 1: The Illustrious (Kindle - KU)


Foreword


Once, this world was dominated by the fallen, but humanity cast off their tyrannical rule and created a mighty Empire with colonies spread out across the globe. The power of the metropolis is stronger than ever before, but its past is dark and its future cloudy. Old secrets are capable of destroying in one moment what took years to create. After all, nothing can save it from treason, not armadas of battleships nor bomb-laden dirigibles.
The key to one such secret, by happenstance and inheritance, has fallen into the hands of Leopold Orso, a former police investigator who now works as a private detective. His illustrious talent allows him to bring other people's fears to life, but it also does not help him extricate himself from the web of another's scheming. Defeat threatens to result in imminent death. Victory beckons with the ghost of a chance to escape with his life. His soul is plagued by painstakingly forgotten memories. And to think that all Leopold ever wanted was to get an inheritance that was his by birthright.



Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Mirror World, Book 3 - gif-trailer

Mirror World: The Way of the Outcast



From Amazon reviews to the series:

"Absolutely give this book a try no matter if your new to the genre or a seasoned veteran it is absolutely worth it."

"With all the great LitRPG coming out of Russia, I might need to look into learning the language."

"Good enough to make you wish the next one was available NOW!!!"

"With a library of literally tens of thousands of books, I am not easily impressed. This book did."


Book 1: Project Daily Grind - Kindle - audio
Book 2: The Citadel - Kindle - audio
Book 3: The Way of the Outcast - Kindle - paperback


We publish new chapters of the upcoming book every day! Read it here.


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Dark Paladin: The Beginning by Vasily Mahanenko

Dark Paladin: The Beginning
by Vasily Mahanenko



Release - Feb 7, 2017
Preorder here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXIZK80


Is it easy to survive in the game world? You could say yes, if you didn’t know what the additional conditions were. They are unusual: it’s the real world in which you have lived all your life. The enemy, craving to destroy you. Your own class who couldn’t care less about you. Are you still sure that survival is easy? Then welcome to THE GAME! It will prove you wrong.





Chapter One. Birth of the Paladin





THE ARMY OF ORCS led by Yargul headed to the tall forests of Idilrance. The wood elves were planning to bring a great mage of the past back to life the one who had destroyed half of the world, so the orcs decided to interfere and show the whole world once again who were the true rulers of Zalta. Along enormous chords the army of orcs was moving towards the woods without even noticing…


Monday, October 24, 2016

The Dark Herbalist: Video Game Plotline Tester by Michael Atamanov


The Dark Herbalist: Video Game Plotline Tester


by Michael Atamanov




The book is released! 
Buy - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9F1AM7



Video Game Plotline Tester



"Have you ever played Boundless Realm before?" the middle-aged HR employee asked me, starting off the interview with the question I was most dreading.
In the job posting, there had been a rather unambiguous requirement that I must have: "Never played the game before." I suspect that, if I had answered "yes," the interview would have ended as quickly as it had begun.
"And have you played any other popular online games, uh... Timothy?" he asked, having finally read my name from the screen in front of him. He was at the end of a long day. He must have been tired.
"Yes, of course. I've been a gamer for about six years now. I used to be pretty active in Kingdoms of Sword and Magic."
"Gamer..." he muttered back disdainfully. The slang term, it seemed, was not to his taste. The man furrowed his brow in dismay. "And how did you do in our competitor's game? Where you able to achieve anything noteworthy, Timothy?"

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Moskau by G. Zotov

THE GEHEIME STAATSPOLIZEI (Gestapo) Special Isolation Facility was situated at the very end of Wagner lane - or Arbat, as die-hard Moskauers still called the little pedestrian street. On the outside it was a two-story book shop. Its sign read Spirit's Delight - a name admittedly more befitting an alcohol store.
Inside its spacious premises flooded with light, sleepy and bored salesgirls helped the few shoppers to choose the Reich's newest literary masterpieces. In the shop windows, the latest bestsellers were gathering dust: the coloring book The Childhood of the Führer and a how-to book from Leni Riefenstahl, How to Make it as a Movie Star. Few people bought books these days - most downloaded them for free from the Shogunet. Mein Kampf had been in the public domain since 1944 anyway. All other books had to pass a meticulous integrity check by the Ministry of Propaganda and Public Education.
The Gestapo's electronic department had their hands full with the Shogunet, blocking those of its sections which allowed users to upload illegal translations of banned authors like Jack London or Hemingway, and especially the dreaded Leo Tolstoy: an anti-war extremist whose books could earn you two months in the cooler. Not that it helped. The numbers of illegal download links to the works by the likes of Tolstoy and Margaret Mitchell mushroomed by the hour.
In order to make readers buy the book, you need to ban it first, Pavel thought, forcing open the glass door embossed with an emblematic eagle. Prohibition is the best promotion.




Thursday, October 20, 2016

Moskau, quote - 1

True, Japanese nationals don't have it easy here. They're run off their feet trying to Japonize the Russian Far East - but to no avail. Things don't change. Shigemitsu Ivanovich still beats the holy crap out of Dzimmei Petrovich over the former's wife - the well-respected tea mistress Kumiko Sergeevna - who has been wearing a rather revealing kimono lately so that the latter just couldn't help himself and dipped a stealthy hand under the provocative silk. No bowing, no apologies, no poems describing the remorse eating through the black heart of the bastard Dzimmei.

The rising sun has set.
The three drunk samurai
Bow to their sake barrel.



This was the hokku that the Shichō wrote with his own blood after he'd sliced his belly with a katana.

Moskau by G. Zotov, release October 20 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IWR5R32


Reichskommissariat Archives #1

File ZL8. Politicians

"... ON OCTOBER 20 1941 Wehrmacht troops entered Moskau. After two more months of fierce street fighting they took control of the capital, including the Kremlin. The search for Joseph Stalin garnered no results. According to the Main Security Office report, he was behind the terrorist attack Vengeance '42 at the Nibelung square that had wiped out the entire Reich elite. According to Abwehr's intel, later Stalin used to hide in an underground bunker in Kuybyshev (now Führerburg) from where he coordinated the Resistance's actions. After the taking of Führerburg, he disappeared off the radar. The Ural and Siberian guerrilla groups still consider Stalin their spiritual leader. Daniil, the patriarch of the Forest Church (the sect that had united those of the Orthodox clergy who hadn't recognized Russland's yielding to the battleaxes of the gods of Asgard) worked hard to support the legend. According to it, Stalin had become a hermit living in the thick of the Siberian taiga praying for victory. Between themselves, guerrilla fighters call Stalin "the holy man" - he's a bit of a religious icon for them.



Thursday, October 13, 2016

Textbook No 1. A World Geography



The Reich Union, or the Third Reich of Greater Germany.
Founded in 2004 after the end of the Twenty-Year War. Technically represents a confederation of several Reichskommissariats: Ostland (comprising Belorussia and the Baltics), Moskau (the European part of Russland), Deutschland (Austria, Germany and the Governorate of Poland), the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kuban and the zonderkommissariats of Chechnya and Dagestan), Turkestan (Tajikistan, Turkmenia, Uzbekistan and Kirghizia), the Ukraine (including the Russlandish cities of Kursk, Voronezh and Tsaritsyn (the former Stalingrad)); Norway and the Netherlands, and Britain (excluding the Republic of Scotland). Other “special territories” belonging to the Reich Union include: Lake Baikal, the Crimea (inhabited by German colonists) and the enclave of St. Petersburg.

The countries allied with the Third Reich:
Slovakia, the Italian Empire, the Independent State of Croatia, Finland (including Karelia and Murmansk), Transylhungary, the Kingdom of Romania (including Odessa and Bessarabia), the Southern French Protectorate (with the capital in Vichy), The Federation of Spain and Portugal, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria (including Greece). In 1951, Ataturk's Turkish Republic was ceremoniously returned its old French colonies of Lebanon and Syria. It was also gifted Armenia. Restored in 1964, the Baghdad Caliphate was comprised of Iraq and the Maghreb sultanates, including Egypt and Morocco. The Free State of India (also known as Azad Hind) is under the joint protection from the Reich Union and the Nippon koku. Korea, the island of Formosa, Hawaii, Karafuto island, the Kamchatka peninsula, the Siberian cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok — now known under their Japanese names of Habarosito and Uradziosutoku — as well as Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore all make an integral part of Nippon koku. Technically, the Russlandish territories from Kamchatka to the Urals are also within the Japanese area of interest but in reality it is controlled by guerilla units of “forest brothers”. The Republic of Far East (with its capital in the city of Chita) isn’t independent, being a Japanese protectorate.

Mirror World, Book #3: read online

The Way of the Outcast

by Alexey Osadchuk
Mirror World
Book#3

Chapter One


Warning! You are not logged in!
Would you like to log in?

The message glowed an acid red. I felt as if I was about to press the proverbial nuclear button.
Well, it might not come to that but still. Some people I know would have given a lot for access to some of Mirror World players' accounts.
This was another considerable drawback of Daily Grind accounts. The Bronze plan allowed you to access your char from your computer without having to climb into the immersion capsule. Even though the only feature available in this mode was the player's Dashboard, the mere fact was enough to make you rub your hands with glee.

Monday, October 3, 2016

The Illustrious by Pavel Kornev

The Sublime Electricity: The Illustrious





In this world, there were no Dark Ages; the Middle Ages were called Bloody instead. The skies were once obscured by the wings of the fallen, striking fear into the hearts of mankind. Science has freed society of its shackles, and the Second Empire, the empire of humanity, now stretches out from sea to sea. Combat steamships furrow the waters, armored trains await their hour, and army dirigibles float through the heavens. And yet, the delicate balance this world has achieved hangs by a thread. The age of steam is on its way out, and the era of the Sublime Electricity is just beginning. In this time of dramatic transition, even the tiniest deviation in course could topple the world into a vortex of chaos.

Buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J1WY2U6
Read on Wattpad
Read on RoyalRoadL



Thursday, September 22, 2016

coming soon: Perimeter Defense, Book #3



The enemy’s at the gate, the situation getting worse by the second... and Ruslan’s employer hasn’t done a good job (to put it mildly) of securing his successes. Now the star system Unatari is under threat from the Aliens. It’s high time Ruslan came back in order to rescue everything he holds dear from imminent destruction and save Perimeter Defense - the game that has become his life.

Book #1: Sector Eight - read - buy
Book #2: Beyond Death - read - buy
Book #3: New Contract - Preorder


Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Shawn Kass, author of Towns and Towers



Shawn Kass was born in Killeen Texas. He attended a series of colleges while serving as a Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force. He earned five degrees in subjects including Mathematics, Psychology, Education, and Secure Computer Systems Networking. While on active duty from 1997 to 2006, he was stationed stateside in Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. and while overseas, he served in several Middle East locations.

Upon exiting the service, Shawn became a high school math and science teacher educating students in Washington, D.C., England, and Michigan.




MDB: Why gaming? What prompted you to dream up a virtual world?

SK: I have been a gamer since my parents brought home my first Atari system back in the 80s. The idea of writing something like this, however, didn't strike me until I read Ernest Cline’s amazing book, Ready Player One. Since then, I did some research on other popular LitRPG titles like the Play to Live series and The Way of the Shaman, and then made sure to compliment them by doing something slightly different. I didn't want readers to have to sift through all of the stats and data, and so I shoved that into the background and focused more on the exploration of a beginning game player in a new world.

MDB: If you could transport yourself to the world you created, would you do so? And if you did, which of the game characters would you like to play?

SK: To be honest, I think I would jump into the game. I would want to bring my wife with me as my player two, and I think the experience would be incredible. The main character, Sam, is modeled off several of my own reactions to the gaming world and the tropes usually associated with JRPGs, but I would have handled a few things differently if it had been me. For instance, I think I would have spent more time leveling up by killing off small non-threatening creatures rather than jump in and face some of the trials Sam had to go through.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Sublime Electricity: The Illustrious by Pavel Kornev



In this world, there were no Dark Ages; they were called Bloody instead. In this world, the skies were once obscured by the wings of the fallen, striking fear into the hearts of mankind. In this world, science has freed society of its shackles, and the Second Empire, the empire of humanity, now stretches out from sea to sea. In this world, combat steamships furrow the waters, armored trains await their hour, and army dirigibles float through the heavens. And yet, the delicate balance this world has achieved hangs by a thread. The age of steam is on its way out, and the era of the Sublime Electricity is just beginning. In this time of dramatic transition, even the tiniest deviation in course could topple the world into a vortex of chaos.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J1WY2U6

Monday, August 8, 2016

Author of the Mirror World series

Alexey Osadchuk, Mirror World series


Alexey Osadchuk was born in 1979 in the Ukraine. In the late 1990s his family moved to the south of Spain where they still live today.

Alexey was an avid reader from an early age, devouring adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jack London and Arthur Conan Doyle.

In 2010 he wrote his first fantasy novel which was immediately accepted by one of Russia’s leading publishing houses Alpha Book.

He also used to be a passionate online gamer which prompted him to write the story of a man who joins an MMORPG game hoping to raise money for his daughter’s heart surgery. In 2013, the first book of Mirror World was published by EKSMO, Russia’s largest publishing house.


MDB: Why gaming? What prompted you to dream up a virtual world?

Osadchuk: It's a young genre which offers new unorthodox ways of character development. It also allows the author to speak about problems in today's society. I just thought it is interesting.

MDB: If you could transport yourself to the world you created, would you do so? And if you did, which of the game characters would you like to play?

Osadchuk: Absolutely! To experience the new and yet untried, yes! Still, I don't think I'd choose a combat class. I'd rather get involved in society's social life, flying dragons and visiting the game's countless locations. I'd love to go and see the kingdom of dwarves. The Alven Forest. The Nameless Isles. That would be awesome!

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Mirror World, book II: The Citadel by Alexey Osadchuk

Mirror World: The Citadel





If you’re a warrior seeking glorious feats, we need you! The walls of the Maragar Citadel are always in need of heroes!

Or are you a wizard in search of forgotten lore? One visit to our Ancient Library will reveal you many a great mystery!

Or are you an online player craving excitement? Then you’d better hurry! The Maragar Citadel is rife with adventure - choose one to your liking!

Performing deeds of online valor is the last thing on Oleg’s mind, though. Neither does he care about any ancient lore. He’s never trusted adventure, anyway. Mirror World is no place for the likes of him. Still, he’s here to stay - at the demand of Reflex Bank which has granted him a loan for his daughter’s hospital treatment. Which is the only reason he’s joined the ranks of the defenders of the Maragar Citadel.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FKC7JTW

By the way we're giving away some free copies via our Facebook lottery.

Didn't read Mirror World? Try now - http://royalroadl.com/fiction/5004

Monday, July 25, 2016

Sublime Electricity: The Illustrious by Pavel Kornev

The Illustrious
by Pavel Kornev





Full release Oct 10, 2016, preorder now




"I will cut out my own heart. I will give my heart to you!"

Phillip August, Steamfonia*

Part One

The Fallen.
Titanium Blade and the Power of Imagination

1

IS IT TRUE THAT ALL WHICH IS BORN TO CRAWL cannot fly? Indeed it is!
People simply were not made for flight. Any flight is doomed to end in a fall. And the faster the ascent, the more disastrous the consequences. Consider, for example, the fallen...

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Moskau by G. Zotov - read online

Moskau
by G. Zotov




UPDATED October 18 (+1 chapter)
Release - October, 20, 2016
Preorder now

Part One

The King of Dwarves



Valhalla, the Gods await me,
Open wide Thy gates, embrace me,
Great hall of the battle slain
With swords in hand!

Manowar, Gates of Valhalla


Prologue




“You don’t think all those things really exist, surely?”
She smiles — not a grin but a small smile, just baring her little white teeth as if she's about to sink them into you. Her eyes glisten; her fingers clench the stem of her wine glass. Women love to argue. Not because they want to get to the truth but out of cheer stubbornness: they hate to admit defeat. I bet she feels aroused at moments like these.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Perimeter Defense: Sector Eight - discount

Readers about Sector Eight:

"Careful! Reading this book will make you want more!"

"Fans of the lost fleet, old mans war, enders game and mass effect will be pleased."

"The mark of a great book is the characters resonate and come alive in your mind from the pages in a seamless transition. Atamanov succeeds."

"For those who are looking for fun space opera, this one is right on the mark."

"I have played several games where faction is important, such as Asheron's Call. I like how that aspect is inserted in the story."

"The plot is smart, complex, but at the same time, easy to follow. This is exceedingly difficult, but this author pulls it off like an experienced professional."

"The main character was entertaining, and some of the challenges he faced were quite unique - suddenly finding himself in a much older body, coping with a addiction to a drug he's even heard of, thrust into political situations he knows nothing about, ordering a robot secretary by mistake."

Perimeter Defense: Sector Eight by Michael Atamanov for 0.99$

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015JMSSJS



Tuesday, May 24, 2016

GIVEAWAY: The Naked Demon, brilliant romantic fantasy

The Naked Demon by Sherrie L.



Free - May 24, 2:00 AM (New-York t.z.) for 24 hours.


Get your free Kindle copy - here.

A succubus – a demon who prays on human sensual energy - takes over Allison, a university freshman. Soon she learns about the existence of a mystery organization of demon hunters and discovers that a locket left to her by her late grandma is not just a piece of jewelry but a powerful artifact. Now she has to untangle a web of mysterious intrigues in order to find out why she is the one who is hunted by demons. The ordinary girl has to deal with Scarlet, a handsome and irrepressible demon lover, and Gray – a cunning, seductive, malicious and heartless sadistic incubus.

But is Allison as ordinary as she thinks she is? Who was her Grandma? And who is Allison herself, really?

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Interview: Author of the End Online series

D. Wolfin (the End Online series) is a young author with an ambition for fantasy and the new litRPG. He has always been an avid reader of the genres, and finally decided to start writing works of his very own. Wolfin was born and still lives in Australia. He has many dreams of travelling the world, pen and paper in hand with the wind at his back, but such dreams are currently being used for creating his stories.

MDB: Why gaming? What prompted you to dream up a virtual world?


D. Wolfin: Gaming has always been a passion of mine, especially those of the role-playing genre. I expanded from actually playing those games to reading when I discovered online series, translations mostly, based on virtual role playing worlds and others with systems similar to the games I so much love. I became engrossed in these stories and quickly read through a large number of them. It got to the point where I had read everything on my immediate reading list, and couldn't find anything else out there that was to my taste. It was at that point, during late 2014, that I thought "what story could be more to my tastes than my own?" and began the series we now know as End Online. I already had the virtual world in my mind, as it was an imaginary game that I wanted to play the most, all I had to do was create the characters a write out their journey as the story.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Best gaming fiction writer Michael Atamanov

Michael Atamanov was born in 1975 in Grozny, Chechnia. He excelled at school, winning numerous national science and writing competitions. Having graduated with honors, he entered Moscow University to study material engineering. Soon, however, he had no home to return to: their house was destroyed during the first Chechen campaign. Michael's family fled the war, taking shelter with some relatives in Stavropol Territory in the South of Russia. Then one day unexpectedly for himself he started writing fairy tales and science fiction novels. For several years, his audience consisted of only one person: Michael's elder son. Then, at the end of 2014 he decided to upload one of his manuscripts to a free online writers resource. Readers liked it and demanded a sequel. Michael uploaded another book, and yet another, his audience growing as did his list. It was his readers who helped Michael hone his writing style. He finally had the breakthrough he deserved when the Moscow-based EKSMO - the biggest publishing house in Europe - offered him a contract for his first and consequent books.

MDB: Why gaming? What prompted you to dream up a virtual world?


Michael Atamanov: For quite some time, I’d been working in genres which were borderline LitRPG. My entire Gray Raven fantasy series was in fact conceived as a MMORPG storyline complete with quests and leveling scenarios. Still, once the publisher had accepted it, he asked me to delete all gaming references. My Quit the Game novel is in fact a cross between an Eve Online fanfic and a space-opera LitRPG. In it, the MC realizes he’s stuck in an online game - but unlike other players he can’t quit it because he is in fact a piece of software. So no wonder I began writing my next project Perimeter Defense. Sector Eight as purely LitRPG.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Vasily Mahanenko, author of mind-blowing LitRPG novels

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.

MDB: Why gaming? What prompted you to dream up a virtual world?


VM: My love for computer games decided my choice of writing genre. You can still find me online in the world’s most popular MMORPG game (I’m not going to plug it in here but everybody knows which one I mean - this absolutely brilliant piece of computer art). Seven years of playing online couldn’t but leave their mark. So one day I realized I wanted to be heard. I wanted to communicate my own ideas, experiences, dreams and desires to the world. I just hope that I at least partially succeeded.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Interview with Gary Cooper (the Omegaverse series)

Author of the famous Omegaverse series G.R. Cooper is a twenty year veteran of the game industry, mostly spent in the trenches of massively multi-player online game development. He's done a little of everything; producing, level design, AI scripting, community management, customer support - even a little 3D modeling - but he considers himself a game designer at heart.

MDB: Why gaming? What prompted you to dream up a virtual world?


GC: It's been one of my jobs for the past twenty years. I started work at one of the pioneers in online gaming, Kesmai Studios, in 1995 because I was so involved in the "virtual" worlds of the era and knew deep down that it was the beginning of something big. My career almost since college has been in developing online gaming. Sometime around the year 2000 I began designing my "dream" game - that game is very much like the game described in the first three volumes of the Omegaverse series. Given that it seems unlikely that I'll ever have the opportunity to make the game, I thought it natural to at least use what I'd designed to, hopefully, entertain some folks in another way. When I discovered LitRPG, it all kind of fell into place. One of the tools a game designer uses is called a "use case". That's where the designer describes, in prose, what the player will do and how they will interact with the game world as well as other players. It helps us to visualize the activities from a player's point of view and is a very good way to discover problems with the design. When I first read D. Rus's Alterworld, something in my head clicked - a lot of what he'd written was much like you'd read for a game design use case. When I discovered that there was an audience for that kind of writing, it just felt like a natural fit with what I'd been doing for years.

Friday, April 8, 2016

Hello! 

We created this blog in order to track and review modern fantasy and science fiction books published all over the world. You will find here tons of good stuff: interviews, opinions, covers, free chapters and discounts!

Enjoy!