Russian LitRPG
I split the Russian and the English Litrpg books into different pages because of the different writing styles and because one of the biggest detractions for the books below can be the translation. I also deleted the Author website portion because the websites are all in Russian. There is a Facebook page for Magic Dome books who publishes many of these novels though. Another issue common with these series is a great first novel, with subsequent novels falling short of expectations. Many of them are free or can be found on the Kindle Unlimited program so give em a go and you will prob find some you enjoy.
Survival Quest (The way of the Shaman Book 1) by Vasily Mahanenko
Amazon: 4.6/5
Goodreads: 4.31/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Amazon Description: An original LitRPG fantasy from one of the fathers of Russian LitRPG. #1 bestseller in audiobooks. The unrelenting #1 LitRPG bestseller in Russia since 2012. Translated into English, German, Polish, Czech and Korean languages.
Barliona. A virtual world jam-packed with monsters, battles – and predictably, players. Millions of them come to Barliona, looking forward to the things they can’t get in real life: elves and magic, dragons and princesses, and unforgettable combat. The game has become so popular that players now choose to spend months online without returning home. In Barliona, anything goes: you can assault fellow players, level up, become a mythical hero, a wizard or a legendary thief. The only rule that attempted to regulate the game demanded that no player was allowed to feel actual pain.
But there’s an exception to every rule. For a certain bunch of players, Barliona has become their personal hell. They are criminals sent to Barliona to serve their time. They aren’t in it for the dragons’ gold or the abundant loot. All they want is to survive the virtual inferno. They face the ultimate survival quest.
Video Game Plotline Tester (Dark Herbalist Book 1) by Michael Atamanov
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 4.23/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Amazon Description: 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!
Patch 17: Epic LitRPG ( Realm of Arkon) by G. Akella
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 4.07/5
Kindle Unlimited: No
Amazon Description: A new update arrives to the ultra-popular online game, Realm of Arkon. With Patch 17, the level of immersion experienced by players in their gaming capsules has made virtual reality indistinguishable from the real world. But every gamer’s dream becomes a nightmare for Roman Kozhevnikov after he gets confined to Arkon against his will. And not just to Arkon, but to its deadliest zone–Demon Grounds. Playing, or rather living as his character Krian, it’s not just about survival for Roman. He longs to exact revenge for his banishment to the virtual world where the sensation of pain has reached one hundred percent…
Alter World (Play to Live Book 1) by D. Rus
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 4.19/5
Kindle Unlimited: No
Amazon Description: 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.
Project Daily Grind by Alexey Osadchuk
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 4.17/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Amazon Description: The ads enthused, “The virtual lands of Mirror World await you! Live out your most secret dreams in our world of Sword and Sorcery! Become a Great Wizard or a Famous Warrior! Build your own castle, tame a dragon, conquer a kingdom! All those desperate, lonely and insecure – Mirror World offers you a chance!”
But Oleg isn’t meant to become a great wizard or a famous warrior. He’ll never have a castle of his own. Neither will he ever tame a dragon. And he’s definitely not the type to conquer a kingdom, however virtual it may be.
Oleg is doomed to toil away in the recesses of Mirror World’s mines. His goal is to raise enough money for a heart transplant for his dying six-year-old daughter. The clock is ticking. Will he make it?
The Weirdest Noob (LitRPG The Weirdest Noob Book 1) by Arthur Stone
Amazon: 4.3/5
Goodreads: 4.31/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Amazon Description: Something quite odd is happening in Second World—the planet’s foremost MMORPG. Something that’s causing alliances to be broken, and friendships, forgotten. A worthless low-level mine becomes the stage of vicious battles, its burned ruins suddenly contested by the game’s toughest clans. Every border is controlled, and every road in the province blocked off. The weak players and NPCs alike are subjected to non-stop violent raids courtesy of Eastern invaders. And the strong… The strong are scouring the virtual world for the culprit—the weirdest noob the game has ever seen.
The Beginning (Dark Palandin Book 1) by Vasily Mahanenk0
Amazon: 4.0/5
Goodreads: 3.93/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Amazon Description: 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.
More Than a Game (Fayroll Book 1) by A. Vasilyev
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 4.10/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Amazon Description: Step into a future, in which advanced technology creates a virtual world, with superior capabilities that allow players to experience real-world sensations. The popularity of the RPG game Fayroll is growing by the day, attracting millions of users to this alternate reality. What is the secret of Fayroll? What makes it so different from other games?
Our protagonist, Harriton Nikiforov is an everyman – a binge drinking, tabloid column reporter who has settled for the humdrum of the everyday, with a job that pays the wages, a neurotic girlfriend who gives him migraines and a boss that gives him constant grief. Tasked with a new assignment, Harriton suddenly finds himself ripped away from his normal routine of Moscow society life, to a journalistic quest of sorts that leads him deep into the realm of the Virtual Gaming World of Fayroll. Given explicit orders to write a series of fluff pieces on the game and its developers, Harriton grudgingly accepts the assignment, but soon finds himself enthralled by the virtual fantasy world and its amazing quests, unpredictable challenges, and nearly endless possibilities. Harriton is reincarnated as a warrior named Hagen and becomes a full participant in the fantasy world, plunging into the exciting world full of action, quests, humor, legendary weapons and ancient secrets. He meets faithful and courageous comrades and outwits those who are trying to hunt him.
In this world, the thirst for success and vanity of high-level players in pursuit of legendary objects spills into the real world, where high-stakes bets are made on the success of the virtual characters. Harriton, as Hagen, unwittingly enters into the Fayroll world, where events and decisions that he makes in the virtual space starts to affect his own reality. His unpredictable character, perseverance, and excitement attract the attention of powerful gamers and influential Moscow elite with a vested interest in Fayroll’s outcome. It is not long before he realizes that this fantastic world, (created according to the best canons of cult games, Warcraft and Lineage), conceals many dangers. Can he pass all the tests?
Fayroll is more than a novel; it’s a brilliant synergy of fantasy fiction and online gaming. It gives the reader the best of both worlds. The first novel of the 13 part epic series Fayroll, has captivated Russian readers countrywide and was voted the 2014 new fantasy book of the year. Andrey Vasilyev’s masterpiece ‘More Than a Game’ is now available to the English-speaking World. Join us in this breathtaking narrative that takes both its main character and the reader deep into the heart of the Virtual Gaming Universe and explore the Fantasy Series that has captured the imagination of the Slavic world.