AlterWorld by D. Rus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Holy cow! What just happened? (just kidding, sort of.)

Description

Max just found out he’s dying, with not much time left to live. As he seeks options to cheat death, he finds out that virtual gaming has a new option – going perma. The government has attempted to stop people from immersing themselves in the game so long and thoroughly that their consciousness makes the leap to the digital world, but Max is determined to get in.

He chooses his new home–AlterWorld–and jumps into the fantasy MMORPG as Laith, the dark elf. His unconventional choices put him on a different path than most, but he doesn’t mind. He’s planning on staying a while.

But digital reality is not all fun and games, as Max is soon to find out.

Review

Alterworld is amazing. The author uses first person, and infuses it with incredible voice and an interesting and likable character who is equal parts determined, lucky, and humorously honest. He then throws said character into all sorts of trouble, and the game begins.

My only complaints? The story lagged a little towards the end, though it was basically a setup for the epic ending. And then it was over. Like, I wasn’t expecting to turn the page and see the back matter. Lol. But I can’t hate him for it. It wrapped things up just enough and left me wanting more. So there’s that.

The story is incredibly easy to immerse yourself in, and a smooth and enjoyable read. I’d probably give it more stars (and some likes and medals) if I could.

**This book does swear liberally, but all sex is off screen.

***I feel I should also mention that I came across a review that says the series slowly devolves into Russian Propoganda. I can’t say whether that’s true or not, having only read the first book, but I’d say there is some evidence that this could be true. Most notably being the use of a red bear as a mount for the main character, and talk that the dark side is not necessarily evil (I’m all for that, but I can see how that statement might be groundwork for justifying the actions of Russian leaders, both past and present).

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