Дмитрий Рус

I really wanted to try more in this genre since I enjoyed [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406383612s/9969571.jpg|14863741] and Sword Art Online. After a lot of research I picked AlterWorld because it's the highest-rated book in the genre and has the largest pool of ratings. Unfortunately, it's really disappointing. Poorly written with really flat characters. The RPG elements were good but not nearly enough to overcome the bad writing and lack of plot.

The main character continuously gets into fights that he tells you he has no hope of winning, and then he wins them with no explanation. No clever thinking or sudden strategy or even deus ex machina to explain the twist of fate . . . he just hit that there guy more than the other guy done hit him.

Halfway through, the main character invents virtual cigarettes and then the rest of the book just resolves around smoking and monetizing the invention. Seriously. There's not really anymore RPGing after the cigarettes appear.

Also, they are talking about killing Nagafen and going to the Fear Plane. The first several chapters are spent fighting gnolls. The author didn't even make up a game for this book, it's just Everquest. It's the 2030s and nobody invented a better MMO yet?

There is one redeeming detail, glimmering like a lone star in an otherwise dark night, which is that the most famous player is named Fuckyall.

Finally, the book is ridiculously sexist. Sometimes you encounter a book where the main character is sexist but it's apparent that the writer is not. For example, The Magicians, in which Quentin is a raging misogynist but the female characters around him are well-rounded and capable. This is not that kind of book. The author doesn't seem to have anything but condescension for female characters. Here are some gems:

"Taali smiled and turned on her femme fatale look. Head up high, hips swaying, she walked over to the chosen point and began setting up camp. What a child she was, really."

"I lowered my eyes playing the poor penniless Jew."

"The sight of slim Elven maidens doing their corpse runs like some bikini beach joggers, was too much for any red-blooded male. Damn those art designers."

"Even Taali chose not to play the spoiled diva and logged in two minutes before time."


… (mere)