Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1) LitRPG series

I love the litrpg genre, where people immerse themselves in a fully lifelike VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). I loved the Alterworld series by D. Rus, and when I heard this series (Way of the Shaman) by another Russian writer was being translated into English, I couldn't contain my excitement! I eagerly awaited its release and this book does not disappoint!The main character is (unjustly) sentenced to prison for eight years. The world is economically dominated by a particular virtual reality game and prisoners are forced to mine raw ore for other players to buy off the government. Prisoners are given a random starting character (not of their choosing) and can feel all sensations, including pain. Prisoners may not leave their designated mine area except under specific and hard to achieve parole conditions.The main character is given a fairly ridiculous main class (shaman) and a difficult to improve profession (jeweler). Much like the Korean novel Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, the main character must use his fortitude, gaming skills, and quirks of a despised class/profession to succeed against all odds.I enjoyed this book so much that I practically read it in one sitting! I can't wait for more!

*Minor spoilers ahead*Survival Quest is a fine addition to the litrpg genre. One of the items that helps differentiate this title from its fellows is that our protagonist does not deliberately seek out the vrmmorpg world he is placed into. Instead, he is made to join the digital realm after accidentally exercising his hacking skills on an unintended target, earning him the equivalent role of a gold farmer. As he played the relevant game as a hobby prior to his incarceration, he is familiar with some, but not all of the steps he must take to level up in his new role. The immersive experience he is put through gives him advantages and disadvantages that help to advance our protagonist, as well as the plot. The main downside to this title is that as of the time of this review, the book has no sequel available for purchase, leaving readers right with our protagonist preparing himself for the mostly unknown challenges that await him.

A lot more fun than I expected - there's the satisfaction on gear and loot drops that define this emerging genre, but fleshed-out characters that you want to follow. The dynamics between players and characters is smart and believable, but not weighed down with either overbearing pomposity or self-congratulatory (but ultimately weak) humor that can infest this genre. A fun read if you're geeky enough like me to enjoy these types of stories.

I got to this piece through some Korean and Japanese light-novels set-up in full-dive mmorpgs. Well... considering this aspect the book is exactly the same. If I had to compare it to anything I would go with Legendary Moonlight Sculptore.The main character has a class with only cons, as it seems, but with time he learns how to fully utilize it. The world describe is interesting and quite entertaining. A nice movement is making the main character a prisoner of the "game" with all drawbacks of being such.If I wanted to point out some cons of the book, it would be its rather slow pace of the plot development and length - it seems way too short :) - but then, that's probably, 'cos I would love to read more of it.

It's hard to remember from the last page, but the first part of this was actually fun! It captures the fun of the early part of RPGs: starting with nothing and working your way up. Unfortunately, from there it became blander and more generic, any sense of challenge replaced with series of numbers.I'd say it's as boring as watching a mock RPG like Progress Quest, but that's not fair. Progress Quest at least had funny item names, while this book just has Ring +1 replaced by Ring +2 replaced by Ring +3.Still, I had enough fun with the early part that I'm motivated to find better LitRPGs.

Like most I suspect, I troll the discount Kindle books looking for good enjoyable books under $5. Which was the price I remember paying when I used to go to the book store as a kid. The problem is of course that while many of the Kindle books are very inexpensive, they tend to be self published and extremely raw works. However, from time to time you find a gem. This book is one of those gems, well worth the money. It is in its own way, as good as Alter World by D. Rus. The main character is well developed and the other characters in the book are solid as well. The story is fast paced and I liked the fact that the main character has significant struggles, and the answer isn't always handed to him.....A couple of minor issues - I will point out that Survival Quest is a book about a person in a fantasy game, and there are if you haven't played these type of games yourself, some significant conceptual hurdles that aren't always well explained in the book. Additionally, there are a few grammatical and typo errors as well. I think the errors may have more to do with translation / moving into Kindle format than any failure on Mr. Mahanenko's part. There weren't many and it didn't detract from the story.

I really didn't expect a lot from this book. I bought it because Russian fantasy authors have surprised me in the past and I was in a book slump. I loved it. It is a humorous and captivating piece of literature. I thought the characters were well rounded and the world building was well done, but it's the story that makes a book shine and this was a very engaging well paced story. I recommend this book without reservation.

A fantastic read.(I read it in one sitting) .Great setup for a virtual reality story and the author knows how to excecute it well. Main character comes across as honorable and possesses an inner strenght to overcome the hardships in the story. I like this type of positive main characters that still have some small flaws.This is my favourite book of 2015 so far....

A fantastic LitRPG read (the whole set of 7). If you like this genre this will work for you. If you like science fantasy you will almost certainly enjoy this too, but be advised there are some MMO-style level-up and statistics paragraphs common to the LitRPG genre. These parts are far smaller and quite unobtrusive than in some similar books I have read, so I do not think it would bother the majority of science fantasy readers.

A very interesting novel about Virtual Reality and the developments that could happen if the world is captivated by a single game such as the one in Survival Quest. The characters within the novel are great and some are better then other, along with the story so parts seemed lacking in comparison to others aspect, leaving myself to feel that the main character would end up becoming super overpowered by just simple luck, even though putting in some work.However I am still highly looking forward for the next in the series, and would recommend this book for anyone else who is interested in the subject with the novels which they like to read.

I loved this book. I read a lot and find so many books are very similar, this book had many new elements with the star being immersed into a mmo world. I really enjoyed the character levelling and information pop up's as the hero's statistics changed and quests were completed. I read this book in 2 days and cannot waiting for the next one. Vasily Mahaneko please hurry and release the next book.

I really loved this series it has fast become one of my favourites, I have listened to both books on audio and am eagerly awaiting the release of the third audiobook. This series is a definite must read for anyone who enjoys LitRPG.

I read this book a time ago along with every single book in the series as they came out. its a brilliant book. i hve recently brought in paperback because my friend doesnt use kindle, ive reread the entire book before i gave it too her because I couldn't put it down.

Absolutely fantastic series. Only recently discovered the LitRPG genre, but can't get enough of it. One of the better entries by far. Draws you deeply in, and fully immersive, at the same time giving a different take on the basic style and progression.

Great book, the best I've read in this genre. The only downside is having to wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Totally entrancing. And a brilliant take on a rare class choice. People new or old will enjoy this story lots.

Can't wait for next book to be published when ? Will it be possible to get the next book in the series

rpg lit well written, good plot and character's, awaiting next book

I liked the premis. In a world with virtual reality why spend large amounts of money keeping criminals locked up when you can put them in virtual reality prisons? The mc has a rough start, in a prison mine with 2 classes that appear to be underpowered. Through hard work and by cooperating with like minded prisoners he begins to build reputation and develops his classes. He seemed a bit scatter brained at first and by not paying attention was the author of his own misfortune in places. Glad to say that as the story unfolded this annoying character trait fell by the wayside. I'll be continuing with the series.

This is one of my new fave LitRPG series along with The Land and The Way of the Outcast.Like, Way of the Outcast, it starts off really hard with a prisoner who is initially limited, he thinks, by his class, his profession and his circumstances: Shaman, Jeweller and prisoner in a location where experience is limited and difficult to procure. I love hard starts both when playing a game and reading about playing a game, because it requires creativity and deep strategy to get anywhere. So his fixes are clever and surprising.I really enjoyed reading about a Jeweller and a Shaman - these are both a profession and class I never choose IRL gaming (is that an oxymoron?) so it's much more interesting than the Jack of all trades characters I usually choose.Enough about me, the pros are:> the writing> length of book> characters> plot - the story arc is well developed: it begins and ends in such a way that you feel satisfied by this juicy and meaty read and look forward to your next meal> difficulty level (as above)> team building (at least in book one)The con is that the series isn't finished yet.If you love LitRPG this is a no brainer.

Die Geschichte gefällt mir eigentlich sehr gut, aber es passt nicht zusammen.Die Fähigkeiten wirken einfach OP und müssten generft werden, die Klassen-Berufskombi soll die Hauptfigur in den einstelligen lvln Gegenstände herstellen lassen zu denen kein anderer (praktisch) in der Lage ist und das Klassensystem vom Schamanen hat gar nichts mit Klassensystemen aus Spielen zu tun.Ich denke der Author hat sich von Asiatischen lightnovels inspirieren lassen (die auch nicht schlecht sind), aber dass passt nicht zu westlichen Spielen (und ja, da sind größere Unterschiede)SOLLTE sich die Spielwelt als real herausstellen gibt es von mir 5 Sterne, bis dahin ist das ganze einfach obskur

I enjoyed the story and the premise of getting stuck in a virtual world as a prison sentence is logical, even if the cause of being sentenced is a bit weak.Character power within the "game" is not overdone at this stage but I did find inconsistencies in how the character developed and made decision a little annoying at times.Nonetheless I powered though this in both the written and audio book format and immediately bought the sequel

Ich bin ein großer Fan von dem, was mittlerweile als LitRPG bezeichnet wird, auch wenn im asiatischen Raum schon länger entsprechende Light Novels existieren. Und Survival Quest ist eins der besten Bücher aus dem Genre. Ich hoffe stark, dass sich ebenso wie für D.Rus die Übersetzungen für den Autor lohnen und bald weitere Bücher erscheinen.Wer also Geschichten liebt, die in Virtuellen Welten spielen und sich fast nur um das "Leveln" des Charakters und "cooles Loot" drehen, wird sich hier wiederfinden.Um es noch mal zu wiederholen... ich will mehr!!! ;)