AlterWorld is based in the near future where video gaming has gotten so advanced that some people have decided they would rather live in the virtual world instead of the
physical world.
Max is a poor Russian man who is living with brain cancer and only has months to live. He figures that putting himself into the virtual game called "AlterWorld" is his one chance at staying alive, at least in part.
AlterWorld is a "Dungeons and Dragons" "World of Warcraft" type of world. Players create and customize a character including choosing the character's race (elf, dwarf, halfling) physical looks and class (necromancer, rogue, warrior) and then go on quests to level up their abilities.
Max creates a High Elf necromancer named "Laith". He them goes about learning his new skills and adjusting to his new life in a digital world.
Anything that can be done in an RPG is now his life. Max levels his character, flights monsters and learns new Spells. The book goes on about how he meets new people, both permanent players who also live in game and players that log off and have lives in the real world, and deals with what he wants to do with his second chance at life.
I loved the book. It was so true to how RPGs are played. There were so many tiny details like skillpoints to spend, guilds to join and even players using real money to gain in game gold, really made me like the book. The world that was built was both familiar and exciting. Also I think it is a story that most gamers would be into because it's authentic to gameplay and adds insight to something that many of us have always wanted to do.
This is the first book book in a series, and I am looking foward to reading the rest of the series and seeing how things play out. The series is written by D Rus and there are currently three books in the series. Before anyone reads the book I would advise that the reader know a little about RPGs and gaming I general as there is some gaming specific lingo, other than that go read it.
You can find it here on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/AlterWorld-Play-Live-Book-1/dp/B016DRBYL2/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?keywords=AlterWorld+by+D+Rus&qid=1551514247&s=gateway&sr=8-2-fkmrnull