This is an original Russian litrpg guy. This was published in 2012 but got a subpar translation back then and never took off. Now it got retranslated with care and real gaming terms as they should be translated as.
Can’t believe how high quality this translation is. So much high quality vocabulary and concise descriptions.
And the author uses proper gaming terms. He describes things so vividly and convincingly you think you’re playing an MMO yourself.
No fake lingo like “ready player one” (whose author clearly had never played any MMO and outside of pong no games either. It really pissed me off and ruined the book for me when it became clear all his descriptions and lingo was from a point of view no actual player would ever assume. I hate fakes and people worming their way into a genre with the help of media and press just because they have the correct country and politics. /rant )
Phil Thron is an incredibly talented narrator that usually narrates books that I cannot stand. I dislike idiot MCs, nihilism and cynicism and he is usually hired to do those kinds of books.
This book has none of that, so he does a fantastic job and I can enjoy it.
Tropes: no moronic MC, no “strong female characters” being made strong by portraying men as weaklings.
The MC is not a whiner that stumbles over god tier items or skills and no politics either.
A genuinely enjoyable book sans all the BS that drags down most cheap litrpgs nowadays.