Book picks similar to
Hack by Paul Bellow


litrpg
fantasy
lit-rpg
abandoned

Greenways Goblins


Daniel Schinhofen - 2019
    When freakish storms envelope the Earth, people start disappearing without a trace. Wild theories abound; is it aliens, spontaneous combustion, or perhaps quantum entanglement? The only ones who might know are those who have vanished. An average group of gamers is setting up to start a new campaign. The storms rage across the world, but they only care about the game they are about to start. Little do they know that they would be next to disappear from the face of the Earth. Shifted to a different world, the group of friends find that the gamer’s dream they had always harbored has come true, but not in the way they would have hoped. They are not there as themselves, but as the level one characters they had been preparing to play. Standing on a road with smoke rising in the distance, they would soon be given their first quest— but not the one they would have chosen. (This series contains dark themes, including but not limited to: suicide, torture, slavery, and worse.)

Shards of Reality (Enter the Realm #1)


Timothy W. Long - 2017
     Walter LePointe and Oswald Blackwell just woke up inside of the online role playing game Realms of Th’loria. With no memory of how they arrived, Walt and Oz soon learn the hard way that living in an epic fantasy world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. As level 1 characters with no skills or experience, nothing can prepare them for their new lives as they prepare to Enter the Realm. "Timothy W. Long injects a stark degree of realism into everything he writes. His horror is more horrific, his heroics more heroic, I love reading his stuff." --Peter Clines, bestselling author of the Ex-Heroes series, 14, and The Fold "Reading Timothy W. Long is like being in a knife fight that doesn't end until the last page." --Nicholas Sansbury Smith, bestselling author of The Extinction Cycle

Camelot Overthrown


Galen Wolf - 2017
     Christendom is threatened by the minions of the evil one Satanus, and King Arthur, king of the Britons, calls out for brave knights to come and defend the Island of Britain. Camelot Overthrown is the first book set in a future virtual reality fantasy role playing by Miskatonic Games. Join Gorrow as he rises up from Level 1, hones his knightly skills, upgrades his weapons, makes friends, and builds a village on his way from Squire to Knight. But his progress is threatened by the ever encroaching armies of Satanus, who threaten even Camelot itself. Gorrow must race to level so he has the skills to fight and defeat evil. And the financial resources to back up his fight. King Arthur sends out a call. If Camelot falls, surely Christendom will fall too? Then who will resist Satanus as his black tide threatens to overwhelm the medieval island of Britain?

Game Break: Hayden's Book 1


G.S. Hodgson - 2016
    Seek out a comfortable chair to marvel at the sight of two setting suns or revel in bloody battle on the Plains of Deadalon, destroying skeleton warriors with your devastating magic. Whatever your heart desires, Waara will provideeeeeeeeee Error304, Error 6799, Report! Critical Failure! Click here for customer support. That is unless your name is Hayden and you wake up in a pitch black mine, with no idea how you got there and are thrust into an unimaginable world of pain and heart attack inducing adventures/catastrophes. “Waara will provide ‘MY ASS’. Can you believe that PR ‘crap’? Come and find out what happened to me and we will see if you still want to play, ‘The Land of Waara,’ ” Hayden griped. “What the hell is that? Get it off me Spike. A little help would be nice.” Game Break is a LITRPG Series There is some swearing and a bit of nudity, but all in good taste, I hope.

Lost Archive


Isaac Winter - 2017
    That is, before he finds a book of magical runes. Before people start disappearing.When he deciphers the strange book, Winston discovers a secret so big it throws him into a different world. Literally.No more grading papers. No more research. No more work. Just him and The Veil, the eerily realistic game world he falls into. Desperate to find his missing colleagues, Winston must navigate this strange new world, using only his wits to survive. Quests, skills, and loot await him…if he’s up to the task.Along the way, he’ll need to fight enemies, recruit allies, and go on a journey of magic and adventure. And at the end? Well, let’s just say he won’t be the same person he started as.Lost Archive is a LitRPG Adventure and first in the VeilWalkers series.

Memories


Stephan Morse - 2015
    All he wishes for is a distraction from the thoughts plaguing his waking hours. He dives in headfirst, unknowing of the AIs intentions. They offer him the chance to play as one of their own, a NPC deserving of a proper send off. What he discovers during the journey shakes Grant to his very core.

Blood Eye


Morgan Cole - 2018
    Now he’s facing eviction and the loss of his precious freedom. If he can’t turn things around, he’ll be one of the have-nots living in the brutal Benefits Towers. A friend gives him the opportunity to enter the fantastic Land of Dreams, a state of the art DreamStateVR game, and he jumps at the opportunity. However, the idyllic village of Brunewood seems cursed. Innocent young girls are disappearing and the ill-fated conjunction of the three moons approaches—the Blood Eye. Dark magic will be unleashed, can John and his friends save the villagers from a horrible fate? Blood Eye is a LitRPG/Gamelit novel. There are no harems in this book, and no sex.

Lord of the Apocalypse


Michael Sisa - 2018
    Fate further kicks him on the chest when he suddenly finds himself in the middle of an unannounced apocalypse, witnessing death by the thousands. After a desperate struggle, he dies only to find himself in the body of a Goblin..

Bard to the Bone


Cid Banks - 2018
    James didn't expect a quick foray into an MMO game to last this long. He's fantasized about being a rock star but has never held a tune. Now he's stuck as a bard. Forever. Lesser mortals would despair, but there's only one option: Becoming the most kickass bard ever. Armed with just his wits and a lute, James must survive in a game world where everything wants to kill him. Teaming up with a pair of gorgeous, lethal women is first on the list. Next is conquering the world. Authors Note: This LitRPG novel contains harem elements, detailed game mechanics, a complex fantasy world filled with monsters, intrigue, and nonstop action!

Crafter's Passion


Kris Schnee - 2018
    The richest and luckiest players of the video game "Thousand Tales" get their minds uploaded to its virtual paradise world, while Stan can barely buy a handheld console. Instead of sulking he plays, and grows, becoming a skilled craftsman and seafaring explorer. The game's ruling AI, Ludo, helps him find the hope and inspiration missing from his real life. When the AI starts asking for favors and having him reach out between the real and digital worlds, Stan has a chance to turn his life into an actual adventure. But first he needs to earn the most valuable prize of all: his freedom. "Crafter's Passion" is part of the emerging "LitRPG" or "GameLit" genre, combining science fiction with the world of gaming. ----- On Island East-2 stood Stan, in the dungeon, with the rickety raft. He dragged it out to the beach, scavenged more wood and some interesting shells, and paddled his way back west. The raft disintegrated just as he got within sight of East-1. He held onto a chunk of wood to help him float but couldn't carry the rest in his pack. All he could do was start swimming! A scary fish swerved into his path but he managed to detour until it lost interest. Finally he sprawled onto the beach with a bunch of stat penalties for being wet and tired. Belatedly he realized, "I probably ruined everything in my backpack." A note said, [Nearly everything you're carrying is safe, like coins and a sealed bottle, but that can be a problem with other items. There are several ways to get waterproofing.] That sounded reasonable. He'd assumed that jumping into the water with a load of items was harmless, but that was his own fault. "Fine." He headed west to Central Island across the bridge. So far he just had that crude backpack full of loot, and he couldn't carry much more without a better pack. He looked over the junky resources he'd scavenged, then the items he'd looted off his party members' bodies. None of the equipment was listed as magical, and the item descriptions were starting to give him more serious labels like [Crude Wooden Bow] for Alaya's weapon. Even he could probably make something better with a little practice. He could make something better! That could be fun. Besides, he'd swiped this gear from people he'd agreed to help, so maybe he could replace or upgrade the stuff by way of apology. Stan headed over to the Crown & Tail's workbench to give it a try. Along the way he jumped around for the fun of bounding up the sunny shore. He tapped the bench of tools and tried to fix up some items, but it buzzed at him. [Equipment repairs require access to improved crafting stations.] The bartender directed him to the "maker workshop" a ways inland from the beach. It looked like an old fort, a squat wooden cabin surrounded by a spiky wall of logs. Why not a giant golden palace? Probably it had been built by the players using the game's own physics. That was pretty neat. He walked right in through the open gate. Inside was a craftsman's playground. Saws, drills and other tools covered some of the tables. A whole corner was devoted to colorful glassware and bubbling fluids. A green-robed figure was busy at that alchemy station, pouring beakers one into another and making puffs of steam. The only other person here was a smith in a leather apron and goggles, making a pleasant rhythmic ringing of metal. Behind him loomed a forge where slabs of metal were glowing cherry-red. Stan looked around and asked, "Is this stuff open to the community?" The alchemist turned around.

The Genesis Game: Volume I


Andrew O'Kelley - 2021
    No one gained more power than the tyrant known as the Black Seraph, the Angel of Genocide. Surviving at the expense of the rest of humanity, Seraph was able to complete the World Dungeon upon reaching the Altar of the End. A hollow victory, as he was cursed by the spirit of the dungeon for ruthlessly focusing on his empowerment.His power was sealed away, deep within the dungeon; Seraph was cast into the past, reincarnated into the body of his child-like self. Forbidden from hoarding power for himself and charged with the mission of ensuring the survival of humanity. But people do not change overnight, and Seraph must find a new path forward and learn there's more to power than being a tyrant if humanity is to survive the Genesis Game.

Unwritten Rules


Adam Horne - 2017
    Unable to support himself and dependent on others to meet his needs, Kevin was slipping into depression when his best friend convinced him to play a new game called Genesis Online. The concept was simple: a revolutionary artificial intelligence controlled the game world and adapted it to the actions of the players. Even the developers didn't know what course the game could take as it evolved. Lured into the game by the prospect of earning real money, Kevin soon runs afoul of a man determined to control as much of Genesis as possible. He recruits other disenfranchised players to his side in his quest to find a way to prosper in the game. Can they stop the man who calls himself the king of Genesis from taking over everything?

Project Alpha


R.A. Mejia - 2017
    Unfortunately, he gets lost on the huge campus and when he follows a hot girl to what he thinks may be his first class, he’s accidentally introduced to a new world full of action and adventure. A world that exists in parallel with our own, the System. Now Anthony is getting new skills for doing every day tasks, gaining levels from fighting monsters, and experiencing adventures he never thought possible. Not everyone is happy to see someone like Anthony with these new powers and is willing to do whatever it takes to stop him from using them. Including murder. Will he be able to handle these strange new powers? Or will his enemies win and force him back to his normal boring life? Project Alpha is a LitRPG Adventure.

Avarice Online (The Seven Realms #1)


Matt Ryan - 2017
    He doesn't do it to cheat; he does it to survive. And with the launch of a mysterious new game, Avarice Online, his hopes for a better life finally seem within reach. Living in a Slab City trailer with his foster family is not the end of the line for him; he will see to it, if it's the last thing he does.The day the game launches, his life turns to shambles, leaving him desperate and at a new low. He must now put everything he has into dominating this new RPG. Too bad the makers of Avarice Online have other plans for their players--blurring the line between virtual and reality.Join Josh and his new in-game friends, Gor and KILLian, as they immerse themselves in this new world, filled with NPCs who are almost too real, and where the challenges and rewards are greater than any of them could have imagined.

The Curse of Hurlig Ridge: 1st Dive


M.A. Carlson - 2018
    Enter the World Tree Online, a fully immersive virtual reality experience. Join Byron in his first 30 days of a non-stop fantasy adventure in the cursed province of Hurlig Ridge, a land filled with monsters, mysteries, murderers and treasure. The people of the province have been tormented for centuries by a pack of voracious wolves. Now, with the arrival of the adventurers, dark forces have begun to stir, accelerating their dark plans. Can Byron unravel the mystery of this curse before it’s too late? Adventure and excitement await anyone brave enough to join the World Tree. Will you be one of them?