LitRPG – Wikipedia

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Literary genre

LitRPG, short for literary role playing game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels.[1] The term was introduced in 2013. In LitRPG, games or game-like challenges form an essential part of the story, and visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of the reading experience.[2] This distinguishes the genre from novels that tie in with a game, like those set in the world of Dungeons and Dragons;[1] books that are actual games, such as the choose-your-own-path Fighting Fantasy type of publication; or games that are literally described, like MUDs and interactive fiction. Typically, the main character in a LitRPG novel is consciously interacting with the game or game-like world and attempting to progress within it.

History[edit]

The literary trope of getting inside a computer game is not new.[3]Andre Norton’s Quag Keep (1978) enters the world of the characters of a D&D game. Larry Niven and Steven Barnes’s Dream Park (1981) has a setting of LARP-like games as a kind of reality TV in the future (2051). With the rise of MMORPGs in the 1990s came science fiction novels that utilised virtual game worlds for their plots. Early examples are Tad Williams’s 1996–2004 tetralogy Otherland, Conor Kostick’s 2004 Epic[4] and Charles Stross’s 2007 Halting State. In Taiwan, the first of Yu Wo’s nine ½ Prince (½ 王子 Èrfēnzhīyī Wángzǐ) novels appeared, published in October 2004 by Ming Significant Cultural.[5] In Japan, the genre has reached the mainstream with the release of the media phenomenon Sword Art Online in 2009. Also of note is the Korean Legendary Moonlight Sculptor series with over 50 volumes.

While these novels and others were precursors to a more stat-heavy form of novel, which is LitRPG proper, a Russian publishing initiative identified the genre and gave it a name. The first Russian novel in this style appeared in 2012 at the Russian self-publishing website samizdat.ru, the novel Господство клана Неспящих (Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones)[6] by Dem Mikhailov set in the fictional sword and sorcery game world of Valdira, printed by Leningrad Publishers later that year under the title Господство кланов (The Rule of the Clans) in the series Современный фантастический боевик (Modern Fantastic Action Novel)[7] and translated into English as The Way of the Clan as a Kindle book in 2015. In 2013, EKSMO, Russia’s major publishing house, started its multiple-author project entitled LitRPG. According to Magic Dome Books, a major translator of Russian LitRPG, the term “LitRPG” was coined in late 2013 during a brainstorming session between writer Vasily Mahanenko, EKSMO’s science fiction editor Dmitry Malkin and fellow LitRPG series editor and author Alex Bobl [ru]. Since 2014, EKSMO has been running LitRPG competitions and publishing the winning stories.[8][9]

GameLit[edit]

Many of the post-2014 writers in this field insist that depiction of a character’s in-game progression must be part of the definition of LitRPG, leading to the emergence of the term GameLit to embrace stories set in a game universe but which don’t necessarily embody leveling and skill raising.[10][11] Some of the earliest examples are Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 Jumanji which is a children’s book about a magical board game.[12][13] and the Guardians of the Flame series (1983-2004) by Joel Rosenberg[14] where a group of college students are magically transported into a fantasy role-playing game.

Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel Ready Player One, which depicts a virtual reality world called OASIS filled with arcade game references from the 1980s and 1990s, became an example of this new genre.[15][16][17] Other examples include Marie Lu’s 2017 novel Warcross which is about an online bounty hunter in an internet game,[16] and Louis Bulaong’s 2020 book Escapist Dream which tells the story of a virtual reality world where geeks can role-play and use the powers of their favorite comic book, anime, movie and video game characters.[18][11]

Examples[edit]

English-language:

  • Arcane Ascension (2017–) by Andrew Rowe[19]
  • Awaken Online (2016–) by Travis Bagwell[20][21]
  • Critical Failures: Caverns and Creatures (2012–) by Robert Bevan[22]
  • The Dark Lord Bert (2019–) by Chris Fox[23]
  • The Divine Dungeon (2016–2019) by Dakota Krout[19]
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl (2020-) by Matt Dinniman[24]
  • The Feedback Loop (2015–2018) by Harmon Cooper[25]
  • Game of Gods (2019–) by Joshua Kern [26]
  • The Infinite World (2020-) by J.T. Wright [27]
  • He Who Fights With Monsters (2021–) by Shirtaloon [1]
  • Red Mage (2018–) by Xander Boyce[28]
  • The Wandering Inn (2016–) by pirateaba[29]
  • Worth the Candle (2017–2021) by Alexander Wales[30]

Russian:

  • Alpha Rome (2018–2019) by Ros Per (Рос Пер)[31]
  • An NPC’s Path (2018–2021) by Pavel Kornev (Павел Корнев)[32]
  • The Bard from Barliona (2017–2020) by Vasily Mahanenko (Василий Маханенко)[33] (series related to The Way of the Shaman set in Barliona)
  • Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones (2012–2018) by Dem Mikhailov (Дем Михайлов)[34]
  • The Crow Cycle (2015–) by Dem Mikhailov (Дем Михайлов)[34] (series set in Valdira)
  • Dark Herbalist (2016–2018) by Michael Atamanov (Михаил Атаманов)[35]
  • Dark Paladin (2017–2018) by Vasily Mahanenko (Василий Маханенко)[33]
  • Fayroll (2017–) by Andrey Vasilyev (Андрей Васильев)[36][37]
  • Galactogon (2014–2019) by Vasily Mahanenko (Василий Маханенко)[33]
  • Heroes of the Final Frontier (2017–) by Dem Mikhailov (Дем Михайлов)[34] (sequel series to Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones set in Valdira)
  • In the System (2018–) by Petr Zhgulyov (Жгулёв Пётр)[38]
  • Interworld Network (2018–2020) by Dmitry Bilik (Дмитрий Билик)[39]
  • Invasion (2018–2022) by Vasily Mahanenko (Василий Маханенко)[33] (sequel series to The Way of the Shaman set in Barliona)
  • League of Losers (2020–) by Michael Atamanov (Михаил Атаманов)[35]
  • Level Up (2017–) by Dan Sugralinov (Данияр Сугралинов)[40]
  • Mirror World (2014–2022) by Alexey Osadchuk (Алексей Осадчук)[41]
  • The Neuro (2016–2018) by Andrei Livadny (Андрей Ливадный)[42]
  • Perimeter Defense (2015–2017) by Michael Atamanov (Михаил Атаманов)[35]
  • Phantom Server (2015–2016) by Andrei Livadny (Андрей Ливадный)[42]
  • Play to Live (2013–) by D. Rus (Дмитрий Рус)[43]
  • Project Stellar (2019–2022) by Roman Prokofiev (Роман Прокофьев)[44]
  • The Range (2019–2022) by Yuri Ulengov (Юрий Уленгов)[45]
  • Reality Benders (2017–) by Michael Atamanov (Михаил Атаманов)[35]
  • Respawn Trials (2018–2021) by Andrei Livadny (Андрей Ливадный)[42]
  • Rogue Merchant (2017–2019) by Roman Prokofiev (Роман Прокофьев)[44]
  • Underdog (2019–2021) by Alexey Osadchuk (Алексей Осадчук)[41]
  • The Way of the Shaman (2013–2016) by Vasily Mahanenko (Василий Маханенко)[33]
  • Realm of Arkon (2015–2018) by G. Akella (Георгий Смородинский)[46]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b “Escape From Reality – Washington Free Beacon”. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  2. ^ Серия книг LitRPG by EKSMO (in Russian).
  3. ^ “What is LitRPG and why does it exist?”. The Verge. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  4. ^ “Conor Kostick on Ready Player One, Epic and LitRPG”. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  5. ^ Kuo, Grace (3 June 2012). “Taiwan novelist captures hearts of youngsters at home and abroad”. Taiwan Today. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  6. ^ Господство клана Неспящих.
  7. ^ Что такое ЛитРПГ: всё о жанре, Mir Fantastiki magazine (in Russian).
  8. ^ “Романы серии LitRPG (Первый сезон)”. Fan Book. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  9. ^ “Level Up Publishing: What is LitRPG?”. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  10. ^ Tuleyev, Murat (17 January 2019). “Писатели сегодня зарабатывают реальные деньги”. KST News. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. ^ a b Almond, John (30 October 2020). “A Closer Look at Video Game-Inspired Books”. Gonevis. 30 October 2020
  12. ^ Balogun. “When Afrofuturism Meets Sword & Soul! Why YOU should be reading LitRPG”. Chronicles of Harriet. 30 August 2017
  13. ^ Perry, Travis (21 May 2020). “Free Original Storyworld Ideas, Part 5: GameLit (and Animal Eye)”. Speculative Faith. 21 May 2020
  14. ^ “Guardians of the Flame Series”.
  15. ^ “What are the best GameLit books?”. LevelUp.
  16. ^ a b Matharu, Taran. “5 virtual reality books for your gaming-mad tweens and teens”. BookTrust. 8 January 2018
  17. ^ Kauffman, Samuel Kenneth (17 March 2020). “What makes a Gamelit story?”. Medium. 18 March 2020
  18. ^ Hannigan, Carl. “Escapist Dream (Book Review): How It Represented and Satirized Geek Culture”. Voice Media Group. 29 August 2020
  19. ^ a b “14 OF THE BEST LITRPG BOOKS”. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  20. ^ “What is LitRPG?”. June 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  21. ^ “What are the top LitRPG books of all time?”. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  22. ^ Robert Bevan.
  23. ^ Kauffman, Samuel Kenneth (17 March 2020). “What makes a Gamelit story?”. Medium. 18 March 2020
  24. ^ “Dungeon Crawler Carl Series”.
  25. ^ “The Feedback Loop Series”.
  26. ^ “The Game of Gods”.
  27. ^ “The Infinite World”.
  28. ^ “Red Mage Series”.
  29. ^ “An Interview with Pirateaba”. 22 January 2018.
  30. ^ “Worth the Candle Series”.
  31. ^ Ros Per “Alpha Rome” (in Russian).
  32. ^ Pavel Kornev (in Russian).
  33. ^ a b c d e Vasily Makhanenko (in Russian).
  34. ^ a b c Dem Mikhailov (in Russian).
  35. ^ a b c d Mikhail Atamanov (in Russian).
  36. ^ Премии автора (in Russian).
  37. ^ “All Time Best LitRPG”. Level Up Publishing. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  38. ^ Petr Zhgulyov “In the System” (in Russian).
  39. ^ Dmitry Bilik “Interworld Network” (in Russian).
  40. ^ Daniyar Sugralinov “Level Up” (in Russian).
  41. ^ a b Alexey Osadchuk (in Russian).
  42. ^ a b c Andrey Livadny (in Russian).
  43. ^ Dmitry Rus (in Russian).
  44. ^ a b Roman Prokofiev (in Russian).
  45. ^ Yuri Ulengov “The Range” (in Russian).
  46. ^ Georgy Smorodinsky (in Russian).