What do you think?
Rate this book
Призрачный Сервер #1
Edge of Reality
He is a cyber dweller. A gamer who's grown up in the web of virtual illusion woven from hundreds of phantom worlds. His biggest dream is to dump the real world for good.
His desperate hunger of new experiences forces him to take a risk and become one of the first proud owners of a neuronet implant. The new gadget becomes part of him - but soon it's not enough. If only he could finally burn all his bridges and make a step beyond the real world!
He soon gets this opportunity. A new universe, overflowing with mystery and unimaginable, mind-blowing authenticity, opens up before him.
This is Phantom Server. The game of the future where your pursuit of an adrenaline rush soon turns into a battle for survival. But the most terrifying mystery lies ahead when you gradually start to realize: this is a road of no return. Your every decision may become your last. Your every step leads you further along the abyss between life and death.
His desperate hunger of new experiences forces him to take a risk and become one of the first proud owners of a neuronet implant. The new gadget becomes part of him - but soon it's not enough. If only he could finally burn all his bridges and make a step beyond the real world!
He soon gets this opportunity. A new universe, overflowing with mystery and unimaginable, mind-blowing authenticity, opens up before him.
This is Phantom Server. The game of the future where your pursuit of an adrenaline rush soon turns into a battle for survival. But the most terrifying mystery lies ahead when you gradually start to realize: this is a road of no return. Your every decision may become your last. Your every step leads you further along the abyss between life and death.
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 12, 2015
About the author
Andrei Livadny
86 books132 followersAndrei Livadny is a popular Russian science fiction author. Born on May 27 1969 in the city of Pskov, he was an avid reader from an early age. But it was the Russian translation of Robert A. Heinlein's The Orphans of the Sky that decided his choice of future occupation. The story has become a pivotal moment in the boy's life, leaving a lasting impression on him.
Andrei wrote his first book at the age of eight. Since then, he's never stopped working on new books. His passion for science fiction has gradually become his career.
In 1998, Andrei debuted in Russia's leading publishing house EKSMO with his novella The Island of Hope. Since then, he has penned over 90 books that have enjoyed a total of 153 editions.
Andrei has created several unique worlds, each unlike the previous. He wrote A History of Our Galaxy with humanity itself as a protagonist. This sixty-book series creates a history of our future civilization and its contacts with alien races, forming a convincing and logical picture of humanity's development for two millennia from now.
Andrei's recent involvement with the bestselling genre of LitRPG - books set in online roleplaying games - inspired him to create his most intriguing series to date, Phantom Server. Merging virtual reality with hard science fiction and space exploration, the two first books of the series, Edge of Reality (Phantom Server Book #1) and The Outlaw (Phantom Server Book #2) are now available on Amazon, prompting a reviewer to call Andrei "one of the best new authors in American Sci Fi translated from Russian".
Besides hard science fiction, Andrei Livadny also works in cyberpunk genres which allow him to focus on human relationships and raise questions about artificial intelligence and identity uploading, describing cyberspace as humanity's future environment.
The English translation of A History of Our Galaxy will be available shortly. Check the author's Russian-language site for updates.
Andrei wrote his first book at the age of eight. Since then, he's never stopped working on new books. His passion for science fiction has gradually become his career.
In 1998, Andrei debuted in Russia's leading publishing house EKSMO with his novella The Island of Hope. Since then, he has penned over 90 books that have enjoyed a total of 153 editions.
Andrei has created several unique worlds, each unlike the previous. He wrote A History of Our Galaxy with humanity itself as a protagonist. This sixty-book series creates a history of our future civilization and its contacts with alien races, forming a convincing and logical picture of humanity's development for two millennia from now.
Andrei's recent involvement with the bestselling genre of LitRPG - books set in online roleplaying games - inspired him to create his most intriguing series to date, Phantom Server. Merging virtual reality with hard science fiction and space exploration, the two first books of the series, Edge of Reality (Phantom Server Book #1) and The Outlaw (Phantom Server Book #2) are now available on Amazon, prompting a reviewer to call Andrei "one of the best new authors in American Sci Fi translated from Russian".
Besides hard science fiction, Andrei Livadny also works in cyberpunk genres which allow him to focus on human relationships and raise questions about artificial intelligence and identity uploading, describing cyberspace as humanity's future environment.
The English translation of A History of Our Galaxy will be available shortly. Check the author's Russian-language site for updates.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 12, 2016
I came into this book expecting to read "Way of the Shaman" retold in a different setting, in that I was sorely disappointed. Which is a very good thing because this book is unique from all the other LitRPG series I've read so far and is easily as good as "Way of the Shaman" without giving you any feelings of deja vu when you read through.
The tone of the book is more dark, with life and death actually being the stakes the characters must deal with. The game administrators are anything but helpful, and their true goals are definitely not known to players until it is too late to prevent them.
Good story with quite a bit of suspense, moments where life support is running out, safe places are rare and valuable, and nothing is quite explained up front to the characters.
Also one good thing this book has done that's different from all other LitRPG books I've read so far, while they do discuss character stats, skills, etc they do not give constant updates showing a printed "Character Sheet" with the stats and abilities. There's one at the end of the book summarizing where the character has ended up at, but they don't print it periodically like other books of the genre.
That, to me, helps to prevent pulling the reader out of the story and reminding them what's being described is a game. That works extremely well with certain realities of the story and I applaud the ingenuity behind it, if it was a conscious decision. It worked marvelously.
The tone of the book is more dark, with life and death actually being the stakes the characters must deal with. The game administrators are anything but helpful, and their true goals are definitely not known to players until it is too late to prevent them.
Good story with quite a bit of suspense, moments where life support is running out, safe places are rare and valuable, and nothing is quite explained up front to the characters.
Also one good thing this book has done that's different from all other LitRPG books I've read so far, while they do discuss character stats, skills, etc they do not give constant updates showing a printed "Character Sheet" with the stats and abilities. There's one at the end of the book summarizing where the character has ended up at, but they don't print it periodically like other books of the genre.
That, to me, helps to prevent pulling the reader out of the story and reminding them what's being described is a game. That works extremely well with certain realities of the story and I applaud the ingenuity behind it, if it was a conscious decision. It worked marvelously.
January 6, 2021
Notes:
Overall, interesting concepts with lumpy progression. My library has three of the audiobooks. I'll check out the next one at some point.
Overall, interesting concepts with lumpy progression. My library has three of the audiobooks. I'll check out the next one at some point.
April 13, 2016
GAhhhhhh, cliff hanger ending. I'll give this a very strong 4 pretty close to a 5 actually. This was not what I was expecting. I read a ton of lit-RPG/portal fantasy into game world, and this was easily one of the stronger entries. Basically instead of overly focusing on grinding/gaining skills. Those just kind of happen as the main character is desperately trying to survive as he finds out it is a trap and the admins don't want him alive and/or sane. The fact that it's a sci-fi setting is a nice change of pace as well. But this is actually recommended to everyone not just lit-RPG fans.
July 10, 2016
I simply could NOT get behind the MC. He gets into trouble with the main plot because he can't be bothered to stay in the world he is in, even though he only finished 1 class. This just screams "I need the MC to be drawn into the plot that was laid out, so I'm simply going to make it happen, logic be damned".
Then there's other things that don't really work.
One prime example, is towards the end of the book, he and the girl are suddenly attracted to each other. This could have worked if there was any effort put into them having some spark of attraction before suddenly saying this, but no, it was as if the author simply couldn't be bothered.
Another example is how they gloss over the training parts, where suddenly the MC has an ship and starts learning how to fly it. We are given BARELY any details about this, so we can't really feel all that invested in him being a pilot, since all we really know is that "he spent the last couple of days practice flying".
And finally, there is the TOTAL lack of creativity, and I'm not referring to the author. What mainly makes this story fall far short of those by D. Rus and Vasiliy Mahanenko is that the MC doesn't try to get creative. This is a VRMMO, try to create unique things and/or skills, not just survive! What the author basically made is a non-stop action book, which might work for some crowds, but he also had to make it in an MMO also, which left me with the feeling of "wtf for?!"
Then there's other things that don't really work.
One prime example, is towards the end of the book, he and the girl are suddenly attracted to each other. This could have worked if there was any effort put into them having some spark of attraction before suddenly saying this, but no, it was as if the author simply couldn't be bothered.
Another example is how they gloss over the training parts, where suddenly the MC has an ship and starts learning how to fly it. We are given BARELY any details about this, so we can't really feel all that invested in him being a pilot, since all we really know is that "he spent the last couple of days practice flying".
And finally, there is the TOTAL lack of creativity, and I'm not referring to the author. What mainly makes this story fall far short of those by D. Rus and Vasiliy Mahanenko is that the MC doesn't try to get creative. This is a VRMMO, try to create unique things and/or skills, not just survive! What the author basically made is a non-stop action book, which might work for some crowds, but he also had to make it in an MMO also, which left me with the feeling of "wtf for?!"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2015
A nice ride, with many questions left unanswered
Many strong points. Sci-fi universes are generaly more challenging than fantasy settings, but have a certain inherent complexity that adds to the richness of the story in comparison. Although I felt too much was left unclear as far as the underpinings of this universe, the adventure aspect I always look for is definitely present. I did not find the story as imersive as other litrpg I've read, probably because a lot of questions were left hanging in the air, but It remained an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, it also ended in a very sharp cliffhanger, which was a bit disapointing and always unecessary in a complete novel imho.
Many strong points. Sci-fi universes are generaly more challenging than fantasy settings, but have a certain inherent complexity that adds to the richness of the story in comparison. Although I felt too much was left unclear as far as the underpinings of this universe, the adventure aspect I always look for is definitely present. I did not find the story as imersive as other litrpg I've read, probably because a lot of questions were left hanging in the air, but It remained an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, it also ended in a very sharp cliffhanger, which was a bit disapointing and always unecessary in a complete novel imho.
July 12, 2015
A good LITRPG book
A good futuristic LITRPG. Was a good book had fun reading it. Did not like the books ending, and would have liked to have seen his stats displayed.
A good futuristic LITRPG. Was a good book had fun reading it. Did not like the books ending, and would have liked to have seen his stats displayed.
January 17, 2016
Liked this book very much. Was hard to put down once I started.
March 20, 2016
I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to fans of the LitRPG genre. I am awaiting book 2!
April 2, 2016
This is a generic version of D Rus. I'm certain this author hasn't played an mmorpg game before he was tasked to write this series by his publisher.
This book has so very few lines of dialog. And there's like 2 characters, maybe 3 if you count flat archetypes. So the book reads just like this.
"I wonder what was under that piece of metal. So I decided to think about walking to it. If I did that, though, I might take radiation damage. So I figured that I will soon decide to think about that plan better. Suddenly the air turned green around me. I wondered what the green substance was. I decided to look around me to find the source of the green shimmer. I feel like I looked around for a long time. Then I heard a goblin arguing with another one somewhere. I knew it was a goblin voice because it sounded short. I could hear them talk about their secret plans. I could walk over to them and check it out more, but I decided to look at the silver object that the vendor gave me when i was in town. The silver object was shiny. But before I look at it too closely at it, I had to decide where to set my respawn.......etc"......
edit: the last 3rd of the book got better, and added a couple flat characters like a classic cliche romantic girl with an edgy attitude.
Anyway. This really isn't pixel punk genre. This is space opera wrapped in litrpg wrapper. The 1st 10 pages are devoted to a classic litrpg opening the quickly dropped the pretense.
This book has so very few lines of dialog. And there's like 2 characters, maybe 3 if you count flat archetypes. So the book reads just like this.
"I wonder what was under that piece of metal. So I decided to think about walking to it. If I did that, though, I might take radiation damage. So I figured that I will soon decide to think about that plan better. Suddenly the air turned green around me. I wondered what the green substance was. I decided to look around me to find the source of the green shimmer. I feel like I looked around for a long time. Then I heard a goblin arguing with another one somewhere. I knew it was a goblin voice because it sounded short. I could hear them talk about their secret plans. I could walk over to them and check it out more, but I decided to look at the silver object that the vendor gave me when i was in town. The silver object was shiny. But before I look at it too closely at it, I had to decide where to set my respawn.......etc"......
edit: the last 3rd of the book got better, and added a couple flat characters like a classic cliche romantic girl with an edgy attitude.
Anyway. This really isn't pixel punk genre. This is space opera wrapped in litrpg wrapper. The 1st 10 pages are devoted to a classic litrpg opening the quickly dropped the pretense.
July 13, 2015
For all the lovers of virtual reality novels, the English translation of Edge of Reality - Book #1 of the Phantom Server series - is about to come out. I read the opening chapters on the author's site and honestly, I'm quite smitten so I decided to write this review.
Phantom Server is set in a space simulator MMO game of the same name. Or rather, that's what it appears to be. When Zander, the MMO-weary MC in a desperate search for new online experiences, decides to become an alpha tester for this brand-new revolutionary game, he has no idea what he signs up for... facing a virtual reality that's more real than our worst nightmares.
The writing is, quite seriously, excellent with a story to match. I look forward to finishing the book but I'm already the author's fan.
UPD: I've finished the book and I loved every word of it. The author did a fantastic job with the character of Zander who progresses from bored and disinterested (the type of character typical of Russian literature classics, BTW) to a selfless hero. The wicked cliffhanger ending (which is also typical, I suppose, judging by Mr. Rus' Play to Live books) left me wanting for more. This is a fun book all right but in my humble opinion this is also a potential sci fi/cyberpunk classic.
Phantom Server is set in a space simulator MMO game of the same name. Or rather, that's what it appears to be. When Zander, the MMO-weary MC in a desperate search for new online experiences, decides to become an alpha tester for this brand-new revolutionary game, he has no idea what he signs up for... facing a virtual reality that's more real than our worst nightmares.
The writing is, quite seriously, excellent with a story to match. I look forward to finishing the book but I'm already the author's fan.
UPD: I've finished the book and I loved every word of it. The author did a fantastic job with the character of Zander who progresses from bored and disinterested (the type of character typical of Russian literature classics, BTW) to a selfless hero. The wicked cliffhanger ending (which is also typical, I suppose, judging by Mr. Rus' Play to Live books) left me wanting for more. This is a fun book all right but in my humble opinion this is also a potential sci fi/cyberpunk classic.
July 24, 2015
Good style of writing, good story, and interesting tale. However, the book ends in a cliff-hanger which makes the writer a bit of a jerk. Also, he was a bit lazy with the love interest, which annoys me a bit. While I know most Sci-Fi writers are pretty poor on they're female characters, it still grates on me to have that female character that is fiery, loving and a great ass. That is pathetic and cliche, and sadly pretty sums a lot of Female Sci-Fi characters. Personally, I find it just leaves them as objects and not a person you could like. But I digress.
Anyway, good book and stuff.
Anyway, good book and stuff.
July 12, 2015
Great start to an awesome series
I was immediately hooked while reading this book. I literally couldn't put it down until I had finished it, which happened to be about 4 in the morning. If you are a fan of the LITRPG genre you will love this book.
I was immediately hooked while reading this book. I literally couldn't put it down until I had finished it, which happened to be about 4 in the morning. If you are a fan of the LITRPG genre you will love this book.
September 20, 2015
This is a really gripping LitRPG novel that doesn't follow a straightforward plot. I enjoyed the suspense, the challenges put forward and the difficult decisions that the characters have to make. Only the cliffhanger-ish ending is a bit offputting.
Shelved as 'finish-maybe-someday'
August 24, 2019Not bad at all, but I'm feeling pretty meh about it due to my own personal taste. Good, not great. At the point I put it aside I'm thinking 2-3 stars.
April 13, 2023
It was refreshing to read a book in a science fiction environment after there is so much fantasy stuff around in litrpg. The reason i don't rated it higher is for me the interaction between the main character and the others stays on a very low emotional level. There seems to be no connection and it is not believable for me that the other characters put so much trust in him that leads to this level of loyality.
October 20, 2019
I felt better once I realized this was a translation. The first chapter's prose is so purple you could make grape juice out it.
I feel like a lot of the issues I had with the book - an unlikable protagonist, a plot that was disjointed - may also be attributable to translation issues as well. However, that said, I have no interest in continuing.
I feel like a lot of the issues I had with the book - an unlikable protagonist, a plot that was disjointed - may also be attributable to translation issues as well. However, that said, I have no interest in continuing.
May 29, 2016
Pretty interesting book and a nice representation of the litrpg genre. There were some things I disliked but overall I enjoyed it.
March 19, 2019
Started a bit slow (in game), but by the midpoint, i was riveted, and by the end I was so engrossed I knew I would finish the entire trilogy. The novel stands on its own as just generally good sci-fi, which helps, because some of the in-game scenarios hold little interest for me in other works, it gets tedious... but not here. If anything, my only complaint is some of the transitions in scenes are jarringly absent...like a few extra paragraphs would have much more smoothly explained what was going on.
September 14, 2017
A good paced read, occasionally it did get a little slow. I got tired of hearing about the "authenticity levels", and the romance part, while short, did nothing to add to the book. It was great until that point, as a matter of fact...I couldn't wait to read more on breaks! It felt almost as though he couldn't think of an ending, so lets throw in a romantic part and cut the book short. I will read the next one, and hope he got his writing together.
January 4, 2019
Este libro parecia mas una aventura de ciencia ficcion que un LitRPG.
El personaje principal era bastante contradictorio y mediocre, y la trama tenia tanto potencial que me entristece ver como el escritor no era lo suficientemente bueno para sacarle el mejor provecho :/
Quizas este año no sea tan malo, 1 LitRpg decente y otro malo pero tolerable D:
El personaje principal era bastante contradictorio y mediocre, y la trama tenia tanto potencial que me entristece ver como el escritor no era lo suficientemente bueno para sacarle el mejor provecho :/
Quizas este año no sea tan malo, 1 LitRpg decente y otro malo pero tolerable D:
January 15, 2020
Meh
Eh. It’s ok. Very fast read, but leaves a lot to be desired. I wish it were more like Mass Effect. The leveling system and skills are completely ignored and never explained once. They do nothing.
Eh. It’s ok. Very fast read, but leaves a lot to be desired. I wish it were more like Mass Effect. The leveling system and skills are completely ignored and never explained once. They do nothing.
October 13, 2023
V porovnaní s väčšinou LitRPH sérií je toto dosť čajový odvar. V podstate si zo žánru neberie nič a vydáva sa vlastnou cestou, ktorá sa nedá považovať za objavenie nových dimenzií, ale skôr sa skĺznutie do šedého priemeru polo-scifi.
September 18, 2017
Fun read
If you like litrpg this is a good sci-fi take on it. A bit light on the character stats/skills aspect. Guns seem to be the great equalizer level wise.
If you like litrpg this is a good sci-fi take on it. A bit light on the character stats/skills aspect. Guns seem to be the great equalizer level wise.
December 17, 2018
Hmmmm I found this book quite annoying, plot holes, stupidity and just generally nonsensical writing.
December 22, 2018
the edge lord has been born; A decent first try at the genre.
February 1, 2019
This book took me by surprise, I did not expect to like this genre this much. Give it a try, I loved it!
February 2, 2019
не понравилось. банальный сюжет, все предсказуемо, скучно
не смог дочитать
не смог дочитать
November 24, 2017
This is a LitRPG ( literary - role playing game ) book. I have never played an RPG game and so sometimes I wasn’t exactly exactly sure what was happening in this book but mostly I felt comfortable with my understanding of the larger picture and it held my interest enough for me to give it 4 stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews