In 2013, EKSMO, a major Russian publishing house, started its multiple-author project entitled LitRPG. The first Russian novel in this style appeared in 2012 at the Russian self-publishing website, the novel Господство клана Неспящих ( Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones) 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) and translated into English as The Way of the Clan as a Kindle book in 2015. 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. Also of note is the Korean Legendary Moonlight Sculptor series with over 50 volumes. hack//Sign in 2002 and Sword Art Online in 2009. In Japan, the genre has reached the mainstream with the release of the media phenomenon. 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. Early examples are Piers Anthony's 1993 Killobyte, Tad Williams's 1996–2004 tetralogy Otherland, Conor Kostick's 2004 Epic and Charles Stross's 2007 Halting State. With the rise of MMORPGs in the 1990s came science fiction novels that utilised virtual game worlds for their plots. 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). Andre Norton's Quag Keep (1978) enters the world of the characters of a D&D game. The literary trope of getting inside a computer game is not new. Typically, the main character in a LitRPG novel is consciously interacting with the game or game-like world and attempting to progress within it. This distinguishes the genre from novels that tie in with a game, like those set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons books that are actual games, such as the choose-your-own-path Fighting Fantasy type of publication or games that are literarily described, like MUDs and interactive fiction. 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. LitRPG, short for literary role playing game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels.
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