As for the story itself, the novel focuses on Chris, an experienced gamer living in a world controlled by a “benevolent” AI.

But as soon as he gets into Euphoria Online, everything starts to go horribly, horribly wrong…ĪB: Welcome to digital hell, here’s a broken sword, a wooden plank, and a horde of gankers coming your way…it’s like being back in Ultima Online. See, if you can survive six months in-game in Death March mode, where a death in-game results in your real death, you get to ask of Albertus Magnus, the world-spanning AI that’s been tasked with fixing our planet, for any one favor, and Chris aims to ask for a pardon for his brother.

Our hero, Chris, gets suckered into playing in Death March mode so as to try and save his brother who’s on death row. Think the world of Witcher 3 but portrayed with the intensity of What Dreams May Come. PT: So, Death March: a paradise online, more real than reality, the colors more vivid, the landscape more epic, and so forth.

It’s a part of the LitRPG genre, stories focusing on online worlds in the real world, or worlds with RPG(role-playing game) mechanics that are observable. Starting off, your most recent novel, Death March, just came out. I’m a Brazilian Brit who lives in Asheville and spends far too much time obsessing about world building, how to create feverish, burning chemistry between characters (the answer, it turns out, is lithium + water), wondering if it’s actually worth the time to create a conlang, and so on.ĪB: That was…a specific introduction, you have me intrigued. That’s, ah, a reference to the Sphinx’s riddle, right? Right. Phil Tucker: a man who ever since he was a youth was obsessed with writing fantasy and hopes to write it long into his senescence. * crosses legs, uncrosses them, clears throat* A little about myself? Haha, who doesn’t know all about me already? Just a joke, just a joke. PT: Hey, Allan, thanks for having me, thanks everyone, thank you. Phil, Phil Tucker, everyone! Welcome, and I am pleased to have you here today.įor those unfamiliar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself? Who is Phil Tucker, man of laborious discipline and dark fantasies? I present to you our interview.ĪB: Phil, please, have a seat! And welcome to the jungle-no, that’s an outdated reference. Phil Tucker has been in the indie publishing game some years now, popular with many fans and other indie authors, and has a good number of books, and successes, under his wizard belt. This awesome guy is known by many in the indie scene.

The Path of Flames by Phil Tucker