It’s the most advanced computer role-playing game ever: When you play you’re really there—in a dark dream teeming with evil creatures, danger-filled fortresses, and malevolent sorceries.
The game plugs directly into your brain--no keyboard, no modem, no monitor. And for game hacker Arvin Rizalli and his friends, no cash up front, no questions asked . . . and no hope of rescue when the game goes horribly, deathly wrong.
My Opinion: Originally published in 1991, the author was ahead of her time in describing VR. The story is a bit YA but is still very good. I’d read it a long time ago and only recently remembered it after talking with friends online about the oldest LitRPG story we could think of. Reread it and found this one fits. RPG story, references to levels and D&D like powers. A few of the references in the story took me back to the 90s and that was just icing on the cake.
Score: 6 out of 10