My third metaverse book is out

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Just like Brandon Sanderson, I, too, have been busy during this pandemic. In fact, I’ve written more than ten new books. Take that, Sanderson!

Okay, most of them are really short. His books are 400 pages long. My books are shorter. Krim Deeds, for example, is 150 pages.

But, on the plus side, you don’t have to give me millions of dollars for me to publish them — or wait until next year to read them.

So if you’re interested in a funny book about the metaverse, with a little murder mystery in it, check out Krim Deeds.

If you’d like a free review copy, or are just a loyal reader and would like a copy for free, email me at maria@hypergridbusiness.com and I’ll send it to you. All I ask is that you leave an honest review. And yes, I do mean honest — I learn as much from the bad ones as the good ones.

My first two books are also out.

Krim Times, which is 70 pages long, is just 99 cents — and it’s free to read if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

The second book, The Lost King of Krim, is the first one starring Ellison Davo. He’s trying to find a missing person.

The fourth book, Krim Cross, is currently being edited, but you can read an early preview version of it here. And if you find any typos or plot holes — please let me know in the comments or email me!

All of these books are set in the near future, where virtual reality has become indistinguishable from real life. In fact, sometimes, the virtual world is actually more real than the real one. In the real one, people have apps that control their facial expressions, holograms have replaced street signs and Zoom meetings, and we finally have flying cars. But on Krim, which is set roughly in the 1500s, there’s none of that.

The other thing about my vision of the future? If something happens to your physical body, you can continue living online. And since most of what people do is already virtual, for many people, their lives don’t change much at all.

I was inspired to write this when a few years ago I had a slipped disk that eventually required spinal surgery and, for a few months, I could barely walk. I spent the time on the couch, with my computer. And I discovered that my life just went on as before. I still did my day job, still ran my blog, still read books, still watched TV. It was a little sad to find out how boring my life now was. After all, I used to be a war correspondent! But you know what? It was my life, and I liked it. And the fact that I could continue with it, even when partially paralyzed, was actually encouraging. No matter what happens, as long as I have my mind, I’ll be fine. And if I don’t have my mind — well, I won’t care then, will I?

The pandemic brought all that back. Sure, I could walk, but I couldn’t go anywhere. My life moved fully online again. But, this time, so did everyone else’s.

The online world is now the real world. It’s where we work, where we learn, where we socialize, and where we play.

It’s not a bad thing. It’s not a dystopia. There are bad aspects to it, sure, but there are even more good ones.

I don’t believe that a single company will dominate the metaverse. I think that many will try, and there will be some 900-pound gorillas, but that there will also be room for a lot of other options.

Today, a few giants own the highest-trafficked websites. But there are currently 2 billion websites in the world. According to the latest global Internet snapshot, the average person spent around 7 hours online as of last fall — about two and half hours of it on social media. But the rest was distributed between various streaming services, news, video games, search engines, work apps, and all the other stuff that people do online.

I think the same will be true in the future. A few global giants will be battling it out for the top spots, with new contenders constantly nipping at their heels. Meanwhile, there will be millions — maybe billions — of other virtual worlds. I believe we’ll be able to travel between them, just like we can switch from one website to another.

Or teleport from one OpenSim grid to another.

I personally am looking forward to our virtual future.

Anyway, check out my books, leave reviews, and sign up for my newsletter. If you want to read all my upcoming books, for free, as I’m writing them, check out my Krim World website. I post a new installment every weekday.

Maria Korolov
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