The Kartoss Gambit

A product of the latest technologies, Barliona is a virtual world brimming with fun and entertainment. The government has become the guarantor for the in-game currency, allowing its free circulation. As a result, the population floods Barliona in pursuit of easy money.

It doesn't take long for the game developers to discover a source of free labor: real-world prison convicts. While their bodies are locked in special auto-maintenance virtual capsules, the prisoners' minds are released into Barliona's vitual mines.

Dmitry Mahan has been through it all. Sentenced to eight years hard labor, he now struggles with an unpopular class-the Shaman-and an equally unpopular profession of a Jeweler. His fight for survival becomes anything but virtual.