How The Crafter Was Made
I promised to tell you about the first children's book of my life, written for the legendary Detskaya Literatura ("Children's Literature") publishing house — and I'll do that closer to the release of The Crafter's second volume. For today, I'll hand the floor to the series editor, Anna Trofimova. I don't have enough kind words for Anna; I'll just say that, on top of this piece, she sent over a pile of photos from the work on the book.
Read on, and don't spare your hearts.
— Dan Sugralinov
The Crafter, or The Mysterious Game — Detskaya Literatura, 2023. "Metaverse Fantasy" series.
There are books a children's-publishing editor takes on with real joy and curiosity. Especially when they open a new direction for the imprint. Especially when the author is known for writing strictly for adults.
So what happens when LitRPG is written for kids? And made genuinely useful, educational, funny — with a hero who changes over the course of the story? A hero who grows stronger, "levels up," not only inside the game's rules but in real life too? You get The Crafter, or The Mysterious Game, written by a master of the LitRPG genre, Dan Sugralinov.
Watching our hero, Vasily, transform — watching his outlook on life shift across the book — is a real pleasure. Vasily and his pet cat do a great deal of work on themselves and on the world around them. As the genre demands, they explore the game world, master new skills, battle horrid creatures, tame a wicked three-headed dragon, and even improve their living conditions — both in the virtual space and in reality. Vasily doesn't yet understand how it works, but he notes the game's strange properties: do push-ups in his digital hideout and he grows stronger in real life; fix the floor in the world the console dropped him into and, somehow, the floor at home turns out noticeably better. Odd that his mother doesn't seem to notice.
When we were developing this new book series, we wanted to bring in authors who appeal to adult readers but who still remember their own childhood impressions of the books they read long ago — the touchstones that guide a writer through the world of literature. The "Metaverse Fantasy" series gave "grown-up" authors the chance to write, for children, the book they'd have wanted to read as kids themselves. That's one of the wonderful bonuses of writing: putting childhood dreams onto paper. And yes — the new series is published in print, with all the tactile pleasure that brings.
For what it's worth, everyone on the team who touched Dan's book — editor, proofreader, designer, typesetter — did it with a smile that never left their faces. It takes tenderness and patience to build a children's book, setting aside the usual toughness of adult fiction, and real craft to hold cleanly to the stated 12+ age range. But The Crafter isn't only for teenagers — adults will be swept up in Vasily's adventures too. Every rule of the genre is honored: real LitRPG, with battles, character progression, and a hero pulled into a virtual world. Parents who know Dan Sugralinov's work will happily recommend this one to their kids — and then talk it over with them. It's a guaranteed good text and a safe, wholesome space, built on real family values, true friendship, and the importance of growing as a person.
The author hasn't forgotten the school troubles that follow a teenager who's moved from a big city to a small town. What surprises Vasily: the friends he left behind at his old school turn out to be fake — "cardboard" — indifferent to who he actually is. All they care about is the surface: an expensive phone, a new TV, whether your parents have a prestigious job. Vasily only understands this once he's far from his old life, and he finds real companions who value — as in the old books about musketeers and knights — courage, boldness, loyalty, and kindness.
That's what Dan Sugralinov's new book, The Crafter, or The Mysterious Game, is about. And what else? About finding your true self in new circumstances — in the game world and the real one alike.
Our readers are waiting for the story to continue. We hope the author will be curious, too, to find out what happens to Vasily next. Characters often start living their own lives on the page, dictating their adventures to the writer.
— Anna Trofimova, editor
The Crafter is a kids' LitRPG adventure — a safe on-ramp to the genre for younger readers. See it on the Crafter series page, and browse the whole universe in Books in Order.
→ Meet Vasily and the game: The Crafter.
