Today i re-read book named "Личный враг бога" (God's personal enemy), written by Mikhail Klikin. I't s not a masterpiece work, but for me it's something special. I Buy this book... mmm about twenty years ago, when i was schoolboy. It's book about adventures in virtual game, like anime "Swords Art Online", or "Player One Ready" novell, but it not so positive. It's about escapism, loniless and wanting to be not who you are. The autor of this novell admitted that he was familiar with MMORPG only from articles about "Ultima Online" in the magazine, but for me this book this book determined my views on this genre (then I could not play such games, because we did not have the Internet). But, even without knowing anything about MMORPGs, the author was able to create a huge contrast between the gray and dull real world and the bright fantasy game world based on Tolkien's books (which was later embodied in the World of Warcraft)... aaand, this novell was written in the end of nineties!
It's not the best novell, it's not the best novell about games, but for me this is really something iconic.