Hello, I am Alex Mizgailo, the creator of the Land of Amun universe.
I was born in a godforsaken place at the end of March 1981. That night, the hospital had its own peculiar atmosphere, which led to a clerical curiosity — I was registered on the 30th, even though this day has not yet come. The reason? The new logbook was already on the table, and no one wanted to fetch the old one.
An astute reader might interpret this as a telling sign: I was born among the chronically lazy, and I wholeheartedly agree — to an extent you cannot imagine. Thus, I consider it one of my life’s greatest achievements that I didn’t follow this path myself. I’d like to take this opportunity to extend greetings to those who can’t and won’t sit still, ever. As they say, we be of one blood, ye and I!
From an early age, I was left to my own devices. To avoid unnecessarily bothering my parents, I was taught to read at age 4. By 5, I was devouring fairy tales, and a couple of years later, I discovered fantasy literature, beginning with Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”
By the time my family moved to a new apartment adjacent to the local cemetery, I had already developed a vivid imagination. My bedroom windows faced directly onto the main gates…
Funeral processions passed by almost daily, making me both an expert in funeral marches and a surprisingly good sprinter. There was no alternative — walking home from school in winter, traversing several hundred meters alongside the cemetery in pitch darkness, was rather far from a pleasurable experience.
The silver lining? For the first decade of my professional life, I couldn’t comprehend what others meant by “stress” or “burnout.” What were those guys complaining about?
At some point, my regular secondary school was upgraded to a gymnasium with a remarkably progressive approach incorporating elements of the Dalton Plan. Most significantly for me, however, was the introduction of computers in the curriculum. I had fallen in love with drawing, poetry, and prose, and earned recognition winning contests and prizes, but after the seventh grade, programming became my singular passion, eclipsing all other hobbies. Every moment of free time found me in the computer lab.
During my final years of school, I had the extraordinary fortune to work alongside a talented, experienced psychologist who had graduated cum laude from Moscow State University. Together, we developed a program for psychological monitoring of student personalities — a sophisticated system featuring multiple assessment tools, statistical analysis, and comprehensive evaluation methods. Our collaboration extended into profound conversations about life and human nature. We often spent entire weekends working “overtime,” sustained by tea and sandwiches. This mentorship provided me with invaluable experience.
From my school years, I retain pleasant memories and an honors diploma. I entered the country’s premier university for computer sciences without difficulty, only to find myself somewhat disillusioned. I had hoped for more programming and less mathematics, but the curriculum proved to be precisely the opposite — and the mathematical focus only intensified as I progressed.
Eventually, I pivoted toward self-education, exploring realms beyond the IT sphere. My journey encompassed psychology and various spiritual practices, among other disciplines.
Beginning in my third year of university, I worked full-time as a programmer. By graduation, I had established myself as a solid mid-level developer, capable of securing excellent employment opportunities with relative ease.
At some point, I experienced an overdose of everydayness and monotony, which my creative nature found increasingly difficult to endure. For roughly a decade, my work had required essentially the same routines — only the languages, platforms, and technical environments changed.
By my 30s, I returned to writing, spending several years crafting a substantial collection of humorous short stories and completing several novels.
Fortunately, I eventually found a project where I worked as a performance analyst for five years. Searching through hundreds of processes to identify the elusive bug that compromised an entire system provided genuine, profound satisfaction. I became so invested in hunting down these culprits that I developed and taught courses on performance optimization and profiling. In the process, I trained an impressive team of specialists to continue this work — successors I could genuinely be proud of.
At a certain point, however, my sedentary work began causing significant health problems. In my younger years I sustained an injury that resulted in two substantial herniated discs, which periodically transformed my life into an exercise in endurance. The condition only worsened with time. Medical professionals presented me with stark options: disability status or surgery followed by disability status.
I had always fiercely resisted fraud in every domain and was sometimes blinded by my unwavering faith in conventional medicine, dismissing alternative approaches entirely. Life, however, left me no choice but to reconsider these views. Yet just as I began this shift in perspective, my wife encountered health challenges remarkably similar to my own.
I resigned myself to my condition, but my wife refused to accept hers, seeking help from various unconventional practitioners. I observed no tangible improvements, though I certainly noticed our finances diminishing. Eventually, she enrolled in osteopathy courses, and I accompanied her — initially intending to expose these “charlatans” with proper scientific scrutiny. Everything followed the classic skeptic’s playbook: I planned to build a clear evidence base proving they were frauds… until I found myself completely drawn in.
Over the past five years, I haven’t visited a conventional doctor except for a dentist to address an old filling. The impact on both my health and that of my clients proved so remarkable that I seriously considered abandoning programming for osteopathy. However… life once again intervened with its own agenda, presenting me with an opportunity to completely rebuild my life from scratch.
I interpreted this opportunity in my own way and began constructing a new game world — one as chaotic as the reality surrounding us, perhaps even more so. A world where one must navigate all these challenges while continuing to live and evolve…
Evidently, I have something meaningful to contribute on this subject, as my simple desire to create a game where I could feel at home has blossomed into an entire fantasy tetralogy. The first book is essentially complete, and I am committed to bringing the entire “Land of Amun” series to publication.
As for the game itself, this project exceeds what can be accomplished through individual effort, so prepare to lend your assistance — we’ll build this world together.
Developing the “Land of Amun” universe represents my primary focus for the coming years.
***
Demographics (in a descending order 😊)
Age: 44
Actual years of work, including overtime: 30 (crazy, I know…)
Countries visited: 14
Total years of writing practice: 7
Children: 4
Times married: 2
Nationality: 1 (Belarusian, fugitive)
Days lived with a lost heart: 0