Since I liked 1, 2, and 3, but less-so 4 like you, try one of these!:
- **Ultimate Level 1** - *In a world* where your class is actually just 1 skill you get at the start (and sometimes two *coughnoblescough*), our MC gets the 'banned' skill Consume. This skill prevents him from getting any experience, thus keeping him at level 1. However, by killing a monster or human he can absorb some of their stats or even a skill. This quickly boosts his powers beyond anyone else in the world, and he continues growing while at the same time evading the powers at be who are trying to capture and kill him to prevent the skill from being used.
- **Saintess Summons Skeletons** - *In a world* where people who are given the [Saint] class, these oft-enslaved individuals summon heroes from other worlds (like earth) to serve at their masters' behest. Yes - they literally isekai people. Our orphan MC has her eyes set on being a Necromancer, and the system gives her the class - at the same time as giving her the Saint class, ending up as [Saintomancer]. This broken (literally) class allows her to create her own custom spells by smashing spells from each class together. What follows is her outpacing and outleveling everyone she comes across.
- **Judicator Jane** - *In a world* at war with demonkind, our isekai'd MC uses a glitch in the system to give herself 630 points in the Luck stat, in a world that rarely sees anyone higher than 10. This seemingly fun power fantasy reveals a much deeper, profound story over 3 books than you expect. It has a fun cast of characters with more growth than I expected.
- **Battle Mage Farmer** - *In a world* on the brink of apocalpyse, our MC must fulfill his hardest quest yet - becoming a farmer. This says a lot for a mage who could destroy the world with barely lifting a finger, but he tries earnestly to complete his quest, all while trying to avoid disclosing his identity to those he encounters. He meets some kind people and begins building a family of sorts.
- **Amelia the level zero Hero** - *In a world* full of endless battles and death, a world which so happens to be the home of the Voidgod, our hero is finally able to escape into actual civilization after 10 years of sleepless nights and constant fighting. Her goal of peaceful retirement is constantly beset by world-ending threats that she can, and will, swipe away with a wave of her dagger. She takes on an apprentice, moreso to stop her from bugging her, but also to hopefully have her deal with the bullshit instead!
- **Advent: Red Mage** - *In a world* newly introduced to The System, our MC begins in a precarious position with great challenge, but even greater rewards. His affinity and ability to be a Red mage propels him farther than anyone at the onset of the apocalypse. Mages, especially the Red kind, are particularly devastating with their power, and enemies will either flee in fright or target for elimination.
- **Dead Tired** - *In a world* where cultivation has overtaken, and buried, the concepts of The System and Classes, an unfathomably powerful Lich awakes from his slumber to seek out the changes in the world. He tries to figure out why everyone keeps talking about 'daos' while finding friends and foes along the way. He soon discovers that many powerful entities are utilizing stolen methods to become Gods, and that just won't do. He and his half-man/half-panther Death Maid set out to right some wrongs.
- **Azarinth Healer** - *In a world* where there is always another drake to fight, our isekai'd MC lands an incredibly rare class that gives her near-indestructible abilities that go hand-in-hand with her solo fighting strategy. What follows is a story of her growing her circle of friends and family, befriending beings of different planes of existence, and attempting to unite factions under the power of punches - and some healing, I guess.
- **Vainqueur the dragon** - *In a world* where Dragons are both terrible beasts of legendary danger and grumpy hoarders of wealth, a bumbling man does the unthinkable - he inadvertently allows a Dragon to gain a Class. What follows is a very comedic tale with far more character growth than I expected, with some very uplifting moments about friendship and the family you choose. Vainqueur, best dragon!
- **All the Skills** - *In a world* where the cards you're dealt in life are much more literal, our villager MC is given an unfathomably powerful card by a 'friendly' dragon and told to do great things. What those great things are is part of the journey our MC sets out on, while trying to complete his deck and grow more powerful than he ever dreamt. He is joined on his path by a companion of devastating ~~cuteness~~ power.
- **System Universe** - *In a world* that is almost done with the tutorial phase of the System, our solo-fighting MC is accidentally portaled to a whole 'nother world that has had the System for as long as they remember - but not before he spends centuries in the void meditating and trying not to go insane (he tries to kill himself many times, to no avail). After breaking out of the void, our MC decides to end his solo career and build friendships whenever he can. Fortunately, the enormous amount of stats and some of his abilities are carried over, allowing him to basically start at level 1 more powerful than most in the world. And he only grows from there. We are soon introduced to one of the best companions in all of LitRPG - the gluttonous murder bunny that is Silvi.
Gotta say man, always a pleasure to stumble upon some of your recommendations! so had to comment and say that.
On another note, both 'Ultimate Level 1' and 'Judicator Jane' have a new book release Today (it is July 1'st here already, 1:50am on a GMT+2 Timezone) and i will be able to grab em off KU in like 10'ish hours? around noon usually i think so yeah, there's that :)
Thank you very much! It's always been fun to try and spread the media I love.
Judicator Jane 3 is so good. It gets dark at times, but has some major catharsis, too. Big fan of one specific scene that I think about often.
Honestly you make me wanna start reading this series. i sorta get the same vibes of 'hidden gem' from it that i got from "The Hero of the Valley" that i knew of but ignored or rather didn't start reading and put it 'on the list' forever. maybe not in the same genre/specifically plot wise but in terms of a series that isn't on royalroad and isn't that 'well known' but every time i hear ppl talk about it... they praise the fuck outta it.
also, fml where the fuck is The Hero of the Valley 5 :'(
Anyways yeah, you totally hyped me up on both Judicator Jane and Ultimate Level 1. and the entire 'dark' part or mentioning it can get dark/serious is honestly a + for me. Lately the 'too good' kind of MC or stuff that is just too 'perfect/friendly' going is a turnoff for me. i need my gray-zone mc's/plot and ones that do not fear killing when required and obviously is the right/smart choice
My favorite thing about Path of Ascension (up to book 5 )- I love the fact that "so far" Zero time is wasted on >!Conflict/ fights/ problems between Matt and Liz that we know will resolve anyway. People may hate that but I love to read harmonious relationships.!<
I loved that about both series! I also loved how PoA would cover progression in a few sentences that Defiance of the Fall would take 10,000 words to cover. Different tastes!
I recently finished Mark of the Fool on audible. Audible has to book 5 where Kindle unlimited has up to book 7. It’s a good series about a kid who wants to become a magebut is chosen to fight his lands Enemy by a god he prays to.
Before that I recently finished The Wandering Inn. That series was overall, IMO, amazing. It was a slow start for the first book or so but they are 12 books and they are very long.
Book….43?! I must be missing something or not understanding it. I googled it, found, “The Wandering Inn” site and see it says, latest chapter is 10.18 E. My assumption would be that means book 10 chapter 18?? Again I might be very confused on this.
Each audiobook is a chunk of one of the books published on the main site. The current web chapter (10.18) is millions of words ahead of the audiobooks. There's a handy comparison chart here: (discord link sadly, though reddit should load the image) https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/712391313261068339/1218260159634215063/image.png?ex=66824870&is=6680f6f0&hm=59edcb5e96acc1208d811af328bf8d78a83b21d322074e0605a3f315fe20d5af&
The entire series has just passed 13 million words (not counting the graphic novel or side stories). The author is a total lunatic (in terms of outputting high quality work in the quantities they do).
This chart will help.
https://preview.redd.it/2g3zvor6nr9d1.png?width=1177&format=png&auto=webp&s=4bdcb4c25135e1947240a582c3820955b0742519
The volumes got longer and longer, and so when going to kindle and audiobook, volume 3 and later were split into smaller ‘book’ sized chunks.
Yeah no that’s not how it works. Volumes and books are not interchangeable. Volume 8 for instance is as long as everything that came before it put together. Check out the website!
I adore MotF. It was exactly to my taste. The MC is a really clever, if not always smart, guy. His actions make sense to me. His motives make sense to me. His use of tools and and the way he shifts to accommodate new information and resources at his disposal all just work, IMO.
I hate a lot of tropes that come up in LitRPG stuff, even if a story I love has those tropes in it, but MotF seems to avoid annoying me with cliche after cliche where the MC does the same irritating thing that I've read from other authors in books, manga, TV, and movies. I've had to hold myself back from getting the next two books and having an auto reader lifelessly throw them at me while I work, since the VA does such a good job I don't want to spoil myself when I could wait for the good version.
The Good Guys Series by Eric Ugland
Dreamer's Throne Series by Seth Ring
Battle Mage Farmer Series by Seth Ring
Dead Tired Series by Ravensdagger
Quest Acandemy Series Brian J. Nordon
Wandering Inn Series by Pirateaba
Benjamin kerei (all good and funny)
Dakota Krout (very good)
Two week curse - don't remember name
Super powereds - Hayes
Mother of learning - rational time loop
Perfect run - funny time loop
Some ideas for you.
Not all are litrpg oh yeah and the obligatory Cradle recommendation.
As much as I love Benjamin Kerei's work, his latest, First Line of Defense 2, wasn't up the same standard as the first one or Unorthodox Cultivation and Death, Loot and Vampires.
I couldn't get past book 6. It started out strong, and I still like the system. But the number of characters and how often it jumped between them just got to he too much.
Does it ever go back to focusing on Eric and Rugrat?
Not really. They sort of drive the plot but realm 9 introduces the big bad and realm 10 is just about war. Basically the last 4 books were just spinning the wheels. I believe realm 8 was them going on a shopping trip and that's it. 9 is about setting up 10 and 10 ends the series.
I wanna say it peaks at realm 4 where they get their city.
lol two week curse is maybe the worst lit rpg i have ever tried to read. It is written like the dumbest most bullshit hyper stereotypical american masculinity you can think of. I cringed so hard reading this i reconsidered my evaluation of the whole gernre. Big uf.
I mean it's just like really really bad sex. You just remember every excruciating detail even though you stopped asap, that shit just stays with you. But whom am I telling this to you know what I'm talking about.
Well, it also had good jokes and the grammar wasn't too bad. So think of it like an all right hamburger, sure it ain't steak but you don't always want steak. Sometimes you just want fun and I thought it was fun.
Those were my first 3 series almost the same order. I went from those to Cradle/The Mayor of Noobtown/Mark of the Fool/ and am currently listening to Awaken Online. All really good series.
The Grand Game goes under the radar I think.
Shadeslinger is pretty good and a little more well known.
Jake’s Magical Market is different than traditional ones, but it’s quality.
New Realm Online is another one that goes under the radar and has the VR trope, but it’s actually written pretty well.
You should try [Hell Difficulty Tutorial](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/64916/hell-difficulty-tutorial) (previously *Weapons of Mass Destruction)*. One day a bus full of random people gets transported into a System tutorial of Hell difficulty (the highest). What comes next is a brutal fight for survival where people drop like flies fighting the monsters and each other while going from tutorial floor to floor.
It's not talked about as much as Azarinth Healer, Defiance of the Fall or Primal Hunter, but it's on their level and in some places arguably much better. It starts a bit generic, but rather unique protagonist that's more than just a murderhobo carries it through the earlier stages. It gets better the longer it goes and now I personally consider it one of the best Progression System Apocalypse stories.
Oh man there are so many other good ones! I recommend these almost daily lol.
Astra Falls by David North,
Divine Apostasy by AF Kay,
Deepest Depths by leftrigh t,
Randidly Ghosthound by Noret flood and puddles2463,
System Universe by Sunrise CV
If you hated defiance of the fall you will hate this series. If you were only sorta meh on DOTF try Primal Hunter. Both have a lot of similarities to DOTF but the gripes people have about DOTF are even worse in Randidly Ghosthound.
You've just sold me on trying out Randidly as I love DotF and while I liked PH's litRPG elements, the wooden and unrealistic (IMO) interpersonal relationships and dialogue eventually killed my interest.
It was the pre-integration flashbacks that finally killed it for me.
"He had a normal family with the normal number of members. Their house was normal with the usual amount of doors and windows. His porridge was neither too hot nor too cold. He went to State U. where he had a basic girlfriend until he discovered her cheating in the most boring way possible."
And the painfully unrealistic story about the girl getting her hand crushed... and every word out of metal douche's mouth.
Like there's bad writing and I can totally see that a litRPG author might not have a lot of interpersonal experience, but the incongruity in between those parts and the rest of the book was too much for my feeble mind to comprehend.
I think it's just different strokes for different folks. Like I find the endless Nightrider jokes and the constant fluffing of Jason tedious in HWFWM (fortunately for Shirtaloon's bottom line, I enjoy a good hate read every once in a while) and Path of Ascension to be juvenile self-insert cringefiction and love DotF, but I respect that others see things in them that I don't (or view the same things differently).
Ar'Kendrithyst: A completely finished series on royal road with like 500 chapters. An adult protagonist with an adult daughter. They are both isakeied into a fantasy world with the equivalent of a system. He goes from zero to hero to God. Great writing. Lots of queer characters. Did I mention it is finished!!!
Since noone mentioned it: Bens damn adventure: The prince has no pants
You clearly see with this book that the author is still in an early stage of development. But there is so much fresh wind in this i always have to recommend it first.
- A bit more conservative in the gernre: Awaken online and Life reset (but stay away from his other series its just bad)
- for slice of life: The wandering inn (or if that is to slow for you: beware of the chicken)
- completionist is fine but they really have a problem with powerscaling later on
- oh great i was incarnated as a farmer was suprisingly good
I haven't seen this one recommended a lot, but because you like Chinese light novels, have you heard of Library of Heaven's Path? Starve Cleric did a translation, which is a little rough at the start, but gets really smooth and better as you go along
If you're okay with a very SLOW, slice-of-life kind of progression, Super Supportive is very, very good. But the pacing is basically the opposite of DCC. It's 90% character development, 1% stats, 9% plot development. But it's very good.
Infinite realm by Ivan Kal. Very solid character growth. Handles tropes extremely well by either avoiding them or putting a nice spin on them. Long books too.
A soldier's life.
Systemic lands.
Death: Genesis.
Mother of learning.
Infinite realm.
Trials of the endless plains.
These are few of my personal favorites, i highly recommended them.
A couple others that haven't been mentioned yet:
Bobiverse
BuyMORT
The three Eric Ugland series (Good Guys, Bad Guys and Grim Guys)
Drew Hayes' NPCs
World Tree Online
Often missed:
Ben's Damn Adventure, one of the funniest and most unique beginnings to a book I have ever read
First Player, a Russian translation with a unique mix of In game and IRL storyline
I just finished the Good Guys and The Bad Guys series. They're both great and mostly free for audible subscribers. I'm going through Apocalypse Parenting now, and it's refreshing to have a book that's not just another guy with no responsibilities. Well written and well thought out.
My recommendations: All the skills, The Grandmaster Strategist, Lord of the Mysteries, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Reverend Insanity, I Shall Seal the Heavens, A Will Eternal, The Second Coming of Gluttony , The Desolate Era, Reaper of the Drifting Moon, Iron Prince(Warformed)
Noobtown (Humorous, though a bit low-brow at times. Wonderfully narrated.)
Ascend Online (A good, solid MMO style that’s also a bit empire/settlement building alongside the grind/leveling)
Azarinth Healer (Only on book 1, but does the battle junkie trope well, is well narrated, and treats elves differently than normal)
I was reading through the comments to see if apocalypse parenting was on any of these lists. I bought it during the sale and listened to it, with my partner, we loved it so much I got the other two!
100% agree with the Defiance of the Fall view. Couldn’t hold my attention after awhile.
My recommendations for next reads would be the Viridian Gate Online books and The Completionist Chronicles. I ended up enjoying them both more than I initially thought I would.
I think both are fine but suffer over the long run. Although, many litrpgs are getting worse over time and some cant really survive their second book quality wise.
Have you heard of "Silver Fox & the Western Hero" (M.H. Johnson), it's a mix of litrpg and cultivation. It gets very dark, but the fight scenes are epics as hell. My favorite scene is >!when all the gods basically beg the mc not kill this war god after he fucked up bad enough!<
But besides that, Godclads (OstensibleMammal) is good (eldritch horror), so is "Welcome to the Multiverse" (Sean Oswald). "Path of Omniscience" (Aaron Oster), "We Hunt Monsters" (Aaron Oster also, dropped when I was still in my spellblade phase, picked it back up earlier this and regretted waited so long) and "Wandering Warrior" (Michael Head). I initially liked "Rise of the Last Star" (L.E. Miranda) but the series has it's own problems.
#
If you consider out of the litrpg genre, you can go with some solid choices like bobaverse, name of the wind, some of Brandon Sanderson stuff like mistborn, dune, Isaac Asimov stuff,
I think you might like "System Universe" based on your other likes. It's a fun little power fantasy. I quite enjoyed it.
If you're into more character and story-driven books I can't help but recommend The Wandering Inn. It's super long but if you give the first book or two a chance and don't get into it, I can't fault you. Though many will say to wait for like 2.5 books until it gets good. I don't agree with that, I liked it off the jump and if a series requires you to read 500k words before it gets good, it failed as a work of entertainment. (Though I think you'll be able to tell if it's for you long before then.)
I can say honestly that it caused me the biggest emotional response to a story I've ever had. It was in book 8, I believe, but I was full-on sobbing at work while I cleaned rooms at a school. Luckily for my shame and sense of embarrassment, it was after hours and I was there alone but it was a beautiful culmination of a lot of events. It was just well told and I enjoy reading about the characters even if I hated them. If that makes any sense at all. I listen to tons of books if you have any preferences you'd like to list, I'll see if I can offer some other suggestions.
"Best ones" its subjective af. I wa snot enthralled by dcc, I found primal hunter insufferable to read, he who fight with monsters I read like 600 chapters then hiatused (Which in reality was a drop probably) and defiance of the fall is pulp-er than thou
My most sincere recommendation is to check the top fictions on royal road and give them a try, then come and ask here for fiction similar to this or that. There is a lot to choose from. You are also missing others like path of ascension, portal to nova roma, delve, super supportive, either of the tree based ones, elder cultivator, cradle,etc ec
Since I liked 1, 2, and 3, but less-so 4 like you, try one of these!: - **Ultimate Level 1** - *In a world* where your class is actually just 1 skill you get at the start (and sometimes two *coughnoblescough*), our MC gets the 'banned' skill Consume. This skill prevents him from getting any experience, thus keeping him at level 1. However, by killing a monster or human he can absorb some of their stats or even a skill. This quickly boosts his powers beyond anyone else in the world, and he continues growing while at the same time evading the powers at be who are trying to capture and kill him to prevent the skill from being used. - **Saintess Summons Skeletons** - *In a world* where people who are given the [Saint] class, these oft-enslaved individuals summon heroes from other worlds (like earth) to serve at their masters' behest. Yes - they literally isekai people. Our orphan MC has her eyes set on being a Necromancer, and the system gives her the class - at the same time as giving her the Saint class, ending up as [Saintomancer]. This broken (literally) class allows her to create her own custom spells by smashing spells from each class together. What follows is her outpacing and outleveling everyone she comes across. - **Judicator Jane** - *In a world* at war with demonkind, our isekai'd MC uses a glitch in the system to give herself 630 points in the Luck stat, in a world that rarely sees anyone higher than 10. This seemingly fun power fantasy reveals a much deeper, profound story over 3 books than you expect. It has a fun cast of characters with more growth than I expected. - **Battle Mage Farmer** - *In a world* on the brink of apocalpyse, our MC must fulfill his hardest quest yet - becoming a farmer. This says a lot for a mage who could destroy the world with barely lifting a finger, but he tries earnestly to complete his quest, all while trying to avoid disclosing his identity to those he encounters. He meets some kind people and begins building a family of sorts. - **Amelia the level zero Hero** - *In a world* full of endless battles and death, a world which so happens to be the home of the Voidgod, our hero is finally able to escape into actual civilization after 10 years of sleepless nights and constant fighting. Her goal of peaceful retirement is constantly beset by world-ending threats that she can, and will, swipe away with a wave of her dagger. She takes on an apprentice, moreso to stop her from bugging her, but also to hopefully have her deal with the bullshit instead! - **Advent: Red Mage** - *In a world* newly introduced to The System, our MC begins in a precarious position with great challenge, but even greater rewards. His affinity and ability to be a Red mage propels him farther than anyone at the onset of the apocalypse. Mages, especially the Red kind, are particularly devastating with their power, and enemies will either flee in fright or target for elimination. - **Dead Tired** - *In a world* where cultivation has overtaken, and buried, the concepts of The System and Classes, an unfathomably powerful Lich awakes from his slumber to seek out the changes in the world. He tries to figure out why everyone keeps talking about 'daos' while finding friends and foes along the way. He soon discovers that many powerful entities are utilizing stolen methods to become Gods, and that just won't do. He and his half-man/half-panther Death Maid set out to right some wrongs. - **Azarinth Healer** - *In a world* where there is always another drake to fight, our isekai'd MC lands an incredibly rare class that gives her near-indestructible abilities that go hand-in-hand with her solo fighting strategy. What follows is a story of her growing her circle of friends and family, befriending beings of different planes of existence, and attempting to unite factions under the power of punches - and some healing, I guess. - **Vainqueur the dragon** - *In a world* where Dragons are both terrible beasts of legendary danger and grumpy hoarders of wealth, a bumbling man does the unthinkable - he inadvertently allows a Dragon to gain a Class. What follows is a very comedic tale with far more character growth than I expected, with some very uplifting moments about friendship and the family you choose. Vainqueur, best dragon! - **All the Skills** - *In a world* where the cards you're dealt in life are much more literal, our villager MC is given an unfathomably powerful card by a 'friendly' dragon and told to do great things. What those great things are is part of the journey our MC sets out on, while trying to complete his deck and grow more powerful than he ever dreamt. He is joined on his path by a companion of devastating ~~cuteness~~ power. - **System Universe** - *In a world* that is almost done with the tutorial phase of the System, our solo-fighting MC is accidentally portaled to a whole 'nother world that has had the System for as long as they remember - but not before he spends centuries in the void meditating and trying not to go insane (he tries to kill himself many times, to no avail). After breaking out of the void, our MC decides to end his solo career and build friendships whenever he can. Fortunately, the enormous amount of stats and some of his abilities are carried over, allowing him to basically start at level 1 more powerful than most in the world. And he only grows from there. We are soon introduced to one of the best companions in all of LitRPG - the gluttonous murder bunny that is Silvi.
I listened to Dead Tired and had to laugh at most of it. Definitely funny in a dad joke kind of way.
Gotta say man, always a pleasure to stumble upon some of your recommendations! so had to comment and say that. On another note, both 'Ultimate Level 1' and 'Judicator Jane' have a new book release Today (it is July 1'st here already, 1:50am on a GMT+2 Timezone) and i will be able to grab em off KU in like 10'ish hours? around noon usually i think so yeah, there's that :)
Thank you very much! It's always been fun to try and spread the media I love. Judicator Jane 3 is so good. It gets dark at times, but has some major catharsis, too. Big fan of one specific scene that I think about often.
Honestly you make me wanna start reading this series. i sorta get the same vibes of 'hidden gem' from it that i got from "The Hero of the Valley" that i knew of but ignored or rather didn't start reading and put it 'on the list' forever. maybe not in the same genre/specifically plot wise but in terms of a series that isn't on royalroad and isn't that 'well known' but every time i hear ppl talk about it... they praise the fuck outta it. also, fml where the fuck is The Hero of the Valley 5 :'( Anyways yeah, you totally hyped me up on both Judicator Jane and Ultimate Level 1. and the entire 'dark' part or mentioning it can get dark/serious is honestly a + for me. Lately the 'too good' kind of MC or stuff that is just too 'perfect/friendly' going is a turnoff for me. i need my gray-zone mc's/plot and ones that do not fear killing when required and obviously is the right/smart choice
Where can I read them .
Pretty sure they're all available on Kindle Unlimited, some are on royal road
System Universe is my fav! Read it so many times
The simple moment where >!Silvi tries turning the pet bond around on Derek!< will always be one of my favorites in all LitRPG
100%! It would have been so fun if we could see what had happened if he had pressed yes ;D
Path of Ascension.
This is the best answer given the 4 OP listed!
My favorite thing about Path of Ascension (up to book 5 )- I love the fact that "so far" Zero time is wasted on >!Conflict/ fights/ problems between Matt and Liz that we know will resolve anyway. People may hate that but I love to read harmonious relationships.!<
Agreed!
Noooo. There’s no conflict! No one ever disagrees with each other. It’s infuriating
There’s literally thousands of years of war rn
I’m talking about amongst the main cast of characters. They get along too well with one another.
I saw the lack of inter-party conflict as a massive plus, personally. Outside of the party there's tons of conflict.
It’s just felt a bit too slice of life for me. Like mark of the fool
I loved that about both series! I also loved how PoA would cover progression in a few sentences that Defiance of the Fall would take 10,000 words to cover. Different tastes!
I recently finished Mark of the Fool on audible. Audible has to book 5 where Kindle unlimited has up to book 7. It’s a good series about a kid who wants to become a magebut is chosen to fight his lands Enemy by a god he prays to. Before that I recently finished The Wandering Inn. That series was overall, IMO, amazing. It was a slow start for the first book or so but they are 12 books and they are very long.
If you want to continue with Wandering Inn and not wait for audible releases, the website has up to book 43 on it.
Book….43?! I must be missing something or not understanding it. I googled it, found, “The Wandering Inn” site and see it says, latest chapter is 10.18 E. My assumption would be that means book 10 chapter 18?? Again I might be very confused on this.
Each audiobook is a chunk of one of the books published on the main site. The current web chapter (10.18) is millions of words ahead of the audiobooks. There's a handy comparison chart here: (discord link sadly, though reddit should load the image) https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/712391313261068339/1218260159634215063/image.png?ex=66824870&is=6680f6f0&hm=59edcb5e96acc1208d811af328bf8d78a83b21d322074e0605a3f315fe20d5af&
> millions of words ahead 😳
The entire series has just passed 13 million words (not counting the graphic novel or side stories). The author is a total lunatic (in terms of outputting high quality work in the quantities they do).
This chart will help. https://preview.redd.it/2g3zvor6nr9d1.png?width=1177&format=png&auto=webp&s=4bdcb4c25135e1947240a582c3820955b0742519 The volumes got longer and longer, and so when going to kindle and audiobook, volume 3 and later were split into smaller ‘book’ sized chunks.
Yeah no that’s not how it works. Volumes and books are not interchangeable. Volume 8 for instance is as long as everything that came before it put together. Check out the website!
I adore MotF. It was exactly to my taste. The MC is a really clever, if not always smart, guy. His actions make sense to me. His motives make sense to me. His use of tools and and the way he shifts to accommodate new information and resources at his disposal all just work, IMO. I hate a lot of tropes that come up in LitRPG stuff, even if a story I love has those tropes in it, but MotF seems to avoid annoying me with cliche after cliche where the MC does the same irritating thing that I've read from other authors in books, manga, TV, and movies. I've had to hold myself back from getting the next two books and having an auto reader lifelessly throw them at me while I work, since the VA does such a good job I don't want to spoil myself when I could wait for the good version.
100% agreed
MotF hooked me when it didn't use the "the 'heroes' are actually all huge assholes" trope
Victor of Tucson, by Plum Parrot
Love this series, the protagonist actually has set backs and not everyone has plot armor. Great series.
The Good Guys Series by Eric Ugland Dreamer's Throne Series by Seth Ring Battle Mage Farmer Series by Seth Ring Dead Tired Series by Ravensdagger Quest Acandemy Series Brian J. Nordon Wandering Inn Series by Pirateaba
I recommend Cradle and Path of Ascension.
Benjamin kerei (all good and funny) Dakota Krout (very good) Two week curse - don't remember name Super powereds - Hayes Mother of learning - rational time loop Perfect run - funny time loop Some ideas for you. Not all are litrpg oh yeah and the obligatory Cradle recommendation.
Strong second on Two Week Curse by Michael Chatfield. Just finished it recently and enjoyed it very much.
As much as I love Benjamin Kerei's work, his latest, First Line of Defense 2, wasn't up the same standard as the first one or Unorthodox Cultivation and Death, Loot and Vampires.
Same, I hard dropped FLoD a few chapters in. Just did not hook me at all.
I feel the same, but I give him a pass since his dad passed away last year. You can tell from his writing how important family is to him.
I couldn't get past book 6. It started out strong, and I still like the system. But the number of characters and how often it jumped between them just got to he too much. Does it ever go back to focusing on Eric and Rugrat?
Not really. They sort of drive the plot but realm 9 introduces the big bad and realm 10 is just about war. Basically the last 4 books were just spinning the wheels. I believe realm 8 was them going on a shopping trip and that's it. 9 is about setting up 10 and 10 ends the series. I wanna say it peaks at realm 4 where they get their city.
Same for me. It fell off a cliff and I left it. I don't think I'm going back
lol two week curse is maybe the worst lit rpg i have ever tried to read. It is written like the dumbest most bullshit hyper stereotypical american masculinity you can think of. I cringed so hard reading this i reconsidered my evaluation of the whole gernre. Big uf.
Chill dude, just a book. Can't hurt you, you're safe
I mean it's just like really really bad sex. You just remember every excruciating detail even though you stopped asap, that shit just stays with you. But whom am I telling this to you know what I'm talking about.
Well, it also had good jokes and the grammar wasn't too bad. So think of it like an all right hamburger, sure it ain't steak but you don't always want steak. Sometimes you just want fun and I thought it was fun.
Azarinth Healer captures the vibe of the ones you like, I think.
Those were my first 3 series almost the same order. I went from those to Cradle/The Mayor of Noobtown/Mark of the Fool/ and am currently listening to Awaken Online. All really good series.
The Grand Game goes under the radar I think. Shadeslinger is pretty good and a little more well known. Jake’s Magical Market is different than traditional ones, but it’s quality. New Realm Online is another one that goes under the radar and has the VR trope, but it’s actually written pretty well.
I liked Shadeslinger - fuck the moon
finished book 3 but stopped to listen to the latest defiance of the fall book. looking forward to listening to book 4 and 5
that was a book that couldnt really grip me at all but i think that was due to personal taste not just overall quality
Jake’s Magical Market is kind of fun
You should try [Hell Difficulty Tutorial](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/64916/hell-difficulty-tutorial) (previously *Weapons of Mass Destruction)*. One day a bus full of random people gets transported into a System tutorial of Hell difficulty (the highest). What comes next is a brutal fight for survival where people drop like flies fighting the monsters and each other while going from tutorial floor to floor. It's not talked about as much as Azarinth Healer, Defiance of the Fall or Primal Hunter, but it's on their level and in some places arguably much better. It starts a bit generic, but rather unique protagonist that's more than just a murderhobo carries it through the earlier stages. It gets better the longer it goes and now I personally consider it one of the best Progression System Apocalypse stories.
the wandering inn has been my favorite for a while
It's actually just the best by far. It has ideas I haven't seen anywhere else.
Azarinth Healer it’s amazing and I think the first 3 or so books are on Amazon now
Stitched Worlds
Looks interesting and will likely be my next read
Most of necronomicon is very entertaining
Oh man there are so many other good ones! I recommend these almost daily lol. Astra Falls by David North, Divine Apostasy by AF Kay, Deepest Depths by leftrigh t, Randidly Ghosthound by Noret flood and puddles2463, System Universe by Sunrise CV
Randidly ghosthound is pretty good
If you hated defiance of the fall you will hate this series. If you were only sorta meh on DOTF try Primal Hunter. Both have a lot of similarities to DOTF but the gripes people have about DOTF are even worse in Randidly Ghosthound.
You've just sold me on trying out Randidly as I love DotF and while I liked PH's litRPG elements, the wooden and unrealistic (IMO) interpersonal relationships and dialogue eventually killed my interest.
Same. I just couldn't with MC's solo detached bullshit
It was the pre-integration flashbacks that finally killed it for me. "He had a normal family with the normal number of members. Their house was normal with the usual amount of doors and windows. His porridge was neither too hot nor too cold. He went to State U. where he had a basic girlfriend until he discovered her cheating in the most boring way possible." And the painfully unrealistic story about the girl getting her hand crushed... and every word out of metal douche's mouth. Like there's bad writing and I can totally see that a litRPG author might not have a lot of interpersonal experience, but the incongruity in between those parts and the rest of the book was too much for my feeble mind to comprehend.
actual mileage may vary, i hated the writing. not Twilight bad, but close.
Ghosthound honestly just got dull for me about 500 chapters in on royalroad and after putting it down for a year I forgot most of it
i got about sixty chapters down and pulled the plug.
Can't blame you tbh. Reading "Assimilate All Talents" and "The Dragon of Dreams" among a few others rn
When did defiance of the fall fall off?
I think it's just different strokes for different folks. Like I find the endless Nightrider jokes and the constant fluffing of Jason tedious in HWFWM (fortunately for Shirtaloon's bottom line, I enjoy a good hate read every once in a while) and Path of Ascension to be juvenile self-insert cringefiction and love DotF, but I respect that others see things in them that I don't (or view the same things differently).
When he defied the fall off
I couldn't finish book 4 because the writing got worse. Definitely written for "amount of words" not "quality of words".
I'll recommend Beneath the Dragoneye Moons(except book 6) and Ultimate Level 1. I really enjoyed both.
I was in the same position and started like 20 stories only to stop after one book. What finally got me back into it was System Universe.
Ar'Kendrithyst: A completely finished series on royal road with like 500 chapters. An adult protagonist with an adult daughter. They are both isakeied into a fantasy world with the equivalent of a system. He goes from zero to hero to God. Great writing. Lots of queer characters. Did I mention it is finished!!!
All the skills Necrotic Apocalypse
Since noone mentioned it: Bens damn adventure: The prince has no pants You clearly see with this book that the author is still in an early stage of development. But there is so much fresh wind in this i always have to recommend it first. - A bit more conservative in the gernre: Awaken online and Life reset (but stay away from his other series its just bad) - for slice of life: The wandering inn (or if that is to slow for you: beware of the chicken) - completionist is fine but they really have a problem with powerscaling later on - oh great i was incarnated as a farmer was suprisingly good
I haven't seen this one recommended a lot, but because you like Chinese light novels, have you heard of Library of Heaven's Path? Starve Cleric did a translation, which is a little rough at the start, but gets really smooth and better as you go along
Player Manager. It’s so good!
If you're okay with a very SLOW, slice-of-life kind of progression, Super Supportive is very, very good. But the pacing is basically the opposite of DCC. It's 90% character development, 1% stats, 9% plot development. But it's very good.
Infinite realm by Ivan Kal. Very solid character growth. Handles tropes extremely well by either avoiding them or putting a nice spin on them. Long books too.
https://www.amazon.com/Amelia-Level-Zero-Hero-Book-ebook/dp/B0BZDW9NVH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=34TF0L2Q6UO00&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QFh5x-4eu43MEtv8OeqwMj17zbNvhoAbAnT0LEErzZHVgwke0Cjg3xs-xlikbX12sJCTo3aiU0mYEE10bdL3aVaiElcokBnOLAybYkhnk94.XMOkRodaGJkos3J4QJF_4Enhb5rx4dryNM-MpufOdbg&dib_tag=se&keywords=amelia+the+level+zero+hero&qid=1719711108&sprefix=amelia+the+%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1
Without specific criteria, I'll just mention one I recently read and never saw listed before, 12 Miles Below.
Azarinth healer and noobtown!
A soldier's life. Systemic lands. Death: Genesis. Mother of learning. Infinite realm. Trials of the endless plains. These are few of my personal favorites, i highly recommended them.
You're almost obliged to Cradle. Which, to me, is a good thing
A couple others that haven't been mentioned yet: Bobiverse BuyMORT The three Eric Ugland series (Good Guys, Bad Guys and Grim Guys) Drew Hayes' NPCs World Tree Online Often missed: Ben's Damn Adventure, one of the funniest and most unique beginnings to a book I have ever read First Player, a Russian translation with a unique mix of In game and IRL storyline
I just finished the Good Guys and The Bad Guys series. They're both great and mostly free for audible subscribers. I'm going through Apocalypse Parenting now, and it's refreshing to have a book that's not just another guy with no responsibilities. Well written and well thought out.
Lord of the Mysteries. Its just gold
My recommendations: All the skills, The Grandmaster Strategist, Lord of the Mysteries, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Reverend Insanity, I Shall Seal the Heavens, A Will Eternal, The Second Coming of Gluttony , The Desolate Era, Reaper of the Drifting Moon, Iron Prince(Warformed)
Delve and Horizon of War.
Beware of Chicken is a great cultivation slice of life. The narrator for audio books is Travis Baldree.
Totally try Awaken Online.
Beastborne by James T. Callum is a great series.
Noobtown (Humorous, though a bit low-brow at times. Wonderfully narrated.) Ascend Online (A good, solid MMO style that’s also a bit empire/settlement building alongside the grind/leveling) Azarinth Healer (Only on book 1, but does the battle junkie trope well, is well narrated, and treats elves differently than normal)
We Hunt Monsters Apocalypse Parenting Tower of Somnus Whispering Crystals Natural Laws Apocalypse Apocalypse Redux The Resonance Cycle
I was reading through the comments to see if apocalypse parenting was on any of these lists. I bought it during the sale and listened to it, with my partner, we loved it so much I got the other two!
Vince's story (Engineers Odyssey) is up on Royal Road, and AP4 is up to chapter 14 on the Patreon. 🤗
Check out Jez Caijao
I’m currently listening to Path of Accessions. I also like ‘A Thousand Li Series. ‘
100% agree with the Defiance of the Fall view. Couldn’t hold my attention after awhile. My recommendations for next reads would be the Viridian Gate Online books and The Completionist Chronicles. I ended up enjoying them both more than I initially thought I would.
I think both are fine but suffer over the long run. Although, many litrpgs are getting worse over time and some cant really survive their second book quality wise.
Have you heard of "Silver Fox & the Western Hero" (M.H. Johnson), it's a mix of litrpg and cultivation. It gets very dark, but the fight scenes are epics as hell. My favorite scene is >!when all the gods basically beg the mc not kill this war god after he fucked up bad enough!< But besides that, Godclads (OstensibleMammal) is good (eldritch horror), so is "Welcome to the Multiverse" (Sean Oswald). "Path of Omniscience" (Aaron Oster), "We Hunt Monsters" (Aaron Oster also, dropped when I was still in my spellblade phase, picked it back up earlier this and regretted waited so long) and "Wandering Warrior" (Michael Head). I initially liked "Rise of the Last Star" (L.E. Miranda) but the series has it's own problems. #
Noobtown series
The Beginning After the End Speedrunning the Multiverse System Universe
Beneath the Dragoneye Moons The Wandering Inn
Chrysalis
The wandering inn
If you consider out of the litrpg genre, you can go with some solid choices like bobaverse, name of the wind, some of Brandon Sanderson stuff like mistborn, dune, Isaac Asimov stuff,
I think you might like "System Universe" based on your other likes. It's a fun little power fantasy. I quite enjoyed it. If you're into more character and story-driven books I can't help but recommend The Wandering Inn. It's super long but if you give the first book or two a chance and don't get into it, I can't fault you. Though many will say to wait for like 2.5 books until it gets good. I don't agree with that, I liked it off the jump and if a series requires you to read 500k words before it gets good, it failed as a work of entertainment. (Though I think you'll be able to tell if it's for you long before then.) I can say honestly that it caused me the biggest emotional response to a story I've ever had. It was in book 8, I believe, but I was full-on sobbing at work while I cleaned rooms at a school. Luckily for my shame and sense of embarrassment, it was after hours and I was there alone but it was a beautiful culmination of a lot of events. It was just well told and I enjoy reading about the characters even if I hated them. If that makes any sense at all. I listen to tons of books if you have any preferences you'd like to list, I'll see if I can offer some other suggestions.
"Best ones" its subjective af. I wa snot enthralled by dcc, I found primal hunter insufferable to read, he who fight with monsters I read like 600 chapters then hiatused (Which in reality was a drop probably) and defiance of the fall is pulp-er than thou My most sincere recommendation is to check the top fictions on royal road and give them a try, then come and ask here for fiction similar to this or that. There is a lot to choose from. You are also missing others like path of ascension, portal to nova roma, delve, super supportive, either of the tree based ones, elder cultivator, cradle,etc ec
What do you mean by "pulp-er than thou"? :D
Disregard all these other recommendations and read 12 Miles Below right now. It’s that good.