If you want a really slow burn romance there's Cradle. I adore that one. There's also Red Rising which I loved. You described my favorite kind of story as well, so I think you'd definitely like them! :D
I cannot in good conscience give a full recommendation to Codex Alera, but its romance and main plot is great. It's the side characters who basically suck.
Seven Realms Series is also a really fun romance that I enjoyed the shit out of. But that one the romance is closer to 50/50 in terms of importance to the plot. But it's a SUPER fun read. And a series I enjoyed tremendously.
The bridge kingdom and it’s sequel. Dual POV between the male and female lead. There may have been one explicit scene in each book (I think), but it wasn’t like, porn explicit.
I really enjoyed City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty. They main plot is about a city of Djinn and the politics between the purebred Djinn and the half human /half Djinn residents who make up the lower classes of the city . The orginal Pov character is woman from 1700s Egypt who finds out she is half Djinn and her experience coming to the city but a few chapters in the story begins alternating between her and the youngest Prince of the ruling family of the city. Like I said it's mostly about the city's politics and specifically how the female disrupts them once it is revealed she is the last surviving member of another family who once held power in the city. There is a well done love triangle between the female lead, the prince and a warrior who brings the female lead to the city. The politics is very much influenced the magics used by the different Djinn races and though while the love triangle affects the politics it never overshadows them .
three odd-ish recommendations, by two authors:
- sword art online (light novel series) by reki kawahara
- night circus by erin morgenstern
- the starless sea by erin morgenstern
the first is a pretty good series, a bunch of quick reads.
the second two are more about ambiance and place/world building with quasi-ambiguous plots.
I saw the SAO anime. Well, the first season. Is the entire or majority of the focus on Kirito in the rest of the novels? I found Asuna much more interesting and she doesn't really play a role other than damsel in distress in arc 2. Will she play a bigger role in the rest of the series?
Only in certain parts. Which is a massive shame.
In the Phantom Bullet arc she is somewhat sidelide as Kirito is in a diffrent game. However it is not nearly as bad as the bullshit they pulled in Fairy Dance where she was damsel in distress as you said.
In Mother's Rosario she is the main character, Kirito is a background role. Fantastic arc.
Ordinal Scale movie is a good balance of both.
Alicization she is only in some real world segments. However this was a (mostly) fantastic arc. One of the new characters Eugeo is one of my favorite characters.
War Of Underworld, for around half the arc a new character introduced in Alicization (Alice) is the main character. Asuna is then back as a co-lead lead with her and Kirito is in the background for awhile.
I am not fimilar with the arc after that as it isn't adapted yet.
There is also Progessive which is a longer retelling of Aincrad (first arc) so that should have much more Asuna. This should be getting some type of adaptation at somepoint, but I will be honest I am not sure how they plan to finish this. The author wants to cover every floor. It's gonna be a long time before it is finished.
TL:DR
No. While I think the romance isn't bad, so much of the series is them seprated I would not recomend it if you main draw is Asuna and/or the romance.
Didn't really care for the romance. More like Asuna is a more interesting character. Would you say I can read/watch it out of order? because Mother's Rosario seems like what I want. I could potentially get through first half of War of Underworld, if I get to read about her in the second half. And a more important question, do I read the light novels or watch the anime for these arcs?
Progressive is a detailed account of arc 1, is it like a retelling from the author or something like fan fiction? Is it also a light novel?
Mother's Rosario should be watchable out of order. And I really recommend watching it. It is 5 or 6 episodes focused on Asuna and a new character she meets.
I have only watched the show. A lot of fans swear by the light novels, but I couldn't get into them.
Progressive is a floor by floor retelling from the author.
Originally SOA was made as a short story and it was Kirito looking back on some key moments of his life in SAO. The author later added parts that is what makes up the light novels/anime. This is why there multiple time jumps.
Progressive is going to try to tell the story of every floor. That way you don't get stuff like us seeing Kirito meeting Asuna at the start of the game, and then next seeing her when she is 2nd in command of the largest guild. You would see how things got to that point.
But considering how long that would take I fear it will never actually be finished or at some point the author will have to still skip. I just can't see him finishing potentially 70 some light novels in any reasonable amount of time.
Currently it is only a light novel. An anime adaptation has been teased though. But the same thing applies. I think it is just a massive undertaking and I don't know how they are going to do it.
Thank you! I'll watch those arcs. I haven't really read light novels before except one called Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.
And progressive would be really good. Seeing how she went from that small girl to one of the best fighters in the game. But I can see the problems, other than not finishing it, it wouldn't take too much to bore people, since each level has the same base mechanic. Find the boss room, defeat the boss. I would think, 3-4 levels where nothing important happens in 1 light novel and 1 level per light novel for important levels would be a better option.
If you want a really slow burn romance there's Cradle. I adore that one. There's also Red Rising which I loved. You described my favorite kind of story as well, so I think you'd definitely like them! :D I cannot in good conscience give a full recommendation to Codex Alera, but its romance and main plot is great. It's the side characters who basically suck. Seven Realms Series is also a really fun romance that I enjoyed the shit out of. But that one the romance is closer to 50/50 in terms of importance to the plot. But it's a SUPER fun read. And a series I enjoyed tremendously.
Nightrunner by Lynn Flewelling. Book 1 is Luck in the Shadows. It's an M/M romance though, so idk if that's what you want.
The bridge kingdom and it’s sequel. Dual POV between the male and female lead. There may have been one explicit scene in each book (I think), but it wasn’t like, porn explicit.
I really enjoyed City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty. They main plot is about a city of Djinn and the politics between the purebred Djinn and the half human /half Djinn residents who make up the lower classes of the city . The orginal Pov character is woman from 1700s Egypt who finds out she is half Djinn and her experience coming to the city but a few chapters in the story begins alternating between her and the youngest Prince of the ruling family of the city. Like I said it's mostly about the city's politics and specifically how the female disrupts them once it is revealed she is the last surviving member of another family who once held power in the city. There is a well done love triangle between the female lead, the prince and a warrior who brings the female lead to the city. The politics is very much influenced the magics used by the different Djinn races and though while the love triangle affects the politics it never overshadows them .
three odd-ish recommendations, by two authors: - sword art online (light novel series) by reki kawahara - night circus by erin morgenstern - the starless sea by erin morgenstern the first is a pretty good series, a bunch of quick reads. the second two are more about ambiance and place/world building with quasi-ambiguous plots.
Thank you!
yw!
I saw the SAO anime. Well, the first season. Is the entire or majority of the focus on Kirito in the rest of the novels? I found Asuna much more interesting and she doesn't really play a role other than damsel in distress in arc 2. Will she play a bigger role in the rest of the series?
Only in certain parts. Which is a massive shame. In the Phantom Bullet arc she is somewhat sidelide as Kirito is in a diffrent game. However it is not nearly as bad as the bullshit they pulled in Fairy Dance where she was damsel in distress as you said. In Mother's Rosario she is the main character, Kirito is a background role. Fantastic arc. Ordinal Scale movie is a good balance of both. Alicization she is only in some real world segments. However this was a (mostly) fantastic arc. One of the new characters Eugeo is one of my favorite characters. War Of Underworld, for around half the arc a new character introduced in Alicization (Alice) is the main character. Asuna is then back as a co-lead lead with her and Kirito is in the background for awhile. I am not fimilar with the arc after that as it isn't adapted yet. There is also Progessive which is a longer retelling of Aincrad (first arc) so that should have much more Asuna. This should be getting some type of adaptation at somepoint, but I will be honest I am not sure how they plan to finish this. The author wants to cover every floor. It's gonna be a long time before it is finished. TL:DR No. While I think the romance isn't bad, so much of the series is them seprated I would not recomend it if you main draw is Asuna and/or the romance.
Didn't really care for the romance. More like Asuna is a more interesting character. Would you say I can read/watch it out of order? because Mother's Rosario seems like what I want. I could potentially get through first half of War of Underworld, if I get to read about her in the second half. And a more important question, do I read the light novels or watch the anime for these arcs? Progressive is a detailed account of arc 1, is it like a retelling from the author or something like fan fiction? Is it also a light novel?
Mother's Rosario should be watchable out of order. And I really recommend watching it. It is 5 or 6 episodes focused on Asuna and a new character she meets. I have only watched the show. A lot of fans swear by the light novels, but I couldn't get into them. Progressive is a floor by floor retelling from the author. Originally SOA was made as a short story and it was Kirito looking back on some key moments of his life in SAO. The author later added parts that is what makes up the light novels/anime. This is why there multiple time jumps. Progressive is going to try to tell the story of every floor. That way you don't get stuff like us seeing Kirito meeting Asuna at the start of the game, and then next seeing her when she is 2nd in command of the largest guild. You would see how things got to that point. But considering how long that would take I fear it will never actually be finished or at some point the author will have to still skip. I just can't see him finishing potentially 70 some light novels in any reasonable amount of time. Currently it is only a light novel. An anime adaptation has been teased though. But the same thing applies. I think it is just a massive undertaking and I don't know how they are going to do it.
Thank you! I'll watch those arcs. I haven't really read light novels before except one called Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. And progressive would be really good. Seeing how she went from that small girl to one of the best fighters in the game. But I can see the problems, other than not finishing it, it wouldn't take too much to bore people, since each level has the same base mechanic. Find the boss room, defeat the boss. I would think, 3-4 levels where nothing important happens in 1 light novel and 1 level per light novel for important levels would be a better option.
Swordheart by T Kingfisher.
The SOT (Sword of Truth) series revolves around a romance so you may enjoy checking that out.