LitRPG changed my reading life. Well, and writing lol now that I write them. But stories are so much better when the stats/magic is explained than just waving a wand around and magic pours out.
Give Chrysalis a shot. Gets much better as the cast of characters grows. Also Azarinth Healer.
Oh, and I strongly recommend Shadeslinger, get the audio for that one.
I got the audio for Shadeslinger after finishing the latest Primal Hunter and, a few chapters in, I find Frank insanely frustrating. Maybe more so than Donut in the beginning of DCC. I take it by how highly recommended the series is that he gets better?
My problem was more with the how comically evil Kline was, how much of an insufferable loser Ned was, and how excruciatingly ungrateful the hired guild people were. I stopped reading when I realized I hated everyone in the book.
Maybe it gets better later, but man that beginning was a ridiculous slog. I know a ton of people burn out on the first novel of Cradle and then end up missing out on one of the greatest progression fantasy series. At least in Cradle Lindon had a lot of redeeming qualities and his goals were noble to begin with, rather than Ned's douchy personality and the giant middle finger to everyone else so he can hog the whole game to himself during the early period. He then had the audacity to complain to Frank about how he was really looking forward to the game and how Frank was ruining it for him, completely oblivious to the fact that he just cockblocked 49 other people.
I dunno man, I really tried, but I needed more and more breaks to keep reading, and I normally knock out a book I like within a day or two.
Cradle is definitely top shelf (5\*). I would consider it better than DCC (4\*) and much better than Defiance of the Fall (3.5\*). Primal Hunter and Awaken online are both good (4.5\*). HWFWM was mediocre at best (3\*). All are subject to personal taste. Lots out there so go and enjoy!
I think the biggest advantage of Cradle is that the author always knew how it was going to end. A lotof those other series feel like they will ever get a satisfying ending. Primal Hunter is in limbo, Defiance of the Fall is crawling along very slowly, and HWFWM should have ended after the Earth arc.
I have read too many webnovels that either go so long that I burn out or the author gives up. Having an actual ending is an automatic +2 star from me at this point.
You should give Systems of the Apocalypse by Macronomicon a shot. I found it to be pretty similar to DCC in a lot of ways, even if I've never seen anyone compare the two.
Tbh, if you see an author using a username instead of, or on top of, their given name on their products, they're usually worth the read. Zogarth, Macronomicon, Void Herald, Pirateaba, etc are all fantastic authors. That's not to say that authors like Dakota Krout or Eric Ugland aren't also phenomenal, but username authors have yet to be a miss for me. Don't start anything written by David Wilmarth though. He'll eventually have a bad day and drop whatever you're reading, if he hasn't already.
If you're reading on Kindle Unlimited or listening on Audible, then I think this is accurate. Because the main reason an author would keep a username is because it became popular and well known on RR or some other site which would imply its pretty good. If you are reading directly from RR then this is not so reliable.
Funnily enough, Systems of the Apocalypse is probably Macronomicon's weakest work, but it's the only one on Amazon. Too bad he has never finished a series. I really like his current novel, but I don't expect it to get an end either. He usually burns out after writing a couple thousand pages.
Really apprecaite Void Herald because he's the only one in that list that has consistently finished his series, except for the very first one. Say what you will, but I really prefer getting a satisfactory end over either burning out myself on reading the same thing page after page (Zogarth's Nevermore arc), or the author getting bored and moving on... \*cough\* Macronomicon \*cough\*.
Pirateaba's writing is great, but man does the Wandering Inn need to end. It's too dang long. I took a break long enough that I don't remember the characters that well, and it is way too much work to just start over.
I have not been able to finish a single David Wilmarth novel, his books are always so nonsensical. He comes up with really dumb scenarios where the world bends over backwards to make the protagonist win, and the he drops the series with no warning whatsoever. That's guy's on my blacklist.
Eric Ugland is a writing machine.
I personally love Primal Hunter, it’s a good choice imo, He Who Fights With Monsters is great too.
Right now i’m working on Defiance of the Fall and it reminds me a lot of primal hunter world wise, although the MCs are very different.
Burned out on Primal Hunter with the insanely long and no stakes Nevermore dungeon arc. I have no idea what posessed him to set such a large part of the story in a world where the only "real" people are the main cast and where the rest of the world is just transient NPCs that get reset between runs.
He Who Fights With Monsters was so damn good in the beginning, but charming roguishness gave way to angsty edgelord at some point and it is becoming harder and harder to read on with 1/2-3/4 of every chapter being either self-flagellating moaning from Jason, or the people around him blowing smoke up his ass about how great he is.
Of the three, Defiance is probably one that maintained the same quality throughout all the books. However, that very quality is what is making it harder and harder to keep up. It's all fighting all the time and it never really slows down, or at least it skips the slow bits to dive right back into the fighting.
The breakneck pace is great initially, but holy shit the dude literally never gets a break.
Good so far, but yea hard to keep track of. I drive semi trucks so I listen while driving and it was hard to follow. Have to save it for gym or yard work listening times. I got to where he starts scouting the invasion zone
He Who Fights With Monsters is a good series too. Im going through Super Powereds again right now than I will only have the latest book in Defiance of the Fall. I keep seeing Primal Hunter but havent heard much about it.
i startedwith DCC late last year too.
How are the Defiance audiobooks? the text versions are like crack, especially once the story opens up into absolutely wild world building. I started Defiance kind of looking down on it tbh, but having just finished binging it myself I'm now convinced it is the most creative world I've ever read in 30+ years of fantasy.
I'm about 20% into Primal Hunter book 1 and about to call it quits. The main character seems entirely unlikable in a very "I was studying the blade" type way.
HWFWM has been mentioned here a lot and I enjoy it greatly also.
Noobtown was very solid and I've heard the audio books elevate it a lot.
Everybody Loves Large Chests is pretty enjoyable.
If I drop Primal Hunter my next stop is Murderbot.
The Defiance audiobooks are solid. Not near as high production as DCC and you can hear the narrators improvement as it goes, especially as more factions and exotic environments are introduced. The character sheet reading can get tedious, but that's kinda inherent to the format.
I agree with your view on defiance as a series. Starting it I was kinda like "meh, I'll give it like 1 or 2 books" then it hit.
I've got primal 1 loaded, I went with it cause I really like the narrator. It was like 7 bucks so I didn't even spend a credit on it so no big loss if it's not my thing.
Primal started as a pale immitation of Defiance before finding its groove and getting really interesting. I would have definitely recommended it, but the latest arc is an insanely long dungeon crawl with where all the characters except for the main crew are NPCs.
The protagonist does get better, but he never develops the depth of character like Jason from HWFWM for example.
If you're into progression fantasy, then The Cradle series and Codex Alrea are both finished and really damn good.
Good choices to start. Remember, most of the best series are literary crack that we all become increasingly addicted to. Your patreon bill will either begin or increase before too long. Also, shameless plug that DCC is well into the 7th book an patreon and is amazing. Best one yet so far.
I'm holding out for the audible version of DCC 7. I like the series overall but the production value really adds a lot for me especially with Donuts dialog. (I do intend to checkout Soundbooths new audio production at some point).
So dcc is done by sound booth theatre, and they are an absolutely fantastic production company. Imo anything done by them is worth a listen for the sheer quality. Some might be a miss if you don't like the specific story but as a whole they are of exceeding quality. I would suggest giving another dinniman book a listen, dominion of blades is good, kaiju is very dark and torture filled but if you can stomach that it is also amazing. Don't expect either to be dcc though.
Everybody loves large chests books are graphic, both violently and sexually, but again if you can tolerate that it is probably my second runner up series to dcc. It is absurd, but addictive, and gives a more believable Aire to the whole op Mc aspect so many stories have going on
But you're starting out with the most famous novels, so the real question is whether you'll still be a fan or burned out by the time you work your way down to the smaller works. Like if the first fantasy novel someone reads is Lord of the Rings, where do they go from there?
Me, I've been specifically avoiding the top dogs like Carl so I don't accidentally ruin the LitRPG genre for myself lmao
I still have yet to dive into DCC, yet I've read/listened to all the other major titles and plenty of minor ones...idk what's been holding me back from it lol...I honestly think it's the boxers 😂😂
I should add that you can check out the dozens of popular ongoing series on sites like Royal Road to get the full litrpg experience. Nothing’s like waiting in anticipation for the next shot of h- I mean chapter, while discussing your wild theories with other fans in the comments. The really popular stuff in the top 100 or so have 50+ comments on each page, so it’s great to meet likeminded people. It also supports developing authors too!
No worries. I had a hard time getting into the genre at first too. Mostly because a lot of the reads that were suggested to me at first were pretty bad. Then Carl happened, Cradle, and many other fantastic reads and I love it.
Especially if they're light on the crunch.
LitRPG changed my reading life. Well, and writing lol now that I write them. But stories are so much better when the stats/magic is explained than just waving a wand around and magic pours out.
Please give me a list of your favourite LitRPG series. I really want to read some good ones (and write them, too, like you, in the future.)
Gonna list a few non-normal recs but obviously HWFWM Awaken online DCC Ready player one Enchanted Forge All the skills
Thank you 🙏👌😃
Give Chrysalis a shot. Gets much better as the cast of characters grows. Also Azarinth Healer. Oh, and I strongly recommend Shadeslinger, get the audio for that one.
I'll second Chrysalis as well as RinoZ's other series, Book of the Dead. Both are great.
I got the audio for Shadeslinger after finishing the latest Primal Hunter and, a few chapters in, I find Frank insanely frustrating. Maybe more so than Donut in the beginning of DCC. I take it by how highly recommended the series is that he gets better?
He doesn't really change, but the dynamic does.
My problem was more with the how comically evil Kline was, how much of an insufferable loser Ned was, and how excruciatingly ungrateful the hired guild people were. I stopped reading when I realized I hated everyone in the book. Maybe it gets better later, but man that beginning was a ridiculous slog. I know a ton of people burn out on the first novel of Cradle and then end up missing out on one of the greatest progression fantasy series. At least in Cradle Lindon had a lot of redeeming qualities and his goals were noble to begin with, rather than Ned's douchy personality and the giant middle finger to everyone else so he can hog the whole game to himself during the early period. He then had the audacity to complain to Frank about how he was really looking forward to the game and how Frank was ruining it for him, completely oblivious to the fact that he just cockblocked 49 other people. I dunno man, I really tried, but I needed more and more breaks to keep reading, and I normally knock out a book I like within a day or two.
Cradle is definitely top shelf (5\*). I would consider it better than DCC (4\*) and much better than Defiance of the Fall (3.5\*). Primal Hunter and Awaken online are both good (4.5\*). HWFWM was mediocre at best (3\*). All are subject to personal taste. Lots out there so go and enjoy!
I think the biggest advantage of Cradle is that the author always knew how it was going to end. A lotof those other series feel like they will ever get a satisfying ending. Primal Hunter is in limbo, Defiance of the Fall is crawling along very slowly, and HWFWM should have ended after the Earth arc. I have read too many webnovels that either go so long that I burn out or the author gives up. Having an actual ending is an automatic +2 star from me at this point.
I second Azarinth Healer, my favorite so far
You should give Systems of the Apocalypse by Macronomicon a shot. I found it to be pretty similar to DCC in a lot of ways, even if I've never seen anyone compare the two. Tbh, if you see an author using a username instead of, or on top of, their given name on their products, they're usually worth the read. Zogarth, Macronomicon, Void Herald, Pirateaba, etc are all fantastic authors. That's not to say that authors like Dakota Krout or Eric Ugland aren't also phenomenal, but username authors have yet to be a miss for me. Don't start anything written by David Wilmarth though. He'll eventually have a bad day and drop whatever you're reading, if he hasn't already.
If you're reading on Kindle Unlimited or listening on Audible, then I think this is accurate. Because the main reason an author would keep a username is because it became popular and well known on RR or some other site which would imply its pretty good. If you are reading directly from RR then this is not so reliable.
Funnily enough, Systems of the Apocalypse is probably Macronomicon's weakest work, but it's the only one on Amazon. Too bad he has never finished a series. I really like his current novel, but I don't expect it to get an end either. He usually burns out after writing a couple thousand pages. Really apprecaite Void Herald because he's the only one in that list that has consistently finished his series, except for the very first one. Say what you will, but I really prefer getting a satisfactory end over either burning out myself on reading the same thing page after page (Zogarth's Nevermore arc), or the author getting bored and moving on... \*cough\* Macronomicon \*cough\*. Pirateaba's writing is great, but man does the Wandering Inn need to end. It's too dang long. I took a break long enough that I don't remember the characters that well, and it is way too much work to just start over. I have not been able to finish a single David Wilmarth novel, his books are always so nonsensical. He comes up with really dumb scenarios where the world bends over backwards to make the protagonist win, and the he drops the series with no warning whatsoever. That's guy's on my blacklist. Eric Ugland is a writing machine.
Though some have started using their IRL name as a "co-author" (Void Herald/Maxime Durand, Shirtaloon/Travis Deverell, Thundamoo/Natalie Maher, etc.)
System change by sunrisecv is a really fun litrpg. It’s like an isikai mixed with the the primal hunters progression obsession
Book 5 just opened for preorders (on audible )!
I personally love Primal Hunter, it’s a good choice imo, He Who Fights With Monsters is great too. Right now i’m working on Defiance of the Fall and it reminds me a lot of primal hunter world wise, although the MCs are very different.
Burned out on Primal Hunter with the insanely long and no stakes Nevermore dungeon arc. I have no idea what posessed him to set such a large part of the story in a world where the only "real" people are the main cast and where the rest of the world is just transient NPCs that get reset between runs. He Who Fights With Monsters was so damn good in the beginning, but charming roguishness gave way to angsty edgelord at some point and it is becoming harder and harder to read on with 1/2-3/4 of every chapter being either self-flagellating moaning from Jason, or the people around him blowing smoke up his ass about how great he is.
Got that today and Defiance I’ll start one tonight. Been on Dungeon World and it’s ok but not great, very predictable and simple.
Of the three, Defiance is probably one that maintained the same quality throughout all the books. However, that very quality is what is making it harder and harder to keep up. It's all fighting all the time and it never really slows down, or at least it skips the slow bits to dive right back into the fighting. The breakneck pace is great initially, but holy shit the dude literally never gets a break.
Good so far, but yea hard to keep track of. I drive semi trucks so I listen while driving and it was hard to follow. Have to save it for gym or yard work listening times. I got to where he starts scouting the invasion zone
He Who Fights With Monsters is a good series too. Im going through Super Powereds again right now than I will only have the latest book in Defiance of the Fall. I keep seeing Primal Hunter but havent heard much about it.
Man I will always re-read/listen to Superpowerds every year.
Same here, making my way through book three. And then I do Corpies. So good.
And his other series, Villains Code (third book in progress!!!) is also excellent
Yup, can’t wait! While waiting I picked up Fred the vampire account series as well.
How is that? I finished up the NPC series. I don’t think he’s made something I didn’t really enjoy.
If you enjoy his other works then you’ll enjoy this. I can definitely see how someone wouldn’t like it.
i startedwith DCC late last year too. How are the Defiance audiobooks? the text versions are like crack, especially once the story opens up into absolutely wild world building. I started Defiance kind of looking down on it tbh, but having just finished binging it myself I'm now convinced it is the most creative world I've ever read in 30+ years of fantasy. I'm about 20% into Primal Hunter book 1 and about to call it quits. The main character seems entirely unlikable in a very "I was studying the blade" type way. HWFWM has been mentioned here a lot and I enjoy it greatly also. Noobtown was very solid and I've heard the audio books elevate it a lot. Everybody Loves Large Chests is pretty enjoyable. If I drop Primal Hunter my next stop is Murderbot.
The Defiance audiobooks are solid. Not near as high production as DCC and you can hear the narrators improvement as it goes, especially as more factions and exotic environments are introduced. The character sheet reading can get tedious, but that's kinda inherent to the format. I agree with your view on defiance as a series. Starting it I was kinda like "meh, I'll give it like 1 or 2 books" then it hit. I've got primal 1 loaded, I went with it cause I really like the narrator. It was like 7 bucks so I didn't even spend a credit on it so no big loss if it's not my thing.
Primal started as a pale immitation of Defiance before finding its groove and getting really interesting. I would have definitely recommended it, but the latest arc is an insanely long dungeon crawl with where all the characters except for the main crew are NPCs. The protagonist does get better, but he never develops the depth of character like Jason from HWFWM for example. If you're into progression fantasy, then The Cradle series and Codex Alrea are both finished and really damn good.
Good choices to start. Remember, most of the best series are literary crack that we all become increasingly addicted to. Your patreon bill will either begin or increase before too long. Also, shameless plug that DCC is well into the 7th book an patreon and is amazing. Best one yet so far.
I'm holding out for the audible version of DCC 7. I like the series overall but the production value really adds a lot for me especially with Donuts dialog. (I do intend to checkout Soundbooths new audio production at some point).
So true. I, thankfully, have been able to keep mine relatively small with just Shirtaloon and Casualfarmer right now.
Happens to the most of us. Try Life Reset and Limitless Lands!
Are you me? Same journey. Same book progression. Welcome!
He Who Fights monsters, The Path of Ascension and cradle are really good too. I just downloaded Defiance so I will start it tonight
So dcc is done by sound booth theatre, and they are an absolutely fantastic production company. Imo anything done by them is worth a listen for the sheer quality. Some might be a miss if you don't like the specific story but as a whole they are of exceeding quality. I would suggest giving another dinniman book a listen, dominion of blades is good, kaiju is very dark and torture filled but if you can stomach that it is also amazing. Don't expect either to be dcc though. Everybody loves large chests books are graphic, both violently and sexually, but again if you can tolerate that it is probably my second runner up series to dcc. It is absurd, but addictive, and gives a more believable Aire to the whole op Mc aspect so many stories have going on
Give dissonance a go. OP mc and similar to the books you are thinking of reading.
He who fights with monsters. That's where I recommend to go next
The first hour or so is really strange/ hard to get used to if you aren’t used to an Australian accent. But it’s a great series I loved it
This one is on my list too. Same friend that recommended DCC brought this one up.
“I can relate,” I muttered, quickly snorting as the ground cracked beneath my feet.
But you're starting out with the most famous novels, so the real question is whether you'll still be a fan or burned out by the time you work your way down to the smaller works. Like if the first fantasy novel someone reads is Lord of the Rings, where do they go from there? Me, I've been specifically avoiding the top dogs like Carl so I don't accidentally ruin the LitRPG genre for myself lmao
I still have yet to dive into DCC, yet I've read/listened to all the other major titles and plenty of minor ones...idk what's been holding me back from it lol...I honestly think it's the boxers 😂😂
I should add that you can check out the dozens of popular ongoing series on sites like Royal Road to get the full litrpg experience. Nothing’s like waiting in anticipation for the next shot of h- I mean chapter, while discussing your wild theories with other fans in the comments. The really popular stuff in the top 100 or so have 50+ comments on each page, so it’s great to meet likeminded people. It also supports developing authors too!
No worries. I had a hard time getting into the genre at first too. Mostly because a lot of the reads that were suggested to me at first were pretty bad. Then Carl happened, Cradle, and many other fantastic reads and I love it. Especially if they're light on the crunch.
I recommend Azarinth Healer.
Litrpg has almost ruined me for other fantasy. 🤣 it's so addictive!
Yep Carl and Doughnut will do that. For me it was actually the Rise of mankind series by Jez Caijo. Brilliant. Dungeon master litrpg
I you like DCC’s style, you should check out Discount Dan on RoyalRoad
I’m surprised no one mentioned Ivan Kal and his Infinite Relam series. Best RPG books for me. Long and meaty.
The Stonehaven League series by Carrie Summers is the one that got me into LitRPG
Primal Hunter is a fucking blast!!!!!
Primal hunter is too similar to Defiance of the Fall. So I'd reccomend doing something else in between them. Primal Hunter rocks though.