What I'm really looking for is a story where humanity reaches the stars / makes first contact, gets their asses kicked, then skills/techs up and starts to dominate.

Examples that almost-but-don't-quite scratch the itch:

• Troy Rising: First book absolutely does, but then it slows down, and is unfinished

• Stargate SG:1: Sort of ends up this way, but the tech development comes all at once right at the end instead of progressing

• Honor Harrington: Great, but Manticore are never really playing catch up, so much as leapfrogging the opposition, and actual changes are more incremental than meteoric

• Ex-Force: Ship is more regressing (falling apart) than progressing, and most progression comes from Skippy revealing new tricks rather than humanity upskilling

• Bobiverse: Probably the closest, but the Bob's are technologically superior to most of the universe most of the time (with a brief exception for The Others, and extinct species)

(Also, why is there an "I Recommend This" flair, but not a "Give Me A Rec" flair?)

Full disclosure up front, I'm the translator for this one. Still, I've read all current 1000 chapters of it more closely than anything else in my life, so take this as a review from someone who knows exactly where the bodies are buried.

The story: Reincarnated guy gets the ultimate cheat: a complete library of every cultivation technique, pill recipe and formation ever written. Then he lands in a world with no spiritual qi, so none of it works. Ten years of grinding gets him to the lowest possible stage. Then he shows up at the wizard academy exam and counts over 180 staff at the gate who could each flatten him. So he shuts up, enrolls as an apprentice, and spends the next thousand chapters quietly rebuilding cultivation from scratch using wizard theory as his toolkit.

What it does well: The research. This is the closest thing I've read to Warlock of the Magus World in how much of the plot is experiments, failed experiments, and the MC slowly building a system nobody else has. The difference is he's not a sociopath, he's a nerd who'd rather be left alone in his lab. The wizard world itself is the WMW/LotM mold, levels, academies, planes, factions, and the author sticks to the rules he sets up, which matters a lot over 1000 chapters. The power scaling is great as well. It starts at academy politics and ends up at wars between civilizations, and the MC gets there without becoming a god by chapter 200. I'd say it's kind of similar to Swallowed Star in that aspect but not fully.

What it does badly: It is slow. The MC fights when he has to and then goes back to studying. If you need a fight every chapter you will bounce off this hard. The author can set up very elaborate plots of leave you hanging and begging for more chapters. The early chapters also read rougher than the later ones, partly because the author was finding his feet and partly because so was I. I've been going back through them to fix terminology, but ch1-50 is the weakest stretch either way.

Who it's for: People who finished WMW or Lord of the Mysteries and wanted more wizard-world stuff with a protagonist who thinks before he hits. People who like progression you can actually track. Not for people who want harem, face-slapping, or a tournament arc every 30 chapters, there's basically none of that.

Status. Raw is 1000 (as of today) chapters and still updating. All 1000 chapters translated, always fully caught up (paid readers are 20ish chs ahead), free chapters can be found --> here, NU page ----> here. There's a Patreon for advance chapters but everything lands on the free site after a delay.

Ask me anything about it, and if you've read other good "cultivator in a magic world" novels, I would love to hear about it :D

[SSS Talent: Infinite Genesis — Devour Experience, Transcend All Limits Abilities.

Equipment upgrade: Upgrade any equipment, including offensive and defensive articles, from basic trash level to unprecedented levels. The evolution options are limitless. It requires Amethyst essence to upgrade the equipment.

Skill evolution: Upgrade any skill from level one to level hundred. Skill evolution requires Exp.

Exp Devourer: Get 5x the Exp for each kill, quest and exploration.]

Mine's the ancient cultivator reincarnation/transmigration trope. Love the idea of someone who has lived for hundreds or even thousands of years getting a second life and having to start again from the bottom but in some novels when they reincarnate or transmigrate they start acting like angsty teens.

Just feels so jarring.

So, amidst all of this nonsense about books getting stolen off of Royal Road, I decided to go ahead and do a Google search to see if maybe my book was lucky enough or important enough to get pirated.

Alas, it was not.

However, because of a genius, yet cheeky, Reddit post I made about Chris Kluwe, former NFL Minnesota Viking, google now thinks he is the author of my got-danged book. You see, it all happened when he decided to release his book on the same day I released my book. So, I thought I’d be cute and make a silly little post about it… but now Google is punishing me for it.

So it looks like Chris Kluwe, former punter for the NFL Minnesota Vikings, got the last laugh after all. Damn you Kluwe, damn you.

Ummm, read my book. Fireballs, isekai, progression. No anime titties. Steve, the Last Pyromancer… BY TOBIAS WARD currently only available on Royal Road unless someone thinks it’s really good and wants to pirate it.

Peace

And how many of you all can recommend some to me? I'm talking your witch hat ateliers, guild mage with the grammar rules, runic artist (somewhat) with the tapping into concepts for magic and skills and the like, Tori transmigrated and the crystals. I want the ones that make your brain hurt but in a good way. Mostly for inspiration because I'm finally starting my own story and while I've got a rather good idea of where I'll take things (to the point of starting a functional ish ttrpg system around it) I want more.

[Unaffiliated, just excited to share!]

Looks like it was released on the 20th October.

I had to search Audible under "The Feral Daoist" to find it initially, I dunno why that was but for those that have been waiting or looking for it.

I've been waiting on the audio for this series since I was seeing such good reviews as I dig Slumrat Rising a tonne (you rock, Warby Picus). Looking forward to getting into this one and wanted to share it is out as I came across it this morning!

Not everyone reads paperback, and that's ok. It's an ebook too.

Books 1-3 of Nexus Runner are ebook, audiobook, and paperback.

If you love DCC, Primal Hunter, and Discount Dan, you need to try Nexus Runner.

This is an action-packed Isekai LitRPG where 1,000 people from Earth are dropped into a death battle game that will determine Earth's integration path.

The challenge is simple - fight through four stages of monster-infested wilderness and defeat the final boss in time.

Fail, and Earth will be destroyed.

As people struggle to figure out how to survive, Lucas the MC is plunged into insane monster battles and finds he had a knack for surviving when he really shouldn't. With an AI that loves to quote Earth entertainment, unique monsters, and epic loot, this is a binge-worthy story.

"It reminds me why I love LitRPG!" ~review from a fan.

https://link.amazon/B0cQErsSj

I'm currently in a rut, don't have the motivation to read PF/litrpg books at the moment but I need a good recommendation to pull me back in.

Before the rut I was reading HWFWM and it was quite enjoyable at first but around book 7 and 8 I just couldn't find the will to care or be interested in what Jason was lamenting about this time, or how many 80s references he could spout out in unrelated conversations. Dropped it.

Went to try another couple of series, but couldn't really get into them. Dead Tired was interesting I guess, but I don't really like stories with OP MCs at the beginning.

It seems right now I can only muster interest in reading the new chapters of the series that I'm already following on Royal Road (Bog standard isekai, Elydes, chaotic craftsman, Gifted, William oh, chrysalis, and a few others), but that means waiting for chapters to come out.

I just want a recommendation of a good series I could pick up and get right into.

No recommendations that require me to 'read 3 books before it gets good' please.

No murder hobo MCs please. Or EdgeLord MCs either.

No MCs whose whole personality is making pop culture references please ( looking at you Jason and Ryan)

No romance or harem ( I can handle a little romance but no harem)

Preferably I would like an isekai kind of story where the MC isn't the only one to get summoned like chaotic craftsman.

If you can look at my tier list and recommend something you think I would like then I would appreciate it. Thank you!

Habby. He's knowledgeable, loyal, and opinionated. He's a talking habanero pepper. He's easily distracted by a pretty face.

And he's the reason why I carved a vegetable into another vegetable this year.

When Jett Fulgen gains the power of the one-of-a-kind Fire Guardian, it comes with certain... baggage. That includes a lecti spirit companion imprinted with the memories of Jett's predecessor, a notorious womanizer, as well as that man's dying wish: that his successor be a better man than he was.

The result? A spirit who can't stop ogling women, yet is never satisfied with Jett's performance. It's exactly as fun as it sounds. As for why he's a talking cartoon chili pepper? That part is kind of Jett's fault.

Jett Fulgen is a superhero LitRPG with big personalities, heart, a character-centric progression system, and a growing crew of cartoon mascots. There is also ancient evil reemerging in a futuristic society, corporate sponsored public superheroes, and a sarcastic MC who suddenly finds that his love of speed and spice is now a crucial part of his survival.

Available for free on Royal Road with 450k+ words and 150+ chapters available. Books 1 and 2 are complete, and book 3 is in progress.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/145258/jett-fulgen-superhero-litrpg

Generally speaking, this question arose because I write more realistic dark progression fantasy. In my world, people rarely give their techniques any names at all (with the exception of a few exceptionally powerful ones, whose names are recorded in chronicles and named by the witnesses), let alone shout out their names during the fight.

Nevertheless, I do keep them in mind, and the techniques themselves are consistent throughout the text; however, I don’t know how much my readers like this (I haven’t received any specific criticism on this point yet).

So I’m interested in your opinion regarding magic that the reader experiences through actions and their consequences rather than through names.

I am currently close to the end of vol 2 and I enjoyed the books so far. But i read recently in a thread that ling qi is still in the third realm and there wasn't any time skip and it is rather long and the story doesn't really have goal so far. So my question is if the story is able to retain its quality across the second series?

Hello community, I'm a new reader of this kind of book, what do you suggest me ?

I read :

He Who Fights with Monsters

The System Auctioneer (Dungeon Exchange)

Silence (Unbound)

Does exist a good fantasy story where the mc is a pirate?

A book that has quite a lot of humor at the beginning, getting more serious as things go on.

A fleshed out skill system where the abilities and spells really affect the plot in significant ways.

A main character who goes from clueless and weak to quite a powerful druid that learns to approach situations with strategy and intellect.

A world with a lot of mystery and lore that slowly reveals itself over the course of a long story.

Well-crafted, 100% human generated prose. (this my 27th novel. If I can't write well by now, God help me!)

A light dusting of literary themes and motifs while dopamine number go up.

Badass doggo sidekicks.

Then I think you will really enjoy Archdruid Alchemist.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/193299/archdruid-alchemist-litrpgisekai

Book one is done and two more are in the pipeline. Hope you'll join us!

Hello all! I’ve been working on a passion project for the better part of the last four years, and it’s around launch time that I realize I don’t have a cover! I’ve been working with an artist friend to come up with cover designs and now have a few sketches for the first four volumes.

These are my cover candidates for volume 1! I would love to know which of these you prefer, if any, as well as any complaints/likes or dislikes you may have. If you have any questions I’ll be sure to answer them as fast as I can :>

Please do keep in mind that these are just thumbnails, so the fine details aren’t ironed out (like the fire in the background of options 1 and 3) but if anything is unclear I’ll try to explain the imagery later on in the comments.

And also thank you to the wonderful @catallarii for the thumbnails. Glory to the Ri empire o7

I'm halfway through book 1 of titan hoppers. Does anyone else who's read this book find most of the characters just super annoying? It's like reading a book where apart from a few people every other character is just bakugo from my hero academia.

I fucking love the setting, and honestly the book is quite good so far, I just find the characters all infuriating.

Hi all, I'm nearly finished reading Godforge Alchemist, and I'm kind of worn down by the incessant sociopathy displayed by all the characters.

ANY disrespect, grievance, inconvenience, or challenge is met with an instantaneous fight to the death. Anyone more powerful than you is a peerless master who requires your obeisance while you try to curry favour not to be trampled, while anyone less powerful than you is an ant who should be honoured to be crippled and destroyed by your merest whim. How can a realm built on these rules survive? Thousands die every time enemies cross paths, and the collateral damage is irrelevant.

I'd like to read something with a bit more nuance, a Xianxia type novel where, of course, there are people like that, but the majority are well-balanced people seeking power. I'm reading Unintended Cultivator, which I think does this fairly well, I've read Cradle, Beware of Chicken, and Undying Immortal System, too.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm not necessarily looking for a slice of life, though I don't mind it. Something with stakes would be good, but I'm just tired of the unrelenting narcissism and unrestrained violence at the slightest provocation.

Thanks in advance.

What do you guys think of the story written by Seat_Admiral, the dubbed Peak Elf Performance? It's a self insert of the author who got transported into a fantasy wrold-reborn as an elf. He chose to live as the opposite of the stereotype often affiliated with elves. Instead of weak, dainty and spell-chucking effeminate boys, he chose to be some He-Man or Conan the Barbarian expy.

Looking for recommendations for audiobooks. Been listening for about a year and a half, I caught up to all these series.

Still pretty new and not really sure what my type is, narration is important to me, world building and character development. (I don't mind going through a couple books to get to the good part of a series.)

Some thoughts on my what next series could be are: Sprawl, Red Rising from other recommendations.

Why ask for recommendations when you still have a TBR list?

Western cultivation recs are welcome too but no slice of life focused ones please.

What I've already read

Reverend Insanity, LOTM, Mirror Legacy, Immortality Through Array Formations

I've read quarter to half of some Er Gen novels but the MCs become too OP too fast for me to enjoy.

I've read Regressor's Tale of Cultivation but the MC has to be one of the dumbest people with a time loop ability.

I dropped Cradle after book 4 because I didn't like the MC and his name. I still plan on reading it someday.

I also stopped reading A Record of Mortal's Journey to Immortality because too OP too fast again. It started out perfect but a bit after he found that pouch (I think) I stopped reading.

I couldn't get into Ave Xia I read maybe 10 chapters. It didn't draw me in for some reason.

I didn't like The Undying Immortal System. MC just runs away from his problems and spends too much time doing charity for others. Also didn't like the focus on Alchemy.

I haven't read Sky Pride but it's next on my list if I don't find anything else.

I got bored with My Longevity Simulation. I stopped around a couple lifetimes after ocean boiling.That story seemed to have some nice mystery elements but I just couldn't keep reading because I got bored.

I liked Myst Might Mayhem even though it's not really cultivation and there isn't much focus on cultivation.

I'm fine with anything as long as the translation is decent, story doesn't waste chapter after chapter on slice of life/helping random people endlessly/trying to boost mediocre companions, there's steady progression throughout the story and the MC has a functional brain.

As the title says. The progression is so far pretty good, though nothing mind-blowing, but the dialogue, sentence structure, and punctuation leave a lot to be desired. I know that some series get better with time in this domain and some get worse - which one is Runic Artist?

So as the title says, I’ve had an idea for a fantasy story for a while. I’ve tried to write it before in a more traditional fantasy format and struggled to get going.

I recently finished DCC and it gave me the inspiration to try it again but in a litRPG style setting and it has just clicked and feels like it’s writing itself this time.

I’m struggling a bit with imposter syndrome, like who do you think you are trying to write a book lol.

Anybody else had this?

Also can’t shift the feeling of potentially I’m writing something that will never be read by anybody else ever which make it feel kinda pointless but I’m enjoying it and hours of evening seem to disappear without me noticing.

Any body been here before? Success stories, inspiration & advice all would be appreciated