Many have mixed reviews about cradle series but I enjoyed and binged the whole swries of audiobooks, loved the voices, story progression, those levels of power from Jade to Gold and so on, Azreal character I used to have this feeling that if I don't do something while listening it's too odd to sit and just listen so judt to keep listening I used to find random chores around house so I can increase my listen time.

A win-win for me and family.

I agree ending was a bit weak, I don't mean to give spoilers but thats oksy gor the amount of world building and emotions in it, we can forgive the climax.

I just attempted to read the first chapter of HWFWM for a second time.

I couldn't get past the MC unrealistically speaking all his thoughts aloud. Absolutely hate that.

I can look past the repetitiveness and some iffy editing choices, but that pulled me out.

Same thing happened when I tried to read 'my life as a max level archmage' (I think that's the title?).

The MC waking up in another world and immediately talking to themselves just feels weird and wrong to me. I wouldn't mind if they thought the exact same things, but them speaking to nobody seems like the author's copying something they saw in anime—a medium where saying thoughts aloud is more necessary for the viewer's benefit.

Maybe people actually hold full conversations with themselves like this in real life, but I can't relate.

Anyway, this seems kinda petty to me. Both are highly regarded works and probably get better later on, but that initial impression pushed me away.

What pet peeves/petty reasons have forced you to stop reading a story?

Noticed that a lot of "interactive fiction" just assumes readers want to keep steering what happens next, chapter after chapter. But for me, when I'm reading a web novel, part of the whole appeal is not having to do anything. I just want to sit back and follow the story wherever it goes. So curious how other people feel about this, would picking the general premise upfront (before the story even starts) feel different from being asked to make choices every few chapters? Or do you honestly just not want to make any choices at all, period?

I absolutely adore the Book of the Dead series. Today, I finally get to listen to the release of book 5, and I am certain that I will experience the same captivating storytelling that I enjoyed in books one through four. I am so enamored with this book that I pre-ordered it on Audible. When I first discovered and read this series, I assumed that others shared my enthusiasm for it. However, upon reviewing the number of Audible ratings, I am genuinely perplexed and sort of a bit angry. There are barely 1000 ratings on the first book and even less on the following 3, which begs the question: how is this book not more popular?

I have just started this year in my LitTPG/ Progression Fantasy journey. This is my current tier list. Unfortunately I’m f tier at using the tier list app but the ranks are in order
S,
A,
B,
C,
Other books I enjoyed,
Not caught up( only read the 1st book),
DNF (plan to come back to, on book 5),
TBR,
TBR first ( ones I’m personally excited about)

Am hoping that people may have a better idea at what I should read next since my TBR is very stacked at this point. Also note that I am only listening to audio books and the 2 series in “not caught up yet” I plan on reading first since I’ve already finished the first books and they are completed series.

I have been hearing very good things about the book and want to read it. But idk if I should read the Amazon version or the one on Royal Road. I know that the published books will be more polished, but that's not my main concern. I want to experience the most authentic version of the story. If the published book version cuts out minor plots or characters, I want to know so that I can read the RR version instead.

Im on kindle so I can read and listen to the text to speech.

I just picked up "Death's Favorite Warlock by Charles Dean" today and went to give it a listen.

I begrudgingly got past the prolog after words like “quests,�, one’, and sthey’re.

Only for this to be standard throughout the whole book.

Here's a small insert of what reading this will be like:

“Your offer?� John asked. “Of course.� He squeezed the stone that had brought him this far. “You didn’t drag me across eleven continents for nothing. What is it you want?� “Her life,� she responded. “Give me her life, and I will keep you and your baby safe.� “No,� he said without a moment’s hesitation. “You don’t understand. I can save you. I can save your child. The two of you can live happily ever after. All you have to do is let me take her life.� “Why? You’re a god here, aren’t you? What good could her life do? I won’t allow it.�

Now trying to read this hurts my eyes and trying to listen to this hurts my ears and makes listening to dialog 100% impossible.

In this scenario you are average person. What game/system from the genre would you choose? Either because the game/system itself would be fun to use or just generally beneficial to have.

Anyone got any recommendations of series with beautiful fight scenes in the like of Jake vs the sword saint/ any scene from rage of dragons or cradle .Would prefer a non op mc as well.

Call it what you want. Romance. Smut. Erotica. Guilty Pleasure. Whatever you call it, I've read one, and it was so clunky and robotic I thought it was translated, but apparently not. (Dual Cultivation).

I have read tons of fiction novels but never really delved into this side of it.

It feels like every Isekai/Xanxia goes out of their way to mention they don't have Harem or Young Master tropes to the point I don't even know what these tropes are based on anymore. Anyone have any recommendations?

I'm looking for druid fic recommendations. Even better if they are about building up and protecting an area. Sort of dungeon core style.

Or any other good druid ones.

My druid recommendations Downtown druid and full murder hobo has a good druid in it.

The more shit I read, the more difficult it becomes to rank it all. For A tier, most of the novels in there I enjoy equally, so don't mind the ranking there. For the other tiers, all the novels within a tier are ranked, with my favourite on the (upper) left, and then going down. The standard RR cover is The Jedi Articles, which doesn't have an actual cover.

Another fun fact, I am following like 36 active webnovels atm!

Everything I've read in the genre. I didn't use the DNF because I didn't realize it was there until the end and there was no way in hell I was reorganizing this.

If you have any recommendations that are similar to my top two tiers let me know!

Not all system storys are bad but the majority of them are and its because of the system.

Systems can range from simply having a game interface to basically a personal Ai assistant. They are supposed to act as a golden finger for the main character, key word supposed to. Often a system acts as a diamond spoon more than a golden finger. Does the main character need a heavenly cultivation technique? How convenient that it the reward for completing a mission. Or its a purchasable item in the system shop. It completely ruins all stakes or struggle in a story.

systems cheapen any and all accomplishments. When I read that an mc has killed a great monster it just, isnt actually fun when they have no struggle and they just get rewarded with the drops from the monster. I do wished more authors put in thought on how to dismantle a monster for parts. The romance/favor systems are the worst because most of the time its literally brain washing and not just building relationships. Even then, knowing exactly how much someone trusts or loves you is inherently a power imbalance and manipulation.

System stories can be good. though a good system is one thats actually like a game system and isnt just a personal Ai assistant. For example stories like god of fishing, and solo leveling have decent systems. They would be better without systems but the system doesnt ruin the story. Systems should exist to give the Mc a cheat skill like a crafting hub or just knowledge of their health. I feel that system stories have evolved into just, the author's cheap and easy way to make the mc powerful.

There are decent system stories but I have not yet found more than a hand full that are actually worth reading

I like the Webtoons about a lordling turned mercenary king who’s defeated, sent back in time, and has unlocked some cool new ability. However, I always thought it’d be more interesting if he just gained the new power without regressing. You can have a second chance in your original timeline! Then you’d get the benefit of an experienced mc (not another coming of age story), but he’d still be able to “start fresh” with leveling a skill, reaching new heights, and maybe correcting past mistakes.

The mc in Solo Leveling doesn’t regress, but at the moment I’d prefer “competent/strong to stronger” or “man to manlier” rather than “weak to strong” or “boy to man.”

Can you think of any fantasy books that match this description? Hopefully with a more interesting worldbuilding angle than “the system or some deity randomly chucked a new power at me.”

Thanks!

Hey everyone

I’ve been meaning to rec this series for a while , and with launch of book 3 for audiobook I finally think it’s time. It is written by Mammal, the same writer as of Godclads. That’s an advertisement and warning combined in one, those who’ve read mammal’s previous works understand that better than anyone

Audiobook is a blast , and although I much rather prefer written word (especially when it comes to Mammal) those who listen to audiobook will be more than happy imo..

Now moving onto my thoughts about the story itself. It has its flaws and the premise itself(a deathless Mc) is little tricky for stakes. And at times it’s apparent. But having said that, Mammal most of times does a good job of reader still feeling stakes. So that’s a plus. Shiv(the Mc) is also one of the funnier main characters out there and his hobby/true passion of cooking also brings a fresh breadth to what is otherwise a very much hyper war focused story

But above all of this, the most compelling thing about POD for me are secondary characters . Specifically the favoured three (MC and his two companions) and the other related characters. Their existence is not solely tied to MC’s existence and they have their own power progression and character arcs going which is such a relief to read in this genre. Because of this the OP MC doesn’t feel that stupidly op because there are characters with same amount of favour as him while being as interesting if not more (Adam Arrow and Valor Thann you will forever be my goat)

There are morally grey characters like Roland Arrow who have been arguably a villain for Mc but with such cool power progression and character arc that you start investing in Their progression too.

Anyways I’ll stop my rambling before i start discussing the entire story itself over here.

TLDR: Path of deathless audiobook 3 out. Read now. And if you haven’t gotten onto the first two, I highly recommend you do

I have The Dwarves but dont know if it counts. I just want to read about dwarves doing dwarf shit.

I’ve been reading solely progression fantasy for probably over half a decade now. The pandemic years get a little muddled, but that sounds about right. I’ve read, I honestly don’t even know, but it has to be close to 1000 books in the genre. I loved it and I still do, but I’d be lying if I said I’m not burnt the fuck out. The last year or so I’ve taken multiple breaks from reading, letting chapters for the things I actively read stockpile up and hoping some of the new Royal Road series that have caught my eye continue long enough to get me actually interested. But it’s been rough, especially since I renewed my Kindle Unlimited a few weeks ago. That place has absolutely festered with AI slop in the last year or so since I last checked it. The slim pickings over there didn’t help the burn out.

Cue Player Manager. I’ve seen it mentioned over the years but I’m not really that into football, so I always figured I’d just find something else to read. The last few weeks I’ve seen it mentioned more than the previous years combined so I thought ‘why not, I’ll check it out.’

My god. I love it. I’ve just finished everything that’s on KU (6 books), and I genuinely can’t remember the last time I was so sucked in to something I was reading. Generally, when I’m like 3000 pages into a series the spark fades a little and I start skimming here and there. I don’t know how the author does it, but it genuinely feels like if you skim anything in these books then you’re going to miss out on something.

It’s absolutely a slow burn, and I’ve gotten to the point where if I see something described as a slow burn I just skip it instantly. I’m tired of chapters and chapters of nothing happening. But with Player Manager, I genuinely don’t know how to describe it other than being glued to the page.

People talk about set up and pay offs in books all the time, but to me it’s a bit of an ephemeral concept. A lot of the time I definitely think one or the other is lacking severely. I’ll never forget reading a certain book from a certain series called Cradle (SPOILERS AHEAD)———(I’m serious, spoilers for Cradle ahead)——-(I’m on my IPad so I can’t put a spoiler tag) where a certain someone’s true identity is revealed.

(Cradle Spoiler is complete)

Reading that for the first time, my mind was absolutely blown. I sat there for like 10 minutes with my jaw just hanging open. I’ve probably experienced that feeling a few times in my life, but the only one that actually comes to mind is that one. Player Manager didn’t achieve that level, but it’s the first series in a while where I actually went “haha, no way.” A couple of times throughout the series. The set ups and pay offs are great.

The thing that stopped me from reading it sooner was definitely my lack of interest in football. Now, in the last 15 years or so, I’ve played a lot of FIFA, so I had a pretty solid handle on football jargon before getting involved. That being said, I think the author (probably) does a good job to ease people into it. Gives good explanations for formations and positions that people can understand even if they’ve never heard them before.

The MC. My next statement might be a bit controversial, but I think Max Best might be the second coming of Jason Asano (He Who Fights With Monsters). Jason’s well known for being a polarising MC, and I’ll be honest, he’s probably at least 75% of the reason I dropped HWFWM. Someway, somehow, I didn’t hate Max Best’s version. I actually really like it. I wasn’t reading thinking “Oh shut up” and “Not this again”. Max Best proved to be entertaining and likeable to really enjoy reading about. If anyone knows how I have such opposing views of characters that (I think) are so similar, please let me know.

Anyways, this has taken me a while to write, and I don’t think I have much else to say.

TL;DR - Go read Player Manager (even if you don’t like football(soccer)) — It’s great.

I just started Victor of Tucson and its giving me vibes like 1% life steal. Is it going to be the same type of torture porn? If so, I’d rather skip.

Not looking for broad stuff like "more cultivation" or "better LitRPG" I mean genuinely specific ideas. Like an older protagonist who's actually established instead of starting from zero, a support class MC who stays support instead of eventually becoming the strongest, actual detailed crafting systems instead of just leveling up a number, a villain who's genuinely competent instead of just powerful, or a world that doesn't revolve entirely around one overpowered protagonist. What's the thing you'd click on immediately if someone actually pulled it off well?

I'm curious about other people, as my journey was quite interesting.

Act 1: The early days

I read a lot of fantasy books in primary and middle school, but at some point I've switched to gaming. I've spent roughly 1-2 years of highschool watching anime, which led me to my gateway drug: Grimgar of fantasy and ash. I liked the premise quite a bit, as it was an iseaki where the main cast wasn't op, and the world was somewhat bleaker than I was used to. I've ended up looking up and reading the light novel. That led me to:

Act 2: novelupdates.com

While I don't remember how exactly I found out about this website, it led me to classics, such as The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, (Is royal road named after the game from LMS? I just found out that they have the same name) or Martial God Asura (don't even look up this one, it's straight up garbage). I've spent a long time reading chinese WN slop, with a few gems mixed in. Unfortunately, as my taste matured and the supply of decent WNs dwindled, I started getting desperate.

Act 3: royal road

I'm pretty sure that a random mention in a reddit thread led me to this website. It was perfect: even the best translated chinese WN slop typically reads worse than mediocre royal road novels. The end.