LitRPG

Xarpolis · Aug 25, 2026

Guurn said:
Ok, done with He who fights with monsters book 9 and I'm done with the series. I liked the first 3 books quite a bit, the second 3 were bad and the last 3 I read were average at best. Minor rant and spoilers/not spoilers ahead.

I really like the way he writes when he cares. His use of character, abilities, and monsters as well as the system is good. Ok, that being said...you don't need the first 450 pages in every book to be the main character going around saying hi to everyone or recovering from the last books fights. You don't need to reexplain every characters abilities every time they appear on the pages. After 5, 6 or 8 books in no one is picking it up as their first book in the series. This is made worse by him completely ignoring the actual progression of the main character. I think we need an update more than once every book and a half. Yes, he talks about abilities, but I'm talking about the character screen. Normally I'd be just fine with it but the progression is very granular in this series. The bad guys don't need to be stereotypes, monsters are fine at least occasionally. He literally doesn't even cover monster fights because they are so inconsequential. The main character used to be interesting, now he relies on his soul power...really? It's boring, like really boring. The amount of Deus Ex becomes so extreme the secondary characters joke about it. That's bad...and lazy. I'm sure it's part of the plot but we aren't in the loop so it is just, dare I say it again, boring. Anyhow, I'm not subjecting my self to more of this boredom...I'm out.

The newest book will be coming out soon. I think he said the end of next month on his Royal Road post.

Vuuxo · Sep 3, 2026

Listening to Morningwood; Everybody loves large chests by Neven Iliev on Audible.

Started this this morning. First book is short but good so far. Protagonist is a mimic.

Void · Sep 4, 2026

Not a book of course, but if you guys want to see something pretty close to a live-action version of litrpg, check out Omniscient Reader that just came out on Prime. I'm not gonna say it is amazing, but it isn't bad either. At least the first half anyway, I'll finish it this weekend, and it is always possible it shits the bed. So far so good though.

Ukerric · Sep 5, 2026

Void said:
Not a book of course, but if you guys want to see something pretty close to a live-action version of litrpg, check out Omniscient Reader that just came out on Prime. I'm not gonna say it is amazing, but it isn't bad either. At least the first half anyway, I'll finish it this weekend, and it is always possible it shits the bed. So far so good though.

Is that an adaptation of the webnovel or an entirely separate thing?

*EDIT* Looks like it's the 2025 movie adaptation, so here's the book series from which it came: Amazon.com

Vuuxo · Sep 11, 2026

On book 3 of Everybody loves large chests and it's a thoroughly fun series. Extremely vulgar, funny and doesn't hold back on detailing violence, or rape. Not your "modern audience" series at all. The protagonist being a dungeon mimic is interesting and I dig the different take on the RPG element.

Hatorade · Sep 15, 2026

Guurn said:
Ok, done with He who fights with monsters book 9 and I'm done with the series. I liked the first 3 books quite a bit, the second 3 were bad and the last 3 I read were average at best. Minor rant and spoilers/not spoilers ahead.

I really like the way he writes when he cares. His use of character, abilities, and monsters as well as the system is good. Ok, that being said...you don't need the first 450 pages in every book to be the main character going around saying hi to everyone or recovering from the last books fights. You don't need to reexplain every characters abilities every time they appear on the pages. After 5, 6 or 8 books in no one is picking it up as their first book in the series. This is made worse by him completely ignoring the actual progression of the main character. I think we need an update more than once every book and a half. Yes, he talks about abilities, but I'm talking about the character screen. Normally I'd be just fine with it but the progression is very granular in this series. The bad guys don't need to be stereotypes, monsters are fine at least occasionally. He literally doesn't even cover monster fights because they are so inconsequential. The main character used to be interesting, now he relies on his soul power...really? It's boring, like really boring. The amount of Deus Ex becomes so extreme the secondary characters joke about it. That's bad...and lazy. I'm sure it's part of the plot but we aren't in the loop so it is just, dare I say it again, boring. Anyhow, I'm not subjecting my self to more of this boredom...I'm out.

On book 2 of this and enjoying it, not many books make me actually laugh out loud and this is one of them.

Tuco · Sep 16, 2026

Defiance of the Fall 17 out. I hope this one spends enough time on pancreas cultivation.

Amazon.com

Void · 2026-09-23T13:02:41-0400

Heavenly Chaos Series by Daniel Schinhofen

Heavenly Chaos, Fighting Past Pain (Heavenly Chaos #2), Heavens Reflected (Heavenly Chaos #3), Graduating With Honor (Heavenly Chaos Book 4), and Delvin...

www.goodreads.com

tl;dr AVOID AVOID AVOID

Longer rambling reason why: I stupidly read two full books and about a quarter of the third, hoping it would get better. It got worse.

Imagine Path of Ascension, but dumb it down a LOT, and then replace the main characters with emotionally broken and shallow people that are completely defined by their past traumas, and have them do almost nothing but talk about it.

I'll quote someone's review (not mine, if I read this in 2025 I would have ranted about it by now) which kind of sums it all up, except for the fact that they gave it a 3 star, which it definitely doesn't deserve.

This book wasn't as good as the last 2. It was mostly just the three of them patting each other on the head and reassuring each other that yes, they still like each other.... for chapter after chapter after chapter... I'm not overstating it. It went on for the ENTIRE book. Over and over. It never stopped. The entire book. Does it seem repetitive in this review? That's what the entire book is like.

Also, forget patting on the head. To do that, they would have to talk to each one individually about their feelings about head patting, then gently pat on the head, then have a breakdown due to the head pat and then go on a multi page reaction of each person to the head pat before everyone runs to their therapist to discuss the head pat, followed by an apology to everyone involved about their reaction to the head pat and reassurances that they all still like each other after the trauma of the head pat...

Really, what small amount of actual plot that existed was still solid, but the amount that plot advanced could be summed up in a very predictable pamphlet.

On top of all that bullshit, there are endless descriptions of the guy cooking every morning, what the girls wore every morning, going to the gym, having game nights with friends, etc. where NOTHING happens. Like, you only put those in if something to progress the story happens. Nothing, and I mean nothing, ever happens during those events that couldn't have easily happened without all of that wasted time. And when something finally does happen, you're like, oh, this is exactly like Path of Ascension, except dull and lifeless and I don't care.

Imagine working for some super-woke company and having to deal with endless HR meetings validating everyone's feelings and experiences. That is this series. I'm a fucking moron for making it as far as I did, but I kept hoping for the cool litrpg elements we all crave. Nope, fuck this series and this author.

Kajiimagi · 2026-09-23T21:10:14-0400

Hatorade said:
On book 2 of this and enjoying it, not many books make me actually laugh out loud and this is one of them.

tried these , could not get through book 1. Bobiverse is all caught up. Really bummed. I'm going to have to fuck around until Oct 1 when new Steve Erikson TGINW book 3 comes out.

Tuco · 2026-09-24T09:46:53-0400

Void said:
Longer rambling reason why: I stupidly read two full books and about a quarter of the third, hoping it would get better. It got worse.

An annoying aspect about reading books for me is that if I read a critical review of a book where a certain downside is highlighted like, "The author overuses this phrase" or "This side character is given a lot of boring development time with no real payoff" is that seeing that review worsens my experience. So I tend to avoid critical reviews for books I'm planning on reading.

This, of course, leads me down the same pit you enjoyed where it takes me multiple books to finally give up because I declined to read a review about the book!

Chysamere · 2026-09-24T10:53:17-0400

Updated list from me of what I have read in order of how much I liked them:

Blue Core
Path of Ascension (up to date)
Chrysalis (up to date)
The Primal Hunter (up to date)
Everybody Loves Large Chests
Cradle
He Who Fights with Monsters
Dungeon Crawler Carl (latest book read)
Only Villians Do That (up to date)
Mage Tank (up to date)
Defiance of the Fall (up to date)
Unbound
Spellheart
Paladin of the Sigil

Been watching out for stuff people have been enjoying and trying it out here and there. Liked quite a few of them.

I've been severely neglecting my anime watching and now I'm several seasons behind and have about three dozen shows I need to catch up on, and after that I'll clear the blacklog of LitRPG and look for something new to read.

As always recommendations welcome!

Guurn · 2026-09-24T11:59:36-0400

The is an interesting list. I haven't read Blue Core or Path of Ascension, I'll have to give them a run. I definitely didn't like He who Fights that much, at least after the 3rd book and I l'd probably move Mage Tank up to just under primal hunter. It's interesting where you have DCC. It was one of my first Lit books and I have a feeling that the way I felt reading it, finally a book series style that resonated with me, is influenced by that.

Chysamere · 2026-09-24T13:55:22-0400

Guurn said:
The is an interesting list. I haven't read Blue Core or Path of Ascension, I'll have to give them a run. I definitely didn't like He who Fights that much, at least after the 3rd book and I l'd probably move Mage Tank up to just under primal hunter. It's interesting where you have DCC. It was one of my first Lit books and I have a feeling that the way I felt reading it, finally a book series style that resonated with me, is influenced by that.

I have a couple personal problems with mage hunter. First, the heavy focus on a party. I don't mind side characters, or even party members ala Path of Ascension, but I do like the main character to be the main character. Mage Tank feels like it has 5 main characters and it's a bit much.

Second, I don't like the main character much. He's a bit of a weirdo, and not in the good way. I get that his character is exaggerated but wearing a pink feather boa and being a masochist/submissive by nature is a bit offputting for me. He's one step away from being a drag queen. I prefer masculine, confident characters which is the bread and butter of Litrpg and he doesn't fit the bill. I also get a heavy liberal bias from the writer (and He Who Fights with Monster's writer) which gives it minus points as well.

DCC is good but it was heavily hyped to me and did not meet my expectations. I'm not really much for gore and DCC is heavily focused on that, plus DCC is full of pop references and memes which I'm not really into and will date the book heavily.

I don't consider any of the books BAD bad, after all I read and finished them all. Do you have something you'd recommend?

Guurn · 2026-09-24T14:38:02-0400

Chysamere said:
Second, I don't like the main character much. He's a bit of a weirdo, and not in the good way. I get that his character is exaggerated but wearing a pink feather boa and being a masochist/submissive by nature is a bit offputting for me. He's one step away from being a drag queen. I prefer masculine, confident characters which is the bread and butter of Litrpg and he doesn't fit the bill. I also get a heavy liberal bias from the writer (and He Who Fights with Monster's writer) which gives it minus points as well
Do you have something you'd recommend?

I get your point on the main character, but he does only sleep with female characters. Like every Litrpg the writer tends to push something and then within a couple pages contradicts that assertion directly. I actually find that pretty funny. The only one that isn't on your list that I really liked was Hell Difficulty tutorial. I have a feeling that you may have an issue with the number of characters in the main characters orbit as well as him being a generally unlikeable guy. Basically everyone he meets comments on how punchable his face is and how little emotion he shows. I think the only series I can think of that really fits your type without being heavily cultivating, which I can't stand, is Awaken Online. There are some dud books in the series and the side series meant to flesh out the other characters flopped for me. The initial bad guy is a meme though.

Chysamere · 2026-09-24T15:07:15-0400

Guurn said:
I get your point on the main character, but he does only sleep with female characters. Like every Litrpg the writer tends to push something and then within a couple pages contradicts that assertion directly. I actually find that pretty funny. The only one that isn't on your list that I really liked was Hell Difficulty tutorial. I have a feeling that you may have an issue with the number of characters in the main characters orbit as well as him being a generally unlikeable guy. Basically everyone he meets comments on how punchable his face is and how little emotion he shows. I think the only series I can think of that really fits your type without being heavily cultivating, which I can't stand, is Awaken Online. There are some dud books in the series and the side series meant to flesh out the other characters flopped for me. The initial bad guy is a meme though.

I don't mind a lot of characters, only dislike it when they get equal billing with the main character - and I actually like "unlikeable" protags - Only villians do that has exactly that. I'll check out Hell Difficulty next

Edit: You're going to have to tell me exactly which Hell Difficulty though, there's a lot

I assume start here?

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LitRPG

Xarpolis

Life's a Dream

Vuuxo

Scaphism

Void

Doin' Too Much

Ukerric

Bearded Ape

Vuuxo

Scaphism

Hatorade

A nice asshole.

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!

Void

Doin' Too Much

Heavenly Chaos Series by Daniel Schinhofen

Kajiimagi

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!

Chysamere

FF14 Free Company Master

Guurn

Chysamere

FF14 Free Company Master

Guurn

Chysamere

FF14 Free Company Master