LitRPG

It has been forever since I read it, and perhaps it doesn't completely fit some of the strict litrpg rules (whatever those are), but Split Infinity by Piers Anthony came out in 1980, and I've always considered that the first example that I can think of.

As a side note, looking on Goodreads to find the publishing date led me to an amusing/infuriating few minutes reading all the salty women, feminists, cucks, etc. complaining about how sexist the book is. It was written in fucking 1980 when that was the norm, you fucking cunts, deal with it. Also, prove to me how any of what he said is wrong, or how we are better off as a society by "moving past" that mentality.

Anyway, back on track, sorry about that. Like I said, not really sure it is true litrpg, but the game aspect of it and advancing in the game are the core parts of the story, so maybe close enough?

velk said:

Piers Anthony is legitimately creepy as fuck though - just look at the lengthy instructions on how to fuck underage girls he included in Bio of a Space Tyrant for example. That tends to get a lot of hatred even to his relatively tame books like the Xanth series.

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I read the first book when it came out, and never touched the series again. There is only so much raping a guy can read about. That's literally all I remember about it too, that they would get raped, then recover and travel some more, only to get raped again, etc.

Ender's Game starts fun. It's been a while but
I wouldn't call it litrpg or even progression rpg. I'd say the first book is a military young adult science fiction book and the rest are the "weird metaphysical science fiction" genre.

Caught up with Primal Hunter. Started listening to Azarinth Healer, which I'm enjoying quite a bit. The genre is dominated by males with male voice actors and it's refreshing to have a voice actress instead, who happens to be extremely good besides.

I really wish more audio books would embrace multi-cast voice acting. The increased cost from having the narration of the opposing gender (which probably represents 5-10% of the total narration in most cases) can't be that high, can it?

I read the first book of Azarinth Healer and put the second on my Kindle from KU, but for the life of me I can't remember anything about it or why I haven't read the second one, aside from there always being some other series that pops up with a new book. I remember liking it well enough.

Speaking of new stuff popping up, this kept coming up on my Kindle sleep screen so I finally read it.

Not bad, but could be a lot better. The characters are decent, if reminiscent of Carl and Donut, but since the author thanks the Dungeon Crawler Carl guy for letting him pick his brain, it makes sense that it would have similarities. Instead of a cat, Brad has a terrified chihuahua that can talk. The interactions can be endearing at times, and amusing like when the dog pisses itself because that's what rat dogs do. And there are heavy metal references periodically, particularly Judas Priest, which is a huge plus for me.

The problem lies in the world. Maybe there is some huge backstory to it like in DCC, but we don't get to see more than a glimpse. it is literally the most generic "you got plopped into a game world but we aren't going to tell you much about it at all" you can think of, complete with snarky system messages (although far fewer than most books of this genre). He has a virtual AI guide that I actually really like (and you are obviously supposed to really like her), but she can't say much/doesn't know much beyond what her programming allows her. There is clearly shit going on behind the scenes, but after an entire book there is almost nothing. And while I despise stat-screen heavy books, this one has too few because none of them really matter. He gains +2 to wisdom? Who gives a shit, because I didn't know what it was before, or what it did, what more will do, etc. I mean, it isn't a lot different than Defiance or Primal Hunter or the like where their stats are like 10,000 in each, because again, what does that even fucking mean? But at least we occasionally see them and have an idea what they improve in those other books. In this you didn't even know he had a Wisdom score until he gained more, and not once did a stat seem to make a bit of difference in anything he did.

Still, it is interesting enough so far to read a few more. There are some slight woke leanings though, and I'm worried if they get out of hand. Of course the first real girl he meets is brown, gorgeous, and kicks ass. And he reflects upon how he used to have to "re-educate" guys in the military who thought that a woman couldn't beat their ass just like a man. So far it is mostly just him recalling stuff and pontificating mentally on shit, and I can handle it. So far. We're at about a 20% saturation level, so if it ever gets to 100% I'll be out no matter how good the rest of it is.

I give it 3/5 for potential, and initially interesting characters.

Ritley said:

Azarinth healer was one that very quickly became numbers getting bigger is the main story. Think I read the first two or 3 books? The characters were mostly pretty bad and the story pretty bland

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Yeah I'm halfway through book 1 and am waiting for an expansion of the universe or characters that makes the series compelling. One way I consider fiction stories is looking at the core ideas that the author needed to get out of their mind on paper, and I find myself really enjoying series when those concepts are unique. Sometimes I'll read a book and think, "Why was this book made?" One case is a series, Blood on the Stars, which almost seemed like an AI-generated backdrop that an author could then take an insert their hero and major plot elements into. Azarinth Healer seems like another one of those. The hero being female and her particular class of melee-healer are the only differentiators, and they just aren't that compelling on their own. The writing is decent at a micro-level and the voice actress is very good.

Defiance of the Fall #12 is coming out tomorrow, going to be hard to get through the rest of Azarinth Healer...

Tuco said:

Defiance of the Fall #12 is coming out tomorrow, going to be hard to get through the rest of Azarinth Healer...

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Man, I'm getting close to saying fuck this series (Defiance of the Fall). I'm halfway through the book, and I'm having to force myself. It is bad enough when he fucking sits and "consolidates" or advances his Void Vajra Bullshit or refines his core or who the fuck cares. But now the battles are starting to become tedious in the extreme as well. I feel like the author is sniffing his own farts over how many "cool anime-like" powers he can come up with. Except they aren't cool, they are just fucking boring. He can't just hack shit apart with an axe anymore, he has to utilize 38 different fucking skills and domains and dominate them with his aura and extreme stats and extend his dao branch or whatever, and I just don't fucking care.

Also, every single thing relating to the Dao and Buddhism and Sangra and whatever the fuck can go fuck itself.

I love Ogras. I love Catheya. I love the others that aren't even in this fucking book. I am coming to despise the main fucking character. Fuck!

Also, I was waaaaaay ahead of the curve on all this Void shit in books (Cradle, DotF, Unbound, Path of Ascension, etc.)!!! I am just not skilled enough as an author to have written it first. Fuckers.

Finished DotF 12. I literally cannot imagine listening to this bullshit on audiobook.

I'm going to copy someone else's review that pretty much sums up my thoughts, along with a spoiler tag that accurately tells you the entire plot of the book in 13 words.

You know some authors visibly improve with every book they write? not this guy, he finds new ways to milk his already bloated series. Everything you've come to hate in this series got turned up a notch..

- Endless dao nonsense? Check
- Side characters that become irrelevant after this book? Check
- More bloated than ever before? Check

Spoiler

He fucked the undead chick and formed his core on the last page

... there saved you 700 pages. Nothing else happens.

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Ukerric said:

I stopped DotF after the fridging of the - finally - girlfriend. You spend an enormous amount of time teasing us with the obvious "she's going to be the one", and you do a small timeskip where it finally happens, only for evil mom to show up and kill her in the next chapter because she's supposedly hampering the growth of her little Zack.

Well, goodbye then.

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You might have heard this already, or still don't care, but spoiler alert, she's not actually dead. Likely because of the backlash from fans over exactly what pissed you off. However, the explanation for why she isn't actually dead is retarded (like his mom would have any compassion), and most importantly, Thea has had like maybe 4 chapters dedicated to her since her death. That's not even one chapter per book. There is a buildup for them eventually meeting up, maybe in Book 13, but at this point no one gives a shit.

I feel like the author is trying to tease a big catfight with all the various women finally meeting up. Catheya, Thea, Iz, Alea even, maybe more. Except, again, no one fucking cares, and it is likely that Zac will just ignore them all and go off to cultivate for the next decade, which the author will lovingly describe in excruciating detail for 3 books whilst masturbating himself furiously to the smell of his own farts.

The next book looks like a big adventure, but that's what I thought this book was going to be, so if it ends up being another snoozefest I doubt I'll even finish it.

Just finished DotF12. I hope the author moves on from the ridiculous cultivation word salads, but i also don't know how you can really keep a litrpg / cultivation book going on for so long without it getting repetitive, bland or losing the progression. This book was more extreme in this then others because the entire book was about Zacs core forming adventure so we don't get a break for more characters, world building and the space opera i love about the series.

The combat chapters remind me of live EverQuest where devs add another layer of mechanics every expansion and the abilities read like a berserker's burn rotation. Zac has so much random bullshit thrust in him, he's got a whole zoo of different consciousnesses in him, and the author is introducing new growth options on the reg. What's next, liver cultivation where Zac cycles the thirteen spectrums of alcohol to broaden the deep cosmic exhilaration technique of unfathomable fishing in muddy waters?

Anyway i still love this series and the next one is due in June? Day one buy for me.

Now i have to decide what to read next.

Options on the table:

• Finishing book 1 of azerinth healer
• Read the last few books of the ritualist
• Path of ascension
• The Land
• Reborn apocalypse
• System Change

Any other recommendations along the same lines are welcome.