I really enjoy these books. They're not exactly literary fiction, but I think they're better written than they might sound like based on the premise, and they keep getting better. There's a lot of...
I really enjoy these books. They're not exactly literary fiction, but I think they're better written than they might sound like based on the premise, and they keep getting better. There's a lot of hot garbage in the LitRPG and Progression Fantasy microgenres, but I've found a few genuinely enjoyable series among them, along with a lot of decent junk food fiction.
I'd love more suggestions, I really enjoy He Who Fights with Monsters, I Ran Away from Evil, Super Supportive (not been published into books), and have just started DCC after some wariness. This...
I'd love more suggestions, I really enjoy He Who Fights with Monsters, I Ran Away from Evil, Super Supportive (not been published into books), and have just started DCC after some wariness. This Quest is Bullshit/Broken in the 4 book, This Trilogy is Broken series was fun too but it's been a long time (before i knew litRPG was a genre)
It's a standalone afaik but also How to Defeat the Demon King in Ten Easy Steps
Ooohhh, okay yeah I'm just going to dump some recommendations out here, in no particular order, and I'll add my thoughts. Cradle by Will Wight This is the progression series, IMO, and I don't...
Ooohhh, okay yeah I'm just going to dump some recommendations out here, in no particular order, and I'll add my thoughts.
Cradle by Will Wight
This is the progression series, IMO, and I don't think anything quite competes. It starts out good, gets better, and finishes so strong. It's not on RR but you can find it pretty easily in ebook format. It's a fantastic conglomeration of Xianxia and Anime tropes.
The Daily Grind by argusthecat
This series changes a lot as it goes, and it's very long. It's a little hard to recommend because it starts out as a very focused story about a guy who finds a "dungeon" that mimics an office building and evolves into a pretty weird series that explores queer themes, community building, utopianism, transhumanism, and all kinds of oddball stuff. It meanders a lot and it's clear there's not a lot of planning, but when it's good it's great. Argusthecat has a couple of other series that are also worth checking out and seem to benefit a lot from lessons learned writing TDG.
12 Miles Below by Mark Arrows
This is light Progression Fic with a cool post-post-apocalyptic setting that has a cool blend of highly advanced, poorly understood technology and actual magic. Ongoing but with lots of chapters. Unfortunately like a lot of stories on RR earlier books have been removed due to the author publishing on Amazon.
Mother of Learning by nobody103
Very cool time-loop fantasy story that is widely regarded as one of the better LitRPG stories, for good reason. Starts a little slow, but gets good before very long.
Shades of Forever by loate/Chris Kluwe
Excellent short LitRPG with post-apocalyptic and lovecraftian-ish themes by Chris Kluwe. Absolutely worth checking out, and the whole things is available on RR.
The Mage Errant series by John Bierce
This is an excellent example of Progression Fantasy, I'd put it just below Cradle as prime examples of what the genre can be.
Some honorable mentions that aren't really Progression or LitRPG but that I found on RR and thought were better than most stories on the site:
Kitty Cat Kill Sat by argusthecat
Complete story about a genetically uplifted cat who lives in a weapons platform in orbit above a post-apocalyptic earth. It's really hard to describe this story, but I loved it and it made me cry.
Chasing Sunlight by InadvisablyCompelled
New Weird/Lovecraftian story that seems very heavily inspired by the Fallen London games (Fallen London, Sunless Seas, Sunless Skies) about an airship captain in a lovecraftian hollow earth who embarks on a journey to find fabled sunlight.
Cradle by Will Wight I read the whole thing! I enjoyed it. (But it's so.... straight) The Daily Grind by argusthecat This sounds like it has what I feel like things like cradle are lacking! 12...
Cradle by Will Wight
I read the whole thing! I enjoyed it. (But it's so.... straight)
The Daily Grind by argusthecat
This sounds like it has what I feel like things like cradle are lacking!
12 Miles Below by Mark Arrows
I have KU so I can check it out!
Mother of Learning
I have started this but I'm still in the slow stages. I cannot believe I'm as little of the way in as I am. But I think I've just struggled to get in the head of the MC. It's starting to change a bit (little sister just came with him to school)
*Shades of Forever added
*The Mage Errant series by John Bierce
I feel like i'm subconsciously avoiding this TBH, but I have the first book. No particular reason for the avoidance, just shrug
Kitty Cat Kill Sat by argusthecat
Absolutely added to my follow
Chasing Sunlight
oh i played Fallen London! Thanks!
I did read Demon World Boba Shop (Book 1) and enjoyed it quite a bit as well, human ends up on a demon world (which mostly just means a bunch of animal/elemental beings? I'm sure there's a cultural definition of the word demon there that I'm missing) where caring for others is an obligation and it's cozy af and he invents boba tea.
Yeah, Cradle is weirdly sexless in general, but the lack of any queer characters is a bit offputting. I do think you should check out The Daily Grind, but I feel like I have to reiterate that it's...
Yeah, Cradle is weirdly sexless in general, but the lack of any queer characters is a bit offputting.
I do think you should check out The Daily Grind, but I feel like I have to reiterate that it's a really uneven series. The pacing is all over the place, and it's obvious that there's never really a concrete plan about where the series is going so threads get dropped pretty frequently. But I can't stop reading it because the actual writing is surprisingly good at times, and honestly just because the characters are so fucking kind to each other, and I'm invested at this point.
I do agree with you about Mother of Learning, it's crazy long and I started it twice before finally managing to push through the beginning on the third time, just because it was so highly reviewed on RR and people rave about it all the time. I don't think it entirely deserves to be quite as high up the RR rankings as it has been, there are absolutely better stories that don't get as much attention, but it's popular for a reason.
I also get the hesitation with Mage Errant. I just looks generic as hell, and it takes a bit to find an identity beyond "Cradle but more Fantasy" but it does grow past the genericness and there's some genuinely cool stuff in the series. And this series definitely does a better job than Cradle of having queer characters that actually, y'know, exist...
Yeah it's that there's not even a background queer couple amongst people who are trees and stuff. Cradle also really requires /expects background genre knowledge. I don't think he ever explains...
Yeah it's that there's not even a background queer couple amongst people who are trees and stuff. Cradle also really requires /expects background genre knowledge. I don't think he ever explains what sacred artist robes are, but also given that literally everyone is a sacred artist, never explains why they're called out and distinctive on certain people but not others.
I'll definitely try some new ones out and keep giving MoL a chance.
Generic is probably exactly it with Mage Errant. It does just look like a dozen other books. It's on the list, so I'll get to it eventually!
Maybe it's my own warped perspective, but Cradle felt a lot more inclusive(?) than a lot of series in related genres, which are often written by straight, young adult males for a largely straight,...
Maybe it's my own warped perspective, but Cradle felt a lot more inclusive(?) than a lot of series in related genres, which are often written by straight, young adult males for a largely straight, young adult male audience. There are loads of powerful female characters including many in leadership or mentor roles. The women are written as individuals without ever being relegated to a sort of second-tier role of being "the love interest", "x's wife", or similar. You're right that there are only heterosexual couples represented and none of this makes the series less straight, but several of my peers and family members have read and enjoyed the series without much complaint on the depiction of women or relationships, which is rarely the case in similar series. I'd agree with @TheRtRevKaiser's take of the series being mostly sexless. Everyone is focused on improving themselves and helping their friends and family. There isn't much focus on interpersonal relationships in general beyond the obvious, main one, and even that is more of a slow, background aspect of their journey together. This isn't meant to make you reinterpret your own experience with the series or anything, but I personally have trouble seeing the series as anywhere near problematic.
As for an additional recommendation in the loosely defined LitRPG/ProgFantasy/whatever genre, I think The Ripple System is really great. The comedy writing is fantastic and had me laughing out loud many times while reading. The setting and story start off a little generic, and there is some overexplaining of simple game mechanics early on (though I'm a long time MMO player, so YMMV), but these all improve by the end of the first book. The game system leads to a lot of cool shakeups and the structure of each book perfectly emulates the dopamine rush of pulling off something awesome in a new MMO. Matt Dinniman even praises it somewhatfrequently on reddit. All that said, I don't think it's going to be any less straight than Cradle, so you may not enjoy it as much as I did.
Like I said, I enjoyed it but it's just bizarre to have all people who are trees (and ghosts of trees) who have all of the other magical abilities and never once consider that two girls might be...
Like I said, I enjoyed it but it's just bizarre to have all people who are trees (and ghosts of trees) who have all of the other magical abilities and never once consider that two girls might be together as one of those background couples. Or that Malice might have her dozens of children with a mix of genders of consort. Etc. I get it took like 8 books to get to first base here, so I'm not expecting hookups, just presence.
I didn't call it problematic it's more... It loses something for not even considering that remaking your entire body could be a trans guy's dream. Or that people just aren't all hetero, it's not how humans work. A world of only straightness isn't a fantasy to me any more than a world where only dudes have power. Broadly yes I think Will does a fine job of writing a variety of men and women and not making stark distinctions between them. My other writing criticisms are the other shortcuts he makes, examples of which I gave above.
I'll check out The Ripple System though! My list is long enough it'll take me a bit to get to everything. I played a lot of World of Warcraft in my day among a few others, so I don't expect anything will be too difficult to follow
That makes sense, thanks for explaining your perspective. I guess it's just not something I'd typically consider on my own in an otherwise non-offensive series. I did mean to address the robes bit...
That makes sense, thanks for explaining your perspective. I guess it's just not something I'd typically consider on my own in an otherwise non-offensive series.
I did mean to address the robes bit as well, but my memory of the fine details of the series isn't amazing and I was worried about my comment becoming overly wordy or argumentative. I usually thought of the mention of the robes as a distinction between those who do so casually, as a means to an end (sort of the working & civilian classes) vs. those who do so as their entire life goal, pursuing perfect arts, peak refinement, etc. I also don't recall any visual explanation of the robes, though, so a reader with no pre-existing concept of Chinese-style martial arts robes might feel a bit lost there.
It's the whole, when you're excluded, especially when you're often excluded, you notice when there's representation and when there isn't. Especially since I've read a number of similar...
It's the whole, when you're excluded, especially when you're often excluded, you notice when there's representation and when there isn't.
Especially since I've read a number of similar litrpg/progression stories that do have background queer characters or mention that when bodies are rebuilt they're rebuilt to match their gender. (The craft sequence, not a litrpg, just 2nd world urban fantasy, has this latter example). In the same way that Wight mentions that certain people are different skin tones and appearances it'd make as much sense to mention someone had a wife.
The robes are more that theyre not really described and I don't really recall the daily clothing of like, normal ish people described, it's just like "sacred artist robes" or occasionally something else but never an actual real discussion about or textual explanation of it
That series is very loosely and slightly related to a previous series that the author wrote - I'm not sure exactly when in the Boba Shop series the background is explained, but the connection is...
I did read Demon World Boba Shop (Book 1) and enjoyed it quite a bit as well, human ends up on a demon world (which mostly just means a bunch of animal/elemental beings? I'm sure there's a cultural definition of the word demon there that I'm missing) where caring for others is an obligation and it's cozy af and he invents boba tea.
That series is very loosely and slightly related to a previous series that the author wrote - I'm not sure exactly when in the Boba Shop series the background is explained, but the connection is explained. I highly recommend the rest of the Boba Shop series if you've stopped after Book 1 - it's all complete and it's a fun cozy read all the way through :)
I plan to keep reading, just had been bouncing around a bit until I got sucked into HWFWM passed out and woke up seven books in. Good to know it's complete though!
I plan to keep reading, just had been bouncing around a bit until I got sucked into HWFWM passed out and woke up seven books in.
I will throw in a 110% "You should read this" recommendation for Kitty Cat Kill Sat. I was not expecting that many feels from what seems like such a silly concept.
I will throw in a 110% "You should read this" recommendation for Kitty Cat Kill Sat. I was not expecting that many feels from what seems like such a silly concept.
Here's literally an "Example LItRPG story" from LevelUp Publishing As well as "What is LitRPG?" "LitRPG are stories where the characters exist in a game world and where the RPG mechanics of the...
"LitRPG are stories where the characters exist in a game world and where the RPG mechanics of the game are visible to the characters, who typically have to master the game to succeed."
I'd adjust this a bit to say "game-like" world as well. If you've played RPG games, imagine your RPG character being aware of the mechanics of the game, not just the spells and things they could cast. In the LARP I played we often tried to avoid saying things like "hit points" outloud - "how much healing do you need" "um.... 10 dagger blows" because even though that's clunky, it's a bit less jarring long term. Better was "two taps from your healing pool" or "just a cure" because we all knew what that meant. But characters in LitRPGs are aware of, and will sometimes but not always talk in the mechanics of the game. (They'll talk about leveling, or spending skill points or having a health bar but may not use precise hit point numbers)
There are a bunch of tropes associated with the genre, but not much else is required so there is a decent amount of variety (including stories where the MC is the dungeon for example, not the adventurers and the balance of killing them quickly vs luring more people in for leveling purposes is a conversation)
@lou, I think @DefinitelyNotAFae pretty much nailed it. I'd add a couple of things. First, a lot of the stories I mentioned aren't, strictly, LitRPG because they don't have the explicit "system"...
First, a lot of the stories I mentioned aren't, strictly, LitRPG because they don't have the explicit "system" or mechanical focus that LitRPG does. I'd say most, except for the last couple, fit into the "Progression" genre tough, which is a little broader than LitRPG and focuses on characters who are driven to continually become stronger and "progress". They can be fairly typical power fantasy type stories but aren't always, but there's generally some drive toward continual growth.
Also there's lots of crossover with other microgenres, so you'll often have things like isekai LitRPG where a character from the "real" world somehow ends up in the fictional world, which can be interesting if the character displays some genre-savvy, Also, there's often a "system" in these stories that is the force behind characters having gamelike abilities. I think some of the better stories are "system apocalypse" stories where something is going wrong with the "system" and characters are trying to deal with that, or are exploiting it in some way. It's also pretty common for the MC in these types of story to have found some type of exploit or loophole in the system, but not always.
I really enjoyed "The Perfect Run", though I'd categorize it as dystopian sci-fi, not LitRPG (superheros, but no leveling/system). It's connected in my mind because it was published on Royal Road....
I really enjoyed "The Perfect Run", though I'd categorize it as dystopian sci-fi, not LitRPG (superheros, but no leveling/system). It's connected in my mind because it was published on Royal Road.
I'll chime in with The Wandering Inn for progression fic. Apparently the first draft wasn't great, so the author rewrote from the ground up and it was better (I've only read the rewrite). After 8...
I'll chime in with The Wandering Inn for progression fic. Apparently the first draft wasn't great, so the author rewrote from the ground up and it was better (I've only read the rewrite). After 8 years at it, writer's gotten pretty good hold on what she's doing. Also just launched a webcomic.
I started it but lost track of it at some point, in terms of size it might officially be a bit too much for me. I may try to restart again in the future
I started it but lost track of it at some point, in terms of size it might officially be a bit too much for me. I may try to restart again in the future
Huh, I wonder if I inadvertently read the first draft, then. I had heard so much about this fic and tried to get into it, and really just found it borderline unreadable...
Huh, I wonder if I inadvertently read the first draft, then. I had heard so much about this fic and tried to get into it, and really just found it borderline unreadable...
I started reading these over the weekend and finished three books in 3 days. I certainly have criticisms but they are very readable. Especially when stress pulls me away from deeper works.
I started reading these over the weekend and finished three books in 3 days. I certainly have criticisms but they are very readable. Especially when stress pulls me away from deeper works.
They're dumb as shit, but in really fun and clever ways. If that makes any sense at all, lol. I do think the writing gets noticeably better as the series goes, too.
They're dumb as shit, but in really fun and clever ways. If that makes any sense at all, lol. I do think the writing gets noticeably better as the series goes, too.
I really enjoy these books. They're not exactly literary fiction, but I think they're better written than they might sound like based on the premise, and they keep getting better. There's a lot of hot garbage in the LitRPG and Progression Fantasy microgenres, but I've found a few genuinely enjoyable series among them, along with a lot of decent junk food fiction.
I'd love more suggestions, I really enjoy He Who Fights with Monsters, I Ran Away from Evil, Super Supportive (not been published into books), and have just started DCC after some wariness. This Quest is Bullshit/Broken in the 4 book, This Trilogy is Broken series was fun too but it's been a long time (before i knew litRPG was a genre)
It's a standalone afaik but also How to Defeat the Demon King in Ten Easy Steps
Ooohhh, okay yeah I'm just going to dump some recommendations out here, in no particular order, and I'll add my thoughts.
This is the progression series, IMO, and I don't think anything quite competes. It starts out good, gets better, and finishes so strong. It's not on RR but you can find it pretty easily in ebook format. It's a fantastic conglomeration of Xianxia and Anime tropes.
This series changes a lot as it goes, and it's very long. It's a little hard to recommend because it starts out as a very focused story about a guy who finds a "dungeon" that mimics an office building and evolves into a pretty weird series that explores queer themes, community building, utopianism, transhumanism, and all kinds of oddball stuff. It meanders a lot and it's clear there's not a lot of planning, but when it's good it's great. Argusthecat has a couple of other series that are also worth checking out and seem to benefit a lot from lessons learned writing TDG.
This is light Progression Fic with a cool post-post-apocalyptic setting that has a cool blend of highly advanced, poorly understood technology and actual magic. Ongoing but with lots of chapters. Unfortunately like a lot of stories on RR earlier books have been removed due to the author publishing on Amazon.
Very cool time-loop fantasy story that is widely regarded as one of the better LitRPG stories, for good reason. Starts a little slow, but gets good before very long.
Excellent short LitRPG with post-apocalyptic and lovecraftian-ish themes by Chris Kluwe. Absolutely worth checking out, and the whole things is available on RR.
This is an excellent example of Progression Fantasy, I'd put it just below Cradle as prime examples of what the genre can be.
Some honorable mentions that aren't really Progression or LitRPG but that I found on RR and thought were better than most stories on the site:
Complete story about a genetically uplifted cat who lives in a weapons platform in orbit above a post-apocalyptic earth. It's really hard to describe this story, but I loved it and it made me cry.
New Weird/Lovecraftian story that seems very heavily inspired by the Fallen London games (Fallen London, Sunless Seas, Sunless Skies) about an airship captain in a lovecraftian hollow earth who embarks on a journey to find fabled sunlight.
I read the whole thing! I enjoyed it. (But it's so.... straight)
This sounds like it has what I feel like things like cradle are lacking!
I have KU so I can check it out!
I have started this but I'm still in the slow stages. I cannot believe I'm as little of the way in as I am. But I think I've just struggled to get in the head of the MC. It's starting to change a bit (little sister just came with him to school)
*Shades of Forever
added
*The Mage Errant series by John Bierce
I feel like i'm subconsciously avoiding this TBH, but I have the first book. No particular reason for the avoidance, just shrug
Absolutely added to my follow
oh i played Fallen London! Thanks!
I did read Demon World Boba Shop (Book 1) and enjoyed it quite a bit as well, human ends up on a demon world (which mostly just means a bunch of animal/elemental beings? I'm sure there's a cultural definition of the word demon there that I'm missing) where caring for others is an obligation and it's cozy af and he invents boba tea.
Yeah, Cradle is weirdly sexless in general, but the lack of any queer characters is a bit offputting.
I do think you should check out The Daily Grind, but I feel like I have to reiterate that it's a really uneven series. The pacing is all over the place, and it's obvious that there's never really a concrete plan about where the series is going so threads get dropped pretty frequently. But I can't stop reading it because the actual writing is surprisingly good at times, and honestly just because the characters are so fucking kind to each other, and I'm invested at this point.
I do agree with you about Mother of Learning, it's crazy long and I started it twice before finally managing to push through the beginning on the third time, just because it was so highly reviewed on RR and people rave about it all the time. I don't think it entirely deserves to be quite as high up the RR rankings as it has been, there are absolutely better stories that don't get as much attention, but it's popular for a reason.
I also get the hesitation with Mage Errant. I just looks generic as hell, and it takes a bit to find an identity beyond "Cradle but more Fantasy" but it does grow past the genericness and there's some genuinely cool stuff in the series. And this series definitely does a better job than Cradle of having queer characters that actually, y'know, exist...
Yeah it's that there's not even a background queer couple amongst people who are trees and stuff. Cradle also really requires /expects background genre knowledge. I don't think he ever explains what sacred artist robes are, but also given that literally everyone is a sacred artist, never explains why they're called out and distinctive on certain people but not others.
I'll definitely try some new ones out and keep giving MoL a chance.
Generic is probably exactly it with Mage Errant. It does just look like a dozen other books. It's on the list, so I'll get to it eventually!
Maybe it's my own warped perspective, but Cradle felt a lot more inclusive(?) than a lot of series in related genres, which are often written by straight, young adult males for a largely straight, young adult male audience. There are loads of powerful female characters including many in leadership or mentor roles. The women are written as individuals without ever being relegated to a sort of second-tier role of being "the love interest", "x's wife", or similar. You're right that there are only heterosexual couples represented and none of this makes the series less straight, but several of my peers and family members have read and enjoyed the series without much complaint on the depiction of women or relationships, which is rarely the case in similar series. I'd agree with @TheRtRevKaiser's take of the series being mostly sexless. Everyone is focused on improving themselves and helping their friends and family. There isn't much focus on interpersonal relationships in general beyond the obvious, main one, and even that is more of a slow, background aspect of their journey together. This isn't meant to make you reinterpret your own experience with the series or anything, but I personally have trouble seeing the series as anywhere near problematic.
As for an additional recommendation in the loosely defined LitRPG/ProgFantasy/whatever genre, I think The Ripple System is really great. The comedy writing is fantastic and had me laughing out loud many times while reading. The setting and story start off a little generic, and there is some overexplaining of simple game mechanics early on (though I'm a long time MMO player, so YMMV), but these all improve by the end of the first book. The game system leads to a lot of cool shakeups and the structure of each book perfectly emulates the dopamine rush of pulling off something awesome in a new MMO. Matt Dinniman even praises it somewhat frequently on reddit. All that said, I don't think it's going to be any less straight than Cradle, so you may not enjoy it as much as I did.
Like I said, I enjoyed it but it's just bizarre to have all people who are trees (and ghosts of trees) who have all of the other magical abilities and never once consider that two girls might be together as one of those background couples. Or that Malice might have her dozens of children with a mix of genders of consort. Etc. I get it took like 8 books to get to first base here, so I'm not expecting hookups, just presence.
I didn't call it problematic it's more... It loses something for not even considering that remaking your entire body could be a trans guy's dream. Or that people just aren't all hetero, it's not how humans work. A world of only straightness isn't a fantasy to me any more than a world where only dudes have power. Broadly yes I think Will does a fine job of writing a variety of men and women and not making stark distinctions between them. My other writing criticisms are the other shortcuts he makes, examples of which I gave above.
I'll check out The Ripple System though! My list is long enough it'll take me a bit to get to everything. I played a lot of World of Warcraft in my day among a few others, so I don't expect anything will be too difficult to follow
That makes sense, thanks for explaining your perspective. I guess it's just not something I'd typically consider on my own in an otherwise non-offensive series.
I did mean to address the robes bit as well, but my memory of the fine details of the series isn't amazing and I was worried about my comment becoming overly wordy or argumentative. I usually thought of the mention of the robes as a distinction between those who do so casually, as a means to an end (sort of the working & civilian classes) vs. those who do so as their entire life goal, pursuing perfect arts, peak refinement, etc. I also don't recall any visual explanation of the robes, though, so a reader with no pre-existing concept of Chinese-style martial arts robes might feel a bit lost there.
It's the whole, when you're excluded, especially when you're often excluded, you notice when there's representation and when there isn't.
Especially since I've read a number of similar litrpg/progression stories that do have background queer characters or mention that when bodies are rebuilt they're rebuilt to match their gender. (The craft sequence, not a litrpg, just 2nd world urban fantasy, has this latter example). In the same way that Wight mentions that certain people are different skin tones and appearances it'd make as much sense to mention someone had a wife.
The robes are more that theyre not really described and I don't really recall the daily clothing of like, normal ish people described, it's just like "sacred artist robes" or occasionally something else but never an actual real discussion about or textual explanation of it
Like, the browser game? I don't think I've ever met another human that played that game, lol. The writing was way too good for a browser game.
There are dozens of us!
Member of the dozen, proud to chime in. That game taught me how to script browsers to get the zubmarine. It's a fond memory.
Yeah I really enjoyed it but then fell off and forgot it existed!
That series is very loosely and slightly related to a previous series that the author wrote - I'm not sure exactly when in the Boba Shop series the background is explained, but the connection is explained. I highly recommend the rest of the Boba Shop series if you've stopped after Book 1 - it's all complete and it's a fun cozy read all the way through :)
I plan to keep reading, just had been bouncing around a bit until I got sucked into HWFWM passed out and woke up seven books in.
Good to know it's complete though!
I will throw in a 110% "You should read this" recommendation for Kitty Cat Kill Sat. I was not expecting that many feels from what seems like such a silly concept.
You seem to have a good grasp on LitRPGs. Can you point somewhere with a textual example so I can understand what it actually is?
Here's literally an "Example LItRPG story" from LevelUp Publishing
As well as "What is LitRPG?"
"LitRPG are stories where the characters exist in a game world and where the RPG mechanics of the game are visible to the characters, who typically have to master the game to succeed."
I'd adjust this a bit to say "game-like" world as well. If you've played RPG games, imagine your RPG character being aware of the mechanics of the game, not just the spells and things they could cast. In the LARP I played we often tried to avoid saying things like "hit points" outloud - "how much healing do you need" "um.... 10 dagger blows" because even though that's clunky, it's a bit less jarring long term. Better was "two taps from your healing pool" or "just a cure" because we all knew what that meant. But characters in LitRPGs are aware of, and will sometimes but not always talk in the mechanics of the game. (They'll talk about leveling, or spending skill points or having a health bar but may not use precise hit point numbers)
There are a bunch of tropes associated with the genre, but not much else is required so there is a decent amount of variety (including stories where the MC is the dungeon for example, not the adventurers and the balance of killing them quickly vs luring more people in for leveling purposes is a conversation)
@lou, I think @DefinitelyNotAFae pretty much nailed it. I'd add a couple of things.
First, a lot of the stories I mentioned aren't, strictly, LitRPG because they don't have the explicit "system" or mechanical focus that LitRPG does. I'd say most, except for the last couple, fit into the "Progression" genre tough, which is a little broader than LitRPG and focuses on characters who are driven to continually become stronger and "progress". They can be fairly typical power fantasy type stories but aren't always, but there's generally some drive toward continual growth.
Also there's lots of crossover with other microgenres, so you'll often have things like isekai LitRPG where a character from the "real" world somehow ends up in the fictional world, which can be interesting if the character displays some genre-savvy, Also, there's often a "system" in these stories that is the force behind characters having gamelike abilities. I think some of the better stories are "system apocalypse" stories where something is going wrong with the "system" and characters are trying to deal with that, or are exploiting it in some way. It's also pretty common for the MC in these types of story to have found some type of exploit or loophole in the system, but not always.
I really enjoyed "The Perfect Run", though I'd categorize it as dystopian sci-fi, not LitRPG (superheros, but no leveling/system). It's connected in my mind because it was published on Royal Road.
Adding your books to my list 😁
Thanks!
I'll chime in with The Wandering Inn for progression fic. Apparently the first draft wasn't great, so the author rewrote from the ground up and it was better (I've only read the rewrite). After 8 years at it, writer's gotten pretty good hold on what she's doing. Also just launched a webcomic.
I started it but lost track of it at some point, in terms of size it might officially be a bit too much for me. I may try to restart again in the future
Huh, I wonder if I inadvertently read the first draft, then. I had heard so much about this fic and tried to get into it, and really just found it borderline unreadable...
I started reading these over the weekend and finished three books in 3 days. I certainly have criticisms but they are very readable. Especially when stress pulls me away from deeper works.
They're dumb as shit, but in really fun and clever ways. If that makes any sense at all, lol. I do think the writing gets noticeably better as the series goes, too.
Yeah I think that's essentially it, but I need some dumb shit now and again!
On top of the books themselves, Jeff Hays' narration on the Audible version really takes things to another level.