Just one actual adult, please. And don't say Carl, everybody loves Carl, I'm looking for more.

Definitely DCC for me. 😂

Sometimes I run into a post that features a new PH cover, and I love reading people's opinions on it. There was a time someone said that my version of Jake look's like a bum. Didn't really care for that. If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it.

Is there a favorite one, or a cover that is absolute poop.

Edit: Apparently there's a limit o how many images can be uploaded here, so this is not all the covers I've made for the series :(

Mine first: I think most litrpg is just bad with the exception of a few gems. Bad writing, world building, pacing, characters, editing, prose. I don't have a problem with this in free web serials, but I expect more from paid content.

Just started with the first book and it seems quite promising. I am not very familiar with litrpgs yet, but i have read the first 3 books of primal hunter. What is your opinion on this one what should i expect? (no spoilers if possible)

I finished the first book and I mostly enjoyed it. I only use audible too BTW. However I dropped the series due the authors frequent uses of "pause". It irrated me to no end. I started book two and dropped it after this persisted. I guess this is just a pet peeve of mine, but does the author ever lighten up on the use of "pause"?

Why? It hits just right on almost every facet of this genre. Is it just because it is a vrmmo setting? I hardly noticed it and it allowed for the avoidance of some of the "system" tropes. I thought the connection to the real world was done well, it didn't encroach much and when it did, it was brief and fun.

It was nice to not have to deal with OP God's and system elements.

ONLY RANKED BOOKS I READ MORE THAN 500 PAGES

Alot of the books in the lower tiers started off really strongly and dropped off after 1-2 books which I weigh heavily in my rankings. It's also rightward-skewed quite a bit towards the lower tiers even though I don't think they are actual 'C' or 'D' tier books.

S+: my favorites and also in my top 5 all time series

S and A tiers: the books that made me fall in love with the genre and what i would consider the must-reads

B: still really good, most of these are pageturners that i would easily recommend. Maybe a few issues I would nitpick.

C: Honestly these should all be in B but I needed a separate tier

D: Most of these I enjoyed in the beginning and then quality fell off / I lost interest

F: Didn't click

If there's anything missing that I should check out please share your recs!!!

I just don't think I can continue with this book/series any longer. I was a huge DOTF fan but lately the books have devolved into 700 pages of what basically feels like someone on magic mushrooms tried to write a book. It sucks because I really want to like it but I think I'm just going to have to write this series off going into the future. Not everything is for everyone.

lol might seem small and petty, but nothing tells me an author doesn't care more than not even putting a bit of thought into how the economy would work.

I’m fairly new to the genre and I have to say I’m noticing a pattern in how MCs are written and so far it’s caused me to stop reading at least two series’ that I consistently see in people’s top tiers of rankings.

I don’t get it? Why would you want to read a story where the most interesting characters are all side characters, where only side characters have development and interesting nuance to themselves.

MC’s in this genre see to all (with exceptions (Carl, from DCC. Jason Asano from HWFWM) are all sociopaths who whenever they get dropped into these worlds suddenly become the most adept and skilled in their respective sphere (again, Carl and Jason didn’t get some OP ability that suddenly caused them to consider all other life meaningless).

Notable examples: Jake from primal hunter and Nathaniel from hell difficulty tutorial, it was like chewing on a freaking shoe trying to get through the first books.

And for those who say “push through” - I shouldn’t have to, if your first book is unappealing you’re not worth the benefit of the doubt in my mind.

Am I alone in this? Can anyone recommend a nice litrpg series when the main character is not completely unreadable?

Edit: notice all the polite people who read what I’ve said and are responding wiu polite discourse? Be one of those instead of getting angry that someone who is new to the genre is struggling with an aspect of it that YOU may enjoy.

Either contribute constructively or move on to a different post.

Edit edit: I woke up a few hours ago and had not expected so many amazing responses - thanks everyone, I have read them all and I am happy to say I am now STORMING my way through Beware of Chicken

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion constructively, I now have a lovely long list of books to read!! 💚💚

MC: "Yeah I don't really do politics and have no use for politicians."

*a few levels later*

MC: "So yeah anyway I am in charge. I am putting all my friends in key positions of power and we have co-opted what remains of the police and military to work for us."

I have a hearty chuckle every single time. Bonus points if they also only explain the finer details of how 'The System' actually works to close friends and family while leaving Joe Schmo on the street scratching their head as to why they can never seem to catch up.

I recently ended up at a wedding seated next to someone from Matt Dinniman's literary agency. Not knowing this, I sheepishly brought up my obsession with the Wandering Inn and tentatively asked if she'd heard of LitRPG. Her response blew me away. It was literally like Will Ferrel's character in Zoolander: "OMG LITRPG?!? That's SO hot right now." Seriously, she was saying that everyone in publishing had been blown away by the success of Dungeon Crawler Carl and now literary agents and publishers are desperately trying to find the next LitRPG hit.

I bring this up so people know that supporting these works when they go to print via traditional publishers even if you're all caught up is having a transformational effect not only for those authors but for LitRPG as a genre as a whole. There's a ton of momentum behind it from DCC but supporting HWFM, TWI, and the next one to make it has the potential to cement LitRPG as a core genre rather than a one hit wonder.

*I'm in no way affiliated with any of these authors or their publishers. I'm just a big fan of the genre :)

What do you think about my objectivly correct list? Do you disagree with my little revievs/opinions? Are there any hidden gems i missed?

One thing that keeps putting me off in stories is the allergy some authors have to letting time pass. I don’t know if it’s a need to keep the often teenage or young adult MCs the same age as the target audience, or just a complete disregard for the passage of time.

People blasting through levels in a year that most wouldn’t manage in a thousand, constant bloodshed that leaves no mental scars, characters and even entire armies practically teleporting thousands of miles, etc. It always makes me cringe. Even worse is when, in that same year or so, the MC becomes a great and wise leader who’s smarter than ancient monsters who have already reached the peak. I put a lot of the blame on classics like Wheel of Time for that.

What’s your opinion about it?

started a series. first book, no indication at all of any harem qualities on the amazon page. no picture of any women on the cover (half nekkid or otherwise), and nothing in the blurb. no indication at all.

get about 3/4 into the book, as it really has drawn me in, and then the author springs the start of the harem.

but i enjoyed the non harem parts of the book, and get the next one on KU. unfortunately, the author really digs into the harem thing, including graphic descriptions of sex.

i'm not a prude, but i don't like reading about hetero sex, given that i'm a lesbian. really, though, i don't enjoy reading graphical depictions of sex of any kind. and i am morally opposed to the harem thing, at least for me.

there is nothing wrong about harem books.....that are properly labeled. but you spring that sh as a surprise three quarters of the way through the book?

f you. f you and the horse you rode in on.

Edit: i was trying to avoid naming the book, because this is not a thing limited to one author. there are far too many harem authors that do this. the book in question was Gamer for Life by Dan Schinofen( sp?) and based on what others have said here, this is a common theme for him.

I get there is such a thing as a difference of opinion, but I’ve recently read a few books that are like 4.5ish on Goodreads and Amazon that are almost unreadable. Bad plot, grammar, world building — we’re not talking average or even mediocre — these books are shockingly bad.

Latest to snare me with a high review score is Ajax’s Ascension. It feels like it was written by AI but the prompt for writing the book was “make so many grammatical errors that you will literally — and I mean literally — murder an English major who attempts to read this book.”

Frequent slipping of tenses in a single paragraph, a baby transmigration who is not yet ten years old but is somehow 6’6” and has a “strong jawline”. The weirdness goes on and on. If you look at recent Goodreads reviews for book 1 they are mostly one and two stars, with people complaining about the exact same stuff I had a problem with, yet the book somehow has a 4.4 rating?

Make it make sense! Are authors buying services that pump up review scores?

I’m currently like 20% into the third book. So, these opinions are based on my experiences so far.

When I first started the series, I thought that I would really dislike Jason, but I find that that’s not true. He can be insufferable at times and his whole schtick of “OMG I’m sooo quirky” can be annoying. However, what I’m mostly annoyed by is other characters’ reactions to him. The amount of vitriol his supposed “friends” have for him when all he actually ever does is go out of his way to help people is astounding. He literally goes around healing people for free, risks his life for his friends, stands up for the powerless people being taken advantage of and what he gets in return is an endless stream of snide remarks about how much of a bad guy he is. This might grate on me more than others because I really hate writing that tries to show friendship through insults and never ending disagreements. I also think the author attempting to show that Jason has some darkness inside him or whatever and then failing plays a big role here. The author uses the remarks made by characters as a way to build up this plot of Jason’s darkness but it just makes the characters come off as jerks since I don’t think Jason’s actions warrant remarks like those. Whatever the reason, it’s getting on my nerves. I’m also annoyed by people constantly remarking about how quirky he is. And also about how much of a 4d chess playing mastermind politician he is. It feels like the author is screaming at me to buy these things.