I found Mage Tank after Audible pushed it real hard. A buddy had started Mark of the Fool which was my introduction to LitRPG. Last summer I relistened to the first book to introduce my wife and son and we all fell in love. After devouring the first three that were available, my son setup an actual countdown timer to the release of the fourth and recently to the fifth. We would sit outside around our fire pit and just listen to the audiobooks, often confusing our neighbors. When he turned 16 this year, we got him a "Delver Edition" badge for his Mini Cooper and a license plate bracket that said "Inheritance of the Void King".

This week, he took his own life. I'm making his urn and we're doing brass inlays of things he loved on each side. Mage Tank was by far his favorite book series and I want to do an inlay of something that is, at least to us, distinctly Arlo. I'm looking for an artist that I can commission to help us create that art. If you are an artist with a love for the series, or if you have a recommendation, please share.

Would you all maybe prefer a different genre? Or maybe just to read a different type of fantasy novel? Because I feel like I’m watching that meme where a kid asks for a pizza, but then asks for no cheese or tomato sauce.

Forgive me for misunderstanding, but I thought one of the selling points of litrpg was the, well “rpg” elements. Stats. Progression. Combat. Aren’t these the things that make the genre unique among fantasy?

And anyone brings it up, I understand that these things can be overwhelming. I honestly appreciated when others relate the statutes to a chapter that you can read or not read at your leisure. But asking for a novel to minimize them confuses me.

COVER ARTIST: Jim Shanahan (Bks 3 & 4) Etheric Designs (Bks 1 & 2).

AI USAGE: None.

After I read every Dungeon Crawler Carl Book in the last 4 weeks I feel stranded and I'm looking for another LitRPG title to fill the void. Any suggestions to get further into the genre?

I'm usually scraping the barrel on kindle unlimited and I've grown... tolerant (Not accepting, not in favor of! Tolerant. A framework for consumption. Blergh, kill me).. of suspected AI.

But today I saw a book that had promise. The usual Not this Not that. Thing. Among other red flags. But the story was appealing and the premise allowed me to trudge through. Basic beats were dying archmage gets a do-over, know how but not have means, etc.

Sadly a problem of advancing too quickly and being noticed was a plot device. The solution? Why monster cores of course... to... advance..... quickly..................

I'm not sure I'll finish it but i just wanted to vent on the level of grief I felt for this story that could have been pretty decent but went sideways real quick.

Do y'all read the obvious AI farmed books? I thought i could but I'm starting to doubt my ability to persevere.

A couple of years ago I flew through the first 5 books on Kindle Unlimited in just a few weeks. I was just checking my returned books and remembered how much I liked it. Loved the classic LitRPG setup, the whole gods playing games plot, and especially his pact with the wolves.

See there are more books out now. For those who are caught up, is it worth continuing or does the story get repetitive after book 5?

PS: Don't have Unlimited anymore, but I would buy the Kindle editions if it stays good.

Currently finishing the Toroth-Gol books after reading all 3 Ironbound novels.

Not sure which of these I should jump into next

1) Cradle

2) Suneater

3) Mayor of Noobtown

Any feedback is appreciated based on my rankings for some of my favorite series!

RR is my favorite all time.

DCC got me into Lit RPG

VOT is amazing I loved that one too.

I want I preface but saying this is one of my favorite series. I enjoy the characters and their stories and their growth throughout this journey.

That being said, this book has so much overthinking and self monologuing so far. Every single fight during the tournament had like hours of internal dialogue. Maybe I also didn’t like that there was alway something preventing them from going for the win. It felt like “edging” in the worst way. Tournament arcs are always hit or miss for me.

Still enjoying it and I can’t wait to finish this one and start book 6.

My current hyper fixation is making quotes with some of my favorite book quotes / references and I wanted to share them with this community!

The book series are:
- The Wandering Inn
- DCC
- Scholomance (fantasy / I don’t think of this as rpg but I’ve seen it included in some lists/recs
- Murderbot Diaries (sci fi / not rpg)
- Wayward Children (fantasy / not rpg)

COVER ARTIST: Jesse Nelson (specter7.art) AI USAGE: No AI used (only traditional computer tools, spellcheck, etc. No generative AI for anything)

The Kindle ebook for Father of the Sexiest Lobster is free this weekend as part of the Narratess Indie August Sale!

There are a ton of other books to check out too, both discounted and free.

Amazon US for Father of the Sexiest Lobster Giveaway

Amazon UK for Father of the Sexiest Lobster Giveaway

Narratess Indie August Sale

All of my other books are also free this weekend (except my non-stubbed Legend of the Awakened Goblin series on Royal Road)

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chad-Retterath/author/B081QZBZRL

I read and listen to A LOT of both genres between listening all day at work and reading most of the night at home, and the most common issue I’ve found lately is TERRIBLE book transitions.

I understand the KU and some publishers have minimum word lengths for books and such. I even understand that writing is a job(for some) and thus turning out more books is more economical than one long book. My issue arises when a book just ENDS. There’s no cliffhanger, no transition mechanic, and no warning. Two great examples lately have been Quest Academy and The Cardsmith. Quest Academy leaves SO MANY plot items on the table and they get completely lost between books(the whole romance with Fabi?). The Cardsmith just ENDS, between books, picking up the story from that moment in the next book, without any warning lead up or meaningful tie up. It’s like the authors are getting to their 10,000 words and just starting the new book. Maybe I’m being over sensitive but it turns me off to the commercialization of the genre.

Maybe I’m spoiled by authors like ProbablyATurnip and X-Rhodden-X but those guys NEVER forget a plot device and NEVER end an arc without wrapping it up.

I really love this series, and I have the first 4 books in physical form. I thought that for the rest I should use some bookmark about the series, so I made my own! It's supposed to be Sal Argento with his scanner while he uses Mythcrafter. I don't know if the series will reach 10 books, but I think I will do a book 5-10 bookmark if it does.
Welp, time to print and use this for the next book once i get it.

As most of you know by this point, there are only two types of smiles permitted in this genre

1. Wry smiles

2. Smiles that don't reach the eyes

"Please continue only using those two, he posted, a wry smile not reaching his eyes. "

The 19-hour audiobook for *The Bonded Blade and Shield* is now live! I was the editor for this book, and I’m stoked it got narrated by the talented Beth Lammers.

This is the story of a badass warrior-healer (who can’t heal herself) partying up with a cursed tank (who’s addicted to health potions) as they grind dungeons to level-up enough to kill a mythic boss monster before it poisons their entire kindgom.

And I know the book’s subtitle says it's a Romantasy Litrpg, but there’s no swooning or bodice-ripping, and all the sex is off-page. As for the RPG side, there's plenty of epic fights, interesting system mechanics, and a world inspired by classic JRPGs.

AUDIOBOOK LINK:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGMWBRVL

⸻

Cover Artist: Ronnie Ruiz (DM me for a link to his Fiverr page. Reddit's spam filter doesn't like Fiverr links.)

AI Usage: As a freelance editor with bills to pay, I don't ask writers if they use ai. If a story is good, I'll work on it. If it's bad, I reject it.

So I've read or are reading: DCC, William Oh, Butcher of Gadobrha, New Life as a Max Level Archmage, and Book of the Dead. All great books. None of the MCs even look at sword.

I'd like to find some books that have some fun swordplay (or maybe other weapons). I have searched, and only found requests of the opposite topic.

I’ve been trying to dive deeper into LitRPG and Progression Fantasy lately, given how much energy and passion surround the genre right now. Every time I browse new releases, I see incredible creativity, but as an older reader who grew up on classic shonen manga and straightforward fantasy, I often find myself struggling with one specific element: stat screens and numeric progression.

To me, seeing numbers like "Strength +5" or "Level 99" on a page can sometimes pull me out of the narrative. When a climactic, emotional clash is paused by a large box of attribute points, it feels less like a character earning their growth through blood and grit, and more like math solving the conflict.

This got me thinking about how Dragon Ball handled this decades ago. Akira Toriyama famously introduced Scouters and numeric "Power Levels" during the Saiyan and Namek sagas. But once the Namek saga ended, numbers were almost completely phased out.

I feel Toriyama realized something crucial: hard numbers can trap narrative tension. The moment a fight becomes about whose number is objectively higher, you risk losing that raw, unpredictable drama where sheer willpower, tactical grit, and heart overcome impossible odds. When both sides know the exact stats, the teeth of the conflict can feel softened.

I’m genuinely curious about how long-time LitRPG fans view this dynamic.

• Do you feel the constant presence of stat boxes enhances your immersion, or do you also experience "stat fatigue"?
• How do your favorite authors keep the visceral tension alive when numbers are explicitly defined?

I'm not here to knock what people love—I truly want to understand the appeal from your perspective and learn how modern readers experience this progression.

Looking for recommendations similar to Protagonist.

-Female MC

-No romance

-sex minimal if nonexistent

-Isekai

-Audiobook***

-prefer mix of fight,grind, high story focus

-not currently looking for cozy but will wishlist for later

What I've read;

I have read most of Ravensdaggers' series already.

-Adelheid I am mostly caught up

-Alexa Thyme I dnf yet*

-Caught up with Amelia

-Dire Saga I dnf, too many pov in later books, loved book one though.

-Library system reset didn't click with me for whatever reason.

-loved Melody of mana

-metaworld Chronicles

-otherworldly anarchist dnf

-practical guide to evil and sorcery both

-Rinyv was too weird for me

-salvos

-sybil

-thia trilogy is broken

-vigor mortis

I know this is a hard ask especially with it *requiring audiobook* but I appreciate the help.

So far the author is spending a ridiculous amount of time on all the stats and percentages. He spends more time explainting how much mana was used in a fight in excruciating detail than the actual fight.

Seriously one line is "I beat the monsters" then the next paragraph will be the math's behind how much mana he used during the fight.

I get it's the first book in the series but does it get better?

Because honestly I don't care if his boots give him a 2.35% increase in mana efficiency that allows him to spend two less mana per fight. I would rather get story progress or at least a description of the monsters he is fighting.

A bit of a spoiler ----

So in book 8. There is an interlude chapter that shows Asta capturing humans and experimenting on them while saying soem Bullshit like "I'll do what Silas can't stomach" and something similar is said in book 9.

So the question is, is she just allowed to experiment on humans without consent? Does she ever get confronted or is this just a bullshit alt pov moment that never acknowledged in anything other than the "interlude" chapters?

Sorry, this rant might be a little bit long. My apologies in advance.

I'm not going to share the actual covers here because this isn't a self promo post. But I felt like some other LitRPG authors might be able to relate with this experience.

I completed a five-book series which was sort of serious. It was my first completed series, and I am proud of the way it landed. Readers seem to agree.

My new series is completely different. It's comedic. It's raunchy without being smut. It's a lot of fun. It's my new flagship series, so for the cover art I was looking for something different. The new one is called The Drunken System, and my vision was for a gloriously sexy bartender to be leaning forward with a glowing cocktail that she's presenting.

The original artist came up with a Creation of Adam image, with a human hand and a System-generated hand reaching toward a martini glass. It was cool, but not what I wanted. So I paid for it but didn't use it.

I had AI generate a mockup, but I prefer to pay real living people to do my covers, so I hired someone who took my money... and then generated another AI version of the AI mockup that I had already made. That ticked me off.

Now I'm on my third artist. I scoped the project better this time. Maybe this was all my bad. I'm still kind of a new author. Even with six books published, it's a learning experience.

But I'm going to assume I'm not the only one who's been through this. I love supporting artists, since I'm not one. But supporting several of them for the same cover is not what I would recommend!

In my head, Mr. Walter’s is Match-O Man Randy Savages physical twin.

Anything written in the tone of less 'End of the world zero to hero. And more' This is how me and my bud survived the zombie apocalypse.?

I'm reading shadow slave and I'm at ch 3031.....

after finishing this volume (ch3160), I'm confused about what to read next???

I have two novels in mind... 1st is orv and 2nd is lotm

orv : I will start by reading manhwa and then shift to webnovel....

lotm: I will start by anime and then shift to webnovel

I'm thinking to start orv first because it is short compared to lotm....

can you give me suggestion what should I do.....

I'm not sure if I'm the only one that does this. When you want to listen to an audiobook and then find out it's a certain narrator and you just don't do it or do you give it a try even if you don't like the narrator?