I will concentrate on finishing the first Wandering Inn Arc.
Still working on the last Cradle book too.
Putting This Quest is Bullshit on my wish list. ; )
Note:
Started to read: The Bee Dungeon [A Dungeon Core LitRPG] on Royal Road.
It is a very light story, a bit different since it concentrates on bees as the inhabitants. Think the Dungeon Master = Bee Monster Keeper.
Another Royal Road Serial:
I keep looking around the recommended series on Royal Road and started to read “The Butcher of Gadobhra”
It is a LitRPG but has some interesting elements.
The first few chapters are setup so you need to go through a bit of the infodump (it isnt that bad). I am on Chapter 11 and I have to say the story has me keep reading just one more chapter at this point. It is a slow buildup so I am a bit surprised that I keep reading but it is interesting.
The crux of the story is that the Corporations want a work force and get the AI to make it that their workers can not get the normal player powers. However, it seems to me that the AI is secretly on the side of the cast members.
Edit: This is an ongoing series (not completed)
So do the characters in the game have a life outside of the game? That seems to me one of the weaknesses of the VR approach to LitRPG. The writer tends to focus almost solely on the VR game and does very little with the real world outside the game. I think that’s why so many books now seem to isekai-themed.
There are corporate meetings but they are all in the game (kinda). One of the evil things going on is that the Corps don’t want their workers out of the game. They need their workers to build the game infrastructure etc.
You do see the AI and his human design team but basically at this point in the story I would say no not a lot of regular life elements. The first few chapters outline the society where you are better off in the game than in reality (is my take so far). I think the AI is actually the good guy here trying to help the lives of the downtrodden and plans to do it through the game somehow (I could be very wrong).
I think the story is very interesting. It goes around the three main viewpoints I outlined above but also includes some Monster and adventurer viewpoints (those not working directly for the Corporations).
I will mention that the four main characters enter the corporate workforce due to real life concerns surrounding a paycheck and health.
Awaken Online there’s a fair amount of drama around the protagonist’s RL circumstances, school, etc.
Yeah, that’s the one I read that sticks out in my mind about integrating both worlds. It’s certainly the one that does it best.
There was another one I never finished (I dump a lot of these mid-book) that mixed an apocolyptic real world with a game world. There were zombie-like creatures in the real world that devastated it, and some dude was working on a VR game hoping to convert it into a permanent game world he could escape too. So in the real world he was dodging zombies when he forayed out to hunt for supplies and he was leveling up in the game world. I wish I could remember the name of it now. It sounds interesting to me again!
Overgeared is a great Korean LitRPG Web Serial that does both well too in my opinion (Real vs Virtual life). This story takes some investment though as the MC is a terrible person; but the payoff on how he shapes up is awesome.
You may want to try D-Genesis a Japanese Light Novel. This is a LitRPG where Real Life is in many ways the main focus as it concerns how Dungeons affect modern society.
Ok, Reddit comes through again. The book I was referring to with real world zombies and a game world to escape to is Dark Elf Chronicles. There are three in the series but I think the author abandoned it so it may not be concluded.
It’s on KU so free to KU subscribers.
I continue to read “The Butcher of Gadobhra” and have to say the one thing I never expected to see was a Charles Schulz quote.
I am at chapter 51 at this point and the story continues to grab my attention (kind of like one more turn on Civ4 but a book instead).
Ok at this point I think I am liking “The Butcher of Gadobhra” more than “Mother of Learning”. It is a very good LitRPG that does not take it self seriously and does bring in humor from our modern day culture. I actually laughed out loud at one scene and that does not happen to often at my age.
“Mother of Learning” is a great story but it has a single focus in using the time travel mechanism to achieve victory. I think “Mother of Learning” could drag a bit at certain points where “Butcher” doesn’t since it switches from subplot and character building (with all these elements working together for little payoffs as you progress).
The author incorporates multiple viewpoints to great effect and it is the one of the few times I have seen NPCs where we as the reader get to see them as more than a paper character. They are wonderful side characters and we are allowed to see their thoughts, worries and understanding of their world that the real people are not privy to
I am not good at writing reviews and do not want to come across as being too pushy as tastes in books can be very different. I would encourage anyone who enjoys LitRPG (B Movie type books) to give it a shot since it is free on Royal Road with one caveat - as long as you are comfortable reading an ongoing Web series.
I hope you’re comparing the two because Butcher is also a time travel genre? Or because Butcher is also in the time loop subgenre? Or because Butcher is also in the “students go to school together” subgenre? Those are my two favorite subgenres so I’m always looking for more books in those two subgenres.
Nope, I was comparing the two because Mother of Learning is well liked, and I think this book might be too (if people give it a try).
I do think that “Butcher” is LitRPG whereas Mother of Learning is not as much IMHO
Woohoo! Thank you!
And for the record they don’t have to be magic schools. Ender’s Game counts too, as does Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb.
I will have to think about which books have a school trope. Would Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown count it is a Sci-Fi series that I have not read yet. But I think there is a school involved. It is a well liked series that fans state gets better with each book.
If you subscribe to Audible I believe the first book can be listened to for free (not sure how the Audible version is compared to a straight reading).
Edit: Internet says there is a school.
Yes, Red Rising counts! I read that series for that very reason! However the series felt finished after book 3. Eventually Book 4 came out and I tried to read it, and it doesn’t re-introduce aaaanyone at all. They’re all characters you’re supposed to remember and I remembered no one, not even the main character, so I gave up on Book 4. Maybe if one day I reread the trilogy, THEN I can read book 4.
I have that happen a lot these days - not remembering characters and plot lines. So I cheat and go looking for websites that act as a kind of cliff notes.
I had to do that for the Faithful and Fallen series, I read Malice a couple years ago and decided to finish the series this year (on the fourth book now). But I had to go read a synopsis of Malice and it really helped and I did not have to re-read an entire 600 or so page book.
Oh here is a book I read back in the day: Blood Song by Anthony Ryan - (think Battle Monk school).
It was also one of the books in that video.
Books Mentioned:
-The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
-Jade City by Fonda Lee
-The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
-Mother of Learning by nobody103/Domagoj Kurmaic
-The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse
-Babel by R.F. Kuang
-Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
-Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
-The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
-The Will of the Many by James Islington
I’ve already read Mother of Learning and The Name of the Wind. The Sword of Kaigen is actually on Kindle Unlimited, so if I can finish the “This Quest is Bullshit” series in time, before my membership runs out, maybe I can get to Sword of Kaigen and read it as well.
The Hand of the Sun King is only 99c right now, so I grabbed it, so maybe that will be next. And Poppy War was a Tor giveaway so I own that, but haven’t read it yet.
Sorry for this brief off-topic interlude to the LITRPG thread. :)
Jade City is probably a bit of a cheat because the school isn’t the main focus as I recall (though it is fantasy mafia something different and well like in the fantasy community).
The Will of the Many is the book that everyone keeps gushing over - I have 4 weeks left on my Library ebook hold until I can read. The book I am most looking forward to at the moment.
The Sword of Kaigen is most fantasy booktubers favorite Fantasy standalone. I have it on KU but haven’t gotten to it yet. I heard it can be very sad and I tend to shy away from sad.
OK back to LitRPG for me too : )
