LitRPG, short for Literary Role Playing Game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels.^[1] The term is a neologism introduced in 2013.

The above is taken from the wikipedia page found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LitRPG

Ever further does my teaching experience influence this blog. Maybe I should just lean into the fact that I like writing in an academic yet personable way. Oh well, onward and upward.

The below is a list of the LitRPG i’ve read so far that I actually enjoyed. This is taken directly from my goodreads listed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/37852873?ref=nav_mybooks

You’ll notice just how quickly I devoured the books as well. The list will move in a descending manner that I believe anyone new to LitRPG should read them in.

1. The Completionist Chronicles- Dakota Krout. For shame AVA! I said I’d read no more, then I went and read some more. This is the best LitRPG series I’ve read thus far, and it’s really a kick in the ass to my prior review. The story follows a recently disabled man who’s transported into a new world. He meets a hidden and forgotten god (small g) who’s willing to make him his champion. There’s 5 books so far, and each is incredibly fun and well written. I can’t wait for more to release. For those who haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest you read the Divine Dungeon series before starting this to get a feel for how the world “will” work. Both series are full of puns and off the wall jokes. Link for first book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38739408-ritualist Divine Dungeon Review: https://abnormalvaverage.com/2020/10/24/784/
2. The Good Guys- Written by Eric Ugland, this series follows a man who is transported into an alternate dimension that follows gaming rules. He starts out a bit overpowered, continues to become more overpowered, and at the end of the 10th book is starting to find that he hasn’t been progressing as fast as he should’ve. Similar to the humour of Krouts work above, there’s plenty of puns and strange “powers” (at one point he uses a dwarf stabbed to a chair as a weapon….you’d have to be there). Don’t write off the books because of the terrible covers, they’re fun and exciting, although the plot is horrendous. Link for first book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48548779-one-more-last-time
3. Beastborne Chronicles- Written by James T. Callum, this new work starts off rather slowly but quickly evolves into a whole new type of litrpg. I find the dialogue rather weak, but the plot and creativity to be quite strong. This is a solid third foray into litRPG as you’ll have a feel for what to expect in the genre, and just how much this writer is breaking those bounds. link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54310257-beastborne
4. Nothing. I’m in the midst of finishing the first two of Callums work, and I’m reading a ascendant by Micheal R. Miller, but I’m not sure of the latter. I tried Mage Errant but couldn’t get past the second chapter, same with Chaos Seeds (The Land). I can’t stand the explosion of exposition. It feels like the author is just chucking you into their world without style or pizazz. Fuck character and caring about characters, lets piss on you with information. I just can’t get past it, and it leaves a hugely sour taste in my mouth. Regardless I’m enjoying Callums work (after the first 100-odd pages), and Miller’s didn’t seem terrible. Who knows where the adventure takes me next.

Review of Callums work here: https://abnormalvaverage.com/2020/11/11/fantasy-review-beastborne-chronicles-by-james-t-callum-ongoing/

Tip: Beware ratings on goodreads. I was looking at Will Wight’s upcoming cradle #9, and it’s already at 5stars. This tells me, as it won’t likely be released for quite some time, that the ratings for LitRPG and Progressive fantasy are massively bumped up. That may help my own writing in the future, but it’s not great for anyone with advanced reading skills trying to drop into the genre. Too many of these new authors have no understanding of parallelism or pov changes, and tend to repeat the same words over and over. I shit you not, I read a new book yesterday that used “he” four times in two sentences. I couldn’t figure out what was happening.

Good luck out there with finding new books.

Categories: Fantasy Review Reviews and Interviews Thoughts and Tips

Tagged as: completionist dungeon fantasy jdmullenary list litrpg writing

abnormalvaverage

I'm a high school English teacher in Texas. I also hold degrees in radiography and radio and television broadcasting. Though I obtained certain knowledge and skills from my prior degrees, I do not currently use them.