LitRPG is essentially any novel that follows the trope of a character who finds themself in a role playing game (RPG) environment wherein they would have to increase their abilities and strengths to survive in the world they find themselves in. Sort of a literary RPG if you will.
Wuxia, which literally means “martial heroes”, is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China, and Xianxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy involving ‘cultivation’ where characters seek to become immortal beings called xian. Along the way, they attain eternal life, supernatural powers, and incredible levels of strength.
Book Review: Mage Mangler – Kevin Sinclair
Note: This copy of Mage Mangler was provided by NetGalley Mage Mangler by Kevin Sinclair was much better than I expected it to be. That’s not to say I expected a bad book but that with most LitRPGs these days there is usually a formulaic path that very few stray from. While this book doesn’t…
Series Review: The Exlian Syndrome Series – Seth Ring
Having gotten me excited with the LitRPG genre again with his Iron Tyrant Series, Seth Ring’s Exlian Syndrome Series brings us a more sci-fi oriented story compared to the above. In a dystopian world where aliens known as Exlians terrorize the local population, its down to a group of awakened individuals who work as the…
Series Review: Iron Tyrant Series – Seth Ring
The Iron Tyrant series by Seth Ring has done something I didn’t expect to happen so soon. It has gotten me excited with the LitRPG genre once again. Having consumed quite a bit from this genre in the past, I had reached a level of saturation where every story felt the same. Compared to most…
Book Review: Return of the Martial Messiah – ToraAKR
Note: This copy of Return of the Martial Messiah was provided by NetGalley. Another book that originated over at Royal Road but this time with a heavier emphasis on martial arts in a LitRPG-esque atmosphere; or at least it is so touted. I have a very mixed feeling on the completion of this book. On…
Book Review: Murder Medic 1 – E.C. Krueger
Note: This copy of Murder Medic 1 was provided by NetGalley. Murder Medic 1 follows Zoe as she wakes up in a new world after dying to find that she’s been given another chance at life. ‘Life’ may be stretching it though, and she may have been counting her blessings too soon, when the whole…
Series Review: Solo Leveling – Chugong
TL;DR – Clichéd story with mediocre writing further hamstrung by an over-powered MC. You’d be better off watching the anime. I started this writing this review well over a year ago, and in the interim my feelings towards this series hasn’t changed much. Solo Leveling is a Korean webnovel turned light novel turned webtoon turned…
Series Review: Towers of Heaven – Cameron Milan
This is a litRPG trilogy written by Cameron Milan. I will review the series as a whole as compared to individual books, not for any other reason other than most litRPG books follow a similar formula and there isn’t too much to say that would be different without spoiling the series. TL;DR review: Decent premise…
2022 year review
Hey there! Happy new year! I’ve been quite busy over the past month or so as I’ve started a new job and the new schedule has taken some time to get used to. It’s gotten a bit better over the last week so this should be the start of a more regular weekly round-up newsletter.…
Book Review: Roots and Steel – Casey White
This is the first entry into Casey White’s CoreVerse series of books. As its tagline says this book is essentially a monster-hunting LitRPG. There’s magic, there are monsters, there are people called hunters who, well, hunt said monsters, and there’s a progression system that one usually sees in RPG games. The story follows Trellin, a…
Series Review: He who fights with Monsters – Shirtaloon
This has been on my TBR for a while now. I got thrown into the LitRPG scene I think about a year ago with Will Wight’s Cradle Series. I remember devouring those 9 books (at the time) over a period of 3 weeks. I’ll upload a review of that sometime in the future. I followed…