r/ProgressionFantasy

I have only recently gotten into this genre. I've read a lot of posts on this channel and it seems that people on average don't think DCC is S tier. I loved it and shortly after finishing the series (to date) I read all of Primal Hunter and He Who Hunts Monsters. I didn't realize how many series this genre has. I have already read basically all other Fantasy and Sci-Fi series. Could you help me narrow down what the next three series I should read are? I read very fast so I am not afraid of long series. I see a lot of people putting She Who Would Become A Dragon on the top of their list. Anyway, what's YOUR TOP THREE in the genre?

Some of my favorite series not in the Genre are:

Malazan series by Steven Erickson

Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Culture Series by Ian Banks

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie

Mars Series by Kim Stanley Robinson 

Children of Time series Adrian Tchaikovsky 

The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee

Silo Series by Hugh Howey

Suneater Series by Christopher Ruocchio

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson 

First Law series by Joe Abercrombie 

I just attempted to read the first chapter of HWFWM for a second time.

I couldn't get past the MC unrealistically speaking all his thoughts aloud. Absolutely hate that.

I can look past the repetitiveness and some iffy editing choices, but that pulled me out.

Same thing happened when I tried to read 'my life as a max level archmage' (I think that's the title?).

The MC waking up in another world and immediately talking to themselves just feels weird and wrong to me. I wouldn't mind if they thought the exact same things, but them speaking to nobody seems like the author's copying something they saw in anime—a medium where saying thoughts aloud is more necessary for the viewer's benefit.

Maybe people actually hold full conversations with themselves like this in real life, but I can't relate.

Anyway, this seems kinda petty to me. Both are highly regarded works and probably get better later on, but that initial impression pushed me away.

What pet peeves/petty reasons have forced you to stop reading a story?

Hello! 

So, about a week ago I made a post on r/ProgressionFantasy called Do You Follow Authors or Books? Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/1vmlq6u/do_you_follow_authors_or_books/

The post asked that very question; if readers followed authors across series/titles, or if they only read a book/series and didn’t look at that author’s other works. 

I asked the question because I was operating under the assumption that most readers don’t follow-through. Something I noticed a while ago. I’ve written several series in our space that have done moderately well, and it’s exceptionally hard to convince a reader, in my experience, to jump from one book to another, even if they enjoyed their first read. 

That conjecture was based on some amount of personal observation, but that’s all. It lacked harder data.

I don’t know if an informal poll counts as harder data, but... well, we’ll go with it. Yeah?

Also, please keep in mind that most people wrote in their replies, and it wasn’t always a clear thing. So I had to use my brain (a notoriously bad move) and interpret which little box most replies fell into. I may have misinterpreted some of them. My b?

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Number of Applicable Answers
25 - Follow the Author
30 - Sometimes follows the Author 
8  - Don't follow the Author 
4  - Doesn't follow the Author, but will follow a Narrator

So, what does this all mean?

... That was a genuine question, I write stories about cute girls being cute, I’m not a data-analyst.

Im on kindle so I can read and listen to the text to speech.

I just picked up "Death's Favorite Warlock by Charles Dean" today and went to give it a listen.

I begrudgingly got past the prolog after words like “quests,�, one’, and sthey’re.

Only for this to be standard throughout the whole book.

Here's a small insert of what reading this will be like:

“Your offer?� John asked. “Of course.� He squeezed the stone that had brought him this far. “You didn’t drag me across eleven continents for nothing. What is it you want?� “Her life,� she responded. “Give me her life, and I will keep you and your baby safe.� “No,� he said without a moment’s hesitation. “You don’t understand. I can save you. I can save your child. The two of you can live happily ever after. All you have to do is let me take her life.� “Why? You’re a god here, aren’t you? What good could her life do? I won’t allow it.�

Now trying to read this hurts my eyes and trying to listen to this hurts my ears and makes listening to dialog 100% impossible.

Not looking for broad stuff like "more cultivation" or "better LitRPG" I mean genuinely specific ideas. Like an older protagonist who's actually established instead of starting from zero, a support class MC who stays support instead of eventually becoming the strongest, actual detailed crafting systems instead of just leveling up a number, a villain who's genuinely competent instead of just powerful, or a world that doesn't revolve entirely around one overpowered protagonist. What's the thing you'd click on immediately if someone actually pulled it off well?

Not all system storys are bad but the majority of them are and its because of the system.

Systems can range from simply having a game interface to basically a personal Ai assistant. They are supposed to act as a golden finger for the main character, key word supposed to. Often a system acts as a diamond spoon more than a golden finger. Does the main character need a heavenly cultivation technique? How convenient that it the reward for completing a mission. Or its a purchasable item in the system shop. It completely ruins all stakes or struggle in a story.

systems cheapen any and all accomplishments. When I read that an mc has killed a great monster it just, isnt actually fun when they have no struggle and they just get rewarded with the drops from the monster. I do wished more authors put in thought on how to dismantle a monster for parts. The romance/favor systems are the worst because most of the time its literally brain washing and not just building relationships. Even then, knowing exactly how much someone trusts or loves you is inherently a power imbalance and manipulation.

System stories can be good. though a good system is one thats actually like a game system and isnt just a personal Ai assistant. For example stories like god of fishing, and solo leveling have decent systems. They would be better without systems but the system doesnt ruin the story. Systems should exist to give the Mc a cheat skill like a crafting hub or just knowledge of their health. I feel that system stories have evolved into just, the author's cheap and easy way to make the mc powerful.

There are decent system stories but I have not yet found more than a hand full that are actually worth reading

Hello, been checking out books and reviews about them: Mage Tanks, The Hundred Reigns, Blood and Fur, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Primal Hunter, and I even checked out Geezer Quest and Slime Knights, Path of the Deathless, In the Space Between Titans and Stormblade, I always wanted to know something: what kind of builds do you guys love to see in a protagonist?

Any settings is fine. We're talking Cyberpunk, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy.

By Builds I meant like Warrior, Paladin, Dread Knights, Mage and every other stuff you can find in RPG focused story.

What build you guys enjoyed the most and what book; litrpg or non-litrpg novels that best fulfill that craving for those builds.

In this scenario you are average person. What game/system from the genre would you choose? Either because the game/system itself would be fun to use or just generally beneficial to have.

I’ve been reading solely progression fantasy for probably over half a decade now. The pandemic years get a little muddled, but that sounds about right. I’ve read, I honestly don’t even know, but it has to be close to 1000 books in the genre. I loved it and I still do, but I’d be lying if I said I’m not burnt the fuck out. The last year or so I’ve taken multiple breaks from reading, letting chapters for the things I actively read stockpile up and hoping some of the new Royal Road series that have caught my eye continue long enough to get me actually interested. But it’s been rough, especially since I renewed my Kindle Unlimited a few weeks ago. That place has absolutely festered with AI slop in the last year or so since I last checked it. The slim pickings over there didn’t help the burn out.

Cue Player Manager. I’ve seen it mentioned over the years but I’m not really that into football, so I always figured I’d just find something else to read. The last few weeks I’ve seen it mentioned more than the previous years combined so I thought ‘why not, I’ll check it out.’

My god. I love it. I’ve just finished everything that’s on KU (6 books), and I genuinely can’t remember the last time I was so sucked in to something I was reading. Generally, when I’m like 3000 pages into a series the spark fades a little and I start skimming here and there. I don’t know how the author does it, but it genuinely feels like if you skim anything in these books then you’re going to miss out on something.

It’s absolutely a slow burn, and I’ve gotten to the point where if I see something described as a slow burn I just skip it instantly. I’m tired of chapters and chapters of nothing happening. But with Player Manager, I genuinely don’t know how to describe it other than being glued to the page.

People talk about set up and pay offs in books all the time, but to me it’s a bit of an ephemeral concept. A lot of the time I definitely think one or the other is lacking severely. I’ll never forget reading a certain book from a certain series called Cradle (SPOILERS AHEAD)———(I’m serious, spoilers for Cradle ahead)——-(I’m on my IPad so I can’t put a spoiler tag) where a certain someone’s true identity is revealed.

(Cradle Spoiler is complete)

Reading that for the first time, my mind was absolutely blown. I sat there for like 10 minutes with my jaw just hanging open. I’ve probably experienced that feeling a few times in my life, but the only one that actually comes to mind is that one. Player Manager didn’t achieve that level, but it’s the first series in a while where I actually went “haha, no way.” A couple of times throughout the series. The set ups and pay offs are great.

The thing that stopped me from reading it sooner was definitely my lack of interest in football. Now, in the last 15 years or so, I’ve played a lot of FIFA, so I had a pretty solid handle on football jargon before getting involved. That being said, I think the author (probably) does a good job to ease people into it. Gives good explanations for formations and positions that people can understand even if they’ve never heard them before.

The MC. My next statement might be a bit controversial, but I think Max Best might be the second coming of Jason Asano (He Who Fights With Monsters). Jason’s well known for being a polarising MC, and I’ll be honest, he’s probably at least 75% of the reason I dropped HWFWM. Someway, somehow, I didn’t hate Max Best’s version. I actually really like it. I wasn’t reading thinking “Oh shut up” and “Not this again”. Max Best proved to be entertaining and likeable to really enjoy reading about. If anyone knows how I have such opposing views of characters that (I think) are so similar, please let me know.

Anyways, this has taken me a while to write, and I don’t think I have much else to say.

TL;DR - Go read Player Manager (even if you don’t like football(soccer)) — It’s great.

Hey everyone

I’ve been meaning to rec this series for a while , and with launch of book 3 for audiobook I finally think it’s time. It is written by Mammal, the same writer as of Godclads. That’s an advertisement and warning combined in one, those who’ve read mammal’s previous works understand that better than anyone

Audiobook is a blast , and although I much rather prefer written word (especially when it comes to Mammal) those who listen to audiobook will be more than happy imo..

Now moving onto my thoughts about the story itself. It has its flaws and the premise itself(a deathless Mc) is little tricky for stakes. And at times it’s apparent. But having said that, Mammal most of times does a good job of reader still feeling stakes. So that’s a plus. Shiv(the Mc) is also one of the funnier main characters out there and his hobby/true passion of cooking also brings a fresh breadth to what is otherwise a very much hyper war focused story

But above all of this, the most compelling thing about POD for me are secondary characters . Specifically the favoured three (MC and his two companions) and the other related characters. Their existence is not solely tied to MC’s existence and they have their own power progression and character arcs going which is such a relief to read in this genre. Because of this the OP MC doesn’t feel that stupidly op because there are characters with same amount of favour as him while being as interesting if not more (Adam Arrow and Valor Thann you will forever be my goat)

There are morally grey characters like Roland Arrow who have been arguably a villain for Mc but with such cool power progression and character arc that you start investing in Their progression too.

Anyways I’ll stop my rambling before i start discussing the entire story itself over here.

TLDR: Path of deathless audiobook 3 out. Read now. And if you haven’t gotten onto the first two, I highly recommend you do