An ambitious series where humans struggle to survive in a tundra world ruled by robots and malicious AI, somewhat reminiscent of the video game Horizon Zero Dawn. The MC is a smart-ass but manages to stay likable instead of coming off as smarmy.

With 5 books available and the story ongoing, there’s a lot to binge if you find yourself enjoying the first book.

Really enjoyed the first book in this series. Having most of the plot take place in such a lowly sect but still feel like it had real stakes is a hard thing to pull off. This writer has talent. It comes through in the prose. The whole thing ended up feeling like a prologue, but an enjoyable one.

My one gripe if pressed would be that the protagonist was pretty precocious for a 22 year old welder. A lot of his inner monologue felt like we were reading about the author’s views instead of the character’s.

One of the most detailed and intricate magic systems I have ever come across in a series, with a very likable MC!

This is an expertly plotted and paced fantasy series with progression so woven into the fabric of the series you hardly notice it. The LitRPG elements are minor: a simple stat sheet that you only see a few times per book.

The overarching story and world is very interesting and the series explores many different characters and locations in detail, while never diverting too far from its original course. I mowed through 4 books in a few days.

This series is a bit of a sleeper and has not found its audience yet, but it’s quite a compelling story with delicate world building and it has a lot of potential.

If you love a good underdog story, are able to handle the multiple viewpoint switches, and don’t mind that only the first installment is out this is a great option to check out.

This is the best series I've read in a while. The author clearly has a lot of talent and with some polishing (grammar/spelling and tightening plot lines) this series would be up there with my favorite progression fantasy series ever, like Cradle.

The second book is the weakest entry in the series, but it recovers in the third.

Set in a modern urban setting, this trilogy offers a unique and refreshing take on a cultivation story that will have you rooting for the protagonist as he struggles to defy the heavens and achieve immortality keep his bills paid.

The first two entries in the series are excellent, while the third struggled with pacing and left me as a reader wanting to read more stories set in this universe.

A unique take on the system apocalypse subgenre of LitRPG. The pace moves slower than many similar stories, but it’s necessitated by the presence of young children. A somewhat lighthearted, relatively optimistic take on the genre that is a lot of fun.

This is a hardcore underdog story with a heavy focus on progression at all costs. The MC rejects his lot in life at a fundamental level and aspires to become something much greater.

It’s a unique premise that puts forth challenging ideas about identity and features a well crafted magic system that is unlike anything I’ve encountered before.

This offbeat series throws some familiar tropes into some unfamiliar and intriguing territory. The premise is absolutely as wild as it sounds — what if there was a school where you had to go to learn to become a sentient dungeon?

Although the plotting can be a bit uneven at times, this series is definitely worth a look!

I have mixed feelings about this series. It’s got a really interesting premise, but it ends up diving too deep into individual horror storylines for my taste, which I am less invested in than the larger predicament the characters are in. The larger plot and worldbuilding is far more interesting. I definitely think it’s worth a look if you like horror.

A typical Xianxia isekai series with a particular focus on alchemy and applying scientific concepts from our world to achieve outsized progression in the new world. Has some genuinely funny moments but not super memorable.

An underdog MC forced into dungeon crawling and tower climbing on a gigantic spaceship with mysteries abound, his main hope to get the materials needed to survive in the cold vacuum of space.

After a strong debut, the middling sequel puts a small damper on my enthusiasm for the series but the story continues to be interesting enough to keep me waiting for the next entry.

DNF’d this. I found the MC to be a bland self insert wish fulfillment for the reader. A lot of people really like this series though.

The magic system is vague to the point of not mattering (the excuse MC has for healing after damage is a mysterious fire spell?)

I liked the idea of combining programming with spells - but it’s not explained well. And apparently everybody is just programming their own spells instead of using frameworks or premade spell scripts.

The one plot hole that bothered me the most is that the battle simulators are programmed to teleport people away if the danger is going to be fatal. But every time MC gets a fatal wound it doesn’t teleport him, which is a big part of how he gets exposed. So this standard duel practice spell is somehow able to detect this unprecedented magical effect he has and know he will locally reverse time and heal?

Another plot hole, early in the book he mentions he is 22 but looks 16. Then later says his real age is 18. It’s the laziest writing I have encountered in a while.

The world building doesn’t make sense. WHY are all these nations at war with each other? What resource are they fighting over? And the book just casually mentions that if you aren’t a mage your chances of getting drafted and dying as cannot fodder are super high, like almost 100%. Who is running society then? What is the ratio of magicians to non magicians?