What is LitRPG
LitRPG, short for Literary Role-Playing Game, is a new genre of fantasy literature that is inspired by the leveling up and other elements found within Role Playing Games ranging from Dungeons and Dragons to actual video games. The magic system in these stories is often developed around a leveling system where characters will actually level up and gain skills, abilities, or other characteristics. If you love video games, constant action in your stories, or watching a character grow in power LitRPG could be a good subgenre for you.
What I enjoy About the Genre
To be honest, LitRPG is a guilty pleasure of mine. The stories are largely mindless as you follow characters who are constantly fighting monsters or enemies and then going through training or other sequences to prepare them for the next fight. Many of the best LitRPG stories are incredibly long as they are published in webserial format with hundreds of separate chapters. For someone with a fast reading pace and a love of binging series LitRPG is the perfect combination.
Here are the key functions of the genre I enjoy:
- Unputdownable Read: The simplicity of plotlines, limited character rosters typically centered around a single protagonist, and the brevity of these narratives make them perfect for binge-reading, often consuming them in a matter of hours or days. Additionally, the webserial release format encourages authors to craft each chapter or set of weekly installments as self-contained plot arcs, ensuring that you’ll stay engrossed from one chapter to the next.
- Action-Packed Escapism: Ever find yourself longing for unrelenting action and minimal narrative detours? LitRPG, with its focus on character progression through leveling up, motivates authors to keep the story packed with engaging and power-boosting actions. If your reading pleasure lies in watching a protagonist continually level up and engage in one battle after another, then LitRPG is the genre for you.
- Magic Meets Metrics: One of LitRPG’s most intriguing innovations is its systematic approach to magic, complete with well-defined rules and guidelines. No longer do we have wizards with limitless, undefined powers. In LitRPG tales, there are clear and consistent rules governing the development of characters’ abilities, explicit limits to power scaling, and a defined objective characters can always work towards when in need of enhancement. Want to grow stronger? Defeat monsters to unlock new abilities, increase your powers, or gain a new character class – it’s all neatly quantified for readers to follow.
Pitfalls of the Genre
LitRPG, more than any other genre I’ve explored, is undeniably a matter of personal preference. If you’re not drawn to the concept of character progression through video games or role-playing games, or if you’re unfamiliar with the mechanics of these specific mediums, you might find the genre’s tropes, world-building choices, and character dynamics somewhat underwhelming, especially if you’re accustomed to more traditional literary forms.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that the majority of LitRPG authors are either self-published or release their works in webserial formats, which means they trade some degree of authorial control and quicker releases for a level of polish in editing that you might be more accustomed to.
As I once read on Reddit’s r/litrpg while delving into this genre years ago, LitRPG often represents a mix of subpar stories with hidden gems waiting to be unearthed. Regrettably, what qualifies as a “diamond” can vary dramatically from person to person, and what one reader might deem as subpar could be another’s absolute favorite. More than any other literary category, I’d recommend approaching LitRPG with an open mind and a willingness to set aside a story if it fails to resonate with you, as your mileage may vary significantly in this genre.
And Now, the Recommendations!
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
You know how you have always heard don’t judge a book by its cover? Dungeon Crawler Carl is my favorite example of the maxim being true, I skipped this series for years after seeing a man in boxers with a cat on the cover and figuring it would be a bad story. Man was I wrong! This series is the perfect blend of satire, humor, and grim critiques of modern culture placed within a truly unique backdrop.
At the beginning of the series, Earth faces a simultaneous takeover by a coalition of alien space corporations. They present a straightforward proposition: individuals who happened to be outside at the moment of Earth’s conquest can choose to either remain on the planet, which has been stripped of any trace of civilization, or descend a set of newly-formed staircases. If they choose to descend they can compete for the opportunity to liberate the entire planet from the clutches of the alien conquerors. Those who venture down these stairs are thrust into a harrowing and deadly game, all of which is broadcast as a reality show for an intergalactic audience.
Dungeon Crawler Carl follows two main characters, Carl and Princess Doughnut (technically GC, BWR, NW Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk) an award winning Persian Tortoiseshell cat which gains sentience and the ability to talk once the two of them find themselves in the dungeon fighting for their lives and slowly realizing that no one ever wins the game, they simply survive long enough to escape.
Carl and Doughnut are both some of my all time favorite characters in fantasy and I find myself laughing out loud each and every time I read or listen to this series. I think that anyone who is interested in the LitRPG Genre should start with Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Before you Read:
- Normally I don’t think that reading or listening to an audiobook will provide a different experience, this is not the case here. The narrator of this series Jeff Hays absolutely blows it out of the park. If you are an audiobook fan, strongly consider listening to this one.
- I recommend going into this series with an open mind as you figure out what is happening, the story can take a few chapters to get going before you really see it hit its stride.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE BOOK:
- Laugh out loud humor all throughout the story!
- One of the characters is a talking cat and despite that I think she is one of the best written characters in all of fantasy.
- I promise this one is worth your time if you are interested in giving LitRPG a shot.
The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba
I love The Wandering Inn and can’t recommend the series enough for avid readers. If you have ever felt like you wish your favorite stories would just keep going and going, The Wandering Inn is for you. The Wandering Inn follows a group of people from Earth who have been transported to a fantasy world in which every aspect of life is influenced by the magic system, which provides classes and levels that give unique abilities and skills to the characters. Erin Solstice finds an abandoned inn and becomes an innkeeper. You follow Erin as she establishes her inn, navigates interactions with the local non-human city Liscor, and slowly makes friends.
Before you Read:
The Wandering Inn only gets better the longer it goes on, in my opinion. Book one is great, but it has some basic stylistic and character work that I find doesn’t necessarily hold up to later parts of the story. I think if you give this one a chance, you will be impressed; it is great.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE BOOK:
- This story is more unique in the LitRPG genre in that it focuses primarily on characters who have classes and magic that is advanced not through combat but through achievement. Anyone with talent in any field will advance in levels, if an innkeeper getting new abilities to run her inn, farmers getting skills to better grow crops, and gossips getting skills to better gossip sounds interesting to you will will almost certainly enjoy this story.
- The story currently holds the record for longest written fantasy story with the equivalent of almost just over (and always growing) 12 million words as of October 2023. This breaks down to around 43k pages if it was printed.
- The story covers the events of an entire world. If you want to feel like you are a part of a unique world filled with diverse characters and cultures this is a great story for you. The Wandering Inn occupies so many words that the entire world feels real and fleshed out, I am constantly impressed with the size and depth of the world created by Pirateaba.
- Have you even finished a series you love and wished there was more? The Wandering Inn is the only series that truly never stops giving you more.
Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar
Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar is one of my favorite for a simple action packed story. You follow Ilea Spears as she finds herself suddenly in a new world filled with monsters and the ability to level up. Ilea quickly discovers a hidden temple to a long dead order of combat healers and slowly learns more about the order while gaining their lost abilities. If watching a battle junkie constantly fight enemies far stronger than themselves kept alive only by their own healing powers sounds interesting Azarinth Healer may be a good fit for you.
Before you Read:
Azarinth Healer really shines in my eyes when it comes to the constant action, cool magical abilities, and interesting growth of Ilea into a local legend and hero. Where it can fall short is the large blocks of statistics and stat pages which can often break up the story alongside a weaker cast of characters overall.
Unique Features of the Book:
- I was hooked and read hundreds of chapters over the course of a week as I just couldn’t get enough of Ilea fighting cool monsters.
- I really enjoyed the class system which gives Ilea the ability to slowly enhance her powers in the directions that she finds most appealing based on her prior actions.
- The book has recently been released as an audiobook narrated by Andrea Parsneau, one of my all time favorite narrators and the voice behind the Wandering Inn (earlier in this list and my very favorite series.)
Beneath the DragonEye Moons by Selkie Myth
Maybe its a staple of the genre or maybe its just my personal tastes but Beneath the Dragoneye Moons by Selkie Myth also features a main character who is a healer and uses their extreme healing abilities to constantly take on more dangerous enemies than herself. The protagonist Elaine has sworn her own version of the Hippocratic Oath which prevents her from doing harm to others, despite that she joins a the military and travels with a group of rangers protecting the common people from monsters or other threats.
The story slowly expands from a more local into a much more global and involved narrative which I really loved. If you want to read about a compassionate healer who is also a badass fighter who maintains a strict moral code you should certainly check this one out.
Before you Read:
The action in this one can take a little while to get truly started as you follow a young Elaine as she grows up, stick out the coming of age portion of the story (which I did enjoy) and you will almost certainly enjoy the books once Elaine has hit her stride.
Unique Features of the Book:
- Elaine’s oath restricts outright harm of others outside of self defense, this constantly forces more interesting narrative decisions during the story and serves to provide a compelling moral component of the story.
- This story takes place in the early eras of a world still dominated by dinosaurs and peoples just trying to figure out how magic and the world works, this is a more unique setting decision and one that I really enjoyed.
He Who Fights With Monsters by Travis Deverell
Alright, so I have gone back and forth on if He Who Fights With Monsters should make this list but ultimately I love the worldbuilding in this story and think that Jason Asano is the most lovable asshole protagonist I have ever read. He Who Fights With Monsters follows Jason as he finds himself awake in a new world and starts to figure out both how the world he now lives in works and his place in the world. Jason is an young Australian guy who uses a sharp wit and cutting tongue more often than is good for him.
The magic system for this story revolves around characters gaining three different essences found within the world which determine both their 4th confluence essence and the abilities that they will get as they advance in power. Jason, in an unfortunate set of coincidences, finds the Dark, Blood, and Sin essences which form the confluence Doom essence. Which is to say, Jason ends up with the scariest set of powers around to accompany an otherwise cheery australian guy, the contrast never fails to make me smile.
Before you Read:
This book can be very hit or miss. Jason Asano is a character you will love or you will hate, I doubt many people have neutral feelings about him, if you are not enjoying Jason a few chapters in I will say however that the author takes about half of the first book to really get their feet under them. If you are interested in the start of the story you can expect major improvements as it gets further into the story.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE BOOK:
- Jason becomes the center of world shaking events however the author does a good job of balancing Jason’s power level to match the more realistic advancement that can be expected for others in the world which helps Jason feel less overpowered than many of the protagonists in the genre while still having unique and well earned abilities to keep the reader interested
- I listened to this story on Audible and found that to be a great experience, I loved the narration for this series.
- A cool and unique magic system with a variety of interesting and complex powers used in unique ways.
Conclusion
Have a series you think I missed? Think any of these books don’t deserve to be on the list? Let me know! I am always happy to try a new series in the LitRPG genre and give my thoughts!
