A burned-out Tokyo dev dies at his keyboard after a 72-hour crunch and wakes up as Luna, a sixteen-year-old girl in a world where magic runs on a network called the Aether-Net.

Everyone there treats sorcery as sacred mystery. She looks at it and sees an undocumented API — spells are functions, rituals are wrappers nobody has refactored in four centuries, and a fair number of the "holy" ones have bugs that have been taught as doctrine.

What I was actually going for:

• A hard magic system with rules consistent enough that you can reason ahead of the protagonist
• Progression through understanding the system rather than grinding levels
• Antagonists whose motive is control of documentation, not evil
• A real cost: the transfer split the soul in two, half in Luna, half in a comatose body back on Earth. Merging them terminates one instance.

Vol. 1 is 170 pages, $3.99, free in KU. Happy to get into the magic system in the comments — that's where most of the work went.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H9Z4ZKQW

COVER ARTIST: N/A — no art posted here; the book's cover is AI-generated, no human artist involved.

AI USAGE: AI Assisted — cover art only. The prose is not AI-generated; no generative AI was used for the writing itself.

Hi there,
I released my first book on Amazon yesterday and thought I would get some feedback on it.

Below is the cover image and the blurb

Cover:

Blurb:

For three days, the cube just hangs there — a hundred kilometres of impossible geometry, motionless in low orbit, while the whole world holds its breath and waits for an explanation that never comes.

Then it shatters.

Nathan Reyes is working the overnight shift at Belden Reach General when the fracture hits: a cube fragment slams into the riverfront, the power grid dies mid-heartbeat, and a hydro lineman is wheeled into his ER with an injury that shouldn't be survivable. Nathan saves him anyway — with his bare hands, against direct orders, touching something that should have killed him.

It doesn't. It changes him instead.

Within hours, the whole planet is synchronizing — floating notifications, strange new statistics, a System nobody understands handing out power to ordinary people at random. Everyone gets an answer. A tier. A number. Something to hold onto in a world that no longer makes sense.

Nathan gets nothing. Just a notification that refuses to resolve — the only one of its kind anyone has ever seen.

As Belden Reach cordons off a park that's grown into something no longer recognizable as a park, as displacement becomes permanent and the province scrambles to build rules for a world that isn't following any, Nathan holds onto the only thing he has left: the people he won't let go of, and an ER tech's stubborn instinct to keep triaging chaos even when nobody — least of all the System itself — can tell him what he actually is.

By the time an answer finally comes, it isn't the one anyone expected. It's bigger than Nathan. Bigger than Belden Reach.

It's the moment humanity finally understands: the cubes were never attacking.

They were changing Earth.

This is just me showing my library of books on audible.im happy to talk about them or recommendations for other I would enjoy

It seems like a lot of the new authors coming to the genre are choosing to set their stories in VR/trapped in a game settings.
I wonder if that’s just what they expect the genre to be? Or if that’s the story in their hearts.
Or it’s my imagination.

I haven’t seen anything regarding book 5, does anyone know if this series has been abandoned?

Book 4 came out on Audible in September of 2023.

Hi everyone! I'm Italian and neither of these series has been translated into Italian yet. My English isn't strong enough to read the full novels comfortably, so I've been relying on translation tools — but ebook files (epub/mobi) don't work well with most translation software.

Does anyone know where I could find or buy these books in PDF format? PDFs are much easier for me to run through translation tools than standard ebook formats. Any author websites, or platforms that sell PDF versions would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

What are some titles that yall love, where the MC is 90%+ mage based fighter?

Prefer the humor be kept little to none.
I gave Completionist Chronicle like 7 books deep, and couldnt do the all humor any longer.

Should I give Dungeon Crawler Carl. im audio listening so I don't mind deep crawls. I have listening to HWFWM, Crystalli, mimic and me,portal to nova roma series, so this should give you a good idea of my tastes. So in knowing some of my tastes would you suggest it looking for thought and opinion. Im on audible

I have read he who fights with monsters,ascendancy shadow slave and lord of mysteries I really loved them and looking for more like them

Hi GameLit/LitRPG fans,

Well, today's the day! After furiously scribbling down the idea for this novel waaaaay back in 2022, it's finally out in the world!

But you're not here for my author journey (sickos can find that sordid tale in an older post here), you're here for the good stuff, so let's get into it.

The disclaimers:

AI USAGE: No AI used (Only traditional computer tools (spellcheck, etc.); no generative AI for anything.)

COVER ARTIST: David Reuss

The genre:
GameLit; set inside a MMORPG, with modest DnD-style RPG mechanics (levels, abilities)

The tone: Fun, adventurous, whimsical, with just a hint of the metaphysical

The pitch:
Anya Dazel is a burnt-out barkeep in Eternity: The Endless Realm, the world’s premier online role-playing game. As a non-player character, her life is stuck in a programmed loop—forever serving the same drinks to the same patrons—but when Eternity receives an unexpected update, she finds herself thrown into an open world with Cyrus Blackwood, a brooding non-player character on a quest for revenge.

Working together to find a new place in their virtual world, Anya and Cyrus must overcome hordes of monsters, dangerous puzzles, and even an existential crisis or two. But as they struggle to overcome their distaste for each other and stay alive, they discover that their roles within Eternity might not be as programmed as they thought, and Anya will need to prove that even barkeeps can be heroes.

The links: Barnes & Noble; Bookshop.org; Amazon (including Kindle Unlimited)

The formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook (narrator: Aven Shore)

The publisher: Keylight Books

A blurb from a trusted ally:
"The Side Questers is a fun romp, taking typical tropes and turning them on their head. It’s a world full of characters I’d love to get a beer with—a perfectly poured beer, for that matter." —Eric Ugland, author of the Good Guys series

Anyway, thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer when I'm able!

Bookkeeping note: Reposted this a day late because my cover didn't upload properly.

Just finished book 1 and really enjoyed it. The characters were fun and so was the writing, but I had some quibbles that I figured I would ask here so I can get a sense if I want to continue on with the journey.

Things I liked:

• The lore around the witch class. I highly doubt this is a controversial opinion. All of that stuff was great and intriguing, I really wanted to see if Brin would fall down this route.

• The sense of progression while Brin was trying to set himself up for class day.

• The characters and their interactions. Some moments work better than others, but in general I enjoyed getting to know the cast.

Things I was iffy on:

• The elaboration on Brin's (somewhat mundane) training. I didn't hate that he trained, but it felt like a lot of pages and word count were devoted to leveling up attributes and I ended up not being super enthused by those moments. However, I wonder how much of that is due to him being a kid that wasn't able to cast or engage in combat at all, really.

• Romance. Straight up: is it going to be a thing and how old will love interest(s) be? Author is very plainly aware of potential iffy situations here, but I do want to know if that's going to last.

• How a decision was handled in the end. I mean, if you know you know. I didn't hate it, exactly, but I am a little worried if the author will pull punches in the future.

The apocalypse didn’t kill him. It recruited him.

When a teenage boy is caught in the first wave of a zombie outbreak, he expects to die like everyone else.

Instead, he wakes up, transformed into a zombie.

Driven by a gnawing hunger and instincts that force him to hunt the living, he unwittingly becomes a pawn of the Undead Empire. But unlike the mindless shamblers around him, he has been chosen by a mysterious system, one designed by the Undead Empire to raise elite zombies into front-line officers.

Having invested in his intelligence stat, he gains the ability to control other zombies and is on the path to becoming a [Horde Master].

Meanwhile, Aegnor, the necromancer sent to conquer Earth by himself, is doing everything he can to completely eradicate the magic-less humans. A true powerhouse who took part in several successful world invasions, he means to test the collective powers of Earth. 

Can humanity stop him? Or was everything lost as soon as he reached Earth?

What to expect

- Crunchy LitRPG

- Double POV (The story follows two main characters)

- Chapters length 1500 to 2500 words

- Systematic destruction of the human race

- The system is only available to the invaders

- Not a harem story

Schedule: Tuesday, Friday

COVER ARTIST: Gemini

AI USAGE: Cover only

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/174763/zombie-evolution-op-villain-mc-system-invasion

I've been working on this book for a while, but it's still a long way to completion. I'm not worried about spoilers, because it's still a long way to go.

In brief: I want to base my story around a 'main' central twist that recontextualizes everything, and sets the course for later books. But it's quite a major leap, so I'm wondering if it'll be a problem for readers.

The concept of the story is - The world of Endoria has a slumbering horror called The Wrack. Centuries ago, the goddess Asteria created the Radiant Seal that put it to sleep, the Kingdom of Illum (the continent's dominant power) are Asteria-worshippers and draw on the Radiant Seal to fuel their magics.

But the Radiant Seal is weakening, and the Wrack will break free within a year. The Temple of Asteria summons a Chosen One from another world to be their champion, and they get Gabriel, who is seemingly the perfect candidate. He's a college boy from the wrong side of the tracks, he's got a little brother who is dying of cancer and whom he wants to cure (because the slayer of the Wrack will be granted one wish).

Better yet, the Blessing of Asteria means Gabriel swiftly becomes an OP Archmage. Being a generally nice, contemplative and compassionate guy, Gabriel is soon hailed as the kingdom's savior and also ends up in a love triangle between the beautiful female knight he fights alongside and the Saintess who summoned him.

So after a volume of that, we see that another Chosen One - Darren - has been summoned on the far side of the kingdom, and he's an OP warrior blessed by Hecatoncheires, the God of Vengeance.

The big twist is that: Actually, Darren's sister (and Gabriel's ex-girlfriend) was in fact the Hero. Gabriel murdered her to steal her blessing, meaning he was summoned to Endoria in her place - Because he wanted to win the wish and save his little brother.

Darren, however, caught him in the act: In the struggle, the blessing of might and magic was torn in half, meaning that Gabriel has the 'magic' part and Darren has the 'might' part.

And now Darren is hunting Gabriel, seeking to win the wish for himself in order to resurrect his sister...But failing that, he wants to kill Gabriel and ruin everyone and everything he loves, and is raising an army of heretics, rebels and the dispossessed to do it.

Basically, this is a PvP isekai: Gabriel initially doesn't know Darren is in this world, too, but once he does suddenly the focus of the conflict becomes the two of them trying to destroy each other...while simultaneously fighting the forces of the Wrack, which is gradually becoming stronger.

Now, obviously, having the main character (and ostensible protagonist) being revealed to be a murderer - even a sympathetic murderer - is a big ask, especially when it means half the cast is directly invested in killing the other half.

Note that while Darren is in the 'moral' right, he's bitter, hateful, full of spite towards Gabriel, and doesn't care about Endoria other than a place he needs to get through in order to defeat the Wrack and resurrect his sister. Collateral damage is entirely fine to him.

Meanwhile, Gabriel is generally a good guy...Except for that one, terrible act he can never really make up for. So it's a modern "This is my new life" protagonist versus an old-school "I want to go home" protagonist, in a sense.

What do you think? Would readers go for it, or is this definitely going to lose them?

tl;dr - An OP Archmage story becomes a PvP story between an OP Archmage...and an OP Warrior.

Hey does anyone know when the series is getting physical prints and where?

Or do they already exist elsewhere? I tried google searching but didn't come up with anything even on the publisher website.

I doubt its going to be printed on Amazon I think they have like a 830 page limit on POD and since its through a publisher, I would assume its going through ingram. 🤔

I’ve tried to listen to Armor by CB Titus but had a hard time getting into it, not this one though Penitant is like if A Soldiers life got mashed up with the anime A Promised Neverland and it’s phenomenal 10/10

Seriously, I could read series about evil upper class enslaving cute beastkin girls for the MC to rescue 1000 times and still be just as excited to read #1001.

If the writing is good, throw every god damned trope in existence at me. Dont ruin your story trying to be unique, instead just focus on the writing quality. People will read your stuff I promise, and more than if you spend all your creative bandwidth trying to come up with author pickme crap.

When the gods gamble with your soul, the result is preordained. But what if you fight back?

Thrust into an IRL version of his own game, a young table top RPG designer, Marco Canaveri, must put all of his knowledge of the gladiatorial arenas of Ancient Rome to work to win a second chance at life. All he has to do is outwit the gods and survive almost certain death.

⚔️ Detailed, historically accurate combat

🧮 Light on the crunchy stuff

🙏 Roman mythos

💓 Light romantic subplot

New chapters are posted M, W, F at 11:07 a.m. (UTC -5)

COVER ARTIST: FLUX.2 Pro AI

AI USAGE: Cover only. Writing is AI free other than the use of basic spell check.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/181869/the-death-gods-plaything-litrpgisekai

Because at least three anonymous Amazon reviewers said it was the best series they’d ever read.

Some people bounced off Earl. Some people bounced off Adam. No one bounced off them both...

Mostly.

Because this is not the story of one hero.

It is the story of two brothers thrown into the same brutal new world, taking two completely different paths through it.

Adam is trying to survive without losing the person he was. He joins the military, learns magic and fights, at first to get home, then to protect the found family he’s built.

Earl takes a different approach.

He lies, steals, fights and manipulates his way towards power, leaving a trail of broken enemies and allies in his wake.

But however different their paths, they have been heading towards each other from the beginning.

In Harmony’s End, they finally meet in one of the most epic battles the cosmos has ever seen.

The preorder for the final book in the Crucible of Ascension trilogy is live now!

• COVER ARTIST: Joel Kilpatrick. (My Hero)
• AI USAGE: No AI used (Only traditional computer tools spellcheck etc no generative AI for anything)

You gotta imagine someone skirting the edge of the path deadline then their dungeon time slot comes up and their annoying nemesis is robbing a bank while monologuing about some master plan that’ll take weeks to sort out.

I recently finished book 3 of Discount Dan and was hoping someone could clarify the franchiser's backstory. Am I right that he used to be a normal human that came to take down the previous franchiser but somehow became the new one? I get from the Pooh backstory bits he was trying to kill something and made friends with Pooh while trying to avoid being hunted, but I wasn't clear if it was some previous franchiser and if / why he became the new one rather than moving on to another floor or something? When Dan becomes the new franchiser he doesn't seem to need to be hooked into any sort of machine like the previous franchiser was so I'm just in general a little unclear on the story surrounding the character.

i really like civ games and stuff but i want something where im like a god overseaing a race and teritority

I’m looking for any good litrpg where the mc slings around flames and ash. I just love the element of fire but it’s just overshadowed by other types. I really only see fire being used as an element that side characters use.

The strongest Awakened in existence known as Kaisers, are forced to grant their powerful classes to complete strangers and serve as their mentors.

This is The Great System’s protocol—a mechanic designed to aid the humans summoned to the planet of Asteralis, kickstarting their entry into The Natural Selection: a survival game fought by those teleported from Earth, hosted in a simulated replica city of Seoul, South Korea.

Gray Kim is one of the unlucky humans ripped from his home and thrust into this magical world. He is granted the Mistveil class—a power that was supposed to give him the ability to manipulate clouds.

To survive, Gray must master his new class, outlast the survival games, and navigate the politics of the Kaiser Guilds.

But there's one other problem he must face: the Kaiser who was forced to give him the Mistveil class—a man determined to end his life.

Story Link

COVER ARTIST: Henry Rebolledo

AI USAGE: Grammar check

Hey everyone! I just started reading The Wandering Inn, and I’m currently in the latter half of Volume 2. I’m absolutely loving it so far, and honestly, I don’t really understand the criticism Volume 1 gets—it completely hooked me from the beginning.

That said, I have a question for the longtime readers. I’m reading through the Kindle books, but I’ve seen a lot of people recommend the web serial instead. Am I missing out on anything important by sticking with Kindle? Were any scenes, chapters, or details cut or changed when the books were published?

I want to experience The Wandering Inn in the best way possible, so I’d love to hear what you all recommend. Is the Kindle version enough, or is the web serial the definitive experience? Thanks in advance—I’m really curious to hear everyone’s thoughts!

If a series has more ebooks out than audiobooks, would you go read the ebook in the later books or would you wait until the next audiobook comes out?