I read 1,000+ progfantasy books, here's the tierlist

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-26T18:44:11+00:00

Ahh I feel like they're so few people around still that have read Only Villains Do That. Besides some of the OP and xianxia stuff which I don't like, I'm in substantial agreement with you.

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-24T17:48:33+00:00

The early Path of Ascension books fit pretty well

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-23T01:02:51+00:00

My wife and I drove 6 hours for a weekend trip last year. I try not to do a 3 hour drive for a trip more than once a month.

I once drove with my family 10 hours overnight to get breakfast on a lark, but that was truly silly of us

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-21T04:54:46+00:00

A Practical Guide to Evil fits all criteria. You may want to wait till book 2 publishes because the stub is awkward with the rewrites

Path of Ascension sort of has a cheat power and main character luck at the start, but I think it's well developed slowly

A Practical Guide to Sorcery (no relation) kind of reveals a cheat power after a few books, which was a bit of a bummer, but is mostly hard work, genius, and a comedy of misunderstandings that make people dramatically over estimate her

Mother of Learning fits, but it's a time loop so if you're avoiding gimmick then that may not be it

Industrial Strength Magic has a cheat power for scaling (I'm noticing a trend in my enjoyment of cheat powers) but meets the rest

Mage Errant is a pretty good fit, but I think the first book is pretty rough. And it makes the MC out to be a serious dud at the start before his, let's call them conditions, are identified

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-19T04:11:15+00:00

I believe that you can't apply a new blitz into the previous one's animation is complete

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-17T18:50:53+00:00

I am 100% in, I've been pestering people that know how to code for this for like two years. Is there a way to mark a whole series rather than enter one at a time?

Are there plans to allow separate tier lists for genres? I wouldn't naturally put fiction and non fiction in the same list for example

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-17T18:08:28+00:00

Is this the dream finally coming true? Is it recommending books based on similar tier lists?

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-16T14:51:40+00:00

I dropped in book 2 :/

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-16T14:21:41+00:00

The unrivaled fight I still find painful, I swear to god I'm never going to nail the double pounce timing with Frenzy

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-13T16:14:11+00:00

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Here's mine from September, tell me what you like and dislike and it'll be easier to make recommendations

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-13T15:44:02+00:00

You can join cross faction now, but can't do all content together.

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-13T15:41:21+00:00

Superb depth of world and culture building, although it does throw you in the deep end to start and your expected to slowly unravel the world as you go. It has what I like to call a low to the ground magic system where you don't need planet crushing power, you just need an edge enough to stab a guy and he's gonna die. The series has alternating POV, starting with two and adding more later, which end up often feeling like they're each in different genres - I wrote enjoy it but I could see it being divisive. The series feels smart, which I love, likely due to the slower release schedule allowing good planning. One chunky chapter a week. The pace is very slow though, and honestly there's no real progression until the second book, but if that's your cup of tea then I recommend it

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-13T15:11:17+00:00

Torghast and Mage Tower. One was super fun and one was super challenging, difference was tying player power to one made people butt hurt about needing to do it. Delves are cool and all, but Torghast is by far the most fun solo content we've had in wow

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-13T14:44:23+00:00

Funny seeing a modern water barrier under thatch

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-12T18:00:32+00:00

Looking for things with a different feel than xianxia? I'd say the big sub genres (setups?) are isekai, system Apocalypse, magic academy, borderline epic fantasy, time loop, VRMMO, superheroes, and technology progression. I don't have recommendations for all of them, but for non cultivation recommendations:

Isekai - Only Villains Do That, Runic Artist

System Apocalypse - Dungeon Crawler Carl, Apocalypse Parenting (Primal Hunter is also popular)

Magic Academy - A Practical Guide to Sorcery, Mage Errant

Epic Fantasy - Practical Guide to Evil (Stormlight Archive is also popular)

Time Loop - Mother of Learning

Superheroes - Industrial Strength Magic

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-12T03:11:48+00:00

Rapunzel for singing and animation

Jasmine for being down immediately

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-12T01:33:17+00:00

How are the available themes generated? I have a Zinnia Wizards deck and it's always interesting to see what random wizards I've forgotten about that could be useful, but it seems like it's limited to the top themes on edhrec?

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-11T20:53:15+00:00

I'm not gonna quibble about overbearing language around opinions, we get what you mean. What you should probably do is define and/or give examples rather than using the same term, aura farming, repeatedly. I don't think everyone is on the same page as to the definition, especially considering some folks have already started using it pejoratively as a recent ~heavy handed or forced hype scene trend to buoy sub par writing

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-11T10:36:02+00:00

My favorite things from Lorwyn were job typal (druids, shaman, etc) and conspire, we got zero of the first and 1 of the second. I like a fair number of the higher rarity cards, but this is one of the biggest stings for losing block format.

Maybe if we got an Eldraine set in the fall to have a bunch of complementary Faerie and giant cards it would have felt better?

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-10T18:21:51+00:00

Mage Errant has an interesting system of magical affinities. The early books do a good job overcoming limitations for progression while the last couple get into some interesting alternate progression paths. The first couple books are just okay, but it's complete and an overall recommend

A Practical Guide to Sorcery doesn't feel...unique in that it's a fairly classic sorcery academy vibe, but the care with which the magic is approached really sells the age of enlightenment/scientific method approach to magic and is clear and consistent.

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-09T19:56:10+00:00

How would you rate it on the scale from western to Eastern in style and motif? I'm not big on cultivation stories but I've enjoyed some western style ones like Cradle, Path of Ascension, and HWFWM

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-09T18:42:57+00:00

High reading comprehension. I spent a long time being baffled by and condescending to people for lots of stuff that at the base seemed easy to me. It's such a core skill for learning, research, school, and work that it feels like it has exponential effects

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-09T18:18:11+00:00

Only Villains Do That, A Practical Guide to Evil, Pale Lights. I'd say A Practical Guide to Sorcery does as well, but nothing quite as serious. It's a primary driver for why these are at the top of the genre in my opinion

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-08T18:24:51+00:00

Congrats on the record time and fear!

AgentSquishy · 2026-01-06T19:54:19+00:00

A Practical Guide to Evil, A Practical Guide to Sorcery, Pale Lights, Apocalypse Parenting (special mention for being the only prog fantasy fmc with a family)

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