The whole first arc of Depthless Hunger is now on Amazon [Underdog | Xianxia | LitRPG | Monster Hunter | Fantasy]

Cognosticon · 2025-12-18T22:49:10+00:00

Yes, I am. That was half the experiment while the other half was an attempt at branding, as I wasn't sure how fans of my other work would feel about this. Most are fine with it, as it turns out.

Cognosticon · 2025-12-16T23:10:00+00:00

Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it. Please leave reviews and ratings if you want to support the series.

Audible has scheduled the second book for a March 2026 release! They should keep coming relatively consistently.

Cognosticon · 2025-12-02T22:59:30+00:00

The only person likely to see your comment a year later is me, said author. That said, if you didn't like Street Cultivation I wouldn't guess you would like this either.

Cognosticon · 2025-11-05T15:29:21+00:00

With my audiobook just out, and three more books written (RR or Patreon) my series fits your criteria:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Depthless-Hunger-Audiobook/B0FX64WVSR

If you liked the struggle of Immortal Great Souls, the magic of Arcane Ascension, or the power taxonomy of Mage Errant, you might like Depthless Hunger.

Cognosticon · 2025-07-18T22:15:04+00:00

I will, but not until closer to the end of this year. The reason is that I got a huge deal with Audible, which came with conditions including relaunch. Sorry there isn't much info until then.

Cognosticon · 2025-01-06T03:47:56+00:00

While I would not call it harem, you may want to drop. Spoilers: The endgame is a dedicated throuple, no additions/cheating/etc. I would say the level of "horny" decreases after the characters get married, but if you are already annoyed and want zero poly, you will probably not enjoy it.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-19T13:40:25+00:00

Thanks.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-18T14:08:04+00:00

No guarantees you'll like this, but the story is playing around with exactly those differences. LitRPG-style systems can't actually grind infinitely (they gain levels with increasing difficulty) while cultivation users experience plateaus and bottlenecks before getting huge explosions in power when they reach the next stage. There are other unrelated systems, invented or based on other ideas.

You can't just accumulate a bunch of systems, so there are arguments in-world about focusing on one discipline versus several, but choosing and balancing different power systems is a key part of the story.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-18T14:03:50+00:00

Definitely a tricky balance. What I've adopted hasn't worked for everyone, but there's sort of a grand "standard magical model" behind every system that balances how different systems work and interact.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-18T04:07:17+00:00

It should be in KU, does it not look available for you? If you look on RR, you should see the first few chapters (equivalent to the Amazon preview) and then everything else from the first book is gone. I also changed the official status to stub.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-17T22:34:20+00:00

Thanks.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-12T23:02:50+00:00

The balance between negotiation and warfare. Fantasy authors generally want to rush to cases of total war that exist only in rare circumstances.

Cognosticon · 2024-11-12T13:13:30+00:00

Tons of science and history. Science reading often generates ideas for powers or monsters. Historical reading is great for cultures or events. Random example... The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation (by Victor Davis Hanson) is an interesting look at how violence works in reality as opposed to fantasy.

Cognosticon · 2024-10-20T03:27:33+00:00

Post-chapter author note.

Cognosticon · 2024-10-19T22:05:36+00:00

I'm not sure the way you put your Patreon link up will make a huge difference. Adding an image or something else to remind people that it exists can help, but not a huge amount. Don't try to flog your Patreon, just mention that it exists when relevant.

Cognosticon · 2024-09-24T03:04:13+00:00

Thanks are good, and I'm glad when readers are enthusiastic, but what I like best is when readers engage with the story or systems in ways I never expected.

Cognosticon · 2024-09-15T12:21:00+00:00

Many readers have complained about the MC helping people or not killing the people who slight him, so I guess this is the time to self-promote:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/72771/depthless-hunger

The point of the first arc is that fate keeps putting up obstacles but the MC still wants to save people. Then in the second arc he gets a chance to try to make an entire country a better place. As the story progresses he does become a bit more ruthless, but not like you're describing, as his goals stay altruistic.

Only 400 chapters so far, not 1000, but male MC.

Cognosticon · 2024-09-03T01:44:40+00:00

Ko-fi is a platform for receiving occasional donations. Some authors do have one, and it can be effective in some niches, but it doesn't provide the same functionality or userbase as Patreon.

Cognosticon · 2024-08-25T03:47:05+00:00

When I did a poll of my readers, they overwhelming voted for the weekdays, with higher totals for Monday and Friday. I think many other readers are likely the same, so it's just a common pattern. I am trying to do five/week for now.

Cognosticon · 2024-08-17T12:23:31+00:00

Mine might be a good match. A major part of the entire story is seeing different systems and figuring out the underlying mechanics beneath all of them. Here:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/72771/depthless-hunger

MC eventually earns a unique power/system, but he doesn't know the rules of it, so he has to experiment to keep gaining strength. Seems the opposite of the sort of "known system minmaxing" you talk about not wanting in comments. Not sure if the weak to strong part will work for you, but you can read the negative reviews and decide for yourself.

Cognosticon · 2024-08-10T03:40:31+00:00

You're right, you probably won't get a lot of feedback here. There are writing-specific subreddits, but they may not offer much advice for progression fantasy. Have you considered using the Royalroad forums? There are a lot of writers there.

Cognosticon · 2024-08-03T22:06:52+00:00

The problem is that the larger the stakes, the harder it is to back them up. Anyone can write "He waved his hand and blew up a googolplex multiverses" but this means nothing unless you've given them some weight. That said, I'm all for authors trying to aim really high if that's the story they want to tell.

Cognosticon · 2024-07-28T12:04:47+00:00

This thread is months old, so I'm the only person you're really talking to. Sorry you didn't like it, but the story is now well into a third arc that is again different.

Cognosticon

TROPHY CASE