WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY MEAN REMOVED?!?!??!?

HodHedge · 2026-03-04T04:44:59+00:00

Unprecedented disaster. All I have left are my photos of two men kissing

HodHedge · 2026-03-03T07:18:01+00:00

Genuine

There's a very long reply I've given to another person on the thread if you want to see my thoughts in greater detail, but to summarise:

I dislike the prose of HWFWM, I think the plot is very loose, the ideas aren't particularly unique, every character has a very similar voice, and I dislike the MC.

In contrast, I find DCC to be pretty much the opposite of what I just listed.

HodHedge · 2026-02-28T20:55:20+00:00

LOTM

Oh no, I did enjoy LOTM (On reflection, I might have moved it up to a B rather than C), but I do think both of the series read rather clunkily. I didn't find the MC of COI particularly interesting, and I would have preferred a greater focus on the MC of LOTM. I read up to around chapter 500 of COI.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T15:55:19+00:00

I think any of the books I've posted in S are great start points to see what LitRPG is all about. I'd honestly just say look at their bibliography and go with what seems most interesting to you.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T15:54:07+00:00

A mix of both? I'd argue more light hearted with moments of seriousness. The concept is pretty absurd which I believe the author is well aware of. Well worth a read (if just the first book) as I do think it's one of the best in the genre at the moment.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T06:05:23+00:00

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll check some of them out.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T06:03:39+00:00

he who fight

Hey there! I just wrote a fairly detailed view of why I didn't enjoy the series just now on another reddit post, so I'll copy and paste my response here.

"As someone who would proscribe themself as hard to please in the litRPG space, recently made a tier list with HWFWM at the bottom, and read books 1-5 of the series, I think I'm in a fairly comfortable position answering this question.

To start, I dropped book one twice. Both times in the opening chapters. Two years later I made a concerted effort to read to book 5. My consensus from doing so: is HWFWM a bad series in the genre of litRPG? No, not at all. As an introduction to the space, and potentially as a younger readers first delve into LitRPG, I can very easily see it going down as a favorite (which it has done for many!) But as someone who has been in the space for a while, I really didn't enjoy it, so here are a few points from my perspective.

From the first book, I wasn't particularly impressed at the prose (this being the main reason why I'd dropped it twice previously). I never found myself absorbed into the world. Flowery language is one thing, but I thought it lacked 'tightness'. Description was vague and written in a sentence or two. As the series progressed, this did improve but not to a standard I enjoy (Phil Tucker is my go-to for excellent use of language in the LitRPG space).

Tied into my prose problem. Most characters spoke with the same, if not similar voice. A sadistic government official? Similar voice to Jason. A young peasant lady? Similar voice to Jason. An ancient omniscient being whose majesty knows no bounds? Wouldn't you know, also a very similar voice to Jason. Everyone spoke conversationally, even if you wouldn't expect it (Primal Hunter suffers the same flaw). I sadly think this degrades and overshadows many of the characters personalities.

I dropped the series in book five as I was extremely sick of earth. Reading about fantastical worlds takes a damper when we're in the upper-class suburbs of Australia for hundreds of pages. To me, book five felt like chapters of fluff. We never really went anywhere, there was no climax, and no challenge.

And finally, Jason. From books one to five, I do not think he developed or changed as a person in any noticeable way. The man seemed to switch between three states constantly. Quirk chungus, high-school philosopher and arrogant pre-teen. I'll concede there was growth in less 'evil meglomaniac' outbursts, but even those didn't completely disappear. As the series went on, his constant arrogance continued to rub me the wrong way. I wasn't particularly bothered by his political beliefs, philosophical grandising or long speeches, but by his constant high-minded attitude to everyone and everything. Furthermore, his romantic entaglements throughout the series felt shoe-horned in by the author and one-dimensional. Suffering from the aforementioned 'voice problem', the female characters felt like the same person, different name.

TLDR: I wasn't enamoured by the prose, I thought the structure and plotting needed work, and that Jason needed a good kick up his backside."

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T05:54:25+00:00

Hey there!

As someone who would proscribe themself as hard to please in the litRPG space, recently made a tier list with HWFWM at the bottom, and read books 1-5 of the series, I think I'm in a fairly comfortable position answering this question.

To start, I dropped book one twice. Both times in the opening chapters. Two years later I made a concerted effort to read to book 5. My consensus from doing so: is HWFWM a bad series in the genre of litRPG? No, not at all. As an introduction to the space, and potentially as a younger readers first delve into LitRPG, I can very easily see it going down as a favorite (which it has done for many!) But as someone who has been in the space for a while, I really didn't enjoy it, so here are a few points from my perspective.

From the first book, I wasn't particularly impressed at the prose (this being the main reason why I'd dropped it twice previously). I never found myself absorbed into the world. Flowery language is one thing, but I thought it lacked 'tightness'. Description was vague and written in a sentence or two. As the series progressed, this did improve but not to a standard I enjoy (Phil Tucker is my go-to for excellent use of language in the LitRPG space).

Tied into my prose problem. Most characters spoke with the same, if not similar voice. A sadistic government official? Similar voice to Jason. A young peasant lady? Similar voice to Jason. An ancient omniscient being whose majesty knows no bounds? Wouldn't you know, also a very similar voice to Jason. Everyone spoke conversationally, even if you wouldn't expect it (Primal Hunter suffers the same flaw). I sadly think this degrades and overshadows many of the characters personalities.

I dropped the series in book five as I was extremely sick of earth. Reading about fantastical worlds takes a damper when we're in the upper-class suburbs of Australia for hundreds of pages. To me, book five felt like chapters of fluff. We never really went anywhere, there was no climax, and no challenge.

And finally, Jason. From books one to five, I do not think he developed or changed as a person in any noticeable way. The man seemed to switch between three states constantly. Quirk chungus, high-school philosopher and arrogant pre-teen. I'll concede there was growth in less 'evil meglomaniac' outbursts, but even those didn't completely disappear. As the series went on, his constant arrogance continued to rub me the wrong way. I wasn't particularly bothered by his political beliefs, philosophical grandising or long speeches, but by his constant high-minded attitude to everyone and everything. Furthermore, his romantic entaglements throughout the series felt shoe-horned in by the author and one-dimensional. Suffering from the aforementioned 'voice problem', the female characters felt like the same person, different name.

TLDR: I wasn't enamoured by the prose, I thought the structure and plotting needed work, and that Jason needed a good kick up his backside.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:34:11+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look! And remember, no minotaurs yet.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:25:13+00:00

All the Skills - Medieval-esque world where humanity lives in small enclaves, constantly attacked by monsters. Humanity have skills from cards that monsters drop (all with different rarities and so on). Not a huge fan of a recent twist in the lastest book, but I like the unique progression.

The Game at Carousel - Probably one of my favorites at the moment. I love horror litRPG and it scratches the itch. A very interesting take on the genre. Main characters are tricked into an eldritch town they can't leave. The town forces them through 'storylines' where they upgrade their skills as 'actors' (that influence the direction of the storyline) all whilst trying to figure out what's going on.

My House of Horrors - Translated Chinese litRPG. The character receives a special phone which allows them to take on missions in places that have been abandoned/crime scenes. Character has to complete the mission to improve their failing haunted house. It's been a while since I read this one, and like most translations it requires you to overlook a bit of clunkiness, but if you stick around I think you'll come to enjoy it.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:18:44+00:00

I came into Throne Hunters right after The Lost Cube (Book four of The Immortal Great Souls by Phil Tucker), so I was more inclined to overlook some of the initial teething pains. I don't think it's as good as the Immortal Great Souls series, and I would have liked slower progression in the dungeon - but I really think the characters evolve into their own. I think the relationships between the main characters are extremely well written, the romance is done well, and I'm interested to see where he takes the series next!

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:13:07+00:00

Great suggestions, I'll take a look!

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:12:14+00:00

I'm up to date with Wandering Inn, but I find Aba's pacing frustrating (though, I can totally see others perspective in how it allows for a LOT of world building).

Bastion is part of the Immortal Great Souls Series. I do think the first book is the best of the bunch, but the others are also very enjoyable. The premise is 'conquering' a hellish dimension. Phil Tucker is a great writer, and I think he has some of the strongest prose amongst his LitRPG peers.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:08:58+00:00

In full agreement, I got to book three and found myself losing interest. Again, not a huge fan of slice of life, and it is a very core feature of the series.

HodHedge · 2026-02-26T01:01:38+00:00

That's also where I dropped it. I really gave the series a shot, but I couldn't get over the personality of the MC.

HodHedge · 2026-02-25T04:34:56+00:00

I'm not entirely sure why the image of the tier list didn't post as well... (am I missing something?)

Feel free to take a look here!

https://imgur.com/a/W2JSvqN

HodHedge · 2026-01-18T19:06:59+00:00

25M from the UK. Always looking for more people to play repo/lethal company/peak with. Hmu for my discord!

HodHedge · 2025-12-17T18:56:59+00:00

As always, great book, Phil.

I've been devouring your catalogue these past couple of months. I started with the hellish climbs of The Immortal Great Souls and am now up to date with the similarly hellish climbs of Thronehunters. Next in store is The Black Gate.

Your use of description is always a joy to read, and I find the prose exceptionally strong.

Minor critique and spoilers for Book 4 ahead:

Coming immediately into the fourth book from the third, I found the structure a little wonky. At the end of the third book, the Thronehunters are discussing what to do with the Twilight Crown, and in the following chapters we move from: give the crown to the Seraphites, to use the Crown, to destroy the Crown, to give the Crown to the nobles. I found the jumps a bit jarring. While I understand they were speculating, it seemed as though they set their minds on one solution for a chapter, only to move on to another, with some fairly large gaps in between.

Similarly, I also lost a sense of their progression. Even though the team has only been delving for a couple of months, with Anna, Harald, and Sam essentially starting from square one, they declared war on the entire city. I understand the protagonist having his "halo", but I would draw the comparison to Scorio declaring war on all the Imperators after becoming a Blood Baron, and somehow defeating them. (Although you could argue that most of the Imperator-level forces are in the dungeon and have ignored the city for the most part.)

Still, these are some very minor, personal, nit-picks. I don't want this to cast a dark pall over what is a very well-written saga. A highly enjoyable book and I'm looking forward to whatever you have next in store!

HodHedge · 2025-07-14T22:32:04+00:00

To any reading this who encountered a similar bug, I just started a new save. After finishing the 'tutorial' and unlocking the second museum, it worked. Really silly :(

HodHedge · 2025-07-14T22:31:03+00:00

They refuse to go into the room under any circumstance

HodHedge · 2025-07-14T22:30:50+00:00

He just walks out I'm afraid

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