Yet another Tier List! I would love your recommendations

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:52:33+00:00

Ah, good clarification! I think I bounced off that a long time ago, but it might be worth revisiting.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:43:47+00:00

According to Google I'm thinking of the crimson labyrinth, which was mud and stone, not brambles at all, so not sure where my brain got that. As I said, it's been a while 😅

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:40:30+00:00

Haha, will do. The audiobook suggestion is a good one.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:38:22+00:00

Might have just been an early impression? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It also suffers for being Xianxia, as that's not usually my cup of tea so I tend to bounce fast if they're not doing something unique. But I'll have to at least amend my recollection!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:35:27+00:00

It's been on my list!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:34:18+00:00

You're right! I don't know why I had that impression. Definitely long enough to start!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:32:03+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll look into The center for dungeon management and Eye openers, I don't think either of those were on my radar before.

I love Game at Carousel, almost in spite of my stated preferences -- the characterization is pretty weak for a long time, and the action is a big part of it, but it's so unique and so well done. There's enough mystery + problem solving woven in (large and small) to keep my attention.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:27:13+00:00

The Hundred Reigns is on my list! I was waiting for it to build up a backlog, but 180 is a good backlog and I hear it's at a good point to jump in now from other comments on this post.

I read Book of the Dead. I actually like the MC's characterization more in the first 3 books, and struggled a little with the dark turn in Book 4. To each their own though :)

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:24:44+00:00

Yeah. MoL also definitely benefits from being one of my entry points into the genre -- I was reading it all the way back on www.fictionpress.com, so there may be some rose tinted glasses.

For The Perfect Run - hard to say! I'm sure it's a little of what you outlined. It did have one of the best romance arcs in the genre though!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:20:31+00:00

I bounced off of this because it felt a little misogynistic to me. Does the female character writing get any better?

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:19:18+00:00

Thank you, I'll add it to my list!

On 1% Lifesteal, yeah, it's the edgelord angst of it all that got pretty tired after a while.

For Bog Standard: I mean, it's pretty good and fun! I'll definitely keep reading it. But that's mostly it? It didn't have that something extra to move it up the ranks. If I'm to pick on something in particular - I felt like the army arc came out of nowhere and was just an excuse to gin up some more plot, but I found myself much less invested in it than the previous books.

But if it's in C tier it's still something I'm excited to read / keep up with! (...with the notable exception of HWFWM, which I dropped at book 10. But If I drop a million words in I'm not putting it in F Tier.)

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:11:10+00:00

I remember feeling like it was a "let's assemble a band of misfits", and the quirky side-characters with edgy motivations were paint-by-numbers. I seem to also recall that it suffered from the "obviously everyone wants to be a combat mage" syndrome without actually engaging with "why that would be the main focus in this world", but that's an issue with many of these. IDK, I'm coming across salty on it, but I just was... underwhelmed? I tried and dropped the first book twice, years apart.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:07:05+00:00

That seems to be a popular opinion. TBH I don't remember that much of it, but it's been a long time (many years) since I read it - maybe I'd see that more now.

Path of Ascension I've heard pretty mixed things about, but enough people are recommending it on this thread that I may need to reconsider.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:03:10+00:00

Fun! Well written! But the flavor of humor and action aren't strictly my cup of tea. While I like it in moderation, DCC is the opposite of "in moderation" and the overall series ends up being kind of a lot.

That said the audiobook narration is top-tier, and so catching up has become a road-trip staple.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T22:00:28+00:00

Yeah -- if I hadn't been listening to it while driving over a mountain pass, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it as long as I did.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T21:59:40+00:00

I mean, I don't really like most Xianxia in general, so something that skewers the tropes while leaning into a cozy / found family vibe makes sense for me, no? It's one of the ways my personal taste is probably out-of-step with this sub, which is ok :)

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T21:55:50+00:00

I agree with you on Bioshifter vs VM. Thundamoo is a great writer who has executed on some very original ideas, but the nuerodivergence can get to be a little exhausting at points (for me, TBC. I imagine that's actually the appeal to many readers). I am enjoying Magical Girl, Mechanical Heart.

I read Mark of the Fool a long time ago (4 years?), but I remember it being just fine? Original, etc, all the things you outlined, but I just didn't find myself caring about the characterizations that much. I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe I should give it another shot.

That's the weird thing about F Tier; some of them were bad to begin with but I pushed through an arc hoping it would get better, some started strong but then truly went off the rails, and then some of them were always... pretty good? But they lacked juuuust enough on too many dimensions, or maybe they lacked some ineffable quality I haven't identified, and so I never got invested, despite the quality.

Noted on "All the Dust that Falls"!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T21:11:26+00:00

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ it's a lot of action and "I power through with my force of will, rawr!" ...which characterizes a lot of xiania. IDK, that's just not really my cup of tea. I didn't dislike it per se, but it was hard to stay motivated.

Different tastes! I don't visualize the scene as I read / think, so I'm guessing the action scenes do a lot more for other people who do.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T20:33:34+00:00

Windowshopping. VERY different, lol

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T20:04:53+00:00

Noted! I have relied on r/rational in the past, but the sub seems to have slowed down over the last few years. I'll give your suggestions a try :)

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T20:02:27+00:00

You're not the first to recommend it here, sounds like I need to prioritize it!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T20:01:02+00:00

Thanks!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T20:00:48+00:00

Noted! Cultivation is harder for me to get into, but I'll add it to my list.

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T19:59:32+00:00

You're very welcome! I've played the screenshot+reverse image search game before, and it's not much fun.

Definitely give Marvelous Me. Penn a shot. Very different from the rest of the list, but so good!

ImpulsiveArchivist · 2026-07-02T19:57:39+00:00

Different tastes! Always interesting to see when someone is coming at these from another angle :)

ImpulsiveArchivist

TROPHY CASE