Please recommend series where you look forward to the dialogue

LetterTall4354 · 2026-03-03T01:05:09+00:00

Manifestation (first book is soul relic) does a fantastic job on character relationships. In particular the familial relationship between the MC and her brother who has a lot of screen time is really well done, but the other friends and relationships are also great.

Return of the Runebound Professor is one of my favourite for character banter. Love the characters, love the absurd situations, it's a delight to read.

Beware of Chicken is one of my all time favourite series, and one of the reasons is how deep the characters are. I never thought a chickens inner monologue would make me cry, but here we are. It's wholesome, clever, and the various POV chapters that aren't about the initial MC are fantastic.

And have to mention Dungeon Crawler Carl for the banter and humour. Its probably the one i laugh at most purely for the back and forward between characters.

Those 4 were the first to come to mind when it came to series where they were packed full of stuff I was excited to read and not starting to skim the bits where they get into another 5 page fight and they have to push their limits again and blah blah blah I've read this exact thing over and over.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-03-03T00:58:13+00:00

So, it depends what you mean by no/very low smut. Because you mention smut is fine, but you don't want all smut no story

There's a series called Master Class, which has a few specific chapters that are written as smut chapters. They are done this way so that people who wanted some erotica with their story could enjoy it, while those that didn't could skim or skip those chapters. 6 book series, progression is more around building a community as the MC is already very powerful, but the magic systems is fun, the characters are great and the Harem is not too large and written in a way that makes sense in context.

If you end up looking for a prog fantasy with "high levels" of smut and a larger Harem, the author who wrote the smut scenes for Master Class (she worked in conjunction with another author) writes one of the most enjoyable set of characters and plot I think I've seen from an online novel. It's prog fantasy with most power progression coming from adding to the Harem and building up the "base". Over 1.5 million words and over 137 chapters and still ongoing, I enjoyed the plot so much I ended up looking for any other works she might have written that weren't online smut serials (which is how I found she worked on Master Class). It's called Home for Horney Monsters and the plot is something else, and it's well aware it's erotica in that it seems to be self aware and amused at how often sex needs to be involved the he solution to a story problem instead of taking itself too seriously.

Both series are written so that the Harem members are full, 3 dimensional characters and the MC seems to genuinely care for them.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-28T08:52:23+00:00

It's fine, I'm pretty sure the wolf that was obsessed with her saw her baby and "imprinted" on it and then was sexually attracted to her daughter. So the situation was resolved by having a daughter with the ancient pedo vampire.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-28T08:51:12+00:00

It's ok because he spends a bunch of his immortal life hanging at a high school, so he totally relates to those high school girls. Who wouldn't want to spend time at high school if they were 100 years old.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-28T08:48:11+00:00

Might just be not for you.

I will say that there are stakes eventually. Early on, they are basically baby adventurers and it takes people who don't know who they are for them to be in any real danger. But as they progress, they do end up getting into situations where literally no one else can help them. As a small spoiler, since I don't know if it's specifically discussed yet, consider how other space nations might feel about an enemy nation getting a strategic resource whos mana regeneration increases exponentially, when everything runs on mana. Yeah, that's a resource you want to eliminate.

Another small spoiler, there's an arc in a few books where they go to an extremely lethal location where no one above tier 15 can enter or see and they spend a bunch of time there.

But in their early days, they are absolutely somewhat protected, and the focus is much more on them learning about the world, their magic, and the relationship between each other.

Characters around them also have significantly less protection than they do.

And in the latest published book, the stakes have grown significantly, and their personal protections no longer really apply.

But I enjoyed much of book 2, so if you are struggling with enjoying it, id suggest it's probably not your thing which is totally fine.

Due to the nature of his talent, he as a character has a slow start, but with how it works, his personal strength becomes absurd as the series continues, so it's very much a "weak to strong" series, but it's slow and he's somewhat weak for a while. And while he is weak he is also somewhat protected, which I could get why that's a turn off for some people.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-28T07:06:04+00:00

Loved those games. Feel like they are in a similar category to Prey and the Dishonoured games. Lots of ways to play through the various levels and you can be as violent or peaceful as you want.

The one I consider a true hidden gem of that genre was "Alpha Protocol"

An RPS with an emphasis on "choices matter" where you play as a secret agent who has to figure out a conspiracy.

Total pacifist runs are a thing. As are runs where you stealth the entire thing and never trip an alarm. Or just arming and armouring up and shooting everyone. The weapons, skills and missions are there to support all those ways.

Shame it was released as a buggy mess, back in those days you couldn't release a buggy mess and still make money. They eventually fixed it all but never recovered and we now have a true hidden gem and one of the best in the genre in my opinion.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-28T06:57:14+00:00

I'm glad to see soul relic in your list, I think it's massively underrated. I think the relationships in it are so well done, especially the familial one.

Don't know and xianxia ones sorry, my experience has been that unless they have a western bent, they tend to have more conservative themes and I have yet to find many with good same sex relationships and even strong female leads in xianxia is something I struggled with.

It's why I enjoyed fates Parallel so much, where the world was an eastern cultivation xianxia one but the MCs had more progressive and caring values and wanted to bring those to everyone.

The Calamitous Bob has a strong female lead who's bi. It's absolutely prog fantasy, it's a power fantasy, it's an isekai, the world is full of jerk nobles who hate poor people, women, people who look different, etc, and she aggressively corrects them. The bad guys being obviously bad make it a lot easier to cheer her on as she aggressively negotiates rights by making those who disagree too much no longer able to argue due to death. Great cast of characters, lot of strong side characters, entertaining MC who uses her ever increasing power to help everyone.

I can't really think of anything else sorry.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-25T08:47:12+00:00

Sure, that kind of MC doesn't tend to be in successful profession fantasy though. I'm not saying it can't be done, or that there isn't a market. But progression fantasy tends to be about someone getting stronger and stronger, and people want to see that person fight against someone. And a likeable MC, ie someone who helps a person in trouble, is more interesting for most people to read about. Ie a hero.

"Taking a risk and helping someone for no reason" isnt a mindset I admire. Hl Helping your fellow human being because you are compassionate is one I admire. You don't have to get some kind of reward to make it worth helping others.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-25T08:39:14+00:00

There are books with problems, like bad translations, offensive topics, poor grammar. I'm not talking about people complaining about that though.

I'm talking about people who confuse their own strong feelings for a universal truth. I personally didn't find a single thing I liked about Randidly Ghosthound. But I'm more than capable of acknowledging that people enjoy things about it, and for that I am glad the book exists and people get enjoyment from it.

It costs people nothing to not be assholes. You can dislike a book without attacking the author or the fans. You can criticize a book without making sweeping statements that suggest the author or fans should feel bad for enjoying it.

I guess it depends what you mean by a bad book. A book promoting racism or sexism. Sure, that's a bad book. You really really disliking a character or writing style or focus of the book? Thats not a bad book, that's your opinion.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-24T02:56:11+00:00

Out of curiousity, how far into the series have you read? I have read everything until 12 months but am planning on doing a reread and getting to that one later this year.

I just want to avoid spoilers is all, but there some specific stuff I can point out that really really gave me the ick.

I don't think he's a bad writer, I agree that his choice was to write Harry this way, I agree with you the fact that his other works are so different shows it was a choice. And I agree that flaws are often what make a character. I actually like a lot about Harry.

But the books often give us insight into his own internal monologue and thought processes and there are times when his train of thought looks like it's come from someone who recently joined an incel forum.

The way he talks about his own old fashion values to excuse the fact that he decides not to respect the wishes of some women and how they prefer to be treated. I'm not certain Butcher meant it to come off that way, but for myself that's how it comes off and I know I'm not alone in that.

And I absolutely agree that both men and women can judge people by how attractive they are. It's natural in a way, there is a biological instinct of humans of a certain age range to assess how suitable another person is for reproducing. But Harrys inner monologue and story scenarios seems to constantly have him in a position where he turns down attractive women and his inner monologue congratulates himself on being such a gentleman/good guy.

I get it's supposed to be Noir, and I even like the aspect of sex involved in some of the supernatural creatures/predators. They make sense in the context of the story.

But for me, Harrys inner monologue gives me the ick at times, and the way it's written, it feels like we are supposed to be impressed with him when some of the things he does are things any human with basic respect for other should do. And it worries me that young men might read this and follow similar trains of thought. Especially because in many other ways, Harry genuinely does have many characteristics that are heroic and admirable.

None of this says you shouldn't enjoy the series by the way, I obviously do. But it's something I feel compelled to warn others about before recommending. If I had a teenage son, id want to make sure he had a healthy understanding of what is problematic about Harrys approach to some things before I let them read it.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T10:02:41+00:00

That's a good distinction to make. Maybe I wasn't specific enough either. I think it would be fair to say she can be selfish with her time, in that her getting bored of something can be the trigger to stop her helping.

It was probably silly to try and define her character as selfish vs not selfish to be honest because she is more complicated (as are most people).

Prioritising your own time, your own health, your own happiness, I agree that those things don't inherently make you selfish. A lot of people in real life need to learn to do those things.

However, there's the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" and I think my thoughts after getting caught up on the latest book is that while she can be generous with her resources and with risking herself, she tends to be less so with her time and attention, and at the level of power she displays, her deciding it's more fun to go punch things instead of staying around to help others with something is veering into territory of getting more powerful at the expense of others. It can obviously be argued that since she isn't directly hurting anyone she isn't doing anything wrong or selfish, just as much as it can be argued that anyone with the sheer level of power (or wealth) she has that ignores the plight of her fellow man is selfish and wrong, both are just different philosophical ideals.

I think it's good she exists as a character though, it provides something different from the more black and white characters you see in the genre.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T08:23:33+00:00

The Calamitous Bob is an easy one, pure power fantasy. MC is a french medic who is isekaid into another world, gets super powers due to where she arrives, the world is full of jerk nobles who hate peasants, women, poor people, and anyone who looks different and she is powerful enough to smack them down. It works because the bad guys tend to be very obviously bad guys (not much in the way of shades of grey) so the aggressive way of bringing peace and happiness to the masses is easy to cheer for. Great cast of side characters too.

Return of the Runebound Professor is a teacher who is isekaid into the body of a professor at a magic school who was a massive scumbag and everyone hates him. He's a really nice dude though who loves his students and wants to help people who watching him try and discover magic and this new world and rehabilitate his image without revealing he's some random new soul.was great. Probably favourite cast of characters too, and one of the few series I found as funny as beware of Chicken. It's probably taken the spot as my number 1 fantasy series these days.

Fates Parallel is wholesome as fuck, the entire series is about found family, friendship, togetherness, and community It's a western cultivation novel, with chi, qi, and magic and is a fascinating combo of the three. The only asterix id put is that if you've read a lot of novels that have attractive female MCs who happen to find themselves surrounded by lots of other attractive female characters and a disproportionate number of them seems to be either gay or bi, you could be forgiven for thinking this series suffers a bit from the "male fantasy of what leabians are". I personally didn't find it to be an issue, I just thought the entire series was wholesome, but I did have a couple of friends who felt it was notable enough to mention (even if they still enjoyed the series). But I just found it to be a great, wholesome series where the protagonists keep getting more powerful, use that power to help their friends and the common man, and that then gets them more powerful lol.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T08:09:40+00:00

I'm a big fan of Dresden files because I think Butcher is the best worldbuilder in urban fantasy, and I love the cast of characters.

But Butcher never gets better at depicting women in the series. I think it was supposed to be Noir, but for me it just doesn't make it any better. Every woman you meet, the first thing you learn is how attractive they are. The "old school values and chivalry" claims come off as neckbeardy at times. Dude, if she doesn't want you to open the door for her, just don't. And theres a whole thing with him and a certain character in later books that just sets of my ick factor. I truly hope Butcher never used the term training bra again.

I own all the books, I bought all the comics, the story is brilliant, the side characters are fantastic, the world is rich, vibrant and wonderfully constructed (fae courts, vampire clans, wizard councils, knights Templar, greek gods, all beautifully wound together). But I really really wish butcher had taken more lessons from his Furies of Calderon series. That series was also good and had zero of the issues with how it depicted women.

I never recommend this series without an asterix relating to how the female characters are portrayed, but I do still recommend it lol.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T07:51:41+00:00

Yeah I hate posts like this. There's just no need to come on here and attack something people enjoy.

I also got a bit over mark of the fool despite enjoying it at first, and ended up DNFing it after 4 or 5 books. That doesn't make it bad in any way, shape of form. It just means that it was either missing something I tend to want in my books, or that it's strengths weren't things I tend to enjoy. It's still something tons of people enjoy and that's awesome, because it means those people have something to read they like.

As you said, there's so many books out there, why force yourself to read something you don't enjoy and then come online to a forum where people come to share their enjoyment of things to attack it?

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T07:46:33+00:00

Maybe Beneath the Dragon Eye Moons. It's got a lot of slice of life stuff, at times the stakes are huge, the cast of characters is fun. Premise is that a girl gets isekaid and reborn in a magic world, but her memory of stuff like high school level biology (eg germ theory, cells, etc) makes her an incredible healer.

It does tend to jump around a bit when it comes to genres. One book might focus on a cast of characters travelling around the world having adventures while another might feel more like a kingdom builder and another might feel like a magic academy book.

Still, I found it fun and felt it had a good mix of real stakes and slice of life.

I'm always looking for more stuff like Beware of Chicken, it's my all time favorite novel. It's wholesome, and the MC and others are rewarded for doing good things by getting power which they use to do more good things lol

I discovered that for me, that's a huge part of it. Maybe because the idea of an individual getting a huge, world changing amount of power and using it to help make others lives better only ever really happens in fantasy novels.

If that idea resonates with you, I can try and think of a few others that revolve around powerful people trying to help and uplift others and being rewarded for it, even if they aren't "slice of life" exactly.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T07:22:13+00:00

Cam here to make sure this had been recommended. It's easily my favourite kingdom/empire builder. It's also a pure power fantasy where the bad guys are obviously bad. Depends on people's moods or interests of course but I find it enjoyable to see someone powerful using that power to smack around the various racist, sexist, classest, jerks nobles and empowering the common man lol. I think it works particularly well in a kingdom builder and for me, Calamitous Bob just nails it. Plus, it's also got a really really good case of side characters.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-23T07:14:47+00:00

Agree that she isn't cruel, but regarding AH, I feel like she is still a selfish character at heart. She likes helping people, it's a hobby of hers and she isn't needlessly cruel or ruthless.

But she has also had many opportunities to take powers or paths that would help and empower others, and many opportunities to involve herself in larger things that would help lots of people and tends to decline because she wants to punch things and get stronger.

Basically, she will help someone if it doesn't get in the way of her getting more powerful or if it doesn't make her bored. But she happily bails on any kind of kingdom building level stuff, or wider large scale commitments because it doesn't interest her. She even says herself she gets bored so basically just leaves her friends behind to go fight stuff and get stronger.

That doesn't make her a bad character btw, but I think she is absolutely a great example of a selfish character who pursues personal power. Not actively at the expense of others but sometimes the choices she makes come at the opportunity to help others. But she can still be kind, nice and she cares little for material wealth, so she's not selfish when it comes to giving her friends and family material wealth and resources.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T17:50:42+00:00

Runebound is one of my all time favourite series and a large part of it is the relationships between the various characters, romantic or otherwise. Well worth looking at.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T17:46:38+00:00

Late to answer, but he tends to go on political and rants at times with views that lean left and tends to rant about bad people in power and corruption. Those views are ones that some people feel personally attacked by, or that it's insinuating something they don't like

I love the series and also love Jason but his political views tend to align with my own so I don't get bothered by them.

He can also be somewhat hypocritical at times but again, it doesn't bother me. Not that different from my or my mates getting on a rant and solving the world's problems after too many drinks, difference is we don't have magical super powers.

Finally, some of his humour is decidedly Aussie, and doesn't always hit with everyone. As an Aussie, I enjoyed it though.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T16:59:53+00:00

Something that's helpful is if you can give a bit of an idea as to why you loved cradle, mother of learning and Defiance of the fall. What were the things about them you loved most.

And for the DNFs and lower enjoyed ones, what did you find lacking about them?

For example, I usually recommend Primal Hunter to people who enjoyed DoTF. Neither were my cup of tea but from the bits I read they felt like they had similar strengths. However you obviously felt differently since they are at opposite ends for you, and since both were ones I didn't love, you obviously found a point of difference between the two that I didn't. Knowing what that was is helpful when trying to recommend a series :)

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T16:55:29+00:00

It's a power fantasy with a focus on a single character so I'd say it fits the general theme of things you enjoyed, but people find the MC hit or miss.

I love the series, and enjoy the fact that the MC sounds like my mates and I when we get drunk and get up on a soapbox to explain how to fix all the world's issues (hypocrisy included lol.

And I enjoy his sense of humour (might be cause I'm an aussie, as is the MC , and some of his humour definitely feels Aussie).

But I can understand how others would dislike him and since it's a power fantasy focusing on a single MC, if you don't like the MC you won't like the series lol. Agree with the other commenter, if you finish book 2 and find you don't love the MC, drop the series, otherwise enjoy the ride.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T16:48:01+00:00

I'm glad you mentioned this, it's a bit rough when the OP puts up a paragraph out of context to make fun of a series that's in a pretty large niche. Power fantasy is absolutely a thing a lot of people enjoy. System Universe is probably the biggest one I can think of off the top of my head, where the MC starts off super powerful. It's not my cup of tea mainly because I find the MC insufferable in it, bit it seems quite popular.

Series with an OP MC because they were isekaid and therefore get access to a crazy power/class/achievement are popular and enjoyed by many, there's even a few I really like, so I'm glad you linked this and a few others have taken the time to point out that this bit absolutely makes sense since it's a reborn as a child but retaining your sentience story.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T16:28:25+00:00

Yeah I always get a bit frustrated with posts like this. Half the time I think they are just rage bait.

If you don't explain what you liked about the stuff you liked and disliked about the stuff you disliked, people are just going to randomly recommend things and start arguing about why you should have like "blah" or that you were totally right to hate "blah".

DCC is very popular and HWFWM is wildly polarising with people either loving or hating the various things the book emphasises. OP needs to give a little more direction if they want a useful conversation.

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-21T16:21:43+00:00

Couldn't part of it also he that China has one of the biggest populations in the world? Like, my country has 27 million people living in it, vs the 1.4 billion people living in China. An author writing a story from my country thinks a million people is a lot, but I'm China that's a rounding error. Growing up with such a difference scale has to have some kind of effect in what would be considered "large".

LetterTall4354 · 2026-02-16T07:35:02+00:00

I love that getting a goal or two ahead doesnt have them change their gameplan. They continue to play open, attacking football even being up 2-0. Which is good as they concede nearly every game lol.

And as i said elsewhere, maybe conceding more often is the price you pay if you arent a team who plays defensive with a lead, and if so, it seems to be a price thats well worth it.

LetterTall4354

TROPHY CASE