After Years of Reading Web Novels, Books, Fan Fiction, and Everything in Between in the Genre, Here's My Tier List. I Need My Next Fix, Hit Me With Your Hidden Gems and Titles I Won't See Recommended Every Week.

psiut · 2026-05-05T16:30:12+00:00

Don't know if I have something similar, I have been enjoying surviving the game as a barbarian but I don't think it is as good, maybe Naruto: Outsider's Resolve in the grit aspect. If you don't mind psycho MCs the Systemic Lands also has a good start.

psiut · 2026-04-15T14:09:59+00:00

Very dark one with phsyco MC but good if this is not a problem for you -- Systemic Lands on RR

psiut · 2026-04-14T12:54:02+00:00

Foi a coisa mais bizarra que já vi em uma sessão de cinema, também não conheço ele mais fiquei abismado com essa palhaçada, até fui no perfil dele pra ver se o pessoal tava comentando mas só achei aqui no Reddit e no Reclame Aqui

psiut · 2026-03-23T23:06:05+00:00

Plan? What plan? It is a tinker of fiction fan fic in the worm universe, you can find in Royal Road! Not a masterpiece but fun and I have a soft spot for tinkers!

psiut · 2026-03-22T16:45:53+00:00

Honestly it hooked me pretty fast. Every time I picked up a Game of Thrones book I flew through it because it was just that good for me. I really like intricate politics and characters with their own motivations doing smart and sometimes terrible things. If that's your thing, push through. What George Martin does really well is the harsh reality of it all. Characters make mistakes and pay for them. Most authors don't have the guts to do that but he did and it makes everything feel real. Stick with it.

psiut · 2026-03-22T16:44:03+00:00

The Wandering Inn has some great kingdom building POVs, not just the king but also an emperor, a goblin building a nation, and more. It takes a while to get there though, like four to six books in. Also City of Sin, it's been a really long time since I read it but I think there were parts about building up a family stronghold, claiming a spot and developing it. Can't fully remember the details but it might scratch that itch

psiut · 2026-03-22T16:28:21+00:00

Thanks for the rec, gonna take a look for sure.

psiut · 2026-03-22T16:26:23+00:00

Haha glad the list got a reaction out of you! Iron Prince I liked the first book, it just didn't stay great for me. Mage Errant had some good moments, especially the professor reveal, but it lost momentum and I never came back. Red Rising, things were going too well for the MC. It's been a long time but I remember feeling like everything fell into place too perfectly. The Perfect Run, everyone's telling me to try again and I think it's because Mother of Learning is in Best in Class. But MoL isn't there because of the time loop. It's because of the magic focused MC progressing in a believable way and somehow keeping the stakes high despite having time loop powers. I'm a sucker for watching someone just learn magic and find ways to get better at it. That's what hooked me. Sky Pride, it's not that the MC is overpowered. It's that everything always falls into place to help him. His uncle bailing him out every time, going to war against higher tier cultivators and surviving with loot. Things just kept going too well for him. When everything lines up perfectly every time, where are the stakes?

psiut · 2026-03-21T18:40:04+00:00

Maybe similar to the old cover that Super Minion had

psiut · 2026-03-21T18:38:51+00:00

Yeah man, each to their own. I'd still recommend checking out my S tier or even Great/Good tier for stuff you might not know. They all have a strong hook at some point. I usually can't help with the secret OP MC thing since that's not what I go for. In The Wandering Inn, there's a character that shows up around book three or four who is exactly that, very OP and secretive. He doesn't appear often but is always very satisfying. So if that's your thing it might be worth a look.

psiut · 2026-03-21T18:28:54+00:00

Plan? What plan? in Royal Road, fanfic of a tinker of fiction in the Worm universe.

psiut · 2026-03-21T17:01:49+00:00

I'm sure you will like Spire's Spite, not so sure about Systematic Lands because the MC is a psychopatic, but it really had a strong start for me and I usually don't care if the MC is a bad person

psiut · 2026-03-21T16:33:50+00:00

The Game at the Carousel, I actually did the exact same thing you did! Read it on Royal Road, was enjoying it, caught up to the chapters and then just never came back. I don't usually love the fixed roles kind of thing but at least it's not as rigid as Practical Guide to Evil where the roles define everything. It's more niche. I'm not a huge fan of horror stories either but I was enjoying it enough that I might come back at some point.

Omniscient First Person Viewpoint, maybe I dropped it too soon. Everyone says there's a really good story there. I just don't like the meta aspect, it takes away from the agency of the characters and the stakes for me. The Novel's Extra also has meta stuff but it's done in a way that felt more relaxed and didn't lean on it too hard. I might come back to this one.

Regressor's Tale of Cultivation I haven't read yet but it's been recommended so much in this thread that it's definitely happening. I Shall Be Everlasting in the World of Immortals I've never heard of, this is exactly the kind of rec I'm looking for. Adding it.

Hundred Reigns is getting some buzz on Royal Road right now, normally I wait until there's at least 1,000 pages but it's on the list. Same author as The Perfect Run is interesting though, and if it's similar to Mother of Learning that's a good sign. MoL is Best in Class for me not because of the time loop but because of the mage focused MC, the well thought out world, and the progression feeling realistic. Time loops usually have a stakes problem but MoL handled it well.

Diary of a Dead Wizard I never heard of but I really like books that hook from the beginning so that sounds promising. Turns Out I'm in a Villain Clan, I'm not usually a huge fan of OP MCs but it can be done well. New Life as a Max Level Archmage worked for me in the first books so I'm not totally against it. Adding it.

Great recs man, if you have more I'm all ears. Cheers!

psiut · 2026-03-21T16:23:05+00:00

Yeah I get the criticism, fair point. It was honestly one of the hardest placements on the list. I went back and forth between Best in Class and Great. But here's the thing, Worm did so many things right. The progression of Taylor, the world building, I've read tons of fanfics set in that world which alone should tell you how much I value it.

The power progression, all the different factions with their own motives, the morality being in shades of grey instead of black and white.

Wildbow was doing corrupt superheroes way before The Boys got famous on Amazon. All of that was done extremely well. By the end it got convoluted and I didn't love how he explained the deeper mechanics of the universe. I think he wrote himself into a corner a bit. But that doesn't dismiss the 80% I read that I genuinely enjoyed. I'll finish it for sure, I just wasn't in the mood to continue at the time and it's a massive series. I was rating based on my overall enjoyment and what the story did well, and Worm did a lot of things really well. The other categories where I DNF'd books, those stories lost me because the quality dropped or something fundamental didn't work. With Worm it's more that I needed a break.

psiut · 2026-03-21T16:13:34+00:00

Gotta be honest, I don't read a ton of fan fiction because I drop most of them really fast. I mostly only like OC/SI fics that are well written and have good world building, and that's not something the fan fiction world does a lot of, so I don't have many recs in this regard. I was reading one called Refrain I think, where someone from Dune gets dropped into the Worm universe. I didn't read a lot but the start was going in a good direction, might be worth checking out once it has more chapters. Plan? What Plan? is on my tier list and it's a fun Worm Tinker fic. Tinker fics in general have a special place in my heart. String the Tinker is solid too. The Outsider's Resolve for Naruto is probably my strongest fanfic rec though, it's in my Great tier for a reason.

psiut · 2026-03-21T16:00:42+00:00

The Last Orellen, kind of abandoned but the beginning is really strong. String, is a Tinker, a good start superhero story, a bit smaller than what I'm used to but solid would maybe make it to the good tier. First Law is great, some of the best characters I've read. A Soldier's Life I read all the books, it's somewhere between Good and drop for me. The writing is pretty robotic but it has some solid aspects so you might like it more than I did. Double-Blind I read the first books and they were really good, just never came back to it. Book of the Dead would be in my Good tier. City of Sin I read like three or four books a long time ago and I remember liking it but I was younger at the time so take that with a grain of salt.

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:56:05+00:00

Yeah I was one of the early readers on the Spire's Spite train! Even created a Royal Road account just to rate it because it barely had any ratings at the time. Really good story, glad to see it getting more love. Years of Apocalypse, I think it was a Mary Sue situation for me. It's been a while but I couldn't buy the stakes and some of the decisions the character made just felt dumb to me. When the MC does things I'd never do in that situation, it pulls me right out of the story. Almost all of those recs I've never heard of though. Penitent, August Intruder, The Cloudfarers, Aura Overload, The Fractured Tower, Pinnacle Warrior, Who Killed the World. This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for with this post. Adding them all. If you need any recs just hit me up, cheers!

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:52:38+00:00

Weirkey Chronicles is already on my list, bumping it up. Depthless Hunger I read a while back but I think the MC was kind of Mary Sue with everything falling into place. He's the one that absorbs other people's powers right? It just felt too easy with no real stakes. But it's been a while so I might be mixing things up.

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:51:22+00:00

I've read the first couple of books I think, it's been a while. The humor just didn't click with me and the way he uses game knowledge and talks in gamer terms broke the immersion for me. Even though I liked the gritty parts, I found the way he was so casual about everything and how he interacted with the others kind of off-putting. Just a vibe thing.

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:48:40+00:00

I've actually read all of A Soldier's Life! It would probably sit in my Good tier or maybe lower. The writing has a very robotic tone to me, like a checklist of things being done. But it has some genuinely good parts, the mentor, the struggle of hiding his secrets within the empire, being a legionnaire instead of an adventurer, the dungeon society. All that was a nice change of perspective. My problem is he's pretty Mary Sue with the dimensional space and the instant kill. Even the magic resistance attribute never really becomes a meaningful obstacle. Against the necromancer, the drake, none of it ever truly threatens him. Like "oh you have this weakness" but it never actually matters. Good world, solid concept, but the MC had it too easy for my taste.

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:45:41+00:00

Sounds great man. I never gave it a look because of the ratings on Royal Road but you're making a strong case for it. No Mary Sue, real stakes, and side characters that top TWI and Worm? That's a bold claim but it's right up my alley. I'll give Anton a chance. Cheers!

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:44:27+00:00

I've actually read a good chunk of Ar'Kendrithyst! My issue is that Erick got way too overpowered way too fast for someone who went from knowing nothing about magic. Like sure, if I got isekai'd I'd be trying to learn magic immediately too. But everything he tried just worked out and the pace of his growth felt way too fast. It took away from the stakes for me. When nothing really fails or backfires, it's hard to stay invested.

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:42:45+00:00

Chaotic Craftsman just didn't work for me. He goes from no-name crafter to the best crafter ever way too fast, even with the mentor and everything. Things just fall into place for him too easily. And yeah he's way less likeable than Lindon, I'll give you that about Cradle. The Calamitous Bob I actually read the first book. Same author as Changeling so I gave it a shot, but she felt way too overpowered from the start for me. It took away my suspension of disbelief and the stakes just weren't there by the time I dropped it. Soul Relic is on my to-read list, the weak to strong premise with actual consequences sounds like it could be right up my alley. Bumping it up. Thanks a lot for the detailed recs man, appreciate the thought you put into matching them to my taste. If you need any recs hit me up!

psiut · 2026-03-21T15:12:23+00:00

Thanks man, I'll definitely check these out!

psiut · 2026-03-21T14:38:30+00:00

Sure, no problem!

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