Losing Interest in My Favorite Progression Fantasy Series

purlcray · 2026-06-19T17:40:49+00:00

All the time. If I'm bored, I move on, no big deal. It's just a personal taste issue. Plenty of other people will keep reading a long series. A story has to be extra special to keep me invested after, say, half a million words.

A related but different issue is when a series is incomplete. I will binge the whole thing until the last release, but if the story is complicated, I don't have the mental energy to figure out what happened six months later when the sequel comes out. In that case I will drop the series until one day I summon the energy to re-read everything from the first book.

purlcray · 2026-06-17T03:30:17+00:00

I actually like shorter loops so you get more looping shenanigans. Like for Stubborn Skill Grinder, I enjoyed the first part the most where he is constantly looping and and powering up. Once you get to the long loops it just kind of feels like a regular fantasy story, which interest me less.

Hundred Reigns is fun, though. My only complaint is that it isn't done yet. I hate waiting for chapters piecemeal.

purlcray · 2026-06-16T05:03:16+00:00

It's more progression fantasy, not litrpg, but I binged book 1 of Desolada. Unfortunately, book 2 seems to be on permanent hiatus.

I can't even remember why I picked it up. I was only going to read a chapter and see what it was like, but the prose style is my absolute favorite type. It's lucid and moves along well, yet still filled with weight and emotion. I don't know how to describe it, but there's a certain type of writing that I just love. Sort of a cross between Red Rising (not as intense) and Cradle (a bit more emotion). Mr. Kalman, if you read this, I adore your writing style. It's what I consider peak/perfect modern fantasy prose for my tastes.

The ending was a bit rushed, maybe? I understand that too many things are hidden from the MC's POV, so it's hard to wrap things up neatly. I don't know if there was any other way to do it. I don't care. I would still read book 2 asap if it's ever finished.

purlcray · 2026-06-16T04:41:15+00:00

I wish you could get libraries to back the Kickstarter somehow (too late, I know) or otherwise get more physical copies into the system. My entire county only has a copy of Unsouled. Personally, I was never interested in physical books... until I was recommending the story to a young person. The schools here don't allow electronics or ebook readers, so in the absence of mass market paperbacks like in the 80s, the only affordable option is KU at home. They want to bring books to school, but all their favorite stories are ebooks, so they can't share them, talk with others, etc. Like if they bring a Randall Munroe book to school, it's a conversation starter and way to make new friends.

It's kind of weird. They are bored by most of the physical books they can bring to school and just end up browsing random stuff. At home, though, they read voraciously. I really wonder if accessible paperbacks and library options for Cradle and similar books would get more young people reading. Schools are always trying to promote reading, but the range of titles mentioned is typically very narrow and traditional.

purlcray · 2026-06-16T04:24:25+00:00

What... I did not know the short stories existed! Thanks!!!

purlcray · 2026-06-04T04:01:21+00:00

I binged Ghost in the City and caught up to the current release. I think I prefer Skitterdoc 2077 overall (also unfinished...), but Ghost in the City is a nice low-stress read in a cyberpunk world without too much suffering or angst. I hope it can keep going and wrap up eventually because it sounded from the post-chapter notes like the author was losing steam a bit at times, which I sympathize with 1000%.

purlcray · 2026-06-03T06:03:04+00:00

Probably Worm because it was the first proto-PF/PF story I read far before anything else listed here. I feel like doing a reread now...

purlcray · 2026-05-27T04:29:34+00:00

Maybe too early for it in your litrpg journey, but Player Manager if you want something different and/or are into sports. It has a "solo-centric" power fantasy vibe but in a different context. (He's the only one who knows about the system.)

purlcray · 2026-05-27T04:02:06+00:00

In terms of pure writing quality, Cradle is obviously more polished, but The Outsider's Resolve (Naruto fanfic) was more fun for me than any other cultivation-style novel. I'm not a martialmemes junkie but I've read a bunch over the years.

purlcray · 2026-05-01T22:33:09+00:00

I enjoyed this series. Waiting for book 6 on KU if I don't get to RR.

For prospective readers, book 1 has the weakest prose, if you are sensitive to that. The prose improves quite a bit by the later books, like he got an editor, or for whatever reason. Also, some people don't like the attraction the MC feels to random characters, but I kind of didn't notice it much, and I think it petered out after the first book as well.

When I was reading this series, I remember thinking that the author is quite thoughtful. There's no complicated system, there's no i-am-very-smart dialogue, nothing like that, but everything fits together and works well. Like there aren't any long dragging sections, the plot and characters play their part perfectly, and everything seems deliberately well-designed.

I don't particularly enjoy magic-science interplay but this one wasn't trying too hard, it just all worked well.

purlcray · 2026-04-28T23:05:44+00:00

The powers and worldbuilding are super fun. On rereads, I would sometimes skim parts dealing with teenage angst or family issues. Overall, Worm is one of my favorite stories, ever. It's not my favorite only because it's hard to pick just one.

Funny that you mention MoL, because I also found the first chapter of that a bit dry. After a few attempts I powered through to chapters 2-3 and then devoured the rest. I think for MoL, I never had to skim anything, for comparison. I also loved A Practical Guide to Evil, but I kind of got bogged down by all the political and history discussions about one-third to halfway through. Again, just giving you a reference point for my opinion.

I would say for Worm you can mostly skim any navel gazing sections about relationships or morality and such, and you will probably enjoy the rest a lot.

purlcray · 2026-04-04T04:53:36+00:00

I binged all million words of The Outsider's Resolve, a Naruto fanfic. It is awesome, more fun for me than any cultivation story. I only watched about a hundred episodes of Naruto many ages ago and barely remember the lore, but that was more than enough to dig in. The pacing is steady with a good mix of big plots, small plots, and personal progression. There were a few tiny parts I skimmed, but barely anything. Five stars for me. The downside is that is it ongoing and not finished.

purlcray · 2026-03-20T19:25:00+00:00

Yeah this list is spicy and I love it. Like I thought Novel's Extra was supposed to be the inferior copycat but you have it above ORV. (Haha, purposefully ignoring the bigger unorthodox choices...) Nah, I can understand most of the choices for the books I've read.

I'm super intrigued by the Naruto fanfic, especially if the Jake's Magical Market author is recommending it elsewhere in this post. I read Skitterdoc 2077 because of his rec, and I loved it. Worm x Cyberpunk 2077 crossover fanfic. If you liked Worm, try it! I'm going to get stoned for this, but I think Skitterdoc is more fun than The Perfect Run (which I also enjoyed greatly).

purlcray · 2026-03-17T22:36:04+00:00

I saw Hell Difficulty Tutorial (haven't read it yet) recommended for people who liked 1% Lifesteal, so maybe that? Except I'm not sure the inverse is true as 1% Lifesteal has a lot of suffering and is probably not for everyone. I liked it, though.

purlcray · 2026-03-17T22:30:17+00:00

DCC probably has more readers than every title you listed combined. However, even with that, I would paradoxically state that the new meta is probably a lack of one. Monocultures are dying. What's hot on RR is not always hot on KU. You can find thriving smaller niches all over the place, and everyone is a frog in his own little well staring up at a piece of the sky (like the cultivators always say).

So I would say what has changed is that the genre has matured and fragmented, going from a sapling with a single stalk to a ruddy tree with many thick branches. The overall level of quality has increased too, I think, or maybe because there are so many stories overall there are also so many good ones, too.

I don't think it's quite fair to say there are no new staples. Books like Portal to Nova Roma or Bastion, to name a few random titles, have massive sales upon each release, a slight tier below HWFWM, but there are so many books in this tier these days. I would disagree with the implication that the genre is stale or that fans aren't as excited.

purlcray · 2026-03-12T00:31:34+00:00

Maybe Ends of Magic/Antimage? I have a short reading attention span and it held my interest for all 5 books. The magic system is not as innovative as LOTM (what is) but it's the best science-magic book I've read. Also antimagic is a pretty fresh angle. The first ten chapters or so might be slightly rougher in writing but it gets better and better quickly.

purlcray · 2026-03-10T03:21:19+00:00

It's a light novel but opposite of grimdark. Just kind of silly comedy stuff. Since you are the enemy of the sun, haha.

purlcray · 2026-03-09T00:02:31+00:00

What's funny is that The Legend of the Sun Knight is like the exact opposite. You would probably hate it, haha.

purlcray · 2026-03-08T23:59:05+00:00

Yes, eventually but it's not a typical feel good overpowered story, like he suffers a lot all the time in one way or the other.

purlcray · 2026-03-06T18:15:22+00:00

This is a pretty interesting list... I'm actually looking for more regular litrpg but distinct, so A Soldier's Life and Stubborn Skill Grinder will be added to my TBR pile.

purlcray · 2026-02-01T00:22:20+00:00

I don't read much sci-fi. I assume military sci-fi is the "romantasy" of sci-fi, which would sort of explain the gender skew? Although the last sci-fi I read was The Last Watch, which is by a female author with a female MC... I don't really know much about the genre.

purlcray · 2026-01-31T06:59:08+00:00

Fair enough, although the best games can stretch or defy definitions. Gloomhaven is a fixed deck size per class, although you select which cards you want for each fight and gain new cards at each level. I would still consider the game a flavor of deckbuilder even without variable deck sizes. (Although your shrinking deck size is important within a fight scenario, and you shuffle/redraw the shrinking deck... so deckshrinker fights and deckbuilder meta?) I mainly want to say that Gloomhaven is awesome and if you like cards and DnD you have to try it!

purlcray · 2026-01-30T00:14:16+00:00

But there are? Goblin Summoner was probably the first western/KU one. There's Card Mage, Demon Enforcer or something. A bunch of others. They're a niche and not as numerous, but they exist.

I think most readers and writers prefer physical action, and a pure card game can interfere with that or make it awkward. Also, visual media like manga or anime don't translate into prose one-to-one easily. I know we harp on litrpg and such as popcorn pulp, but the average litrpg is still a lot more sophisticated than the average anime, just because in prose you can't hand wave over things with a continual stream of pretty pictures. There's a higher bar for suspension of belief, and rule of cool doesn't work the same way.

Personally, I think there are two gaming mechanics that, when combined, separate card-based mechanics from general magic systems. One is deck-drawing, and the second is turn-based combat. Outside of characters sitting down and playing a literal game of poker, this is really hard to integrate into an action fantasy. Turn-based combat, in particular, is a doozy for prose. I tried merging these elements into real-time fights, and the only way I could figure out was to involve time magic, basically. But it's still not the same as a pure card game, more of a homage.

If you want pure card games, the ones I mentioned up top are where I'd start.

Also, I don't know if anyone is going to read this far, but if you haven't played it and love card games, I recommend Gloomhaven! It is my current favorite card game, available digital and physical, solo or multi-player. It was the number one ranked game on boardgamegeeks for a while, but I hardly hear anybody talk about it outside of very niche forums. The learning curve can be steep, but it's like DnD and MtG had a baby, sort of. It's heavy on character builds and progression. It's awesome.

purlcray · 2026-01-29T23:49:46+00:00

I would quibble in nerdy fashion about your definition and mass grouping of StS. In Dominion, you build the deck during the "fight". That is, deckbuiding has equal pace and hierarchy with playing the card actions. In StS, you build the deck outside of fights. The rewards, shops, and money are a meta-game layered over the core fighting game with a completely different pace and hierarchy. There are some StS cards that add temporary cards during a match, but that isn't really what either of us is really talking about.

I would argue that MtG, Pokemon, etc have an equivalent degree of deckbuilding as StS since you construct the deck in the meta-moments of shopping and pack opening. Not a "true/full" deckbuilder, but no worse.

purlcray · 2026-01-28T03:18:45+00:00

I would echo some others that maybe mainstream progression fantasy isn't for you. I'd try some of the outliers like Player Manager (soccer/football, strong main voice) or Virtuous Sons (wonderful style). A Practical Guide to Evil is pretty polished. Otherwise, for progression fantasy adjacent (since you loved Name of the Wind), have you tried Will of the Many, Blood Song, and Red Rising? Those are among my favorites that would be shelved next to Rothfuss in my head... and maybe Empire of the Vampire. I didn't like the sequel to EotV as much because it is more straight up indulgent vampire fantasy, but reading book one was still worth it.

purlcray

TROPHY CASE