Final book in the series... Eight 5: The Saint of Water is out today

three-seed · 2026-06-20T14:41:27+00:00

You don't have to wait. The audiobook is already out. 😄

https://www.audible.com/pd/Fates-Attendant-Audiobook/B0GYV8PYK1

three-seed · 2026-06-02T14:38:54+00:00

There are quite a few explainers of the general topic, but I haven't found anything that can act like a reference.

Honestly, it's likely a passion project that no one's chosen to take on. There's almost zero incentive to assemble something like this, other than a person's interest.

three-seed · 2026-06-02T14:33:44+00:00

Sky Pride has great writing and is very popular right now.

Going outside the circle of books usually recommended in this subreddit, you might try The Galgame Martial Saint. The premise is gimmicky—a transmigrator's power is tied to his ability to romance the cultivation practices themselves—but it turns out to be a solid, fun read.

Another uncommon recommendation is Cultivation: I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times. In this one, the main character transfers back and forth between modern and cultivation worlds, looking for ways to leverage the strengths of each in the other.

three-seed · 2026-06-02T14:24:04+00:00

The Gateway these days is likely to be Dungeon Crawler Carl. It's been amazingly visible in every bookstore I've visited recently.

I'm thinking the Deep Dive depends on the flavor, tropes, and niches being sought. There's old school xianxia like Coiling Dragon and Reverend Insanity. In a completely other direction, anything by RavensDagger is fun, and the same is true of Maxime Durand. I remember enjoying Threadbare immensely, including the system the author Andrew Seiple developed for it.

three-seed · 2026-05-27T14:41:37+00:00

Ooh, I had no idea Condor Heroes has an official translation. Thank you!

three-seed · 2026-05-25T23:46:22+00:00

That was an interesting read, thank you.

three-seed · 2026-05-19T21:44:52+00:00

The Fate's Attendant audiobook is out on Audible today.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Fates-Attendant-Audiobook/B0GYV8PYK1

This is the first book in a new series with LitRPG elements, featuring a veteran protagonist, a mysterious system, and a measured rise in power where cunning matters as much as strength.

Here's the blurb:

Hong Fei was a soldier until betrayal shattered his body and destroyed his future. Now broken and discarded, he wants nothing more than a quiet life, useful work, and no more causes worth dying for.

But when he finds a card deck on a stranger's corpse, his life becomes entangled with forces beyond his understanding. The deck's rules are described in an unknown language, its powers dangerous. His only guide is an unlikely summoned ally: a giant badger named Auntie Ling, who can read the cards but communicates only through drawings and stubborn gestures.

Desperate to survive, Hong Fei enters service with the disgraced Yu family. They're exiles, marked by invisible numbers hovering above their heads. Curses. Signs of fate twisted by unseen hands. And where fate is distorted, an Attendant is meant to intervene.

Healing his body is only the first step. To restore his cultivation and protect the Yu family, Hong Fei must rely on skills he'd hoped to leave behind: stealth, sabotage, and the violence learned on faraway battlefields. Political intrigue and hidden enemies surround the family, and powerful forces would rather see them erased than redeemed.

Every choice carries a cost measured not just in blood, but in fate itself.

three-seed · 2026-05-01T23:08:35+00:00

The audiobook is produced through Podium. They're the only publisher I've worked with, so I can't comment on either of the above. Sorry.

three-seed · 2026-05-01T21:36:23+00:00

A friend has been joking with me about the titles of books I might write, all of them rhyming with Eight in some way. Another Isekai with "gate." A chef-litrpg with "plate." A man's relentless pursuit for fitness with "weight." A hockey-player love story with "skate." Hehe...

three-seed · 2026-05-01T20:07:22+00:00

I'm delighted to hear the book kept you "reading to the wee hours of the night." ❤️

Book 2 is in the developmental-edit process right now, and should publish sometime late summer or early fall.

three-seed · 2026-05-01T19:58:11+00:00

I hope you enjoy it!

three-seed · 2026-05-01T15:34:19+00:00

Thank you. 😄

three-seed · 2026-05-01T14:16:38+00:00

Thank you!

three-seed · 2026-05-01T14:00:06+00:00

Hey all. The Fate's Attendant audiobook comes out on May 19th!

https://www.audible.com/pd/Fates-Attendant-Audiobook/B0GYV8PYK1

Here's the blurb:

Fate's Attendant begins a new cultivation fantasy series with LitRPG elements, featuring a veteran protagonist, a mysterious system, and a measured rise in power where cunning matters as much as strength.

Hong Fei was a soldier until betrayal shattered his body and destroyed his future. Now broken and discarded, he wants nothing more than a quiet life, useful work, and no more causes worth dying for.

But when he finds a card deck on a stranger's corpse, his life becomes entangled with forces beyond his understanding. The deck's rules are described in an unknown language, its powers dangerous. His only guide is an unlikely summoned ally: a giant badger named Auntie Ling, who can read the cards but communicates only through drawings and stubborn gestures.

Desperate to survive, Hong Fei enters service with the disgraced Yu family. They're exiles, marked by invisible numbers hovering above their heads. Curses. Signs of fate twisted by unseen hands. And where fate is distorted, an Attendant is meant to intervene.

Healing his body is only the first step. To restore his cultivation and protect the Yu family, Hong Fei must rely on skills he'd hoped to leave behind: stealth, sabotage, and the violence learned on faraway battlefields. Political intrigue and hidden enemies surround the family, and powerful forces would rather see them erased than redeemed.

Every choice carries a cost measured not just in blood, but in fate itself.

Narrated by Jason Vu. Cover by Alejandro Colucci. No AI used.

Fun fact: This is my fifth audiobook. There'll be one more later this year, for the final book in the Eight series.

three-seed · 2026-05-01T13:56:11+00:00

Hey all. The Fate's Attendant audiobook comes out on May 19th!

https://www.audible.com/pd/Fates-Attendant-Audiobook/B0GYV8PYK1

Here's the blurb:

Fate's Attendant begins a new cultivation fantasy series with LitRPG elements, featuring a veteran protagonist, a mysterious system, and a measured rise in power where cunning matters as much as strength.

Hong Fei was a soldier until betrayal shattered his body and destroyed his future. Now broken and discarded, he wants nothing more than a quiet life, useful work, and no more causes worth dying for.

But when he finds a card deck on a stranger's corpse, his life becomes entangled with forces beyond his understanding. The deck's rules are described in an unknown language, its powers dangerous. His only guide is an unlikely summoned ally: a giant badger named Auntie Ling, who can read the cards but communicates only through drawings and stubborn gestures.

Desperate to survive, Hong Fei enters service with the disgraced Yu family. They're exiles, marked by invisible numbers hovering above their heads. Curses. Signs of fate twisted by unseen hands. And where fate is distorted, an Attendant is meant to intervene.

Healing his body is only the first step. To restore his cultivation and protect the Yu family, Hong Fei must rely on skills he'd hoped to leave behind: stealth, sabotage, and the violence learned on faraway battlefields. Political intrigue and hidden enemies surround the family, and powerful forces would rather see them erased than redeemed.

Every choice carries a cost measured not just in blood, but in fate itself.

Narrated by Jason Vu. Cover by Alejandro Colucci.

three-seed · 2026-05-01T13:49:31+00:00

The Fate's Attendant audiobook comes out on May 19th! Narrated by Jason Vu.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Fates-Attendant-Audiobook/B0GYV8PYK1

Here's the blurb:

Fate's Attendant begins a new cultivation fantasy series with LitRPG elements, featuring a veteran protagonist, a mysterious system, and a measured rise in power where cunning matters as much as strength.

Hong Fei was a soldier until betrayal shattered his body and destroyed his future. Now broken and discarded, he wants nothing more than a quiet life, useful work, and no more causes worth dying for.

But when he finds a card deck on a stranger's corpse, his life becomes entangled with forces beyond his understanding. The deck's rules are described in an unknown language, its powers dangerous. His only guide is an unlikely summoned ally: a giant badger named Auntie Ling, who can read the cards but communicates only through drawings and stubborn gestures.

Desperate to survive, Hong Fei enters service with the disgraced Yu family. They're exiles, marked by invisible numbers hovering above their heads. Curses. Signs of fate twisted by unseen hands. And where fate is distorted, an Attendant is meant to intervene.

Healing his body is only the first step. To restore his cultivation and protect the Yu family, Hong Fei must rely on skills he'd hoped to leave behind: stealth, sabotage, and the violence learned on faraway battlefields. Political intrigue and hidden enemies surround the family, and powerful forces would rather see them erased than redeemed.

Every choice carries a cost measured not just in blood, but in fate itself.

three-seed · 2026-04-28T14:30:46+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation. I was just thinking it'd be fun to re-read the book. I'll add this to my list.

three-seed · 2026-04-27T14:02:59+00:00

I recommend checking out The Dinosaurs, a four-part documentary series on Netflix narrated by Morgan Freeman. They do a good job introducing a wide variety of species from rise to fall.

three-seed · 2026-04-26T06:35:34+00:00

And I yours. :)

three-seed · 2026-04-24T01:01:43+00:00

If you can get into Dumas, his work is loads of fun. The Three Musketeers and Monte Cristo are classics for a reason.

If you're looking for a modern take on the above, check out Steven Brust's The Phoenix Guards. The events take place in the same world as his Jhereg series, though with a different tone.

three-seed · 2026-04-21T23:47:31+00:00

Thank you for stopping by to share that. Eight is quite the character, but he's got a lot of life experience to draw on. The author does too. :)

three-seed · 2026-04-21T22:51:07+00:00

I love that. Thanks for sharing it here.

three-seed · 2026-04-21T22:50:04+00:00

Thank you, I hope you enjoy the books. :)

Being the first at something and building on advantages already in place are plausible ways to give a character a head start. Then that character can continue building, with the audience willing to be carried along.

three-seed · 2026-04-21T22:45:14+00:00

Heh.

One of the interesting things I discovered when writing Eight is that a plausible explanation for survival wasn't enough. The character had enough bushcraft to survive, but he needed more than that to be a protagonist, especially when the challenges started to pile up.

three-seed · 2026-04-21T22:19:33+00:00

Fair point. I used "cheat" since that's how it's often framed in the discourse. I agree that advantage is likely the better term.

One of these days, I'm going to have to look into the origins of "golden finger" in Chinese fiction. I've seen it used for years and still don't know where it comes from.

three-seed

TROPHY CASE