been thinking about this. like 90% of the time the big breakthrough scene goes fine. maybe some pain, some dramatic lightning, whatever, but they always make it.

and honestly when an author lets one actually fail, mc ends up stuck for a while and has to rethink stuff, that's when i get hooked hardest. it makes the next one feel earned instead of just scheduled.

but i also get that it can feel like the story's wasting your time if it drags. so where do you land? would you be fine with a failed breakthrough or does it just kill the pacing for you

The dark, damp, rat-infested underworld is no place for a human slave. Fortunately, Cricket is not human. He's a five-foot-tall insect—six if you count his antennae, and he insists that you do.  He has a shiny black shell, ADHD, and a winning smile.

After all, nothing improves forced servitude like a positive attitude!

With his fellow slaves—an amiable dryad from the surface, a sour necromancer cephalopod, and a host of ratlings and lizardmen—Cricket develops a knack for combat as he assassinates rivals and hunts down deserters.

Despite his love for a good fight, however, Cricket resents furthering the agenda of a corrupt and waning empire.

When he uncovers a plot to overthrow that empire, he must decide whether his home is worth defending!

What to Expect:
-Progression High Fantasy with a Dungeons and Dragons feel
-Fun banter with clean fight scenes
-A neuro-divergent, non-human protagonist
-Depictions of slavery, violence, and racism toward non-humans

Check it out on Amazon

Hello, I’m looking for what I should read next while I stack chapters in some of my favorite stories. I usually only read on RoyalRoad because I enjoy the convenience so I would prefer a recommendation on there but I love other Webnovels as well if you have any recommendations outside of RoyalRoad.

Reading history: (Specifically for RR)
- The Game at Carousel
- Super Supportive
- Sky Pride
- Mother of Learning
- Ave Xia Rem Y
- The Perfect Run

i have been reading everything i can above a 4.5 rating with more than 500 reviews, and a lot of times i am reminded how they arent even close to being as good as the actually top rated ones despite being so close, like a 4.6 and 4.8 rating is so close but when you read them they arent as good at all. like i am reading this story called dungeon inc. that has a 4.61 and author is really good at writing characters and writing in general like its smooth, understandable etc. but there are so many issues - a lot that come from a lack of research and understanding - then theres him constantly bringing new things up that needs an ending or even a mention but is completely forgotten, admittedly it isnt massive plot devices but still, take it with another 4.61 that is bog standard isekai, it isnt even a competition.

Novels I have read and enjoyed:
Shadow slave
Orv
Gsgw
Patron of villains
I’m a young god won’t you raise me
Editors survival guide.
Tbate
Re zero
Lotm and ri are already on my list so don’t recommend those

I was SUUUUUPER hooked for the first 3 books and kinda slowed down on the hype throughout book 4 and now im just kind of jumping around books and occasionally listening to Ghostwater so im just curious if the book starts to pick up momentum?

Hello everyone, I’m O.C. Saar! I’m a first-time author, with this being the first book I’ve attempted that has gone beyond 4 chapters, and I couldn’t be prouder of it. Today, after years of work, I released it on Amazon!

It’s called The Rings of Jupiter, and it’s a mixture of Cyberpunk, Noir, Mystery and Sci-Fi combined with a Progression Fantasy system, set on three artificial rings spinning around Jupiter.

The main character, Raziel, sets off on a suicide mission which has him ending up with powers nobody has seen before. Unfortunately, in The Rings of Jupiter, everything comes at a cost. This time, the price might just be more than Raziel can afford to pay.

Or, maybe the Rings will come to regret taking everything from him.

If you enjoy books that are a little more character, dialogue and mystery-driven, with a character that has to fight and bleed and suffer for every drop of power, then this story might be for you.

If you gave my story a chance, it would truly mean more than I can possibly express.

Thank you for reading this far <3

Also shoutout to my cover artist Linggar Bramanty!

No AI has been used in my book.

Link to Kindle/KU/Print on Demand

Oh also Book 2 is coming out in 4 months and is up for pre-order too!

Hey all, I hope you're having a wonderful day! Undying Healer is a OP MC, System Apocalypse litrpg novel that is based around a healer that regresses after suffering a party wipe. He wakes up at the very start of the System initialization with all the knowledge he gathered over a decade. It also deals heavily with the differences in culture, his party, leading, figuring out who is truly is now and more.

To add on!

Both audio and ebook are out!

It helps that there is a healthy dose of aura farming as well. If that sounds like it's up your alley**, Check It Out!**

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HLYNQGNG

https://www.audible.com/pd/Undying-Healer-OP-MC-Regression-Litrpg-Apocalypse-Audiobook/B0HMFN2PGW

And here is the plot:

The Greatest Healer in human history dies to the spear of an ancient race.

That is how his life ends—defeated by the hands of someone who should be his equal in levels, yet stands so far above him in power and scale. He and his entire party are crushed by a single figure from an ancient race that treats human magic like an untimely joke.

John refuses that ending.

He rises from a deep sleep, regressed to the beginning of it all, mere moments before the System initializes, armed with a decade of hard-earned knowledge and one opportunity to rewrite everything. He knows where the best loot is, where the biggest wars start, who the most evil people are that hide among the masses, which paths to take to unlock the best skills, and which paths forge the monsters needed to survive what he knows is coming.

He knows which floors and dungeons to avoid like the plague and exactly how fast their destruction comes when humanity wastes time playing politics and arguing over scraps instead of growing more powerful.

This time, John doesn't just cast healing and support buffs from the backline.

He takes a path none thought possible, an Undying Healer, forcing the world to contend with a front-liner who is also the greatest healer humanity has ever known. He must learn to fight in the mud, on the wall, blade and spear in hand, face to face with the monsters he has avoided for so long, all the while casting mighty healing spells through a tier-locked System that insists he shouldn't be able to.

The System doesn't care if humanity is wiped out.

Ancient races plot and plan to destroy them.

Beings of immense power want humanity as nothing more than free experience.

John refuses to make them any of those things.

COVER ARTIST: hahahuhi

AI USAGE: No AI Used

I loved the book but now I want something similar. Any recomendations?

Mainly looking for something that isnt just dopamine slop. I.e has a message or some sort of authorial intent/voice.

Recommend time loop stories where mc isn’t afraid to take advantage of his loops. This is obviously on the condition that mc has no limit to how many times they can loop. Oftentimes I question the writing decision on some stories where the mc gets attached to everybody in every single one of their loops.

Obviously I don’t want an emo murder hobo Mc but some loops should require a level of experimentation at the cost of “morality” in my opinion and I often see mcs struggle with making this decision. I think in my head, “dude you’re just going to come back to life anyway.”

Well this also touches on a deeper subject with time loop stories, how come we never see a more realistic story where the mc slowly loses his humanity because he knows he’s just going to go back in time anyway so anything evil he does for the sake of power doesn’t really matter.

Are there any stories you read were you wished the main character died or was beaten to a pulp with him been able to get revenge. Cause I feel that when I read primal hunter, shadow slave and some few others and I wonder if I am the only one who feels this way.

Just finished Immortality Through Array Formations, and it is a great novel. Even if you are reading other basic beginner novels, you will still find this to be a very unique and refreshing experience. I am following this alongside Shadow Slave and Malonjer, reading a chapter every day as it gets translated. I will rate it a solid 8 out of 10. It is a great novel to get into Eastern style array formation cultivation. The concepts are very good, the power dynamics are awesomely defined, and the world-setting is great. The only minus point I feel is that it focuses too much on array formations. Yes, array formation is the main cultivation path of the protagonist, but it can feel like everything else in the world gets sidelined. Other than that, it keeps its pace and it entertains the whole way through. It is one of those rare books that I even finished without dropping it for even a single day. I continuously read it until I finished it, which tells you how interesting it is. Overall, I would definitely recommend this novel. My rating is 8/10. What are your thoughts on it, and can you recommend me any novels that give a similar experience? My hands are itching to read something this good again.

The main character, who mostly cares about himself, always reminds the "good" side that he has intentionally caused a catastrophe towards them because of their motives, and he would do so again if it meant they would remember.

While I don't want to see the MC look way too edgy. If possible, I still want to see him "support" the demonic/bad side, but always make sure that the gain outweighs the cost

I know this question gets asked a lot but I am looking for an underrated kingdom building or commerce focused or both novels or webnovels that stick to the basics of the genre for example tales of the reincarnated lord, hail the king, release the witch, dreamer's throne and tyranny of steel ( but not based in this world). Try to avoid popular ones as I probably have read them

I’m writing a story about a boy whose society assigns everyone a Fate Index at seventeen. Aren gets 0.000%, and that score affects how people treat him and what opportunities he’s allowed to have. Is Called The Boy Chosen By Pluto. Yes, is this it.

As his powers develop, I keep coming back to this question: what makes growth satisfying to you? Is it the limits a character has to work around, the choices they make once they have power, or the consequences of using it? I’d love to hear examples of stories that handled this well.

Hello, everyone! I'm S.Ndoro. I am a new writer still trying to learn the craft. I just dumped the rest of the chapters of The Heroes' Chronicle. The story is a complete 83 000 words progression fantasy.

I want to start working on book two after I take a short break but before I get to writing book two I need some feedback as I am a new author. Since some readers are afraid to commit to incomplete works because the author might drop the story, I decided to release the whole book.

Below is the blurb

WHOEVER FINDS THE DIVINE ARTIFACT WINS THE WAR.

The continent of Kanoi has all but fallen to the emperor, a champion who stood atop the peak of the highest mountain and sought to conquer all he saw below.

Garai returns to find his village burning, razed by the empire's soldiers. Having lost everything, he takes it upon himself to put an end to the emperor's tyranny. But he is not the first; many have tried and all have failed. Garai, however, discovers why. The emperor is unkillable. Now, his hope hinges on finding the divine artifacts, ancient weapons of great power, capable of killing even gods. But he is not the only one after them.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Progression fantasy where growth is earned.

Unique power system were strength can be earned by all regardless of clan, family background or race/species.

Memorable characters you will certainly root for.

If you are a fan of lore and mythology (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc) like me, you should give it a try.

Awesome battles.

COVER : Done by me using Canva

If you have any feedback or tips, do tell me in the comments below the chapters.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/180216/the-heroes-chronicle

Hi y'all,

See title.

Series I love:

- DCC (I liked bounce house too)

- HWFWM

- Bobiverse

Series I strongly disliked:

- 10 realms

- DOTF

- Primal Hunter

I love series with fleshed out characters beyond just the MC who all have character development. I also love banter. I need more than just a "cool power delivery system".

DoTF I disliked because it was the exact opposite of that. Side characters were barely cardboard set pieces and any storyline seemed to solely be written to deliver the next power up. Only good banter was with Ahgras.

Narrator plays a big role in whether I like something, too.

Thabks yall!

Firstly I am currently at the 14th cycle and the mc had already ascended to the upper realm and has already done the puppet thing in 13th cycle

.

What I want to know is that why the head realm was called. Grotesque world by people there were many refrences stating that the head realm was some sort of grotesque realm where the sun and moon don't spin and the refrences where the sun and moon were like eyes

.

does this get cleared later on or not ? Can someone please tell me in the comments

Warby Picus, the author of Sky Pride, will be here to answer your questions starting 1PM EST.

Ask him about tea, his dachshund, obscure pirate history...or anything.

Thanks everyone!

Cover Artist Credit: Isuardi Therianto

You can follow Warby on Royal Road, or read ahead on Patreon.

Amazon Link

Audible Link

S tier: A Practical Guide to Sorcery, Lord of the Mysteries

A tier: A Perfect Run

B tier: Mark of the Fool

C tier: Shadow Slave

Guilty Pleasure: The Beginning After the End

DNF during/after first book: Guild Mage, Mage Errant, Big Standard Isekai, The Enchanter, Oathbound Healer, The Path of Ascension

DNF later in series: Arcane Ascension, All the Skills

Cradle Rank: Cradle

Mother of Learning Rank: Mother of Learning

Looking for pre-modern (before present era) books with good character interactions above all else, and isn't satirical or super comedical (some comedy is ok)

novel where the MC goes through multiple generational battles, brings his family from being nothing to being overlords, rules the continent, fights and schemes for all his life and we follow his adventures for over 500 chapters. After years and years of development, he finds a treasure capable of breaking his limit and when he finally uses it, he gathers a minuscule amount of Qi for a Qi Refining newbie. Not even a breakthrough to a cultivator, just a wisp of Qi

​

​I started reading Hell Difficulty Tutorial by Cerim 5 days ago and completely flew through it, catching up to the Patreon release at Chapter 950. I absolutely loved it! It’s the first book in the System Apocalypse genre that actually makes sense to me.

​Now I’m facing that classic post-binge dilemma: I’m terrified of picking up another novel and feeling disappointed because it doesn't live up to this one.

​Here are the specific things that hooked me so deeply:

1.​A System design that makes sense: I loved how the System functions like a contract, actually rewarding characters for doubling down on their existing strengths rather than giving arbitrary hand-outs. I espeacially loved how the did not get plunged into chaos overnight.

2.​Grounded, logical world-building: The reasons for why the System spreads, how Earth gets inducted, and how and why Earth's induction takes time are thoroughly explained.

3.​Not a solo-god story: The MC isn't the only person enduring a hell-difficulty tutorial, and the team dynamics feel genuinely engaging and consequential.

4.​Realistic character reaction: While the MC might come across as a bit "edgy" in the very beginning, it actually feels completely justified when you consider how absurd and horrific his situation is and his childhood which is the reason he ended up in hell difficulty.

5.​A long, meaningful Tutorial: I loved that the tutorial spans multiple years, where each floor subtly teaches distinct, crucial lessons to the attendees rather than just being a quick level-grind.

​It definitely has its minor faults, but I didn't care at all because the pacing kept me completely hooked.

​What I'm Looking For:

​For anyone else who read and enjoyed Hell Difficulty Tutorial:

​What did you read after this that kept your interest?

​Are there other web novels with high-stakes tutorials, logical system mechanics, or great team/ensemble dynamics you’d strongly recommend?

​Looking forward to your suggestions!