Book picks similar to
Winter's Breath by Carrie Summers
litrpg
fantasy
lit-rpg
gamelit
Zenith Academy 1
Cassius Lange - 2021
To everyone else, I’m JD—a struggling artist, working my fingers to the bone for my shot with one of the big comic book companies. Oh, and I work nights, managing a dive called Judson’s Bar and Grill. I know, the dream life. Things were boring, disappointing, even. Until one faithful night, when everything changed. Why? Where do I start? First: An odd woman showed up in a booth while I was trying to close for the night. Rude, but on its own, not so weird. She was dressed in a kimono and had a sword in her lap. That part? Getting a little strange. Second: It turns out she’s a mistress at a magical academy and had been looking for me. Right? Please pick up on my sarcasm. Except, she proved it, and with just a few violent swings of her very real sword, ensured I both didn’t have a job any longer, and more or less had to follow her into a scary, glowing portal. Where did it take me? A surreal place called Zenith Academy, and a life I’d only ever dreamt of. There I’ll learn how to cultivate mana and wield magic-like powers. And that is just the beginning. The tower imbues cultivators with visual prompts and game-like stats, making my new life feel like something straight out of a choose your own adventure novel. But it’s not all for nothing. Evidently, they’ve been fighting a war for thousands of years, and I’ve just been drafted. <>
Crafter's Passion
Kris Schnee - 2018
The richest and luckiest players of the video game "Thousand Tales" get their minds uploaded to its virtual paradise world, while Stan can barely buy a handheld console. Instead of sulking he plays, and grows, becoming a skilled craftsman and seafaring explorer. The game's ruling AI, Ludo, helps him find the hope and inspiration missing from his real life. When the AI starts asking for favors and having him reach out between the real and digital worlds, Stan has a chance to turn his life into an actual adventure. But first he needs to earn the most valuable prize of all: his freedom. "Crafter's Passion" is part of the emerging "LitRPG" or "GameLit" genre, combining science fiction with the world of gaming. ----- On Island East-2 stood Stan, in the dungeon, with the rickety raft. He dragged it out to the beach, scavenged more wood and some interesting shells, and paddled his way back west. The raft disintegrated just as he got within sight of East-1. He held onto a chunk of wood to help him float but couldn't carry the rest in his pack. All he could do was start swimming! A scary fish swerved into his path but he managed to detour until it lost interest. Finally he sprawled onto the beach with a bunch of stat penalties for being wet and tired. Belatedly he realized, "I probably ruined everything in my backpack." A note said, [Nearly everything you're carrying is safe, like coins and a sealed bottle, but that can be a problem with other items. There are several ways to get waterproofing.] That sounded reasonable. He'd assumed that jumping into the water with a load of items was harmless, but that was his own fault. "Fine." He headed west to Central Island across the bridge. So far he just had that crude backpack full of loot, and he couldn't carry much more without a better pack. He looked over the junky resources he'd scavenged, then the items he'd looted off his party members' bodies. None of the equipment was listed as magical, and the item descriptions were starting to give him more serious labels like [Crude Wooden Bow] for Alaya's weapon. Even he could probably make something better with a little practice. He could make something better! That could be fun. Besides, he'd swiped this gear from people he'd agreed to help, so maybe he could replace or upgrade the stuff by way of apology. Stan headed over to the Crown & Tail's workbench to give it a try. Along the way he jumped around for the fun of bounding up the sunny shore. He tapped the bench of tools and tried to fix up some items, but it buzzed at him. [Equipment repairs require access to improved crafting stations.] The bartender directed him to the "maker workshop" a ways inland from the beach. It looked like an old fort, a squat wooden cabin surrounded by a spiky wall of logs. Why not a giant golden palace? Probably it had been built by the players using the game's own physics. That was pretty neat. He walked right in through the open gate. Inside was a craftsman's playground. Saws, drills and other tools covered some of the tables. A whole corner was devoted to colorful glassware and bubbling fluids. A green-robed figure was busy at that alchemy station, pouring beakers one into another and making puffs of steam. The only other person here was a smith in a leather apron and goggles, making a pleasant rhythmic ringing of metal. Behind him loomed a forge where slabs of metal were glowing cherry-red. Stan looked around and asked, "Is this stuff open to the community?" The alchemist turned around.
Bone Dungeon
Jonathan Smidt - 2019
Only that he had a bit of a disagreement with the church -- something to do with a beheading?Now reborn, Ryan begins to arm his darkness dungeon with devious traps, bestial zombies and ill-named skeletal creations, without doing anything too evil. Well, mostly. Some adventurers just deserve a stalactite to the head.But Ryan quickly learns being a darkness dungeon isn't all loot and bone puns. With a necromancer on the rise and the Adventurer's Guild watching his every move, he must prove that not all darkness dungeons are malevolent... even if they do have a few skeletons in their caverns.Sadly, all of these issues keep distracting him from his own guilty pleasure, skeletal fight club. But don't tell his fairy about that.
Siphon
Jay Boyce - 2018
Surfing the net or reading, she always envied the ability of others to go out and experience the world. She knew her wish to live a normal life was far beyond her reach, but after waking up one morning without the sounds of her life support, she opens her eyes and finds herself with a weak but healthy body in a magical world. As blue game-like system notifications fill her vision, she knows that she'll have to adapt quickly in order to survive… but this is all she ever dreamed of, so Jade is up to the challenge. She will soon realize that you need to be careful what you wish for. This is Andara, where her true adventure finally begins.
The Starlight Sword
Roman Prokofiev - 2020
Some of you might have already read its previous version released a while ago by another publisher under the title Cat’s Game. The author has completely reworked the book’s first chapters; he’s also already completed Book Two of the series, fully intending to keep the story going. And we fully intend to release the whole series in English.Rogue Merchant is a classic might-and-magic-style LitRPG series with the elements of manapunk. It’s set in the Sphere of the Worlds: a worldwide multiverse comprised of hundreds of worlds, from horrible Infernos ruled by Demon Lords to mechanical worlds inhabited by sentient constructs, and gigantic markets that have sprouted at the crossroads of trade routes.Players use astral ships to travel between worlds, otherwise they have to venture into the perilous underground tunnels of the Endless Paths. Dozens of powerful clans share this delicious pie, scheming or waging wars against each other.The series’ main character is Cat, a wannabe merchant who specializes in procuring in-game valuables to sell them for real money. He is a Free Merchant, which is both his character’s class and his playing style - as well as his preferred problem-solving method. Cat is a cunning trickster who wriggles his way out of trouble thanks to his quick wit and his trading talents. His credo is, “Anyone can be bought provided the price is right”.Cat starts from scratch, using every opportunity to advance his plans. This book is the story of a common trader’s rise to greatness until he becomes the world’s new legend, the most famous merchant in the entire Sphere of the Worlds.The series focuses on the economics of a game world, including various trade methods such as regular and auction trading, as well as social and political interactions between clans and players. Plenty of intrigue and espionage, betrayal, trade wars, besieged castles and epic air battles of flying ships - all this has already made the fantastical universe of Rogue Merchant popular with thousands of Russian readers.Now it’s your turn to enjoy it.
Dungeon Lord
Hugo Huesca - 2017
...and Edward has chosen to make them regret it. When Edward is swept into the world of Ivalis as a Dungeon Lord, the Dark's most powerful servant, he has no servitude in mind. He'll oppose the evil plans of the Dark god Murmur, whatever it takes. Through only his wits and his guts to help him survive a weakened arrival, Edward must rise to power if he is to earn the right to live another day. But in the battle between Dark and Light, what can Edward choose if both sides are cruel, uncaring monsters? Cold gods laugh in the distant world of Ivalis. Heroes chase after power and experience, while Kings send their armies to their deaths in the name of the Dark and the Light. But no one expects the rise of the Dungeon Lord... And in the world of Ivalis, maybe a single man can forge his own path.
Welcome to Ludus
Blaise Corvin - 2016
Their kidnapper, the vain, self-styled god Dolos refuses to send them back unless they can accomplish an impossible task. Oddly, Dolos doesn’t seem to care if they succeed or not.Luckily, Henry and Jason studied Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) on Earth. Unfortunately, a Japanese American EMT and a geeky IT programmer don’t have many other useful skills on a sword and sorcery world like Ludus.Stranded in the middle of nowhere on an alien world, the friends have no real direction and only a few possessions including magic-granting orbs from an apathetic god. Undaunted, the two begin their insane adventure to return home, but basic survival and eventually paying rent will have to take priority.
Enter System
Tom Larcombe - 2021
When a message appears in his line of sight, blocking out absolutely everything else, he nearly freaks out. The message warns that the world has been in a variant Natural Laws beta test for millennia and that it's about to revert to the norms.Deciding that even if he is insane, it's not going to hurt anything to try to prepare, he settles in to do so. Despite the atrocious lack of skill the System has with the English language, he manages to work his way through enough help files to get a clue of what's coming. After sharing his discovery with a few friends, they all start to prepare together.Once the change begins, the small group races to create a Safe Zone, an area where monsters will not spawn and where they can gather other survivors in an attempt to rescue as much of the town as possible. Along the way they discover that the new System can award classes that resemble those of the games the group has played, as well as magic for those capable of grasping it.With monsters spawning throughout the town, everyday animals being mutated into dangerous creatures, and a System that desperately needs English language lessons, they'll do their best to save as many of the local residents as they can.This story is approximately 155,000 words long and DRM free.
Tree Dungeon
Andrew Karevik - 2019
The gods should have agreed to fight the giants and let Ragnarök run its course and bring about the end of time. For a new world could only rise from the ashes of the old. But because the gods prophesied to die refused to take part, Yggdrasil—the World Tree—was forced to act before the stalemate led to the annihilation of the nine worlds and its very existence. And so I was born. One of the many seeds dispersed by the mighty World Tree, I was teleported through different planes and universes to find a new home where to settle. Eventually, I landed in a strange forest known as the Feverwood. However, this place is nothing like my home world. Here, there are no mighty Vikings or Valkyries, but humans, elves, orcs, and other strange creatures. If I want to flourish and carry on the World Tree’s legacy, I will have to grow my roots and expand my branches towards the sky. But if, at first, I rely on the ambient magic to power my growth, as my Mother did before me, I quickly learn that there’s a far more efficient way… This is the story of how I find how to attract adventurers into my mouth and absorb their raw essence as they succumb to the challenges I pit them against. This is the story of how I make the acquaintance of many a friend and foe, both mortals and gods. This is the story of how a stranger in a strange land must face many a peril to ensure its own survival. This is the story of the Tree Dungeon.
Wrath
Alex Raizman - 2021
After being executed for crimes forgotten in death, Tira is given the chance to make that choice. Tira chose Acekorah, the Primeval Terror, a being so dangerous few cores will risk trying to contain it.The danger wasn’t important. Tira remembers dying. If containing Acekorah means Tira will face greater danger, that’s a risk worth taking, because the Primeval Terror walked the world long before the races of Man roamed the earth, and Cores bound to him are able to summon beings from beyond the veil of time.Now, forged in the fires of Tira's wrath, the dinosaurs will walk the world anew.
Martyrs (Legends of the Great Savanna)
Justin L. Lincoln - 2018
Waking up in the Great Savanna, James struggles with a less-than-useful interface before he comes across two creatures locked in battle. The shoulder high grass allows him glimpses of a lion-esque creature fending off a torrent of scales and claws. Sneaking up to steal a better look at the surreal situation, James discovers two things. 1. Getting hurt in the game.... well hurts! 2. This noble race of lion-men, named Martyrs, have almost been decimated by the scaled lizard creatures. By unwillingly saving the life of a Martyr cub, James is adopted into their village. He grows to love the beauty of the Great Savanna and his adopted game brother, whose life he saved... That is until PATRICK arrives, and the tranquility of the game is shattered. James embarks on a mission for answers to his steadily increasing list of questions. On the top of that list, "What the hell happened to the human race, and where is my damn brother!?" LitRPG Categories = Town Building & MOBA
The Two Week Curse
Michael Chatfield - 2018
Erik and Rugrat are not immune to those feelings, but they have stepped into chaos so many times, it is simply a different challenge. Two weeks ago, Erik lost his legs and his arm. Today he got a message. "You have been randomly selected to join the Ten Realms. One may choose to ascend the Ten Realms, thereupon making a request to the Gods of the Realms. Only those who are Level 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 may ascend to the next realm. Fortune favors the strong!” For a retired combat medic and Marine Recon sniper, the Ten Realms offer a clear challenge and sense of purpose that they had only found on the battlefield. How much trouble can you get into in a new realm?
The Curse of Hurlig Ridge: 1st Dive
M.A. Carlson - 2018
Enter the World Tree Online, a fully immersive virtual reality experience. Join Byron in his first 30 days of a non-stop fantasy adventure in the cursed province of Hurlig Ridge, a land filled with monsters, mysteries, murderers and treasure. The people of the province have been tormented for centuries by a pack of voracious wolves. Now, with the arrival of the adventurers, dark forces have begun to stir, accelerating their dark plans. Can Byron unravel the mystery of this curse before it’s too late? Adventure and excitement await anyone brave enough to join the World Tree. Will you be one of them?