Book picks similar to
Awakened by C.M. Carney


litrpg
cultivation
fantasy
progression-fantasy

Lord January


Dakota Krout - 2022
    Time is a Weapon. Time is running out.Grant Leap is an orphaned, mortal farmhand in a world where cultivation methods and Weapons of Power are jealously guarded and only passed down among family. He’s not content with his lot; as a Januarian, someone living in District January, he should be living the good life just like everyone else. Food, parties, food, entertainment, and food are the minimum requirement. As an orphan, specifically a reviled Leap, there’s not even a chance of being treated as a human.When a celestial event pours time magic into his field, coalescing into a lost Weapon of Power, Grant leaps at the opportunity to advance beyond even the scope of standard cultivation. At the first touch of the weapon, the orphan gains everything he’s ever wanted: a Sword and a Name. Also, a pesky mandatory quest with his life as the price of failure. It doesn’t take him long to realize that the best thing for him to do is to sell it and live on borrowed Time.Yet, that would never happen. The blade offers him the first major choice he’s ever had to make: surrender to his desires… or live like a King.

Terra Nova


Vowron Prime - 2021
    Like a machine. But when his family’s life is on the line, that’s something else. That calls for the kind of warm-blooded vengeance that scorches earth and summons tungsten rods from space, leaving a whole lot of melted flesh and no one to tell the tale.It should've been a blue milk run. As by-the-book as it gets. With his sister Nina out safe and the opposition decimated by hypersonic gunfire, Magnus wonders where they got the guts to even try. Then something hits him. Lays him out cold, and leaves him waking up to a fantasyland with nothing but his armor and a half-written note to guide him.It's a strange place where even stranger predators eye him for their next meal. Where his life’s on a timer, and where the darkest horrors haunt his dreams, painting visions of death.There's no right day to mess with Magnus Cromwell. But the universe sure managed to pick the absolute worst one.Experience the start of a kickass LitRPG/GameLit Saga from debut author Vowron Prime.About the series: Embark on a jam-packed action adventure with an overpowered protagonist that seamlessly merges epic battles with mystery, survival, and elements of Lovecraftian horror. Dragons, magic, and medieval fantasy meet cyberpunk technology in this rollercoaster of a ride that starts fast and never lets up. Experience a unique take on a LitRPG system whose true, gory nature is uncovered bit by bit as Magnus progresses through his epic journey in a land of horrors. And with four detailed art scenes of fantastical locations inspired by an author who has journeyed from Antarctica to Kilimanjaro, you won't want to put the book down!

Vagrant Sword


Darren Hultberg Jr. - 2020
    Built by the greater god Helion, each floor is like a vast and ever changing realm equipped with its own challenges, its own dangers, and its own rewards for those willing to risk it all. And for any strong enough to reach the tower’s peak comes the right to fight for the ultimate prize...Valin Frost was a common thief from earth with little desire to risk his life in the tower. However, a twist of fate plunged him through its large, onyx doors. Now, Valin must join the ranks of the mana wielders, master his abilities, and learn how to fight if he plans on surviving the trials of Helion’s tower... and perhaps, one day carving his name into the book of legends.This is a tower ascension novel with litrpg and cultivation elements.

Ascension


B.F. Rockriver - 2020
    For Eli Miller, it was never a choice.Most of Eli’s life has been spent running, doing everything in his power to protect his family. His world is plagued by war, wild magic, and unimaginable monsters. But none of these threats are more dangerous than the immortal beings known as Adventurers. They are players and Entarra is their game. Its citizens aren’t real. Yet, to the billions of near-sentient AI that live there, the game world is the only one they will ever know. It is where they are born, live, and die. Eli is no different. After being attacked with a strange weapon, Eli awakens as the thing he fears most: an adventurer. Struggling to cope with his new reality, he finds himself in the middle of the most nefarious plot of all: His world, and everything he loves, is about to be deleted.

Path of the Necromancer


Deck Davis - 2019
    In an RPG-like world, he makes his magic stronger by practising his spells and using them in clever ways. When he takes his first academy assignment, he finds trouble. Cut off from the protection of the academy and in a hostile land, he'll have to improvise if he wants to survive.  He needs to level up, learn new spells, and use them in creative ways. Necromancers have the power to cheat death...but that doesn't mean they can escape it.Read Path of the Necromancer now!

Left Out By The System


Constantin Step - 2021
    

Omnimage: Infinite Potential


Simon Archer - 2020
    Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Life, Death, Mind Control...What if you had one magical power and one power only: the ability to use all other forms of magic?The catch is, you need to level each and every one of them up first.What would you do?

Mageblood


Christopher Johns - 2020
    Gifts from the game gods for every person. The perfect magic for every user.Seth, a popular streamer, can’t wait to see what this new world has in store. It’s sure to be a blast for a guy who always plays a caster, and his friends are going to be right in the thick of it with him! The game boasts algorithms designed to read biometrics and brain patterns to find the perfect magical fit for the user—magic so personalized that no two casters will ever be the same. In fact, the game company is so sure they will always be right that you can’t remake your character.The unthinkable happened. The safeties and the guarantees failed, not just once but apparently only to them. The company has informed them that the system is infallible: there is nothing they will do. Players must use what they are given, so Seth and his team have no other choice—they need to grind it out and evolve their gifts in time to stream.Loading… Welcome to Mephisto’s Magic Online!

First Draw


Tim Moon - 2019
    War and rebellion roil the nation, sowing chaos among the surrounding kingdoms. Darkness often finds a foothold when chaos reigns, thriving on the torment of the mortal realm. In times of great need, the light calls upon beings of destiny to stem the tide. Though you may blaze your own path, know that you have the power to shape the future. Choose well.Forced to join a virtual world, Luke Rivers delves into Drezkarn, a land of swords and magic. For a fantasy game, things don't start off the way he imagined and he quickly finds himself in terrible situations. While his frame of reference for fantasy RPGs was limited by a rough childhood, the experience of a life spent fighting for survival pays off.

Tower Climber


Jakob Tanner - 2020
    Plus, even if citizens could enter, it didn’t change the fact that Max’s body is paralyzed from the waist down, confined to a wheelchair. No way would anyone let him enter the tower. Ever.Yet one night everything changes and Max’s world is thrown upside down. He suddenly gains an ultra rare ability and the chance to train and climb the tower.But being a climber isn’t as easy as it sounds. Each floor of the tower contains vast worlds and deadly magical monsters.While Max may want to ascend to the top of the tower, there are plenty of others who want to as well, many who won’t blink an eye at removing anyone who stands in their way…

Goblin Summoner


Tracy Gregory - 2021
    Dropped into a world where sorcerers draw magical power from a deck of cards, summoning monsters and flinging spells, Gareth must adapt to having arcane power at his fingertips. It’s just a shame he’s found himself with the weakest cards around—goblins!Joined by a fallen goddess, a deposed demon king and surly local, Gareth sets out into Acamida. In a realm where experience points and levels are very real, Gareth must grow stronger if he intends to have his second life last longer than his first. With monsters around every corner and dungeons beneath his feet, Acamida is a dangerous place.As Gareth finds new cards and grows in power, the rumbles of war stir in the west. If he’s going to survive Gareth will need to master his deck and find the strength hidden within his goblin allies.

The Shadow Sect


Peter Hackshaw - 2021
    There is only one way he can take up the title of cultivator – to Awaken before he comes of age. Time is already running out.When a grand tournament for the magicking arts is announced, bringing old foes to Albion’s shores - rumours of betrayal and war send Falken on a journey in the unknown. There he unearths the mysteries of an ancient, long-forgotten sect – whose secrets offer hope – and the chance for Falken to develop powers that none have seen in an age.But Falken’s newfound powers may not be enough, for nightmare creatures, dark assassins and even the undead stalk the lands of Netherdei.And this is only the beginning…Fans of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher and Avatar: The Last Airbender will enjoy this vivid, masterful tale of magicking, cultivation and fantasy adventure, inspired by the worlds of Xianxia and Wuxia.

Condition Evolution


Kevin Sinclair - 2020
    One with the power to repair his mind and body while he lives out his wildest dreams.What could possibly go wrong?It turns out fighting monsters and obesity is tough wherever you are! Then there’s the unrequited love. Weren’t the women supposed to fall head over heels with the hero? Not in Anatoli, a brutal and unforgiving land on the brink of apocalypse.If Shaun can survive this very real experience, he might just get to be a hero back in the real world!Warning, lots of profanity and gratuitous violence.

Blood of Fate


Dan Sugralinov - 2019
    This is the ninety ninth world for this traveler who has spent an entire life in each of his previous worlds. And now he is out of lives, his previous misdeeds leaving him with a negative balance of points and preventing him from reincarnating anew. Once he realizes that he must spend his final life in a poverty-stricken family in a backward world, he awakens the consciousness of the deceased Luca and ends his own physical existence, leaving all his abilities to his heir.One such ability is the use of the Wheel. Every traveler can spend points to spin the Wheel and gain a special talent, a superpower, or... a deadly illness. Luca spins the Wheel and gains the superpower of metamorphosis. Now he can regenerate, recover from deadly wounds and even take on the shape of other beings. The young man takes on the form of the Emperor: to avoid death, help his family and, finally, to bring order to the Empire!

The Genesis Game: Volume I


Andrew O'Kelley - 2021
    No one gained more power than the tyrant known as the Black Seraph, the Angel of Genocide. Surviving at the expense of the rest of humanity, Seraph was able to complete the World Dungeon upon reaching the Altar of the End. A hollow victory, as he was cursed by the spirit of the dungeon for ruthlessly focusing on his empowerment.His power was sealed away, deep within the dungeon; Seraph was cast into the past, reincarnated into the body of his child-like self. Forbidden from hoarding power for himself and charged with the mission of ensuring the survival of humanity. But people do not change overnight, and Seraph must find a new path forward and learn there's more to power than being a tyrant if humanity is to survive the Genesis Game.