Book picks similar to
Awakened by C.M. Carney


litrpg
cultivation
fantasy
progression-fantasy

Soulhome


Sarah Lin - 2020
    For years he resented the betrayal that killed his friends, sent him back to Earth, and made him question everything he thought he knew.But now, after a lifetime of struggle, he's found a way back to the Nine Worlds. An old man reborn in a new body, he has a second chance to rebuild what he lost and unravel a mystery that spans dimensions. Book 1: Though Theo arrives in the safe world of Tatian, demons are crawling from the darkness between realms and he isn't the only inter-dimensional traveler. There's no time to carefully prepare himself: he needs to find allies among the lost just to survive long enough to make use of what he knows.

Defiance of the Fall


TheFirstDefier - 2021
    or God. A universe where an endless number of races and civilizations fought for power and dominion.Zac finds himself stuck in the wilderness surrounded by deadly beasts, demons, and worse. Alone, lost and without answers, he must find the means to survive and get stronger in this new cut-throat reality.With only a hatchet for his weapon, he'll have to seek out his family before the world collapses... or die trying.Experience the start of the hit LitRPG series with over 20 Million views on Royal Road. For the first time, Defiance of the Fall is now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible narrated by Pavi Prozcko.About the Series: Jump into a System Apocalypse story that merges LitRPG elements with eastern cultivation. Class systems, skill systems, endless choices for progression, it has everything fans of the genre love. Explore a vast universe full of mystery, adventure, danger and even aliens; where even a random passer-by might hold the power of a god. Follow Zac as he struggles to stake out a unique path to power as a mortal in a world full of cultivators.

ChronoTemplar


Burt Wrenlaw - 2021
    unless you're a pawn for an eldritch horror that: (A) can bend time, and (B) is a sore loser.Justin Thyme is not a good man, nor one destined for glory. He was meant to die in obscurity, yet another level 82 Templar that was just about to get chewed up by a horde of skittering monstrosities clawing at humanity's last enclave.One short conversation with a time-splitting monstrosity later, and Justin finds himself flung five years into the past—right when the Earth was first chosen to host the 9,947th Gladiatorial Games.Justin must now do all that he can to help save the world from crumbling under the twin pressures of monsters and murderers. But it's not all about grinding experience, gaining the most levels, and kicking the most ass. He can’t even stand out too much, lest he draw the attention of the other eldritch horrors observing Earth’s struggles for their amusement.No, it’s all about making the right connections, sowing the seeds of hope, culling the pests causing despair… oh, and exploiting the hell out of the System with his ‘borrowed’ ability to tweak time to his advantage.*ChronoTemplar is a dark, crunchy litRPG with lots of stats, skills and battles, for those who love action and complex characters.

True Hero


Anton Emelianov - 2018
    He is flung into the future, where everything is different. Now, he has to make a name for himself, carve his own path in life. He decides to play a game, the biggest one in the world. A strategy game, focused on tactics, used to select the top managers of the largest international corporation. Now, he has to prove his mettle and earn a place for himself in the future... Watch as he enters the competition, chooses his class, creates an army, and shows everyone in this new, future world the spirit of a player from the 2010s. Will he be the champion in the end?

Mana Master


Bruce Sentar - 2020
    Isaac joins the class of humans known as mages who absorb mana to grow more powerful. To become a mage he must bind a mana beast to himself to access and control mana. But when his mana beast is far more human than he expected; Isaac struggles with the budding relationship between the two of them as he prepares to enter his first dungeon.Unfortunately for Isaac, he doesn’t have time to ponder the questions of his relationship with Aurora. Because his sleepy town of Locksprings is in for a rude awakening, and he has to decide which side of the war he is going to stand on.Disclaimer: There are adult situations and harem relationships.

The Dao of Magic #1


Andries Louws - 2018
    But seriously though, I'm sitting on a mountain so far away from civilisation it might as well be the godforsaken arse of the world and these control freaks still won't leave me alone. I'm about to ascend and can't wait to leave this crapfest of a planet. Turns out, the powers-that-be decided that an unaffiliated rogue like me is too big of a risk to let run around free. So they sent all the sect-, organisation- and churchmasters, hidden Dao protectors and other bigshots my way to kill me. This failed, obviously. I managed to ascend in a glorious shower of divine power and ascend, after which someone else managed to bitch slap me to another dimension altogether, unfortunately. Long story short, I just woke up in a valley watching some critters murder each other while trying not to freak out about how bad it smells here. Soo… where the fuck am I? Why is that deer fighting a feathery squirrel? Why am I teaching this baby rabbit saved from a cannibalistic mother how to kick beings in the face with the power of qi? Fuck it, let's just kidnap some clueless kids and teach them the wonders of the supernatural power called qi, alright? Come join Drew as he adventures across a rather primitive medieval, low magical fantasy planet while trying to regain his status as a cultivator who spits in the face of the heavens and the earth.

The Reborn


Edward Brody - 2017
     No more 9-to-5 job. No more studio apartment. No more reality TV. Finally, he's in a place where he can call home, a place with people he can call friends. But as more people want to trade their real world lives to get inside Eden's Gate, the government of the outside world wants the "game" shut down at all costs. Gunnar must learn to survive, grow in power and find a way to send a message back to his old home. "We're fine. We're alive. Eden's Gate is real." Eden's Gate is a LitRPG adventure.

Black Dawn


Nathan Ameye - 2021
    But when a solar storm reconnects Earth to the Fae Nexus, the world is engulfed in magical energy, altering the laws of nature… violently. Fuel, ammunition, and electronics explode, leaving the world in a dark apocalypse.As the flames die down, demons emerge through the Fae Nexus, swarming Gage’s hometown and enslaving the survivors.To fight back, Gage and his reunited friends harness Fae powers, becoming the Wizard, Ranger, and Fighter they’ve always played in their favorite roleplaying game.With the help of a pair of moonshiners turned Alchemists and the ghost of a long-dead gunslinger, Gage and his friends have to level up fast to free their families and defend their home against the demonic horde.He may have walked away once, but this time the only thing Gage is leaving behind are his regrets and a pile of dead demons.

Beginnings


R.A. Mejia - 2016
    He’s an orphan, a gamer, and a role playing game geek. When he dies after a seventy-two hour gaming marathon, instead of going to an afterlife he’s transported to a new world governed by rules that are eerily similar to the RPG games he loves. On this new world, Terra, he can be anything he wants, a warrior, mage, or even a crafter. Only, Armon wants more than that, he also wants friends and family. Join Armon on his journey through this amazing new world where he’ll go on adventures, explore dungeons, slay monsters and hopefully find the friends and family he never had on earth. Adventures on Terra is a LitRPG adventure series

Death's Favorite Warlock


Charles Dean - 2021
    Kill them all." It's the first four words Lars usually wakes up to every morning as the voice in his head nags him, telling him she's just giving him a 'quest' that will help him 'level.'But even if he wanted to do it, he can't. They're cultivators -- beings with ancestral bloodlines that have powers he could only dream of and that may as well be gods while he is stuck as a puny human.Even if he could kill them, the people who bullied him, beat him, treated him like a punch-bag pariah for being the 'tailless worthless human' that he was to them, he wouldn't. It just wasn't in Lars's nature.That is, until a vicious group of murderous psychopaths called a 'sect' descend on his village. The vicious group brutally kills everyone he's known his entire life, taking a select few with them as slaves.Lars must now trust he isn't going insane and find a way to complete the voice's quests and level up, so that he can save his mother from her cruel and heartless captors in this cultivation themed LitRPG and Gamelit adventure.

AlterWorld


D. Rus - 2013
    Whenever you play your favorite online game, beware: your mind might merge with the virtual world and dump its comatose host. Woe be to those stuck forever in Tetris! And still they're the lucky ones compared to those burning alive eternally within the scorched hulls of tank simulators. But some unfortunates - the handicapped and the terminally ill, shell-shocked army vets, wronged crime victims and other society misfits - choose to flee real life willingly, escaping to the limitless world of online sword and sorcery MMORPGs. Once a seasoned gamer and now a terminal cancer patient, Max grasps at this final chance to preserve his life and identity. So he goes for it - goes for the promise of immortality shared with a few trusty friends and the woman he loves. Together they roam the roads of AlterWorld and sample its agony and ecstasy born of absolute freedom.

The City and the Dungeon: And Those who Dwell and Delve Within


Matthew P. Schmidt - 2017
    Beneath is the Dungeon, a vast underground world, and a source of endless treasure guarded by grotesque and deadly monsters. No one knows where the Dungeon came from, or why.Any who would dare face the dangers and riches of the Dungeon must first be transformed into a delver, a quasi-immortal creature whose every attribute is defined by numbers. Yet, the "immortality" offered is but illusory, for without consuming the crystal found only within the Dungeon, a delver will inevitably die.One young immigrant braves the Dungeon to remit money to his family, only to find much, much more. Friends, power, and secrets of the Dungeon.Perhaps even love.

Dungeon Walkers 1


Daniel Schinhofen - 2021
    Perks are the main reason Walkers put their lives on the line. Every time a dungeon is cleared the first time, a Walker gets a choice of three perks that could change their lives.Not every Walker makes it out alive. When someone dies in the dungeon, their soul is fragmented into four shards, which can be purchased for dungeon points. Collecting all four shards and taking them to a temple of the Goddess means the dead can live again. There is a sub-sect of Walkers that makes it their goal to bring the dead back from the dungeons— they’re called the Rescue Squad.Stern is intent on joining the ranks of Rescue Squad. Finally done with his six months at the academy, he is about to make his first run through a dungeon. It will not be easy— he doesn’t have a crew, or a team, to run it with. Stern is an irregular— someone born with unusual perks— and unfortunately, looking like the blighted. Being seen as blighted has made Stern’s life hell, but he keeps pushing on, intent on making his goal real.Despite his hardships, he’s been blessed with the unusual perk of his life-long friend, Pawly. Pawly is a polydactyl Maine Coon, who is protective of her friend and eager to help him reach his goal. With his friend beside him, Stern is ready to start his adventure.(This book contains non-standard relationships and touches upon adult situations.)

To Summon the Familiar: Familiars of the Phoenix Empire


Marty Myers - 2019
    He has been found to have a spark of magic deep within himself. To bring it forth he must first learn to summon the familiar. He must use every drop of his magic to search the Lands of Mist and find the one meant for him. The one he will be bonded to for life. The one who is actually capable and willing to make all his dreams possible. Andrew may be small now, but he has big dreams. this story has some gamelit elements but primarily it is a day in the life story about a boy taking his first steps to becoming a man in a magical world by trying to master the magic he finds himself capable of.

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.