Book picks similar to
Oathbound by Todd Herzman


fantasy
progression-fantasy
cultivation
spfbo-7

Foundations


J.D. Astra - 2020
    His acceptance letter in hand, Jiyong is sure nothing will stand in the way of his dreams.When a street brawl lands him in a coma only weeks into the year, his chances of graduating are all but shot. With an unlikely digital companion, he’ll have to rebuild his magic core and catch up on all his classes, or risk being dropped from the academy at the end of the year.But kingdom life is not like the outer-cities, and kingdom kids are far more ruthless about who they’ll allow to climb to the top. Jiyong will have to train hard and fight for every score to make it in this wealthy academy for powerful families, all while supporting his own from afar.From J.D. Astra, author of Viridian Gate Online: Firebrand, comes a brand-new Cultivation Academy series, bursting at the seams with nanites, martial arts, and LitRPG goodness.

Essence: A Divine Dungeon Anthology


Dakota Krout - 2019
    Young or old. Each has their own path to power.Delve into the world of the Divine Dungeon with new and old cultivators alike. Discover the Lion Kingdom’s beginning, learn the origin of Odin and his ravens, and take a philosophical approach to cultivation. These stories and more are included in the first short story anthology set in Dakota Krout’s Divine Dungeon universe.Eight incredible new tales told by eight amazing authors.Check out this LitRPG and GameLit fantasy anthology today! Lion Start by Rohan HublikarJoin Garron and Andros as they flee an oppressive Noble house and begin learning the secrets of cultivation while evading capture. Perhaps their methods will even create a legacy of its own? Legacy of Thunder by Steven WilldenLearn the origin of Odin and his ravens, back when they were all simple cultivators in Azguardia. How did a child eventually become one of the most powerful and well-known lightning users of all time? Flight of the Glitterflit by Ryan BallTest both the dangers and joys of surpassing your personal limits with Jack, as he learns what it really means to determine your own destiny. A person’s fate is never what you would suspect. Splat! by Raymond JohnsonA simple Dungeon Goblin has been killed in the same way over and over, constantly revived by the dungeon it has bound itself to. Is there more to the deaths than simply fighting adventurers? The Spirit Dungeon by Alexis KeaneAn infernal cultivator is driven from his home by true necromancers. During his escape, he finds a secret that could allow him to live nearly forever. Will he be able to control it? Hidden Lantern by James AuwaerterThe Inquisition has arrived. At least, one of the members has. It is up to him to determine if this area is worth saving… or should be purged by fire. Butcher Boy by Dakota KroutFollow the saga of Ramset as he learns what it means to be a cultivator in a city where men are only allowed to be mere mortals. Axiom by Dennis VanderkerkenWhat is cultivation? How is it possible? Philosophy to the rescue! When an old man loses everything, he decides that age is not going to be what stops him from rescuing the young ones that have been ‘recruited’ by the raiders that took them.

Age of Ancients


Aaron Oster - 2021
    Born with a crippling lung illness, he has never been as strong as his father or brother, both of whom have disappeared after attempting to challenge the Trials of Ancients. In the wake of the Tyrant King’s war, his village has come under the control of the Purus, a vicious gang of magically enhanced cutthroats and murderers. The Trials offer the promise of power to any who can clear them, but Dabu has been forbidden from entering.After a violent encounter leaves his family in danger, Dabu faces a difficult decision — either leave the village to challenge the Trials or stay and risk starvation. The Trials are monstrously difficult, filled with dangerous beasts, deadly obstacles, and tribes of challengers who control the areas within. But if he can make it out alive, Dabu will gain the power he needs to finally drive the Purus from his home.This book contains GameLit elements, such as stat sheets, a form of leveling, and experience gain.

He Who Fights with Monsters


Shirtaloon - 2021
    At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil.He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants.After cementing itself as one of the best-rated serial novels on Royal Road with an astonishing 13 million views, He Who Fights with Monsters is now available on Kindle.About the series: Experience an isekai culture clash as a laid-back Australian finds himself in a very serious world. See him gain suspiciously evil powers through a unique progression system combining cultivation and traditional LitRPG elements. Enjoy a weak-to-strong story with a main character who earns his power without overshadowing everyone around him, with plenty of loot, adventurers, gods and magic. Rich characters and world-building offer humor, political intrigue and slice-of-life elements alongside lots of monster fighting and adventure.

Kings and Daemons


Marcus Lee - 2020
    Gifted with eternal youth, his vampiric power is responsible for the decay that afflicts his realm, and now other kingdoms must fall to quench his never-ending thirst for life.However, on the cusp of the invasion, Maya, a peasant huntress, is arrested, Daleth’s soldiers kill an old farmer’s wife, and a young outcast is reluctantly enlisted into the Witch-King’s army. Three seemingly innocuous events that nonetheless have the potential to alter the destiny of generations to come.For Maya is gifted with the ability to heal and can influence the hearts and minds of men if she but finds the strength to do so. The young recruit carries a gift of reading thoughts and has no love for the king he serves. As for the vengeful farmer … he’s an ancient warrior gifted in reaping souls who now seeks to fulfil a long-forgotten oath against unbeatable odds.The world will soon be soaked by the blood of war, but with these three individuals’ lives inescapably entwined, the faint light of hope begins to shine. Alliances will have to be forged, enemies convinced to become friends, and a flicker of love given a chance to become a flame for there to be a chance to fight the encroaching darkness of the Witch-King's evil.-----The Gifted and the Cursed. A dark fantasy trilogy set in a dystopian land, with heroes that are at times more demonic than the evil they face. The bloody battles, quests for revenge and fights for survival are artfully balanced with a light romance, tales of redemption, and the breath-taking beauty of Maya’s gift

Initialization


From Hell - 2021
    Every person without exception.But this new world with all its opportunities and gifts of wondrous abilities, was a stadium. A deadly arena of an unimaginable scale. And Humanity were to be its latest gladiators. Every man, woman and child was given a weapon and ordered to fight. Stuck in this dimension without a way out, only two options existed for the would be hunters: Fight with monsters to complete the many trials ahead, or perish.Faced with hordes of powerful monsters, thrown into battle with complete strangers at random, the unfair game of survival began. And from the very beginning, billions of lives were extinguished in mere moments. But even within this abyss of despair was a small ray of hope: If even one person were to complete every raid, then humanity would be redeemed and restored back to its former glory.No save points, no revives, no retries. Everyone had just one life to make their way through the gauntlet of raids prepared to test their mettle. Within this marathon of death, one man becomes aware of an exception to the rules of the game.

The Prince of Ravens


Hal Emerson - 2012
    Word spreads quickly from the Fortress of the Empress, through the dark streets of Lucien, and to the far corners of the Empire of Ages. The Children are summoned to the Fortress, and the people talk in muffled whispers, if they dare to talk at all, of secret plots and ancient prophecies. Some say the Prince was murdered, others that he was kidnapped; but underneath it all runs a darker word, one full of terrifying possibility:Exile.Rumor begets rumor, and soon the whisper of truth is lost in the swirling winds of growing fear. For the Prince of Ravens is the prophesied Lord of Death, and on his shoulders rests the fate of the Empire.

Equalize


Ryan DeBruyn - 2019
    On top of everything else, his father has just passed, and Rocky has to go it alone on their annual trip. But his plans for drinking alone in Algonquin Park are rudely interrupted by a sea of cosmic energy that governs the universe. Ether, the driving force of creation, has returned. Now a confused Rocky must navigate odd hovering messages to survive.With the awakening of the very planet they reside on, humans are in a desperate fight to survive in an evolving world. If only Gaia hadn’t woken up so very… very… unhinged.

Azyl Academy


Chris Vines - 2019
    Grow stronger and save my world." Just one semester until graduation, and I died saving a little girl. This wasn't the end, though, as a deity chose me to save another world. I woke up in the body of Kupiec Aiden, in a world where magic was real. Unfortunately, unlike many isekai novels I've read, I retained none of his memories, and had to learn everything. His family took me in, and I recovered from his sickness before learning about magic, or Aether as they called it. I discovered that I had immense innate talent in Aether Gathering, and was offered a scholarship to attend Azyl Academy, the city's premier institution. Where do I fit in this world, and how am I going to be key to saving it?

Wagga


Alex Kozlowski - 2021
    The next, an unknown energy force changes the very nature of life itself, from the smallest organism to the top of the food chain. The earth’s surviving inhabitants, its environment, and the very laws of physics have all undergone fundamental transformations.Many of those changes aren’t pretty. Plenty of them are deadly.Luckily for Earth, this has happened to other species before, and everyone receives an interface that survivors of similar events have used to navigate through an alien landscape.Adrian’s going to need every advantage he can get. He’s stranded in the middle of nowhere, there are days, maybe weeks of travel between him and his family, and in a world full of monsters and mayhem, survival means beating the learning curve…

Savage Dominion


Luke Chmilenko - 2021
    If he had, he wouldn't have been so worried about kicking the bucket on a date gone even more wrong than usual.Reborn in the wild world of Amaranth, Maulkin finds himself in a hulking demi-human body with a sword of a size to match. Marked as an Eternal, a fledging immortal of boundless potential, Maulkin soon discovers he's been given a mission by the elder pantheon of this new realm:Grow stronger. Ascend to godhood. Spread chaos in their name.Oh and fend off that inbound apocalypse, if he can find the time.Who wants an easy afterlife anyway?

Overworld


Rohan M. Vider - 2020
    Refugees from Earth. A new world. Elves, orcs, and dragons!Portals from Overworld have appeared on Earth, and beings intent on conscripting humanity into the mysterious Trials have invaded.Earth is doomed. Humanity has been exiled. Can Jamie save mankind?Jamie Sinclair, a young man with unique gifts, must find a way for his family and friends to survive Earth's destruction and build a new home in Overworld.The Trials is not a game. Will Jamie survive its challenges?Join Jamie as he struggles through the brutal Trials while wrestling with his new magics and Overworld's game-like dynamics.

Blessed Time


Cale Plamann - 2021
    Micah Silver was a boy picked for greatness. Chosen by the gods to bear a mythic power, he longed to take his place amongst the heroes and legends he grew up reading about.Unfortunately, his primary blessing only allows him to travel into the past by sacrificing his class, wealth, and levels--a psychological burden that Micah is reluctant to shoulder. But, even if Micah is unwilling, fate has a way of forcing you to face your destiny... and running away can cost you everything.Over and over again...Experience the start of a time-loop LitRPG Series where a reluctant hero is forced to fight against an impossible catastrophe. Using his talents for enchanting items and summoning creatures, he must retrace his steps and grow stronger in a potentially futile effort to prevent tragedy and protect his family.

Shadowcroft Academy For Dungeons: Year One


James A. Hunter - 2021
    Slay Heroes. Survive Finals. Wounded Army vet Logan Murray thought mimics were the stuff of board games and dungeon manuals… right up until one ate him. In a flash of snapping teeth, Logan suddenly finds himself on the doorstep to another world. He’s been unwittingly recruited into the Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons—the most prestigious interdimensional school dedicated to training the monstrous guardians who protect the Tree of Souls from so-called heroes. Heroes who would destroy the universe if it meant a shot at advancement.Unfortunately, as a bottom-tier cultivator with a laughably weak core, Logan’s dungeon options aren’t exactly stellar, and he finds himself reincarnated as a lowly fungaloid, a three-foot-tall mass of spongy mushroom with fewer skills than a typical sewer rat. If he’s going to survive the grueling challenges the academy has in store, he’ll need to ace the odd assortment of classes—Fiendish Fabrication, Dungeon Feng Shui, the Ethics of Murder 101—and learn how to turn his unusual guardian form into an asset instead of a liability.And that’s only if the gargoyle professor doesn’t demote him to a doomed wandering monster first…

Mage Errant Books 1-2


John Bierce - 2019
    He can barely cast any spells at all, and those he does cast tend to fail explosively. If that wasn't bad enough, he's also managed to attract the ire of the most promising student of his year - who also happens to be the nephew of a king. Hugh has no friends, no talent, and definitely doesn't expect a mage to choose him as an apprentice at all during the upcoming Choosing.When a very unusual mage does choose him as apprentice, however, his life starts to take a sharp turn for the better. Now all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years - being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold.Jewel of the Endless Erg, Book Two:After surviving Skyhold's deadly labyrinth, Hugh and his friends are looking forwards to an uneventful summer. Their teacher, Alustin, has chartered a sandship for a training expedition into the vast sea of sand known as the Endless Erg, aiming for the wealthy and powerful desert city of Theras Tel. Hugh's happier than he's been in a long, long time, and he's quite excited for the fresh air, sunshine, and quiet.Of course, given Hugh's luck, their summer is going to be anything but quiet. They're about to be plunged into a morass of pirates, monsters, warring cults, flesh-tearing sandstorms, and a conspiracy against Indris Stormbreaker, the dragon queen of Theras Tel herself.At least Hugh's going to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine.