Book picks similar to
Foundations by J.D. Astra
litrpg
fantasy
dnf
wuxia
Dark Wizard's Case
Kirill Klevanski - 2019
At first, everyone thought it was just a new game, however... Alexander Dumsky, or Alex Doom, was a dark wizard. At the age of seventeen, he was convicted of a litany of crimes so long that even the seasoned investigators, judges, and prosecutors involved in the case could only shudder. Not a single attorney could be found to defend him in court. But four years later, Alex was released from prison to become the Professor of Dark Magic. They'd thrown him into the deepest hole they could find, one built for the sole purpose of holding wizards, and then they let him back out again... Why him? Why then?
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.
Obsolete Theorem
Stan C. Smith - 2020
A fight for survival. A bond between species.It wasn't possible, but then it happened…A Neanderthal's 47,000-year-old remains are found in Spain. That's not unusual, but positioned beside the woman's skeleton is something that shouldn't be there—a robotic drone. Lincoln Woodhouse has some explaining to do.When confronted with the evidence, Lincoln cannot deny that the drone is one of his own models. After all, he routinely jumps his drones into the past to collect environmental data. The problem is, this drone shouldn't even exist in Lincoln's universe. Everyone knows sending a drone into the past creates an alternate timeline.The implications of the discovery are staggering, and Lincoln is ordered to jump back in time to investigate, even though no human has ever done so before. Upon jumping, he and his team find themselves in a world of deadly creatures and savage beings.Amidst the primeval chaos, Lincoln encounters Skyra, a woman unlike anyone he has ever known. She is a skilled hunter and vicious fighter. She is not human, but she just might hold the key to humanity's future.
The Apprentice to Zdrell
David K. Bennett - 2018
Master Silurian, though not a zdrell master himself, has been fighting demon magic all his considerable life and hoping against hope that a new zdrell master would enter the world. Now as the demons and their wizards are nearly ready take over the continent and cement their hold over the entire human race, Jonny is discovered by Silurian, a boy, who untutored is able to manipulate magic like the zdrell masters of old. Can Silurian train this boy and keep him alive long enough for him to become a new zdrell master before the demons sweep the continent and gain control of the entire world?
The Forever Gate Ultimate Edition: Books 1-9 (Complete Series)
Isaac Hooke - 2019
It has been one of the highest-rated sci-fi series on Amazon over the last three years. This bundle contains books 1 through 9--the complete series--and will captivate fans of science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, and cyberpunk. In this riveting nine-volume set, Hoodwink Cooper infiltrates a tyrannical alien regime and traverses multiple realities in a daring attempt to save his daughter from certain doom... There's only one problem. He might destroy the last living remnants of humanity in the process. This ultimate edition contains THE FOREVER GATE volumes one through nine. Strap yourself in, because the mind-bending thrill ride that explores what it means to be human has only just begun.
Monsters and Legends
Ivan Kal - 2021
He became a respected leader, a shining example of what it meant to be good. But as the world ended, he had only one thought: to punish the monster that had killed the world long before the Framework ended it. Yet not even with his incredible power was he able to stand against the World Ender. His arrival in the new realty, the Infinite Realm, gives him the chance to grow stronger, to find the monster again—and make it pay.Ryun survived the chaos after the arrival of the Framework by pushing harder than anyone else. He grew in power until he became the most powerful being that had ever walked the planet; but he is hated by the world, called a monster by all others, the World Ender. As the world ends and he steps into a new one, where people stronger than him have lived for centuries, he finds himself lost and without purpose. The only thing that had mattered to him had been lost to him long ago. He truly was the monster that people considered him to be, and he now finds himself wondering if this new reality has a place for someone like him—but he had never been one for lying down and dying without a fight. One world fell to his power, and another might follow.WARNING: This book contains RPG mechanics and tables, cultivation, profanity, gore, mature themes, unconventional morality, and multiple complicated main characters. This story follows several main characters, both male and female, who are introduced into the story at different times. This story is a mix of LitRPG and Xianxia, and it will have Classes as well as Cultivation systems.. It also takes place in two timelines (the past chapters are not the main focus, only an addition).Author's note:This story is the e-book version of my webserial.
Eye of Truth
Lindsay Buroker - 2018
But when his ship sails into port, a beautiful woman wearing the garb of an inquisitor from one of the religious orders waits to arrest him. His crime? He’s accused of stealing an ancient artifact with the power to start another war. Jev would gladly hand over the artifact to stop more suffering, but he has no idea where it is or even what it looks like. The inquisitor woman definitely has the wrong person. Inquisitor Zenia Cham grew up with nothing, but she has distinguished herself as one of the most capable law enforcers in the city, and she’s next in line to become archmage of the temple. All she has to do is find the Eye of Truth, and her superiors are certain that Jev has it. He tries to charm her with his twinkling eyes and easy smile, but she’s not letting any man get between her and her dreams. Especially not a thief. If Jev can’t convince Zenia they’re on the same side, find the artifact, and clear his name, his homecoming will turn into a jail sentence. Or worse.
The Carnelian Fox
Kay MacLeod - 2019
At least, they didn’t until we created them.Maiyamon was once merely a game. Now it's a global reality. After dozens of hit monster collecting games raked in billions of credits per year, it was inevitable someone would create real ones. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so obvious how many people would dump them in the wild…Sam Wentworth grew up with nothing. She’s worked tirelessly just to get through college and earn her first monster. Bankrupt and exhausted, she sets her sights on fame and fortune in Maiyamon arenas. Instead, Sam’s caught between battling the rampaging elemental creatures abandoned by their owners and standing up to a toxic group intent on ending the game forever.With her flame fox cub, Finn, at her side, Sam sets out to build a team capable of protecting both innocent people’s lives and the creatures she loves. That’s the easy part.Monsters may fill the world, but it’s humans she fears the most…
Tales of a Sea God: A 4x Lit Series (Ocean's Heart Book 1)
Andrew Karevik - 2020
Surprised by the sheer violence of the attack, they are no match for their foes and are killed one after the other. As Sepios’ body sinks into the depths of the ocean, mere seconds from breathing its last breath, he manages to transfer a shred of his divine essence into the pearl of a giant oyster. When he finally comes to, it is to find that ten thousand years have passed. The creator god is but a shadow of his former self. Weak, with no more worshipers to chant his name and fuel his power, he barely has enough strength to see past the shell of his oyster. Worse, the world he now inhabits has turned into hell on earth. Not only has the ecosystem been completely disrupted, with the ocean being ravaged by parasites and monsters, powerful storms and abnormally high temperatures are not making it any easier for gentler life forms to survive. And that’s just what’s happening below the surface. As he sets on a mission to restore the balance, Sepios will have to contend with a cruel sea witch, giant horrors from the depths, as well as Inquisitors—the representatives of the new gods on earth. He will have to find a way to expand his domain and create sea villages… but more importantly still, he will need to bring people to him and gain their devotion. And to do that, Sepios has a plan: to build field zones for adventurers, that he will fill with treasures, so as to test the mettle of these men and reward their bravery. In short, he first needs to become the master of the sea if he is to ever regain control over the land above. But Sepios must beware. Under no circumstance may the usurpers or their Inquisitors learn of his presence, or else he might not be so lucky as to escape death this time around… Tales of a Sea God is a kingdom building, 4x lit series with hints of dungeon core.
Battlestar
T. Jackson King - 2016
That puts Ensign Jacob Renselaer on the spot. Can he find out why the aliens killed his ship’s officers? Can he take command of the Battlestar? Does he want to be the leader of ten heavily armed starships that never expected to encounter aliens? Deep in the Kepler 22 star system, mutual misunderstanding between two peoples who cannot speak to each other leads to multiple space battles. Somehow Jacob becomes the leader he never wanted to be. His close friend Daisy the pilot helps him, as do other friends on the Battlestar. On the alien side, Hunter One is determined to kill the invaders who threaten his new colony world. His people the Swarm have never been defeated. Now, he faces Soft Skins who do not flee at the loss of their leaders. In a distant star system, people human and alien die, scheme, and fight for survival. None of them have ever faced combat before. But now, both sides learn what it is like to have someone seek your death and the death of your friends!
Just Cause
Ian Thomas Healy - 2007
Mustang Sally runs. A third-generation superhero, Sally's life changes forever when she fights and loses to the notorious villain Destroyer, who killed her father just before she was born. She dedicates herself to tracking him down so she can even the score.When all you can do is run, you'd better be fast, but can even the fastest girl in the world run quick enough to save her teammates' lives from Destroyer and his growing parahuman army?
A God in Chains
Matthew Hughes - 2019
Martin
Searching for his stolen past in the Dying Earth. He calls himself Farouche, after a character from legend, but his reality is that his memories and identity were stolen from him by a secret enemy.In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, he finds himself trailing a wealthy merchant's caravan across a dusty plain. Possessed of a soldier's skills, he hires on with the merchant and begins to build a life. But his efforts to discover his past reveal a dark prospect: was he a participant in a notorious massacre of innocents?Will Farouche come to know the truth? Will he survive the journey across a lawless land to the remote city of Olliphract, ruled by half-mad thaumaturges? And when he finally lays bare the plot in which he has been ensnared, will it be too late?Matthew Hughes delivers another dark fantastical adventure set in a decadent Dying Earth, where men and half-men and even the gods themselves contend for earthly power and unearthly prizes.A God in Chains is a Dying Earth adventure of men, half-men, and gods and is the latest Matthew Hughes' Archonate series novel."Hughes's boldness is admirable" -- New York Review of Science Fiction
About the Author:
Matthew Hughes writes fantasy and space opera, often in a Jack Vance mode. Booklist has called him Vance's "heir apparent."His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, F&SF, Postscripts, Lightspeed, and Interzone, and invitation-only anthologies including Songs of the Dying Earth, Rogues, Old Mars, Old Venus, The Book of Swords, and The Book of Magic, all edited by George R. R. Martin and/or Gardner Dozois.He has won the Arthur Ellis Award, and has been shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick, Aurora, Nebula, Endeavour (twice), A.E. Van Vogt, and Derringer Awards.He spent more than thirty years as one of Canada's leading speechwriters for political leaders and corporate executives. Since 2007, he has been traveling the world as an itinerant housesitter, has lived in twelve countries, and has no fixed address. Praise:
"Hughes's boldness is admirable" - New York Review of Science Fiction
"Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable" - Publishers Weekly
"Heir apparent to Jack Vance" - Booklist
"Criminally underrated" - George R.R. Martin
***
Warrior Reborn
M.H. Johnson - 2019
Even if it meant being frozen alive. And if his cortex got uploaded into a digital universe filled with countless worlds to explore until a cure could be found for his cancer, all the better. The last thing he expected was to wake up naked and alone in the bowels of an ancient ship filled with raiders carrying enough poison to kill an entire city! The choices he makes from that moment on will have profound consequences not only for his own fate, but for an entire realm as he faces down bloodthirsty pirates, ruthless cultivators, and fearsome demigods while taking his first steps along a path of power that might one day forge him into a cultivator strong enough to challenge the very heavens themselves! Eager for a fast-paced Wuxia/LitRPG adventure filled with deadly adversaries, exotic adventures, and mighty cultivators fighting for the power to topple kingdoms? Then read on!
Revelations of Doom
Jedidiah Behe - 2012
It was not at all loud, but the sound a blade would make being slowly pulled from its scabbard. Many years spent in the woods listening to the ambient rhythms of nature had trained his ears to pick up such out of place sounds. His body reacted reflexively, without thought as though he had done so thousands of times before. He jumped back off the steps just in time to see the glint of a sword slice past were his head was and thunk into the railing. He touched the pummel of his sword, feeling the energy surge through him and was about to pull it free when something within urged him to stop. Before he could decipher the reason for this impulse, the dark form leapt down at him. He ducked back, just far enough to let a second blade wisp by his face. The first was still lodged in the railing. This dodge put him in close to his attacker, making it possible for him to easily strike a deadly blow, but again something inside gave him pause. And then, in the soft glow of a nearby lantern, he caught a glimpse of his attacker, and she was absolutely beautiful.”Choices, we all make them, every day moment by moment. What most people do not realize is how a simple choice could very well alter their own life and those of everyone around them greatly. What would you do if you were blessed with the curse of being able to see evil and how they manipulate those around you? Would you choose to run in fear, ignore what you have just seen, or fight against something that no one else can see, and therefore limits their belief? Lucian was chosen to be such a man, much to his dismay. On a path of vengeance he strikes out to find a murderer, unknowing that the world around him is at the brink of war. He pushes on through pain, treachery, despair and even death, only to receive a Revelation that shows him what could very well become the future of his world, and it terrifies him. He is given the ability to see the creatures of shadow, set to destroy the world of the living and manipulate mankind into an evil existence. He is now faced with choices that would change the world forever. The pathways to his destiny are set, but he must choose to follow the correct path, for free will must always be heeded.
Crota
Rohan M. Vider - 2018
By Rohan M. Vider A Game, played between Gods… where the playing field is the world itself… and the pieces, living beings. A young man caught unwittingly between… in a strange world, without allies or help… must battle for survival…using his wits and magic alone. Pawn or Player… his fate is his to decide… which will he prove to be? Accidentally summoned from Earth to the world of Myelad, Kyran becomes embroiled in a thousand-year war between the Gods. Through no fault of his own, Kyran earns their ire and is trapped in Crota, an abandoned city haunted by undead, and infested with all manner of beasts and monsters. To escape the Gods’ trap, Kyran must become a Player that even the Gods would learn to fear…