Book picks similar to
Hold the Line by Dean Henegar


litrpg
sci-fi
dungeon-core
science-fiction

Overshadow


Matthew Peed - 2020
    

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.

Rifleman: A LitRPG / LitFPS Adventure (Battlegrounds Online, #1)


Troy Osgood - 2021
    It's time to move on to something more... obscure. Battlegrounds Online is the only game of its kind. A VRMMOFPS. A military warfare game so realistic that it scares away most players daring enough to try it. Realistic in the combat but not in the setting, the game is based around a toy property from the 1980s—a property that Eric's Grandfather was a fan of, passing that love down to Eric.Now, as a soldier codenamed Zag, Eric gets to play in that near-future world full of colorful and insane terrorists. He gets to be one of the characters he heard his grandfather rave about.But Eric will find that not all games are created equal. Some are more real. So real, they can affect you both in and out of the game. Experience this high-adrenaline LitRPG / LitFPS adventure from the Amazon Bestselling author behind Sky Realms Online. An action-packed thrill-ride that puts you right in the crosshairs.

Quick Change Volume 2: Spire


C.T. O'Leary - 2020
    While Seth is mostly used to life in the land of Morgenheim, he’s struggling with the responsibilities that come with being a high level member in the guild.While completing a quest as a favor to his friend Pahan, Seth inadvertently catches the attention of Djinia, goddess of adventurers, and is given a seemingly impossible quest that will require the help of the Adventurers’ Guild and their primary rivals, the Transportation Guild.When the two groups aren’t sabotaging each other, their combined might overcomes numerous dungeons with surprising ease… That is until they catch sight of a thin spire stretching high into the sky at the center of a mysterious desert.Note: This novel contains game-like elements similar to those found in tabletop RPGs or MMO videogames, commonly referred to as litRPG or gamelit.

A Fist Full of Credits


Tao Wong - 2021
    Veteran. Survivor.Hal Mason's still going to find surviving the System Apocalypse challenging.While bringing in his latest fugitive, Hal's payday is interrupted by the translucent blue boxes that herald Earth's introduction to the System - a galaxy spanning wave of structured mystical energy that destroys all electronics and bestows game-like abilities upon mankind.With society breaking down and mutating wildlife rampaging through the city of Pittsburgh, those who remain will sacrifice anything for a chance at earning their next Level. As bodies fall and civilization crumbles, Hal finds himself asking what price is his humanity. Are the Credits worth his hands being ever more stained with blood?Or does he press on - relentless?A Fist Full of Credits is the first book in a new series in the System Apocalypse universe. Written by debut author Craig Hamilton in Tao Wong's bestselling post-apocalyptic LitRPG universe, System Apocalypse - Relentless is another glimpse into what humanity will do when the chips are down and the monsters are crawling from the shadows.

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!

Children of Earthrise: The Complete Series


Daniel Arenson - 2019
     "We hide in shadows. Our planet is lost. We are the last humans, and we must go home." Children of Earthrise is a story of exodus. Of humanity lost among the stars. Of one man rising to lead our people home. In 2016, the Earthrise series became a surprise bestseller, captivating hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. Set two thousand years later, Children of Earthrise begins a new story, one for both new readers and old fans.

Station Cores: Complete


Jonathan Brooks - 2019
     Milton Frederick was originally abducted from his apartment to help defend one batch of pacifistic aliens called The Collective against another set of homicidal aliens called Heliothropes…but he never quite made it that far. Instead, during the process where his human consciousness was ripped from his body and inserted into a massive metal contraption called a Station Core, the ship that he was being transported on blew up and he was sent hurtling through space. Crash-landing on an unknown planet with just a foot-and-a-half tall, foul-mouthed, nanite-formed AI guide called ALANNA to tell him what happened, Milton has to come to terms with his new existence as a giant metal egg, defend his hazardously-in-need-of-repair outer shell from the dangerous local wildlife (including blood-thirsty squirrels), and manage the unique radiation spewing from his damaged internal reactor – all while figuring out how the heck to get off the planet. All of his work building a “dungeon” underground, defending it with makeshift traps, and filling it with small Combat Units may work well enough against the random beasts wandering around, but they’re next to useless when something else even more dangerous shows up knocking on his door: people. Not humans, of course, but the local equivalent – Proctans – who are similar enough to Milton’s original species…though with one major difference. They all have unique special abilities that looks suspiciously like “magic”. However, there is an even bigger threat that looms on the horizon not only for Milton, but all the Proctans as well… Contains LitRPG/GameLit elements such as level progression and experience, optional tables, no harems, and a heavy Dungeon Core emphasis. Note: The optional stat tables tend to skew the percentages toward the back of the eBook. The locations can be a tad deceptive; while this box set is 562,000 words, stat tables comprise less than 8% of that total word count.

Disperse: The Cesmial Accords: A LitRPG Gamelit Adventure


Kevin Sinclair - 2021
    Unhealthy for Lyewax, at least.It’s not every day that violent earthquakes cause a rare and potent energy to leak from the planet's core. One that immediately kills over half the world's population while gifting the survivors with incredible powers.That energy is Cesmial. One of the most highly sought-after resources in the universe. Its sudden appearance has attracted attention.Enter the monsters. Huge, fearsome creatures with one purpose. Remove the Earth’s current occupants, so the Cesmial can be harvested.Humanity is on the back foot. They need heroes. They need leaders. They need Lyewax Vix. But he has more problems than you can poke a stick at. Embroiled in a game of cat and mouse with an unknowable enemy. Trapped in a loop of someone else’s making. If he can survive, then perhaps humanity has a chance too.

Castle Manager: An Isekai LitRPG Progression (The Fantasy World of Dorbin Book 3)


Chad Opo - 2021
    

Apocalypse Online


Robyn Wideman - 2021
    They just have to survive, level up and find other survivors.Jake is no gamer. But when he finds out aliens have arrived, he'll do anything to protect his little sister Sam.Will they be able to grow strong enough for the second wave or will they become alien plant food?APOCALYPSE ONLINE is a litrpg/gamelit post-apocalypse fantasy series filled with action, adventure, aliens and snarky AIs.If you are a fan of System Apocalypse, Defiance of the Fall, or the Sun Shadow series, you'll love Apocalypse Online!

Into Twilight


Cale Plamann - 2021
    Kill them for their mana. Aliens are blown away by science.Daniel Thrush is the only known human with the ability to learn the magic which runs the various empires of the universe. Earth is in the crosshairs of the Tellask Empire, a race that discovered magic millennia before humanity even mastered fire.All known aliens focus on the arcane. Upon learning of magic, their technological progress all but halted as great voidships spread their colonies across the galaxy. For all of Earth’s military might, their only hope is to incorporate the alien’s magic into technology, to use the enemy’s own tools to fight them.The government is dead-set on transforming magic into a standard-issue weapon. That means finding monsters and harvesting their mana, usually after sticking them with a sword. Despite his better judgement, and the world on his shoulders, Daniel leaves Earth behind to bring them back a future.

Survivors


Toby Neighbors - 2021
    Once a proud member of the Fleet Marine Corps’ elite Terrestrial Advance Combat teams, the battle on colony planet Luyten C left him broken and scarred. But after a year of surgeries and physical therapy, he’s ready to complete his enlistment as Master of Arms on the exploration vessel Rihla. It should be a simple, stress free assignment - but things rarely work out as they should.For decades humanity’s efforts to spread across the galaxy have been hampered by the violent Orrkasi, an intelligent, space faring race of which little is known. But Staff Sergeant Vanhorn is no stranger to the Orrkasi. He’s a veteran with eight combat engagements, a harden warrior, a man who knows how to improvise, adapt, and overcome. But he’s facing challenges he never expected before. His body is crippled and scarred, the TAC Team brotherhood he once thrived in see him as a pariah, and he’s haunted by the horrors of combat. Just getting through his first cruise after returning to active duty won’t be easy.When the explorer ship Rihla reaches the Leonis system after almost a month in hyperspace, they find a habitable planet with a rich atmosphere, liquid water, and the ideal climate. It’s a perfect world for human colonization, but they aren’t the first to arrive and the Orrkasi have a surprise waiting for them.Survivors is an exciting military science fiction novel by master storyteller Toby Neighbors for fans of Starship Troopers, First Blood, Battle Los Angeles, and Heartbreak Ridge. With a cinematic feel, and characters you’ll love, Survivors is a smashing first book in a series that you’re sure to want more of.

Dungeon Maker


Nathan Valerio - 2019
    One day he is killed (by a truck no less even after dodging off the road) his soul was going to white light in the sky (the sun) but before he could arrive a magical circle appears and he is pulled in and given a second chance at life in a magical world under the most cliche trope of anime, as a summoned hero. He isn't 'the' hero though, he got the most uncommon hero class and something that has been extinct in all the nations blocking the advance of the demon lord. That is the Dungeon Maker. As a very unusual class that makes not only death traps but proper dungeons with ecosystems, this is the life of humanities first dungeon maker in 1,000 years since the demon lord war began. This is not just a story of battling the demon lord but also of how our heroes making a new life force themselves as all of them died in their original worlds.

Frontiers of the Imperium


Jan Kotouč - 2019
    This ability now tells him that something is in the air when he almost become a victim of an attempted murder and the upcoming mission to the fringes of the Imperium does not give him a good feeling. The more they talk about how it is just a routine test of a brand new communication ship, the more suspicious it is. Central Imperium is too big, too fragine and holds together by too many compromises. External enemies are about to také a bit of its territory but the internal ones are even more dangerous.