Hello all! Figured this would be a good place to ask for recs on litrpg books. I haven’t really read any before but I’m looking to dive in on some. Closest I’ve read to a litrpg would be one of the old school choose your own adventure books.
I’ve been considering life reset, the system apocalypse, awaken online, and of course dungeon crawl Carl.
Any tips/suggestions on where to start would be appreciated! Also just curious to see what everyone thinks of these types of books
I had never heard of “LitRPGs” – still not sure I fully understand what carves out the genre. But there has been some previous discussion in the forum about the broader genre of “gamebooks”. Is there a specific feature of “LitRPGs” that you’re interested in? For example, I gather that many of them very intentionally borrow ideas/concepts/mechanisms from very computer-gamey computer games like MMORPGs, whereas this is not the case for gamebooks in general.
From what I saw on the link you sent the gamebooks are more for role playing games. Like rules sets and tables and the likes.
The books I’m looking for are novels more so I guess? Like written as a story but with leveling systems built into the narrative.
I also am not super familiar with the genre, I haven’t read any litrpgs yet so I don’t really have any specifics I’m looking for. More just putting out feelers for recommendations
A few years back I read a chunk of Solo Leveling with my son - a Korean manhwa (or webtoon, if you like scrolling). It’s pulpy, stylish, and somewhat unhinged - a power fantasy wrapped in dungeon progression mechanics, levelling sprees, and ever-escalating boss fights.
Subtle? Absolutely not. But addictive? Regrettably, yes. I tore through several volumes before remembering I was meant to be the responsible adult.
There’s now an anime, too, in case you’d rather watch your dopamine hits animated.
Oh, I see – I had guessed that LitRPGs were a species of gamebooks. But they ain’t. So I know nothing about them and I’ll show myself out 
Hahaha all good! I appreciate the help either way
I’m regrettably in the same boat of not quite understanding what differentiates a litrpg from, well, anything else, really. Is it just a traditional narrative, but with an added element of stat tracking your characters as they “play” through the story?
I believe that’s exactly what it is. From my understanding it’s just a regular narrative with leveling elements added in to create a more gamified experience to the reading
Have you looked into the Grail Quest books? Also, I think there are a fair number of Lone Wolf adventure books, if this is the type of thing you are asking about. I haven’t got to playing either system, but they might be what you are looking for. Hope that helps:)
The best way to get a feel for what’s good is to hang out on the reddit LitRPG sub and Progression Fantasy sub and see the tier lists people share there.
The lone wolf series had caught my eye when I was doing some digging online
Oh, I’ve had my eye on that series for a while now. I’d be interested to hear what you think of it if you do get it.
Take it with a grain of salt because I’m obviously biased.
You might check out my friend Arlo’s Enora Online books. It was pretty big when it first came out in like 2018. He’s got the first 9 audiobooks free on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@ArloAdamslitrpg/search
I liked them well enough that I asked to write a spinoff series together.
Dungeon Crawler Carl definitely fits your description. Also the “Die” graphic novels are reminiscent of the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon series, albeit darker. [
A massive LitRPG e-books sale is happening this weekend. Many books are free as a starter. https://www.jjthornbooks.com/massive-litrpg-sale
