[Recommendation] - Adventure LNs similar to Grimgar
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Edited : since the thread has been moved here. Thx for this by the way :)
I was wondering if you have any good light novel recommandation, mainly of the adventure genre. With a more mature/adult approach.
So far I've enjoyed ALOT Grimgar and Overlord but I'm done with the presently released material, so I'm searching for some new stuff to read.
Whatever the genre, I would like to avoid common tropes like harem of polygamy, useless ecchi, and plain cliché characters.
I'm not against good comedy recommandation, as I enjoy Konosuba, as long as the quality his here.
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On J-Novel, there's Infinite Dendrogram, The Faraway Paladin, Orphen, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles
and Gear Drive which can be considered adventure. Also the Unwanted Undead, but I didn't like that one, so I'm not going to write about it.Infinite Dendrogram is a MMORPG story, where the players are aware that they are in a game, but the NPCs behave like real people. The story mostly follows Ray, who gets drawn into various, escalating conflicts and how he and his friends struggle to clear them. It is rather light-hearted with quirky characters, but the battles are still pretty tense.
It strengths are the world building, the character interactions and the bear puns.
Avoid it if you want a more grounded story, because some character backstories (in the real world) are pretty absurdThe Faway Paladin is an isekai, because isekai sell. Other than that, it is the series most similar a Western Fantasy. The protagonist grows up being raised by undead in the first volume after reincarnating, then gets into various adventures in the following volumes. He is pretty overpowered, but not unbeatable, and his opponents are also nigh unbeatbable.
This leads to intense fights. The series has likable characters, great world-building and the prose is very well-translated.
Avoid it however if you want romance involving the main character, an be aware that the author currently seems to suffer from a writer's block (the story doesn't end on a cliff hanger, though, so that isn't that big of an issue).Orphen is a somewhat cheeky series from the 90s, with a good amount humour. Though when it get serious, it really does. I actually haven't read more than 1½ volumes so far, so maybe someone else can write more about it.
Gear Drive has only one volume out yet, and if I had to describe it, I'd say "battle shounen" as a light novel, with really lovable characters. Though if you are looking for something darker like Overlord and Grimgar, you better look elsewhere.
I only read the first volume of Spirit Chronicles, so again, I'd let someone else describe it in detail.
@Rahul-Balaggan : Can you detach the posts into their own thread, to avoid off-thread clutter?
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It's not a LN, but Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy comes to mind as fantasy that feels "more realistic" than most, like Grimgar.
Spirit Chronicles is enjoyable and similar to Grimgar in that its straight fantasy not science-fantasy like Smartphone, but it's not as gritty.
Der Werewolf is better than I expected from just part one, and it's set in a demon army that is much more sympathetic than the usual mindless killing horde.
Unwanted Undead Adventurer as also surprisingly enjoyable if you can get past the flaw of repeated repetition of information conveyed more than once on the same page. Read it now while it's still October! ;)
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@charles-georges said in [Recommendation] - Adventure LNs similar to Grimgar:
y, I was wondering if you have any good light novel recommandation, of the adventure genre.
While I'm not trying to "corrupt" the thread by going into too much of a tangent, I'd like to know if there are other LN close to Grimgar quality wise.
So far I've enjoyed Overlord but I'm done with the pI too enjoyed reading both Grimgar and Overlord too, I love the tense atmosphere of Grimgar and how death always is hovering around the main characters. Overlord also featured some very tense volumes (volumes 4, 5 6 and 13) when written on a human/lizard perspective, still I also dislike it when the story centres on an OP character perspective especially Albedo and Demiurge.
Rokka No Yuusha. MAL It is a very long quest against incredible odds. The relation between characters is very complex, the main villain is strong but even more so he is a manipulator; each trap features several twists and betrayals. It has a similarly angst feeling as grimgar.
Terror Infinity. has 23 volumes translated so you can binge read it. It features a group of people trapped into an alternate dimension portal that opens into several horror and sci-fi worlds. As Grimgar it features a team of people working together just to survive, many of the team die and get replaced as the story goes along. However this story has several sci-fi elements mixed in to the fantasy. Very interesting read especially since each world they visit is completely different from the previous. This is a Chinese WN still worth reading thou. Most of the time you get that same angst impending doom feeling found in Grimgar
Dreadful Radio. Another Chinese WN, It is a very good horror adventure however translation stopped three months ago at chapter 199 with still 1000 chapters to go. I still enjoyed reading this
Rise of the Wastelands. It features a lot of party/group missions, and even some solo adventuring. This story features an incredible post apocalyptical world building, with factions politics, fighting and very intelligent tactics. This is a Korean LN worth reading several hundreds of Chapters translated already. (300/1900)
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Thank you all of you for your various and detailed recommandations, I'm going to check all of this in the coming weeks.
This should keep me busy haha.Starting with the Faraway Paladin as I've seen it mentioned in many recommendation posts.
I don't mind isekai and OP MCs, if it's OP well made with some nuance or particularity (I'm thinking about Overlord for example). My main problems about japanese fiction are brainless harems and polygamy clichés (it's just getting boring and cringy nowadays), hence why good finds are not always easy to come by ^^
@renofury on my part I really enjoyed Demiurge and Albedo's parts (top 3 characters for me with Ainz), as it shows how much of twisted strategists they are. And Ainz half assed schemes and constant fear of schrewing up with those two's plans is just hilarious. I really do enjoy the unpredictable aspect of Overlord and its sarcastic tone. Not everybody is gonna like of course, but for me and my tastes, that's an awesome saga, one of my favorite fantasy fiction.
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@charles-georges I can see why you like them they are interesting characters but I cannot cheer for them since I normally cheer for the futile strugiling human characters, so out of the guardians Sebas and Coctylus are my favorites since they can emphatise with beings outside of Nazarik.
If you like overlord you could try also dungeon defense, it's a highly rated Korean LN that has been translated to English with permission from the author. The story features several overlords and humans in a power struggle. It is very dark and the MC is not bound by morality
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@renofury Yeah, I Overlord fits peoples in different ways. I enjoy the "villain" POV and the moments of dreadfulness experienced by the protagonists facing Nazarick. I read/watch it as a dark story.
Sounds cool ! Thank you I'm checking this out :)
