General Reading Recommendation Thread (Not Series License Requests)

taz2

Looking for any isekai where the person/people is summon from another country besides Japan.

myskaros

@taz2 The Devil is a Part-Timer?

There's an unlicensed series I can think of that's from one fantasy world to another, this one: https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/2035/lv2-kara-cheat-datta-moto-yuusha-kouho-no-mattari-isekai-life-the-laid-back-life-in-another-world-of-the-ex-hero-candidate

HarmlessDave

@taz2 said in General Recommendation Thread:

Looking for any isekai where the person/people is summon from another country besides Japan.

It's been done in Western fiction since at least John Carter of Mars. Have you read much non-LN SF & fantasy?

b.scot.morgan

@taz2 said in General Recommendation Thread:

Looking for any isekai where the person/people is summon from another country besides Japan.

@HarmlessDave is right, there are a ton of "Western isekai" stories, at least as far back as Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

I think Three Hearts and Three Lions, by Poul Anderson might be of interest to you.

Edit: Also, The Mathematics of Magic, by L. Sprague Dr Camp & Fletcher Pratt. It collects all of the "Incompleat Enchanter" novellas, along with an amusing and helpful (?) essay on how to equip yourself if you anticipate being isekai-ed into a world where guns won't work.

Roy Nukia

The entire Chronicles of Narnia.

db0ssman

I'm finishing up the If Its for my daughter... series pretty soon and am looking for my next series to start. Ideally, it would be something like Rising of the Shield Hero, but more like the earlier part of the series (before it became a shameless harem isekai). I'm thinking of starting Lazy Dungeonmaster, but it looks pretty heavy on the fan service, so I'm not that sure. I don't mind fan service if it is done well, but once it becomes constant in the writing/derails the pace of the book I usually don't like it.

Quick overview of my tastes based on what I've read already:

Rising of the Shield Hero - Mostly loved the series, but didn't like the harem/fan service aspects near the end

Ascendance of a Bookworm - Love the series, probably don't want to read something quite that slow this time (since I'm still reading the simulpubs)

Goblin Slayer - Absolute trash. Not only is the writing itself terrible, it didn't even make 3 books before it became nothing but fan-service and side-stories (stopped after book 4)

If it's for my daughter... - I like it as long as I can keep my mind from thinking about the creepier aspects.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Rahul Balaggan

@db0ssman

Lazy Dungeon Master can be very heavy on the fan service at times, but it has never really slowed the story down or held it back in my opinion.

Every volume has a bit of fan service, and that bit can reach extreme levels, but it usually quickly dissipates.

Overall it is a funny story, and the characters that get introduced do not fade, everyone gets some decent character development, plenty of world building & even now 10+ volumes later it doesn't seem to be an aimless story.

Other then that I always recommend Cooking With Wild Game, which is still on catch up for a few more days, I have talked about this series and what it means to me:

Here & Here

db0ssman

@Rahul-Balaggan

I'm putting this in a spoiler in case you haven't read Rising of the Shield Hero/Goblin Slayer, and don't want to know what happens.

spoiler

Rahul Balaggan

@db0ssman

Okay in that case here is a very very mild spoiler for lazy dungeon master:

spoiler

db0ssman

@Rahul-Balaggan I'll probably give it a shot, then because it sounds like it side-steps most of the fan service I really can't stand.

Rahul Balaggan

@db0ssman

Although it does side step that type of fan service, when the story does fan service it is usually a 10/10 level of fan service.

db0ssman

@Rahul-Balaggan I'm not sure if you are trying to say graphic sex scenes by '10/10 level of fan service' or just like the MC has a bad tendency to walk in on people in the bath, but if it is not that fequent and too cheesy, I'd probably just skim over it.

Rahul Balaggan

@db0ssman

Neither really..for the most part, but you will find out...

piisfun

@db0ssman I only read the first book, and the fan service is "hard to describe..."

db0ssman

@piisfun I may be new to light novels, but I have been watching anime (30+ years) and reading manga (15+ years) long enough to say that is a bit concerning...

SomeOldGuy

@db0ssman LDM fan service is no where near the level of something like To Love-ru. No rampant nudity, accidental groping, etc. Not that many of the people in the main character's primary group would object to it, but it doesn't happen.

That said, there are the occasional illustrations that get the books in trouble. Volume 2 has an illustration that got it removed from Amazon in Germany.

In reality, the fan service level of LDM is about the same as Konosuba, in my opinion.

If you haven't read it, I recommend Realist Hero. Not any issues with fan service, so long as you stay away from the manga.

HarmlessDave

@db0ssman some suggestions:

How to love your elf bride - two painfully shy and socially inept people fall in love. There is roughly zero fan service but high levels of dawwww.

Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf - sweet fantasy adventure - romance

Unwanted Undead Adventurer - if you can get past the Mojo Jojo levels of redundant repetition in spots it's an interesting story of character growth

Record of Wortenia War - survival in a brutal world

Campfire Cooking in another world - relaxing fantasy slice of life, harem-free.

@SomeOldGuy said in General Recommendation Thread:

I recommend Realist Hero

It's one of my favorite JNC titles, but if @db0ssman can't stand harems at all that could disqualify it.

db0ssman

@HarmlessDave said in General Recommendation Thread:

Unwanted Undead Adventurer - if you can get past the Mojo Jojo levels of redundant repetition in spots it's an interesting story of character growth

Mojo JoJo - Wow, there is something I haven't heard in a long time.

It's not that having a Harem means I will dislike it for sure per se, but a lot of stories include harems as a crutch to have 2d characters or drum up cheap drama.

piisfun

@db0ssman I meant that in a sense of "I don't know how to describe this" and not "I don't want to or refuse to describe this."

Put simply, the main character has a really bad fetish...

Raitoiro

@db0ssman LDM is really worth a try, the fan service can be bad at time (especially in the first volumes, it get better later) but the part about managing the dungeon are really cool, and the comedy manage to stay fresh.

Other than that:

Grimgar is great, since there's no op character it can be a bit like the start of Shield hero since the MC is left unprepared in another world force to adapt. There's also little fan service and a great world building. That said the rythme is slow and some people are turn off by Ranta (he get way better in later vol tho).
"The faraway Paladin" is also a one of the best isekai, really well written and with next to no fan service. Unfortunately it's been a while since the last volume, the series isn't dead (the manga is still being published) but the author is apparently lacking inspiration but the current last volume is the end of an arc so it's not that bad.
"Cooking with wild game" If you like Bookworm it's a bit similar since it's about a regular person using past skills to improve life in another world starting from the bottom of the social ladder. There a bit of fan service in vol 1 and it's a bit haremy at time but it never derail the plot.