Recommendations?
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Beginning to run thin on series I actually enjoy and am looking for recommendations. Have read:
Mushoku Tensei, 23 vol
Overlord, 16 vol
Reincarnated as a Slime, 16 vol
COTE, Year 2 vol 11
So I’m a Spider, So What?, 15 vol
Irregular at Magic Highschool, 22 vol
Conquerer from a Dying Kingdom (really like it), 6 vol
Monster Tamer, 1 vol
Hazure Skill, 1 vol
Dragon Hatchling, 5 vol
High Elf and Now I’m Bored, 2 vol - dropped
Greatest Magicians Ultimate Quest, 1 vol - dropped
Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles, 5 vol
Wortenia War, 8 vol (good, dropped for slow progress and short of each book)
Iseaki Tensei, 5 vol
Black Summoner, 5 vol - dropped
Broke Mercenary, 2 vol - dropped
Goddess with Zero believers, 5 vol - dropped
Villainous Lord, 1 vol - dropped
Hell Mode, 6 vol
Great Cleric, 10 vol
Blacksmith in another world, 5 vol
Failure Frame, 7 volIf anyone has anything you think I should start/pick back up, would appreciate it! :)
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@Axtik you appear to enjoy isekai stuff, so I'll get the obligatory Ascendance of a Bookworm as the best isekai series rec out of the way.
The Faraway Paladin - 5 volumes, technically stalled but no cliffhangers. Guy who wants to live a better life after being a bit of a failure in his first one, raised by 3 undead monsters and is always striving to be better
Arifureta - complete at 13 volumes, whole class isekai start, with the MC getting betrayed, but instead of dwelling on revenge he instead just focuses on trying to strengthen himself to find a way back to Earth
Infinite Dendrogram - ongoing v21 prepubs, VRMMO setting (that's arguably an isekai, which is an ongoing mystery) with an MC who picks a hyper specialised build in order to fight foes way beyond his means, and often succeeds.
Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World - prepubs about to begin for V9 Canto 1. Isekai MC who was obsessed with TRPGs (D&D etc), given a cheat power that enables him to enhance his own abilities like he was playing a TRPG. Goes on various adventures, doesn't have a specific overall goal to achieve, just helps people.
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Based on that, here are a few I would recommend, not all on on J-Novel though.
On J-Novel:
- D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared - My #1 favorite series on J-Novel
- By the Grace of the Gods - Bit slow paced, based on some you dropped, this may go that route
- Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill - some don't like it for being slow, I don't find it that way
- Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village - Complete series
- Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash - Long, I'm only a few books in.
- How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom - Surprised it was not on your list
- Lazy Dungeon Master - Complete Series. Mostly a fun read
- Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party - Sadly novel 8 was the last
- Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up - just read book one a couple weeks ago seems fun
- The Ideal Sponger Life - Gets summoned with a month to prepare what to bring
- To Another World... with Land Mines! - Class transferred but cheat powers don't mean you survive
Not on J-Novel:
- Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter - If you like realm building
- In the Land of Leadale - transferred into a game
- Survival in Another World With My Mistress! - Protagonist has Minecraft powers
- Sword Art Online Progressive - The better story version of Aincrad
- The NPCs in This Village Sim Game Must Be Real! - only a 3 books series, but it is good.
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@GeorgeMTO Much appreciated, will put these in the reading list!
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@sorvani Thanks for the recommendations, will definitely read some of these.
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No list of recommendations is complete without including Tearmoon Empire. Not an isekai but it's a reincarnation story set in a fantasy world so it's adjacent. More good natured humor than emo pain and suffering though.
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I wonder if you'd like A Late-Start Tamer's Laid-Back Life or Redefining the Meta at VRMMO Academy. They are about people playing immersive games, with some slice-of-life and comedy. There is sometimes the feeling of leveling up. I thought of them since you mentioned Hell Mode.
D-Genesis is about some researchers playing around with dungeons in modern Japan. International politics is sometimes relevant, but the real villains in the series are middle managers.
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@xdrfiredogx said in Recommendations?:
No list of recommendations is complete without including Tearmoon Empire. Not an isekai but it's a reincarnation story set in a fantasy world so it's adjacent. More good natured humor than emo pain and suffering though.
That one was a nice surprise for me, it's not a typical "villainess" novel it's a time rewind set entirely in the fantasy world - the MC is a native and there is no connection with our Earth. It's low fantasy and not a stats/skills gamelike world.
Vaguely similar in how fate seems to bend to the MC:
- Me, A Genius?! -- stalled at 3 volumes, dangling plot threads but doesn't end on a cliffhanger. Isekai sci-fi with a dash of fantasy
- Let This Grieving Soul Retire - ongoing. Non-isekai, an adventurer that the world wildly overestimates based on his actual power, but his effects on the world somehow match his reputation. Humor, might or might not fit your tastes.
Non-JNC
- Loner Life in Another World - isekai, humor, adventure. The MC has a world view that is not like us, and his communication skills are odd. This is more like British humor (Monty Python, Douglas Adams) than slapstick or gags.
- Defeating the Demon Lord's a Cinch (If You've Got a Ringer) - ongoing, by the author of Grieving Souls - MC is a badass and one of the strongest people in his world, but only the weak summoned hero can break the Demon Lord's (evil) god's protection. Dark humor with a bit of silliness.
I'll aslo add to the recommendations for
- Faraway Paladin
- Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World
- How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
- Lazy Dungeon Master
- To Another World... with Land Mines!
- In the Land of Leadale - transferred into a game
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Have you tried the JNC series Zilbagias the Demon Prince?
Since you like Overlord, you might like it, it’s a dark and grim fantasy story
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@HarmlessDave said in Recommendations?:
That one was a nice surprise for me, it's not a typical "villainess" novel it's a time rewind set entirely in the fantasy world - the MC is a native and there is no connection with our Earth. It's low fantasy and not a stats/skills gamelike world.
Yeah, it really is the kind of series that only succeeds through having a good cast of characters and writing good enough to not squander them.
I didn't mention it in my first post because it'd already been mentioned but LDM is a must-read as well.
What I don't think I've seen mentioned is Dahlia in Bloom. Admittedly that one might not be everyone's cup of tea but I quite like it... it's crafting isekai, but one where she was born and raised in her new fantasy world (and thus her feelings for her new world feel genuine and organic) and where she's NOT actually OP at all, beyond the obvious advantage that anyone with ideas and examples from a more modern world is going to have. Which is plenty, when done correctly.
Be warned that it's not a title to read on an empty stomach or a diet. She and her slow-burn romantic partner - along with co-workers and friends - spend at least as much time gushing over good food and drink as they do working, hunting, or inventing.
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Reprise of the spear hero (3 vol).
Saint? No beast tamer.
Apocalypse bringer Mynoghra.
Diary of a middle aged sage's carefree life in another world.
Fake saint of the year.
Villainess level 99.
The vexations of a shut-in vampire.
Loner life in another world.
The fruit of evolution.
Another world survival.
No game no life.
Death march to the parallel world.
My instant death ability.
Kunon the sorcerer can see.
Sentenced to be a hero.
Let this grieving soul retire.
Defeating the demon lord's a cinch.
Disciple of the lich.
Combatants will be dispatched.
I'm the evil lord of an intergalactic empire
Campfire cooking in another world.
That time I got reincarnated as a slime.
Secrets of the silent witch.
Demon lord, retry!
Make it stop. I'm not the hero.
Reincarnated as an apple.
Mixed bathing in another world.
Log horizon.
The eminence in shadow.
Orc eroica.
The otherworlder, exploring the dungeon.
A Tale of the Secret Saint (only vol 1).
Muscles are better than magic. -
@RobD said in Recommendations?:
A Tale of the Secret Saint (only vol 1)
Volume 1 is quite fun, but I've enjoyed the later volumes as well.
To those wondering about the plot, it's the Abilities Average of Saint novels :)
A complete series that I thought was better overall is Woof Woof Story, it's the Abilities Average of ordinary, perfectly normal doggy house pets (Chorus: NO HE'S NOT!)
