No tangent this week, as I've been wracking my brain for some tidbit of history or science connected to the story that I haven't talked about and am drawing a complete blank at the moment.
However, because reading widely in a genre makes you a better writer of that genre, I've been reading a bunch of PF and litrpg. If you've been reading in this genre at all, you probably have already read or heard of these books, but in case you haven't, here's some of what I've been reading and some thoughts on those books:
Cradle by Will Wight - Books 1-12 (complete series). Excellent progression fantasy that really starts to take off in the second half of book 2. I can see why this is so widely recommended. Fun characters, solid fights, some nice moments of aura farming, a neat world, and a story that is lean, focused, and satisfying.
Bog Standard Isekai by Miles English - Books 1-4 (book 5 isn't out yet). Does Isekai well. I like how this story explores how the rules and influence of the System affect the world and politics. It also is an interesting mix of slice of life and mystery. Not a ton of combat, but satisfying progression and also quality character work.
Chrysalis by Rhino Z - Books 1-2 & midway through 3 (There's a bunch of books but I'm slowly working my way through the audiobooks. Needless to say, Jeff Hays and Annie Ellicott knock the narration out of the park). So far, these are a fun ride with satisfying monster evolution and good humor, along with an interesting world mystery that I'm curious to learn more about.
I think the progression fantasy/litrpg stories I like best are the ones that have an interesting story, mysteries to investigate, and have inspirations based on epic fantasy.
Feel free to recommend each other stories in the comments! You can attempt to recommend something to me, but I already have an absurdly large list of books from the last time I asked and I keep adding books to me "to read" list faster than I can read them. What I really need is a time loop where I can spend a few years reading, but the Ominian keeps leaving my messages on read...
And here's the chapters from this week!
Extra-Advanced TierChapter 304Chapter 305
Advanced TierChapter 294Chapter 295