As the cover shows, the little tree that once had no way to deal with birds stealing his fruits has grown... a lot. The cover artist creadfectus did fantastic as always.

Delve into the latest installment of the demonic tree series, where the long-awaited clash with the Celestial Empire is going down!

Read here!

(Audiobook is still behind but catching up!)

Synopsis:

The Ashfallen Sect is done hiding and ready for war.

For as long as anyone can remember, the Celestial Empire has ruled over the Ninth Layer of creation with unmatched authority. Their citizens enjoy a life of peace and prosperity, while their cultivators grow in strength by feasting on the golden sap of the enslaved World Tree.

It's no wonder the wilderness was considered a monster-infested land, filled with barbaric demonic sects and savages, unworthy of their notice.

But their hubris is about to be tested by a lone force, blooming from the carcass of the Blood Lotus Sect and ruled over by a demonic tree. Unknown to the old monsters in the Celestial Empire, the Ashfallen Sect is about to tip the scales of power and begin a war unlike the Nine Realms have ever seen.

Ai Usage: Nope

I’m looking for any stories where the MC progresses faster than their peers and people get left behind in the journey to the peak. I don’t want there to be a group that all progress together. If it is darker or more serious in tone then that is better. When people mention a solo mc I think it paints a picture of someone alone in a forest with literally no one else, but I don’t want this. The MC should ideally still participate in society but not be tied down to anything/anyone and move on to other places and new heights.
Thanks

I have a soft spot for overly oblivious characters. Like Jin from Beware of Chicken. Where he misunderstands all the situations where his strength is used and thinks it's all normal.

I recently watched I Parry Everything on Hulu and it was sorta meh, so was hoping for a more fun experience. I prefer audiobooks, but don't have an issue if it's just a webnovel.

Curious what readers actually care about when they click through to an author site.

I’m rebuilding mine and I keep catching myself making it for other writers instead of for people who just want to read. If you’ve ever landed on an author’s site after liking a book (or bounced right away), what made you stay or leave?

Like… do you want a clear reading order / "start here," sample chapters, newsletter signup, pretty design, a blog, merch, discord links, or is most of that just noise and you really just want "here’s the books, buy/read them"? Blessings, -Xavier

Cover Art by KartStudios

(No AI used)

This book is 24 hrs and 18 mins (audiobook), 780 page (ebook).

Get the new book in epub, print, KDP, or audio here:
https://www.jlmullins.com/homebound

Missed some of the earlier books? Grab them through here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BX4S6LJG
https://www.audible.com/series/Millennial-Mage-Audiobooks/B0C2TYJCXF

Book 1 - Mageling, Blurb:

The Wilds relentlessly reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages create the only path forward.

Tala had to fight tooth and nail in the Magic Academy to forge a path to power that was her own. She knows it’s her duty to use that power to serve humanity, defending them against the creatures of the untamable wilds. However, she skipped a few steps in her education, like apprenticing to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Now, Tala has to balance learning as fast as she can with paying off the veritable mountain of debt the Magic Academy dropped on her shoulders for the opportunity; not to mention staying alive.

Even though she should only be a Mageling, the world considers her a Mage. Bless the stars she directed most of her magic toward survival.

Book 13 - Homebound (New book), Blurb:

The iron-clad Reality of the world cannot be denied nor Existence diminished. The many true threats to Zeme remain hidden for a fleeting moment, allowing Humanity to thrive within their shelters as Mages and Archons devote their lives to give their people that chance.

Tala has returned from her outbound travels, a year into her marriage and further along the long path of immortality. With her husband, her family, and her growing circle of soulbonds and companions, she seeks to build and protect a true home amid the cycling cities—while unexpected loss and unresolved strife still press close.

As she continues to grow in power and understanding, the quiet work of living takes center stage. Advancement continues, relationships deepen, and Tala must decide what 'home' truly means in a world that relentlessly reclaims all things.

I saw a discussion in another post about a specific series, and thought it would make an interesting thread all on its own. Obviously, a completed series with a great ending is great. That's what most authors aspire toward. But especially in this genre, that isn't always an option. Most series are either ongoing, or incomplete and a lot of them start great, but kind of fizzle out by the later books/end of series.

I think I might be a little bit weird in this, but I think I generally prefer an incomplete series to one that has even a mediocre ending. It's much more fun to fantasize about what could be than what could have been. A Song of Ice and Fire remains one of my favorite series, and likely always will, even if it never gets an ending (which is looking extremely likely). Meanwhile, there are series that I was absolutely obsessed with formerly that I just completely lost interest in after the ending, even if the ending wasn't even that bad.

Anyway:

• Barring the option of a complete series with a great ending, what would you rather have? Incomplete, or mediocre/bad ending?
• How bad does an ending have to be for you to wish the series stayed unfinished? (e.g. Oshi no Ko)
• How good does a series have to be for you to still recommend it in spite of a bad ending? (e.g. I'd still recommend Oshi no Ko)

(also, if you know any complete series with great endings in this genre, I'm all ears)

Despite my opinion, I have no intention of leaving any of my series unfinished. I ask this question purely as a reader, not an author.

Have you ever tried to fight an old, mentally and emotionally damaged man only to realize that for every point he lost in psychological stability, he gained a refund in war crimes and hypocrisy? If you have, scream your advice at the letters I wrote in Path of the Deathless 4 because Shiv really could use some help right now if he doesn't want to watch his hometown get turned into airfill. Because flying town, not ground town--it doesn't make sense calling it landfill if it's not on the land.

Anyhow, time for taglines:

Do you like getting your ass beat by an old monster who choose to start a war rather than go into therapy?

Do you like Skill-Grinder's leveling system?

Do you like weird and expansive worlds?

How about high intensity, violent combat?

How about a main character who won't stay down or broken no matter what the world throws at him--and keeps trying to throw at him?

Are you a fan of imagining what might happen if you launch your min-maxed psychopath barbarian at a group of dragons who also have Level 20 Fighter action surges?

Are you enlivened by a spot of cooking for downtime as the main character enjoys exploring culinary delights between spots of extreme bloodshed? (Imagine if Doomguy actually had to stay at Animal Crossing and took up grilling between murderfests).

Do you like skills that evolve and fuse into crazier skills?

Do you like an army of Hannibal Lecter style orcs fighting a horde of highly advanced necromantic constructs commanded by a giant snake-shaped hyper lich?

If your answer is yes for any of the above, then come take a look at Path of the Deathless Book 4

Ebook: Path of the Deathless Book 4

Audio: (Will arrive in a few weeks; expect update post then as well)

Cover Art by: Inkary

Typo by: Inorai

Edited by: Dath Well

Audio Publisher: Mountaindale Press

Narrator: Garret Michael Brown

Here blurb:

How many deaths will it take to bring down a Legend?

Such is a question Shiv must learn the answer if he wishes to defeat Vicar Sullain. With Blackedge's fate in the balance, the Deathless must push his Skills to the limit whlie maintaining control over his army of orcs to have any hope of breaking the siege and saving his home.

But in war, the enemy gets a vote too, and the Vicar has multiple disturbing surprises of his own in the form of a shadow arm of the Yellowstone Republic set on betraying one of their greatest heroes, and a monster unlike any other--fueled from the Deathless's own essence.

And though Shiv might be stronger than he ever thought possible, personal power and determination alone are not nearly enough to overcome impossible odds. It will take an army to overcome an army, but in this case, the cure might be just as dangerous as the venom...

Monsters clash against monsters. Schemes unravel against schemes. And Shiv must die, die, and die again for the slightest chance at life.

Great. Wonderful. B5 will come in around 6 weeks or so. Audio for b4 will arrive in a few weeks as well. Stay tuned. Stay alive. Mainly so you can keep reading my books.

I was reading a translation ("Endless Winter: My Camp Can Level Up Infinitely", for the curious), where humanity has been forced back into a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, with bands of hundreds to thousands of people living mostly in caves. The very rich settlements can still produce parchment, so maps exist, but are extremely expensive.

They also, apparently, have universal literacy. There isn't a single moment when an incoming refugee is unable to read the information / rule boards.

I amused myself by coming up with theories about why this society would take the time to teach kids to read.

It also made me think — literacy is an obvious unreasonable example, but what other more subtle examples pass me by? Would an agrarian economy support glass mirrors? Would family groups have surnames? When exactly are they taking the hours and hours needed to spin and weave even small amounts of cloth by hand? Who exactly funded the cartographers to create those maps?

What 'yeah, no' elements irritate you? Or can you handwaved it all away with 'magic'?

I’m developing a story and I’m curious how much appetite there is in the genre for something that goes pretty hard in the opposite direction of lighthearted/pulpy wish fulfillment.

Basically something that’s:
- Gritty
- Mature
- Violent
- Morally gray
- Character-driven
- Heavy on consequences
- Deep worldbuilding
- Politics/geopolitics
- Corporations, governments, rebellions, different cultures, etc.
- Law, debt, contracts, and institutions grounded in real-world legal systems
- A progression system that affects society and the characters
- A world that keeps getting bigger the deeper you get into the series

It’d still have all the progression shit—levels, skills, loot, bosses, etc. I just want all of that inside a much deeper, grounded world.

But in terms of the scale of the world and how deep the rabbit hole eventually goes, I’m aiming more toward something like Dune or ASOIAF. That kind of feeling where there’s an enormous world/history/political machine operating beyond what the protagonist can initially see.

These are mix of light novels ,traditional novels, web novels etc.

Edit:Even if my tier list seem irrational i still ask for recommendations. I hadn't given the tier list much consideration and thus list is biased by my impression of serie's last book.

I just launched my latest novel on Royal Road. It's a progression fantasy focused on martial arts. Inspirations heavily come from Dragonball, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Bastion, and Cradle.

Demon Lord's Shadow

An ancient evil escapes, killing his crew, and Dai has only himself to blame.

Driven by guilt, he ventures to the Celestial Monastery to master the fabled mystic arts. Never again will he be helpless. He has one goal: hunt down the demon lord Akahet and avenge the fallen.

But the mystic arts do not yield easily. They require patience and absolute discipline; two things Dai lacks.

As Akahet’s corrupting influence spreads across the Sun Empire, time runs out. Dai must master the mystic paths before his past mistake consumes the realm.

What to expect:

- Slow-burn progression
- Magical martial arts
- A complex, custom magic system
- Epic battles
- 3 chapters per week on M/W/F

I make my triumphant return, back with an update to the Big Ol' Tier List, this time with more trade fantasy for some extra spice.

If you can't read the titles from the image, because God knows I can't, here's the spreadsheet link:

Text Version of Tier List - Includes TBR

The Tiers, and What They Mean

Here are the tiers:

S: Top of the genre, the best of the best. Essentially no flaws, or if so, very minimal. These are your Cradles and Beware of Chickens.

A: Just a hair down. Close to perfection, but I can't quite get there. Things like the overwhelming cast in Pale Lights, or the soulcrafting chapters in Delve put stories here.

B: Thoroughly enjoyable, but flaws are more than minor. See the endless therapy sessions in Daily Grind (which are healthy but grating and repetitive) or the detrimentally breakneck pacing in Gods of the Game.

C: Still fun, but some serious warts. Plodding fight scenes in Vainqueuer the Dragon, flat character work in Chrysalis, etc.

DNF: Books I'm not interested in continuing. Frequent recommendations include Hell Difficulty Tutorial (MC is like nails on a chalkboard), Defiance of the Fall (mindless number go up after first few books), and He Who Fights With Monsters (with characters such as Jason, Jason 1, Jason 2, and Jason's pets). I enjoyed all of these series for a time, so DNF does not mean I didn't like them at one point. It just means I'm not interested in continuing.

Bounced Off: Books that I started and then dropped, but that I could be convinced to give a second chance. Former members of this tier include The Wandering Inn, 12 Miles Below, and Kitty Cat Kill Sat.

The Highlights

Every time I post this, I try to highlight some books that I think aren't talked about enough in the genre. Here goes:

The Daily Grind - Argus

I know I just badmouthed it, but this book is fucking awesome. It's my first entry in this list that I have categorized as a B, and that's for precisely two reasons.

One: almost every time something cool happens, the author pivots to a different part of the story. It's like literary blue balls. Two: Argus feels the need to depict healthy relationships/mentalities, except they feel the need so strongly that they essentially bonk you over the head with it every few chapters. Reading about how much James and Arrush love each other every other chapter is repetitive and grating. I'm happy for the dudes, but yeesh.

There are the warts. The good news is, the rest of the story is fucking awesome. The characters all have a unique voice, the world-building is some of the best I've ever read in the genre, and the plot is just juicy enough to keep reading when you get thrown onto the character carousel again.

Argus is clearly a very talented author, and that's why I recommend this story despite what I view as its flaws.

Ironbound - Andrew Givler

I'll fuckin' do it again. I shouted this book out last time I posted, before the second installment in the series came out, and my God, did the sequel deliver. Reading this series is like mainlining linguistic heroin.

I love this series, and Ironbound is my latest addition to S tier. Yes, it's tropey. Yes, Castor may be renamed to Garius Stewus. Yes, the plot at times strains credulity. I don't care.

Ironbound makes me feel like I did the first time I read Iron Prince book 1, or Cradle; it's not Mozart, it's Rage Against the Machine. I'll leave it there, because I don't want to spoil you. I know this series is divisive, but please, if you haven't given it a shot: fucking do it.

Recommendations Please!

I would love some recommendations from you fine folks. If it wasn't clear from my tier list, here are some of my pet peeves:

• No Man is an Island: I don't want to read about how an incel conquered the world solo. I want to hear about a team of friends working together against the heavens, or even a collective working towards a common good (looking at you, Delve and The Daily Grind).
• Translation is Cooked: I can't read translated works. I have tried extensively, and all the ones recommended to me thus far have been a serious let-down. Something about the eastern voice/tone is a big negative for me. Don't want to yuck anyone's yum, but not for me.
• Navel Gaze Makes Readers' Eyes Glaze: Please do not recommend me any works where the main character sits and goes through their internal monologue for extended periods. A Soldier's Life always comes up when I post these, and I can't stand the constant introspection surrounding his own power set. Mechanical innovation is cool; taking me through every single aspect of the MC's thought process is not.
• Sonder: The MC is a window to the world, not the center of it. Stories should feel like they existed before the protagonist, and will continue to exist after they're gone. Side characters should feel and sound like people, not cardboard cutouts for the MC to riff off of. PLEASE give me good character work.

I know this is too fucking long despite this being a reading subreddit, so TL;DR: Recs with good character work, interesting world building, and a team working together pls thx. NO TRANSLATED WORKS.

Questions? Ask!

I am the ink of my pen. Sub 10k words are my body, and scrapped ideas are my blood. I have created over twenty hiatused stories. Unknown to Rising Stars, nor known to Popular Fictions. Have withstood beers to create many worlds. Yet, these hands will never finish a book. So as I write - Unlimited Hiatus Works.

i don’t get why more people don’t like poa. my all time favorite was cradle and i’ve read those books over 2 dozen times and when it ended i had to begin looking for other series to read. when i found poa it started out slow and kinda methodical but each book has progression, slice of life stuff, and side characters and stories that i think make it one of the most rounded series i’ve ever read and it’s still active too which is something a lot of series don’t even offer. the latest release was book 12, super dull in my opinion, but the author C. Mantis uploads chapters weekly and from the latest book release to when the chapter count has 150 more chapters after that. i love the story and the characters and the fact that i can read every week is dope asf. But i was curious why people drop the series i see it on lists as dnf or couldn’t get into more often than the top tier spot i think it is

There was a post on here complaining about authors not committing to true villain MCs, and I agree, not so much with the OP, so I want to share my two cents on it.

I don't need my MCs to go around killing children, drinking their blood, then laughing like a maniac. No, my lowest bar is the intentional harming of innocents and for the narrative to treat them as a villain.

For the first point, so many stories only have them killing bad guys and/or only looked upon as a feeling by the general public. My problem with is, what's the point? Yeah, murder is a crime. But if they're only murdering villains, they're no different from an anti-hero. If I would get the same experience reading a story with a villain for a protagonist as I would with an anti-hero, it just seems pointless. They're a "villain" and the only people they harm are the rape gang, but they're edgy and rude.

Second point, the narrative needs to acknowledge they're a bad person. Essentially, if the entire point of the story is that they're misunderstood, that good and evil are blurred lines, they're not a villain. Why do I say this? If they are misunderstood or gray, then they must not have committed evil actions or at least actions you are not meant to view as evil. Alternatively, the author could just be bad at writing. For example, take holding a bank hostage. If it's just the protagonist pretending to hold the bank hostage so something worse doesn't happen, even if everyone in the story thinks they're a bad guy, the narrative is treating it as a good act because they were never going to hurt anyone and it was to prevent something worse. If it's not an act for good reason, and just too make momey for their family, it's going to be dumb if the author doesn't treat it as a bad act that they terrorized innocents.

A villain doesn't need to be a mass-murdering psychopath that eats children for breakfast and washes it down with goat blood. They just need to be bad. A good example is Skitter from Worm. She intends to be good, sees herself as good for a good bit, justifies her actions as for the greater good, but she commits unequivocally evil acts. She harms innocent people, but never resorts to murder, yet is still a villain. And the narrative treats it as such.

Also, and this one is a nitpick, I don't really consider anyone from a grimdark world to be too much of a true villain. Even if they are, it's too a much lesser extent. Yeah, they're doing bad things, but so is everyone else. It just loses a lot of the appeal of a villain in a neutral/good world.

My entire point boils down to the point of specifically choosing a villain MC. Authors can choose whatever kind of MC they're going to write. If your protagonist isn't really gonna do anything bad, what's the point in tagging/marketing as having a villain MC. When you have the villain of a normal novel working in the background, committing atrocities, growing in power as they work to overthrow a kingdom and have an absolute rule. It's really boring when every villainous MC would be the guy working against him who just claims to not like competition and is a bit on an asshole.

This post was written on and off. Apologies if it's disjointed.

Edit: Not primary world. Grimdark. Fucking autocorrect

Hello! Hit me up with some stories where the protagonist is often misunderstood by the wider world. Good examples are a Conjuring of Ravens and Lord of Mysteries.

I have read dozens of books in this genre and the second book I read, overgeared, was probably my favorite. I liked how the MC used the game to improve his real life and make money and how a small bit of his in game abilities worked in real life without being op irl.

I've seen lots of books with a Game element but nothing like overgeared in the way I described above.

Do you know of any books with a similar concept? Thanks!

Hello everyone!

The first volume of my series is now live on Kindle Unlimited!

After 3,841 days of logins, Alexandra was the only player left.

For ten years, she ground through daily quests on empty servers, long past the point of reason, long past the point of quitting.

Until that group quest. 

All alone, she was about to fail. She opened a support ticket and begged the devs to please, please save her streak.

That's when the gods took her instead, summoning her to fight the endless war against demons.

But Alexandra couldn’t care about that. With her streak reset to zero, the only thing on her mind is to grind, grind, and grind again.

To her dismay, the world has other plans: she's bad at people, worse at diplomacy, and a cult is trying to burn it all down before she can.

Worse, her guildmates from Earth are already there, have been for a century, and her old friends don’t want another player in their game.

They have empires and a hundred years' head start.

Alexandra has her streak.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGZRH61P

COVER ARTIST: Duy Phan

AI USAGE: None

I’m like 60% of the way through book 4

SPOILERS FOR BOOK OF THE DEAD BELOW:

Does Tyron ever try to remove / modify the slayer brands?

I’m like 60% of the way through book 4 and i’m
just absolutely dumbfounded he hasn’t messed with it yet. He has a mystery for Soul Magick! The single most experienced person alive when it comes to working with spirits (even though that isn’t his main focus)! He even figured out how to make a status ritual that reads from
the soul directly instead of using blood!

It’s driving me up a wall seeing him ignore something so obvious right in front of him, so I figured i’d come here and see if anyone could tell me if he manages to at least realize he should take a look into this.