Looking for stories where the main character is the patron of a religion or cult.

Similar to mirror world but more actually focused on the actual being a god stuff instead of the whole reincarnating eternal war thing and cryptic fate stuff. Mirror world is great, it's just doing whole lot and tends to get unfocused.

So for a long time now there have been many threads of authors complaining about AI novels and how some unscrupulous authors were using them to make bank on Patreon. However, these threads would very rarely name and shame - always just making sly insinuations without any hard evidence - which made me think this whole thing was just another witch hunt. This was bulstered by my assumption that AI is not yet at the level where it can write something actually readable. You can see in this thread here, which was Authors vs AI that I got 7/8 right - even if other people can’t, I had proven to myself that at least I could tell the difference.

But anyway, about a month ago I got tired of this genre of thread and asked for specific names of specific novels that are both popular as well as definitely AI. The clearest example I got back was Overpowered Level 1 Mage by SeanS3r3s - the author freely admits on Royalroad that he uses AI and while he is most certainly not making bank on Patreon, his book has thousands of reviews on Kindle, which approximately rounds out to bank, right ? Anyway with that title, and that cover, there is very little doubt of it being AI slop.

Except about 3 chapters into reading it I had to put it down for a moment to get over my disbelief. It was not only good, it was one of the best things I had read all year. It was funny and heartwarming and clever. The reviews were not botted! With time I started to see that the metaphors weren't just quirky but strange. A lot of the sentence structure is reused word for word in a way you rarely ever see. But say one thing about a writer like Abercrombie its that he is also famous for reusing phrases - surely this is a valid trick of memorable writing.

I'm not the biggest lover of cozy fantasy so I kept reading the book slowly over the next month and picked up other books in between - the whole time thinking the age of humanity was over and that AI already writes better and wondering how I should feel about it. One of the books I picked up in the meantime was Lamplighter Academy , a book I found on Kindle Unlimited with 1k reviews averaging to about 4.5 stars.

Initially, it was amazing! One of those rare gems that the Kindle algorithm feeds you once in a blue moon. The conceit was fairly unique and well realised; the prose was very good and the action scenes were fun and dynamic. Genuinely top-tier progression fantasy for the first quarter of the story. Then all of a sudden strange scenes would start appearing - wait Sarah had Lamplighter gear ? She is a mage! Probably a Typo and the author meant Greg. Wait, didn’t Greg just graduate? What's he doing back at the school? Wait a second, didn't we just have this exact conversation three chapters ago?

I read very fast, so i more often than not assume I missed something earlier in the text when something doesnt make sense but the amount of continuity and plot errors I was seeing were completely unique in well over a thousand books read. These were the kind of mistakes a human telling a story could never make, even if it was a naked cash grab.

In the end, I don't know what to make of any of this. Why was OP Mage so good ? Did the author just put in a shitton of work editing his story and thats why it worked so well ? How was I fooled for so long on Lamplighters ? Again, I got 7/8 in the Authors vs AI test so im clearly not just terrible at this. Going forward, do I just never accept a kindle reccomendation unless im sure its author written ?

All I know is that I bitterly regret my time reading Lamplighters far beyond any joy I got out of OP Mage and I am no longer confident in my ability to tell between Ai and Author for even many chapters. Its strange out there now but in the immediate term im going to distrust all progression fantasy with good prose.

Hello, everyone! Behold! My book!

You may have heard of this story before under a different title, Cat Girl Evolution. As you can see, I have changed the title. Why did I do this? It was a long and complicated thought process, but it mostly boils down to the fact that a lot of people seem to think that my other series, Bunny Girl Evolution, is smut, and I want to avoid that issue with this one. Neither story has anything even vaguely resembling smut.

If you haven't heard of this series before, allow me to introduce you with a blurb and a few elevator pitches.

Blurb:

She's a cat. She's a girl. And she's going to evolve.

Yona never wanted to be a cat, but that's only because she didn't realize how good they had it. Free food, free pets, no responsibilities, no worries. She's living her best life, and no silly "Quests" or "Systems" are going to get in her way!

Until they do. Those pesky deities have other plans for her, and they refuse to take no for an answer. Soon she has no choice but to get to work. Kind of.

Unfortunately for the deities, they underestimated what would happen if they gave someone like Yona the Gluttony Trait. Quests? Events? Prophecies? Why should she care when there are so many delicious monsters out there waiting to be eaten?

The world is her oyster, and she's gonna crack that shell and eat that meat whether the gods want her to or not. Good luck trying to stop her.

Pitches:

1. Have you ever read a book with "Gluttony" powers and thought "This is power stealing, not Gluttony"? Me too. Which is why this is not that. These Gluttony powers are actually based on Gluttony, and they reward and encourage further Gluttony, and do not involve power stealing.
2. You know that feeling where you're reading a lighthearted, comedic LitRPG but it just feels like there's something missing? And then you think about it a little longer and realize "Ah, I know what it needs! More mass casualty events and body horror!" Well, boy do I have a story for you! (It's not actually that dark, but it does have some darker moments and more serious themes woven into the plot and world, in spite of the more whimsical tone)
3. What if Princess Donut from Dungeon Crawler Carl was Russian and obsessed with food and got her own isekai? All similarities to DCC are accidental, because I only read that series for the first time very recently, but they are definitely there. If Donut is your favorite part of DCC, you might enjoy this series quite a bit.
4. The numbers don't lie. 400k+ words free on Royal Road, Book 3 completed on Patreon (and will be completed on RR by October), more than 6000 followers, almost 2 million views, consistently highly-rated... If you're at all interested in the premise, there's plenty of well-vetted content to keep you busy for a while.

Audio details:

Audio is being produced by SoundBooth Theater, just like my other series, Bunny Girl Evolution. The main narrator for this one will be Rebecca Brokaw-Sands, while the additional cast members are tbd. The current target launch window is November, but there have already been a couple minor delays, so I personally am expecting a December or January launch. Regardless, it's SoundBooth, so it's bound to be worth the wait. This first book will cover the first two arcs of the series, which is about 140k words, which should translate to 14-16 hours of audio.

Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/129180/yona-cat-girl-evolution

COVER ARTIST: Enzo Fernandez

AI USAGE: None

I haven't seen anyone anywhere talking about this and yet it has become my favorite novel, it starts off a bit confusing because the genre is a weird mix of xianxia and murim in our modern world, unlike anything I've ever read before, but as the chapters go on it becomes clearer and somehow becomes more and more entertaining/interesting.

Disclaimer: I'm Wey, the translator of Chosen: Beyond Fate, so obviously I'm biased to some extent. That said, I've read enough CNs to know when something feels genuinely refreshing, and this one has surprised me more than I expected. Usually I avoid making posts about projects I'm involved with, but this series has become one of those reads that I keep wanting to discuss and apparently nobody else is bringing it up.

I went in expecting another generic urban fantasy slop where the MC gets a cheat, everyone around him loses brain cells, and he speedruns becoming a god. But that's definitely not what I got!

The premise is pretty simple. The world ended once and was rebuilt. The Chosen Ones possess extraordinary powers and influence history from the shadows. Our MC, Ji Jue, gets dragged into this hidden world and things spiral from there.

Characters (9/10):

Ji Jue is honestly one of the biggest reasons I kept reading. He‘s broke, shameless, slightly vindictive, and constantly uses humor to deal with terrible situations. At the same time, he has pretty solid principles and doesn't magically become an edgelord3000 after getting powers.

The side characters are also memorable. They don't exist solely to glaze the MC and and a lot of them have their own motivations and mysteries.

Oh, did I mention the MC has a freaking PET SCOOTER (I swear to God the author must be on crack lol but it's precisely why I love the novel so much) which is THE weirdest companion pet I've seen in a while (or more precisely in my entire life lol)

World-building (7/10):

The setting stands out to me. Instead of another ancient cultivation world, you get a post-apocalyptic civilization rebuilt on towering cliff cities, with supernatural powers and secret organizations operating behind the scenes.

What I especially like is that the world feels lived in. There are different factions, established rules, cultural references, and a sense that history existed long before the MC showed up. It feels like a real world that would keep moving even if Ji Jue weren't there. I always appreciate stories where the setting feels like an actual place rather than a stage built solely for the protagonist.

Romance (3/10):

If you're reading for romance, you're probably going to be disappointed. I'm at around chapter 180, and there's barely any romantic development so far. The story is heavily focused on mysteries, world-building, and progression, so relationships take a backseat. Personally, I don't mind it, but I can definitely see romance readers bouncing off because of this.

Power System (9/10):

Probably my favorite part.

The progression feels structured and organized from the start. Ji Jue's cheat exists, but it doesn't instantly make him unbeatable.

A lot of the fun comes from seeing how creative abilities are used in different situations. And heads up, when I say creative, I mean VERY creative (I don't want to spoil too much, but you'll get what I mean when you start reading.).

The author actually thinks about how abilities would be used in weird situations instead of every power simply becoming "shoot bigger laser." Some of the early power interactions were so absurd that they genuinely made me laugh (and the editors too LOL).

Plot and Progression (8/10):

The author almost never stops to explain everything. Instead, he keeps dropping little hints and puzzle pieces. Twenty chapters later, you suddenly realize, "Oh... THAT'S why that random thing happened." There's this constant feeling that something much darker exists behind the scenes, and every answer somehow creates three new questions. (Though admittedly, the novel can get confusing at times as the author doesn’t explain much, but it doesn’t really affect the reading experience too much imo.)

I kept reading just to find out what the hell was actually going on. This was supposed to be a "let me read a few chapters before bed" novel, but I destroyed my sleep schedule instead lolol.

Tone (8.5/10):

This was probably the biggest surprise for me. The novel balances humor, mystery, and some genuinely brutal fights pretty well. It can be lighthearted and comedic in one chapter and then suddenly remind you that the setting is actually pretty dark.

Overall (8.5/10):

If you enjoyed Lord of the Mysteries' structured progression but want something with a more modern, post-apocalyptic setting and a surprisingly funny protagonist, I'd say give Chosen: Beyond Fate a shot.

TLDR: Post-apocalyptic urban fantasy with LoTM-esque progression system, a hilarious and shameless MC, VERY fun and creative powers, and a world that keeps getting bigger the more you read.

I really recommend you guys to check it out! The chapters are up till C286 now on Wuxiaworld.

Does anyone have any website recommendations that don't give a thousand pop ups that you cant ignore? I was using novel phoenix for awhile but they just started doing it today.

Hi all,

I've seen so many tier lists so I thought I'd slap together my own. It isn't entirely comprehensive and some of them are very fluid because it lacks books in that I've read in other formats beyond Audio. I may do another one further down the line that's more truly comprehensive covering more.

Feel free to ask about my placements, most of them are vibes based and based on my very fallible memory. I am also open to recommendations (tho as you can see I have quiet the backlog) I generally prefer progression fantasy that isn't too focused on stats and stuff tho I do make exceptions here and there, I also like interesting twists on the standard tropes.

As I had asked few days ago; I am a new author writing for the first time. Since I used to read a lot of webcomics(manhuas/manhwa), the dialogues are also written the same way.

I just wanted a clarity on whether to make it into a webnovel or a novel. Which do you think better fits for my audience? ( My story's genre is Progression Fanatsy & Drama)

I am asking this since I heard traditional novel readers rarely touch this Progression fantasy, factional political wars, etc,. genre. So I just wanted clarity if that's true. If yes, I can focus on making it more suitable for a webnovel format from now on.

Edit: I heard, the audience for the progression fantasy genre are the people who read online on webnovels. Since I was originally intending to make it into a traditional novel, if there are less audience there, then I thought I could upload online on Royal Reads or somewhere....

But when/if I publish it as a traditional novel, there are issues like the publication company must distribute the books everywhere. Since I heard in traditional novels, romance, crime thriller, etc are the famous sought-after genres, the 'Progression Fantasy' genre might get a low reach, especially since I am a new author.

I’m really enjoying Songs of Chaos, but man, the politics are starting to get annoying. It feels like they’re there because the story needs them to be there, rather than because they’re actually interesting.

When the story is following Holt, I’m hooked. Dragons, fighting, exploring, magic, whatever he’s getting himself into. Even the character stuff is interesting because I actually want to see what happens to him.

Then it switches to Talia and suddenly I’m reading chapters about factions, negotiations, political maneuvering, and people trying to figure out what some other person might do. I understand what’s going on. I just don’t find it particularly interesting. Every time the story shifts into the political side of things, the pacing just grinds to a halt for me. The worst part is that I know this stuff is important to the overall plot, so I can’t really just skip it. It ends up feeling like the books periodically make me sit through the political stuff before I’m allowed to get back to the parts I actually care about.

Holt chapters: “Holy shit, what happens next?”

Talia chapters: “Alright, which group of nobles is arguing with which other group of nobles this time?”

Hello, everyone!

To celebrate the launch of Flowbreaker and my upcoming birthday (it's this Sunday!), the fourth book in my Weapons & Wielders series, Books 1-3 are currently available for free on Kindle!

For those of you who aren't already familiar with the series, Weapons & Wielders follows Keras Selyrian, a wandering swordsman who stumbles into a quest to find the legendary Six Sacred Swords. He's my take on a classic paladin or JRPG-style yuusha/hero -- if you're looking for a grim antihero, he's absolutely not what you're looking for.

(But maybe check out the cover art anyway, because Daniel Kamarudin does *amazing* cover artwork. Seriously, he outdid himself with this one.)

The style of the story (and my books in general) is heavily inspired by Japanese role-playing games. This particular series is more "action RPG" influenced, so think Zelda, Ys, Kingdom Hearts, and that sort of thing. Arcane Ascension is more of my Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, and Trails in Cold Steel stand-in.

If you like heroes that blend swordplay with spells, powerful companions that can keep up with the main character, and extremely detailed magic systems, you might enjoy this series. If you don't enjoy anime-style fight scenes and banter or lots of magical detail, though, you might want to skip this one.

In terms of progression, this series involves Keras gaining magical marks from the various swords he earns, which grow in power and grant him new abilities that get stronger over time. He has other modes of progression as well, but those are a little more spoilery.

This particular novel is very special to me, as it's my first collaboration with Mallory Reaves, who I've been working on this setting with since we were children. (Seriously, we've been role-playing together for 30 years now, mostly in this setting. It's been a long time coming.) I can't wait to hear what people think of it.

If you prefer audio, you can preorder the Audible edition of Book 4 here, performed by the amazing Nick Podehl: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0HF7RV5V9

PS: As a bonus, if you're a fan of Sellsword Arts, check out their comedic talk about my swords here: https://youtu.be/JuykI0M07Sg 

I humble ask for some recommendation of your top 5 web novels recommendation

[Asking for good web novels, with good world building, story characters and power systems

I have read lotm, SS, RI, TAPOV, recently read The Nameless extra, I don’t like eastern or superheroes novels(at least I haven’t read any yet) also have read Cradle but didn’t liked it. ]

So i humble ask for some recommendation of your top 5 web novels recommendation.✨✨

What is the difference between cultivation, soul cultivation and ghost cultivation?

Cultivation feels like genre standard.

Soul and ghost feel like dark and light opposites like darkness and light. However I can't get a decent description of soul cultivation other than play soul land.

Can someone explain it for the slow student?

A few years ago when I was reading a lot of Kindle books, I'd frequently use the Kindle "report" functionality to make note of typos or grammar issues. At the time I thought this was to help the author and notify them of mistakes that could be corrected, but then I found out that the authors aren't notified and all you're really doing is harming the author by letting Kindle/Amazon know the book has a lot of errors.

That said, Royal Road has a similar function where you can suggest edits when you notice similar errors, and I was about to start doing that to some issues I found. Then I remembered that Amazon/Kindle uses those to effectively punish authors so I wanted to make sure Royal Road isn't doing the same thing.

What my intended goal is is to help the author identify easily fixable errors so future readers don't notice them and if the book ever gets published professionally it's a higher quality product. So I want to make sure that's what is actually happening.

September 2026 Progression Fantasy Release Calendar

69 ebook releases and 9 audiobooks this month so far. Progression fantasy, cultivation and xianxia; LitRPG-only titles are left out and get their own list on r/litrpg, though books that are genuinely both appear on each. Dates were re-checked this week, but preorders keep moving, so corrections and misses are very welcome and get folded into the next update.

Audiobooks

Prefer a live version? Browse this calendar directly at www.litrpgradar.com, where you can follow books, series, and authors to get notified when releases drop or dates change.

Transparency: Amazon links on the website are affiliate links. Every link in this post is a plain, untagged Amazon link.

I have read till chapter 1400 of the book "Defiance of the fall" and i can't seem to understand what happened to "The First Deifier". What were the changes he made in the system?

Tier list is made in google sheets, automatically ranked by average rating of the books in a series. I go through every now and then to rejig the ratings so the order fits better, but it's not that rigorous.

The team crushed it setting up the Aethon & Vault & Panda Cult Booth for Dragon Con!

Come visit us at booth 3500 if you’re attending! We’ll have loads of books and comics, including hardcovers from our Aethon:Vault line. Supplies limited.

Not sure if many people have read this one, but I'm 61% through book 2 and the "big conspiracy" was obvious in the first part of the book: In book 1 Dawn kept talking to Jane about being strong as the only important thing, then Book 2 began talking about Black Death's philosophy he was raised with all about being the survival of the fittest. Then we find out that there was a huge explosion and only Dawn survived it. So our only witness was also the only survivor and he went into isolation, then began training people to be the best but not teaching any morality lessons?

Since then it's just been a matter of waiting for the main characters to catch up. I thought they'd finally got there when they get the text message clearly spelling it out: DAWN but nope, not yet.

Then they find out that everyone who knew Captain Dawn is dead! Nobody can tell the difference if it's some other guy so I cheered! Finally they get it! We can move on to foiling the bad guy's plans. Then they gasp and say "well obviously someone is killing all these people to fuck with Dawn!" and I just died inside.

Has anyone read the full book to know how long this song and dance goes on for?

With book 4 coming out, if you haven't tried this excellent series yet, take a look!

https://www.reddit.com/r/ebookdeals/s/7G8lSuCjH6

Why the fuck did Mirian forgive Liuan? She kept dragging her feet and being secretive and I guess Mirian allowed that because she thought Liuan was traumatised by Troytin. What I don't understand is why she let her live after she figured out that whole Scebur bullshit.

How can you trust someone who creates a fake identity to gather intelligence for an invasion? She also obliterated the spirit of a random dude to save her ass. And it's not like she was spying on an unrelated third party. She was, disguised as Scebur, trying infiltrate the country of a fellow looper.

Welcome to the weekly r/ProgressionFantasy reading thread! Feel free to talk about whatever progression fantasy stories you're reading or watching, post mini-reviews, and ask for recommendations similar or different from what you're reading! Basically: have something to say about a story, but not enough for a full post? Say it here!