I have an ever-growing to-be-read list, and between audiobooks and Kindle books I do manage to fit a decent amount of reading into my day – but somehow, the list never gets any smaller. So discovering a love for a new (to me) genre that’s notorious for series with an unusually high number of books? Probably a terrible idea.

But I’ve discovered LitRPG.

It started with He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon. I thought I’d just try the first one and see what the fuss was about. Six months later, I’d read the first eleven books, and was keeping a close eye on release dates. Book 12 came out yesterday and went straight to the top of my TBR.

To be fair, Shirtaloon writes fast. Books 1 to 8 all came out in 2021 and 2022, so I had some serious catching up to do. Luckily, I read almost as fast as he publishes.

Part of the attraction at the start of He Who Fights with Monsters was that I found myself strangely jealous of Jason. He wakes up in a magical world with a skill list and quest log, ready to figure things out. Meanwhile, I’m managing life with no inventory screen or progress bar – could really use one.

After that, I started Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. That series is something else entirely. I read books 1 through 4 this month alone, and while it’s very different in tone – darker, weirder, bloodier – it’s also strangely compelling. Would I want to trade places with Carl? No! Everyone he knows dies in the first chapter. Makes it harder to be jealous. But the absurdity of it all is kind of addictive.

Apparently LitRPG just works for me. I didn’t expect that. Something about the mix of world-building, level-ups, and clearly defined rules really hits the spot – like playing an RPG without having to try and schedule five adults to be free on the same night.

Anyway, I’m clearly deep in it now. I’m happy to take more LitRPG recommendations. I apparently have room for at least one more hyper-violent, stat-based escapist fantasy before I start thinking in character sheets.

Also, I really want my own internal inventory system. Of all the powers they get, having access to all my stuff, all the time would be just great.