Reddit reviews Hero of Thera: a LitRPG novel

I just read Changing Faces: New Game Minus, and the MC is a former NPC that becomes a "player", but doesn't know it's a game world. So he's dealing with nonsensical game mechanics (getting exp, getting stronger at a level up, etc.) and fully aware of how ridiculous it would be in a realistic world.

Definitely not clueless or stupid/bashful.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Faces-Game-Minus-Book-ebook/dp/B07KMMT9TX

Some other recs:

Drew Hayes' series: Spells, Swords, & Stealth - "NPCs" in a Dungeons and Dragons-esque world have to become adventurers. The main characters definitely are aware of D&D tropes and aren't stupid. This is a really good series, and it's a good time to get into it as the next book is coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.ca/NPCs-Spells-Swords-Stealth-Book-ebook/dp/B00KB2RLKO

Hero of Thera: The MC gets sucked into a new world with game-like mechanics (leveling up, picking classes, new skills, new gear, etc.). So that I guess is an Isekai book. What sets it apart is the great writing and worldbuilding.

Also a good time to get into this, as book 2 should be coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.ca/Hero-Thera-LitRPG-Eric-Nylund-ebook/dp/B0719CYNCG

Full disclosure - I edited book 4 of Spells, Swords & Stealth and book 2 of Hero of Thera. But I'd recommend them even if I hadn't.

Hero of Thera?

Eric Nylund’s LITRPG feature some great fights.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0719CYNCG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_2uBlDbTPWBHRF

What is interesting is that LitRPG is basically a sub-genre of the "Portal Fantasy", like Narnia or The Chronicles of Amber. There are a number of LitRPG examples where the story has the main character transported to a fantasy world where everyone has "levels".

The "Chaos Seeds" Series by Aleron Kong has the main character transported to a world where all people have stats, levels, and skills.

The Arcane Emperor web series has a similar conceit - everyone in that land has stats, levels, and skills and a "character sheet".

Hero of Thera and Worth the Candle also has the MC transported to a fantasy/sci-fi world with a character sheet. (Worth The Candle, BTW, is excellent and updates regularly.)

In Super Sales on Super Heroes the main character gets a super power where he has character sheet "in the real world" - this is sort of LitRPG adjacent (Harem warning, Slavery warning). Decent book, even if the MC is a bit amoral.

One of the things I like about the genre is that there a many roads to the "game". Some are just VR based, others are a portal fantasy, while still others have game-like elements in "real life". There are a ton of approaches.

I am excited to see how the genre grows as new authors enter the space and we move further from the "Light Novel" origins. I can't wait to get further away from Asian style grinding and Russian style misogyny and misanthropy.

I recently finished Hero of Thera by Eric Nylund. I enjoyed the story and almost all of the plot threads were wrapped up in the end. Nylund's writing and experience from the Halo franchise shine here, differentiating it from most litrpg's.

I didnt mean to downplay how difficult and expensive it can be to get professionally done cover art. I was just trying to say that I personally much more prefer the usual plain cover/abstract art over a cover that looks like it was made by a 14 year old on deviantart. It doesnt even need to be an RPG related cover because most of MY favorite litrpgs have random covers, here a list of a few that come to mind:

Hero of Thera(a picture of a zodiac dragon)
https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Thera-LitRPG-Eric-Nylund-ebook/dp/B0719CYNCG

Awaken online(cover only has a silhouette of a cat)
https://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Online-Catharsis-Travis-Bagwell-ebook/dp/B01J0E8Z8A

Crota, Gods Game(originally was a generic looking stock photo of storm clouds, now updated the cover to a blue colored gate)

Login Accepted: Incipere Online(simple blue background with a symbol focus that looks like it was made in MS Paint)

The Two Week Curse: Ten Realms(solid black background with random abstract blue symbol)

I've noticed from many of the recommended books on amazon have beautiful cover arts but if you bother to read a demo of it, youll see the majority of them lack the basic typography, formatting, and editing. I find these MUCH more important than a pretty cover because some stories are almost unreadable without them.

I cant speak for others but i mostly pick books by word or mouth, reddit/goodread, new monthly publish, what's new on audible, and sometimes even author's self promotions.