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On Astral Tides - From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor #1
On Astral Tides - Book One - From Humble Beginnings: A Modern-day return of magic LitRPG
Chosen by the Gods, Akio must rise… or fall!
A Heavenly messenger warns of an upcoming apocalypse, thrusting Akio into a new reality filled with endless dangers and miraculous opportunities.
But those who dwell within jealously guard their wealth and power.
Accompanied by an enigmatic and beautiful Faerie princess, the only chance for Akio - and Earth - is to gather companions, level up, and become the unlikely saviours of both their worlds.
When you start from nothing, the only way to go is up!
On Astral Tides is a Light Novel inspired LitRPG containing territory control and alliance building, social aspects, relationships and romance.
A Heavenly messenger warns of an upcoming apocalypse, thrusting Akio into a new reality filled with endless dangers and miraculous opportunities.
But those who dwell within jealously guard their wealth and power.
Accompanied by an enigmatic and beautiful Faerie princess, the only chance for Akio - and Earth - is to gather companions, level up, and become the unlikely saviours of both their worlds.
When you start from nothing, the only way to go is up!
On Astral Tides is a Light Novel inspired LitRPG containing territory control and alliance building, social aspects, relationships and romance.
1349 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 18, 2024
227 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 26, 2024
This is a pretty good book, but it is way too long for a first novel. As a previous web serial, it should have been cut into 3-4 parts. Note that the author uses British English, and also uses Japanese culture.
The MC is one of the very lucky few on Earth given the opportunity to be one of the hopeful saviors of earth by being a leader. An entity talks to him and gives him a game like ability to view himself and others, though not all information is viewable. He's a decent sort, but in typical Eastern Harem stories, he's not at all aggressive about going after any of the women orbiting around him. They pursue him. I'm not a fan of the weak willed towards women trope common in manga.
The women are somewhat diverse. Despite the book being 1,349 pages long, the MC is only intimate with one woman. It is the one we all expected, but that's a long way to go for so little payoff. Again, very manga-like in its tropes. He has another that really wants him, and she's his more common companion. And there is his sister, whom he will presumably never be involved with.
I liked the plot, though it bogged down at times with meaningless details. I would still read the next book, though I pray it is not nearly as long as this one was.
The MC is one of the very lucky few on Earth given the opportunity to be one of the hopeful saviors of earth by being a leader. An entity talks to him and gives him a game like ability to view himself and others, though not all information is viewable. He's a decent sort, but in typical Eastern Harem stories, he's not at all aggressive about going after any of the women orbiting around him. They pursue him. I'm not a fan of the weak willed towards women trope common in manga.
The women are somewhat diverse. Despite the book being 1,349 pages long, the MC is only intimate with one woman. It is the one we all expected, but that's a long way to go for so little payoff. Again, very manga-like in its tropes. He has another that really wants him, and she's his more common companion. And there is his sister, whom he will presumably never be involved with.
I liked the plot, though it bogged down at times with meaningless details. I would still read the next book, though I pray it is not nearly as long as this one was.
June 28, 2025
Book one
This is a harem story. Be warned!
Book one is mostly character and base building. The only sexual chapter is clearly labeled.
There is a character that does not understand why incest is bad.
There is a brother and sister set of characters that are both gay. (I would bet money that the gay female will give herself to the MC.)
You have been warned!
Base building is interesting. Character building can drag. I had no problem skimming or outright skipping sections when it started to drag.
Sex chapter can be skipped and you don't really miss to much.
With over one thousand one hundred pages this is a good lengthy book.
Characters are all flawed in some way. You get to explore this as the characters themselves explore their flaws.
7/10 Advanced warning that the story dives more heavily into the harem part later on.
P.S. This story is no longer up on Royalroad.
This is a harem story. Be warned!
Book one is mostly character and base building. The only sexual chapter is clearly labeled.
There is a character that does not understand why incest is bad.
There is a brother and sister set of characters that are both gay. (I would bet money that the gay female will give herself to the MC.)
You have been warned!
Base building is interesting. Character building can drag. I had no problem skimming or outright skipping sections when it started to drag.
Sex chapter can be skipped and you don't really miss to much.
With over one thousand one hundred pages this is a good lengthy book.
Characters are all flawed in some way. You get to explore this as the characters themselves explore their flaws.
7/10 Advanced warning that the story dives more heavily into the harem part later on.
P.S. This story is no longer up on Royalroad.
January 1, 2025
On Astral Tides is a blend of Japanese light novels, Chinese cultivation novels and western LitRPGs. The series is absolutely massive (around 3 million words at the time of writing) and encompasses a variety of genres from action and kingdom building to romance/harem and slice of life.
The biggest appeal of the series is its wide cast of larger than life characters all centered around the main character Akio. The story follows Akio as he gets access to the alternate reality of the Boundary and how he has to expand his influence in both the Boundary and the real world.
I have two issues with this series, the early parts of this first volume has a heavy emphasis on the systems with only a minimum of character interactions which is easily the strongest part of the series. That can make the beginning really dry to read and I'd recommend anyone reading to make it at least one third the way through the first volume where the story really picks up an becomes absolutely fantastic.
The second issue I have is that the visual descriptions of places and people in the series can be rather lacking. For most characters a brief description will be given when introduced and then never mentioned again with a few exceptions for characters with particularly eye catching features. Along the same lines, locations are often only briefly described if at all. All this can make it really hard to visualise specific scenes, although the character descriptions are alleviated somewhat by the added illustrations at the end of each volume.
Nonetheless, this series is still an absolute masterpiece. Anyone who's a fan of harem series, LitTPGs or even light novels owe themselves to give it a try, it really is tremendous.
The biggest appeal of the series is its wide cast of larger than life characters all centered around the main character Akio. The story follows Akio as he gets access to the alternate reality of the Boundary and how he has to expand his influence in both the Boundary and the real world.
I have two issues with this series, the early parts of this first volume has a heavy emphasis on the systems with only a minimum of character interactions which is easily the strongest part of the series. That can make the beginning really dry to read and I'd recommend anyone reading to make it at least one third the way through the first volume where the story really picks up an becomes absolutely fantastic.
The second issue I have is that the visual descriptions of places and people in the series can be rather lacking. For most characters a brief description will be given when introduced and then never mentioned again with a few exceptions for characters with particularly eye catching features. Along the same lines, locations are often only briefly described if at all. All this can make it really hard to visualise specific scenes, although the character descriptions are alleviated somewhat by the added illustrations at the end of each volume.
Nonetheless, this series is still an absolute masterpiece. Anyone who's a fan of harem series, LitTPGs or even light novels owe themselves to give it a try, it really is tremendous.
May 4, 2025
The hardest reviews to write for me are the ones where either I know the book is great but it's just not for me, or alternatively, where I know the book isn't objectively that amazing but it hits the spot perfectly for me.
This book is an example of the latter. Let's cover the bad parts:
It's a long and rambling collection of cliches. A dash of LitRPG, a teaspoon of system apocalypse, a splash of urban fantasy, a little harem, a dusting of cultivation, a cup of slow burn romance, and what I imagine is about ten pounds of concentrated anime tropes. Also, it's got a very Japanese setting, which is something I know little about and couldn't really care less for; a book that practically requires you to have the Wikipedia page on Japanese honorifics open to make sense of it is starting with a significant penalty in my view.
On the other hand! I'm a huge sucker for: Protagonists who are fundamentally good people, protagonists who achieve their success partly (or ideally, mostly) due to hard work and character rather than luck or moral flexibility, protagonists who avoid making dumb mistakes (or at least, the same dumb mistake multiple times, and especially dumb mistakes apparently just to drive the polot forward and create conflict), richly drawn characters, extensive inter-character interactions, character development, believable romance subplots, interesting world building, and happy endings, and this book ticks all those boxes twice over. Also the writing is quite competent.
Again, I don't think this book is going to be for everyone. I can see the flaws quite clearly. But I really wanted to read something like this, and I'm so glad I found it. The start is a little slow, but if any of the above sounds interesting to you, give it a chance!
This book is an example of the latter. Let's cover the bad parts:
It's a long and rambling collection of cliches. A dash of LitRPG, a teaspoon of system apocalypse, a splash of urban fantasy, a little harem, a dusting of cultivation, a cup of slow burn romance, and what I imagine is about ten pounds of concentrated anime tropes. Also, it's got a very Japanese setting, which is something I know little about and couldn't really care less for; a book that practically requires you to have the Wikipedia page on Japanese honorifics open to make sense of it is starting with a significant penalty in my view.
On the other hand! I'm a huge sucker for: Protagonists who are fundamentally good people, protagonists who achieve their success partly (or ideally, mostly) due to hard work and character rather than luck or moral flexibility, protagonists who avoid making dumb mistakes (or at least, the same dumb mistake multiple times, and especially dumb mistakes apparently just to drive the polot forward and create conflict), richly drawn characters, extensive inter-character interactions, character development, believable romance subplots, interesting world building, and happy endings, and this book ticks all those boxes twice over. Also the writing is quite competent.
Again, I don't think this book is going to be for everyone. I can see the flaws quite clearly. But I really wanted to read something like this, and I'm so glad I found it. The start is a little slow, but if any of the above sounds interesting to you, give it a chance!
January 6, 2025
Surprised it took so long.
Why haven't I seen this until recently?
Anyways. A less crunchy litrgp in the style of a web novel. It's very polished. There were only 2 or so mistakes I noticed in all 1000+ pages. I do listen to it using Alexa though.
A lot of it is very slow burn and long form. If you're a fan of the genres and of web novels then this is a must. If not, you may still like it. Just bear in mind the freytag's pyramid isn't as snappy and the scope is grander and more comprehensive than traditional novels. Both a boon when you're in the right mood, in my opinion.
This is harem. The author goes out his way to give the girls dimension and personalty and to make it all fit and make sense. Also hence the slow burn.
I'll leave most rhetorical analyses to other reviewers. What I will say is the world building is pretty expansive in the end. If somewhat truncated in this book. The power systems make well enough sense and are interesting. I do look forward to the base building parts.
At this point, at the end of book one; this is not my favorite of all harem or litrpg-esque novels. However, it's well placed. Especially if we're talking long form well-edited novels that gives you plenty to chew on while not demanding everything you have for the dramatic roller coasters. An under appreciated category, in my opinion. Probably top two for me in said category.
Why haven't I seen this until recently?
Anyways. A less crunchy litrgp in the style of a web novel. It's very polished. There were only 2 or so mistakes I noticed in all 1000+ pages. I do listen to it using Alexa though.
A lot of it is very slow burn and long form. If you're a fan of the genres and of web novels then this is a must. If not, you may still like it. Just bear in mind the freytag's pyramid isn't as snappy and the scope is grander and more comprehensive than traditional novels. Both a boon when you're in the right mood, in my opinion.
This is harem. The author goes out his way to give the girls dimension and personalty and to make it all fit and make sense. Also hence the slow burn.
I'll leave most rhetorical analyses to other reviewers. What I will say is the world building is pretty expansive in the end. If somewhat truncated in this book. The power systems make well enough sense and are interesting. I do look forward to the base building parts.
At this point, at the end of book one; this is not my favorite of all harem or litrpg-esque novels. However, it's well placed. Especially if we're talking long form well-edited novels that gives you plenty to chew on while not demanding everything you have for the dramatic roller coasters. An under appreciated category, in my opinion. Probably top two for me in said category.
June 2, 2025
Where to start?
I usually use the term "severely dislike" as I do not like the word "hate". So when I say that I hate the MC, I want it to be clear that I do not say so lightly. He's greedy, and an idiot. Multiple times I thought " what are you doing/thinking?" Like spending $ that he should not feasibly have. Or some of the other actions he took or how he treated a few. I just disliked him until he was telling aiko everything and blamed expo=San for his own screwup. All expo did was open the first node. He is the one that trashed it by blindly trying to expand. Remember the pops? It was then that I began to actually hate him. And Sheila trying to push the incest harem, sheesh. I also find it very hard to believe, with Emily being such an exuberant woman, that none of it rubbed off on akio. Instead being the near perfect Japanese son. Not sure I'll read the next even though I already bought it. The MC made me want to give this a 1, but the overall story I did like, for the most part.
I usually use the term "severely dislike" as I do not like the word "hate". So when I say that I hate the MC, I want it to be clear that I do not say so lightly. He's greedy, and an idiot. Multiple times I thought " what are you doing/thinking?" Like spending $ that he should not feasibly have. Or some of the other actions he took or how he treated a few. I just disliked him until he was telling aiko everything and blamed expo=San for his own screwup. All expo did was open the first node. He is the one that trashed it by blindly trying to expand. Remember the pops? It was then that I began to actually hate him. And Sheila trying to push the incest harem, sheesh. I also find it very hard to believe, with Emily being such an exuberant woman, that none of it rubbed off on akio. Instead being the near perfect Japanese son. Not sure I'll read the next even though I already bought it. The MC made me want to give this a 1, but the overall story I did like, for the most part.
September 19, 2024
Great Power System
+Positives+
I really like how power is gained in this series. It combines experience, territory, secret knowledge, and training well. Our MC is diligent in training and exploring the system.
There a lots of mysteries in the system to look forward to. I am keen to see what he can do once he owns territory in reality.
It is interesting to see conflicts play out in both reality and the astral.
-Negatives-
Every character has a major flaw they need to overcome. While good to give them room for character growth, it can be exhausting waiting for that moment. Even more so when this is the case for several key characters. Luckily the conclusion of this book marks a turning point for several characters.
The story plays off many Japanese story tropes, so be ready for a very humble MC, bro/sis jokes, and polite culture.
————
Overall it was a very interesting story, where the dives into the Astral were the key source of enjoyment.
+Positives+
I really like how power is gained in this series. It combines experience, territory, secret knowledge, and training well. Our MC is diligent in training and exploring the system.
There a lots of mysteries in the system to look forward to. I am keen to see what he can do once he owns territory in reality.
It is interesting to see conflicts play out in both reality and the astral.
-Negatives-
Every character has a major flaw they need to overcome. While good to give them room for character growth, it can be exhausting waiting for that moment. Even more so when this is the case for several key characters. Luckily the conclusion of this book marks a turning point for several characters.
The story plays off many Japanese story tropes, so be ready for a very humble MC, bro/sis jokes, and polite culture.
————
Overall it was a very interesting story, where the dives into the Astral were the key source of enjoyment.
January 11, 2026
I thought Akio was smug and rather boring. He seemed to expect things to work out for him and they generally did. It also annoyed me that he kept using a familiar honorific with women he didn't really know. Is he some sort of creep?
Edit: and is his middle name, 'moonstone', in Japanese? If so why isn't it written with the Japanese sounds like the rest of his name? And if it's in English, how does he write it considering he lives in Japan and you can't assume everyone reads English? And if it's spelled out phonetically in kana, why does he spell it the English way here? I can't make it make sense.
Edit: and is his middle name, 'moonstone', in Japanese? If so why isn't it written with the Japanese sounds like the rest of his name? And if it's in English, how does he write it considering he lives in Japan and you can't assume everyone reads English? And if it's spelled out phonetically in kana, why does he spell it the English way here? I can't make it make sense.
abandoned
December 23, 2024the word cute was used 136 times,adorable 50,beautiful 95,pretty 265
real japan can't be this porn anime parody
evey girl in japan is 20 years old but looks 14
every girl calls her self princess and won't you to spend money on her ,buy her coffee or cake or booze
loves anime at first sight,gets addicted to phones and and massegeing and play playstation in quirky upside down semi nude position
evey brother and sister have weird sexual tension
Love at first sight with a wesel/human hybrid
Fucking Yuck
real japan can't be this porn anime parody
evey girl in japan is 20 years old but looks 14
every girl calls her self princess and won't you to spend money on her ,buy her coffee or cake or booze
loves anime at first sight,gets addicted to phones and and massegeing and play playstation in quirky upside down semi nude position
evey brother and sister have weird sexual tension
Love at first sight with a wesel/human hybrid
Fucking Yuck
July 8, 2025
Captivating Japanese adventure
I read ths first on Kindle Unlimited and liked it enough to subsequently purchase it. It is a little slow moving, but different from most of the genre. The characters are interesting and well developed. There are a few racy chapters but they are isolated and can be skipped without affecting the flow of the story. A little long but worth the read.
I read ths first on Kindle Unlimited and liked it enough to subsequently purchase it. It is a little slow moving, but different from most of the genre. The characters are interesting and well developed. There are a few racy chapters but they are isolated and can be skipped without affecting the flow of the story. A little long but worth the read.
September 10, 2025
DNF at about 11%. I'm not sure if it was the writing of this specific book or the broader LitRPG genre that chafed me but I did not vibe with it. The setup of the story was... fine but I didn't find it compelling and I really felt like it gave nothing. The entirety of what I read fell into three categories, none of them interestingly conveyed: fighting, doing work at a computer, and literally standing around while concentrating for hours... What?
September 22, 2024
fantastic
This story stands out from many others in the genre. The premise feels distinctive and creates an exciting “world” to explore. The characters are well fleshed out and have interesting and natural feeling dialogues. There is action, politics, kingdom building and romance. I’m super glad I happened upon this story and hope the author continues the brilliant work.
This story stands out from many others in the genre. The premise feels distinctive and creates an exciting “world” to explore. The characters are well fleshed out and have interesting and natural feeling dialogues. There is action, politics, kingdom building and romance. I’m super glad I happened upon this story and hope the author continues the brilliant work.
July 28, 2025
Outstanding Series
This is the start to a fantastic series.
It's benefits include a wide cast who all get a lot of focus on them and varied enough that there will be some you hate and others you love.
Which despite being frustrating at times is one of the best indicators of good writing I can think of. Especially in this genre where the women can be generic.
The MC is great but flawed but joining him as he overcomes those flaws and grows is part of the fun.
The system is massive in scope and ambition and is one of my favourites.
So if you are on the fence, I would highly recommend giving it a read.
This is the start to a fantastic series.
It's benefits include a wide cast who all get a lot of focus on them and varied enough that there will be some you hate and others you love.
Which despite being frustrating at times is one of the best indicators of good writing I can think of. Especially in this genre where the women can be generic.
The MC is great but flawed but joining him as he overcomes those flaws and grows is part of the fun.
The system is massive in scope and ambition and is one of my favourites.
So if you are on the fence, I would highly recommend giving it a read.
December 9, 2025
I enjoyed the book up until we starting dealing with the real world and MCs past.
It became very childish quickly a man in his 20s arguing with high schoolers and other annoying minor traits. Maybe it's just a difference in culture but I just didn't like how the story starting leaning more towards high school women and childish antics.
It became very childish quickly a man in his 20s arguing with high schoolers and other annoying minor traits. Maybe it's just a difference in culture but I just didn't like how the story starting leaning more towards high school women and childish antics.
October 18, 2025
like the plot didn’t enjoy the writing
Plot and premise was great but as i got further through the story the romance aspect became incredibly cringe and weird. Possibly just the differences with culture but romance was childish
Plot and premise was great but as i got further through the story the romance aspect became incredibly cringe and weird. Possibly just the differences with culture but romance was childish
February 17, 2025
A great find
I started this book as I found it randomly floating on KU. Not sure why ot hadnt appeared on my lists as it is a great story and well within my preferences for litrpgs
I started this book as I found it randomly floating on KU. Not sure why ot hadnt appeared on my lists as it is a great story and well within my preferences for litrpgs
October 25, 2024
If you are into super dense magic systems/lore building, this is a great series for that. It gets a bit too much into the light novel style, later on it feels more obvious. There's a lot of filler, but it isn't pointless. It adds a lot of texture to the characters and the world building. You would probably need to at least be able to tolerate the light novel slog to commit to this, but there is a bunch of content to binge if you are into it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews