Depthless Hunger: A Progression LitRPG

by Sarah Lin, Cognosticon

Kai is the hardest working warrior in his generation... and the unluckiest. In a world where most people receive magical skills, classes, or cultivation, Kai has nothing but his wits and his strength. His only choice will be to forge a new path against fate, no matter where it takes him.

Savage monsters pour endlessly from the wasteland, threatening the survival of civilization itself. They say that human strength isn't enough and only those gifted with destined powers have a chance of making a difference. Kai is hungry to fight in that war, to be someone who matters. That hunger will take him across a world stranger and more terrible than he could possibly have imagined.

Depthless Hunger's setting blends inspiration from many sources. Cultivation exists, drawing off Chinese wuxia and xianxia, but qi flows alongside chakra, drawing off Indian sources, as well as western systems. All are combined in a single system that is gradually revealed over the course of the story.

Genres: Fantasy

759 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 4, 2025

About the author

Hello! I'm Sarah Lin and I write various kinds of fantasy. If you want to keep up with my work, feel free to check out the following:

Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/dMSw2A
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sarahlin
Blog: http://sarahlinauthor.blogspot.com/

Join either list to get immediate access to illustrations of all my characters, plus bonus content and previews. If you've tried my work, I'd be happy to hear from you!

Reviews

[Bryce Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It very much felt like a more mature version of Street Cultivation. The main character is an actually good person and most of the side characters feel realistic and I really like there diversity in personalities.
The story is great, I love how the world feels big and there's a clear and logical "scale" so that you can see a blurry future state and you're excited about what happens along the way.
The book itself isn't super heavy on the "LitRPG" style elements which is important for me to be able to enjoy the book. It's used well in terms of the story and for providing context.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

For forewarning, I'll be paraphrasing somewhat from my Royalroad review of Depthless Hunger and limiting my critique to the first book in celebration of the series' new launch. I initially found this book through the recent announcement of the author's true identity, and for that I'm grateful. Her retrospective on the actual story was probably the best advertisement the story could have for me personally, as it highlighted a lot of what I hadn't realized I was looking for.

My initial expectations were actually low after reading through the synopsis.Depthless Hunger's synopsis was probably more of a hurdle in starting the story than any individual aspect about the story's writing. The story's synopsis clearly sets the expectations for what readers can expect—such as Kai's underdog work ethic and struggle to exert agency—without effectively selling the story's unique merits to existing fans of the genre.

Speaking from what I've read, the actual 'standard model of power' in Depthless Hunger is one of the best setting elements for a Progression fantasy fan. It effectively unites things like Xianxia cultivation with GameLit elements, while still retaining some of the core appeals of those particular Progression fantasy subgenres. Without going into spoilers, it isn't necessarily limited to those two magics as Sarah Lin is plenty happy, and skilled enough, to flesh out the rest of the world's regions with their own takes on familiar powers. The execution of this and how it fits into the rest of the world's underlying principles might be more novel than the actual abilities themselves but it's exactly what I was looking for as a fan of the genre.

The clear ability to pick and choose from the different magic systems, while still being constrained in order to create a 'build' is a big element of the setting's fun as a theorycrafter, and immediately takes it a step above of lot of the lesser Progression Fantasy offerings that often fail to do much with the setting elements they're given.

In regard to the grammar, it's about where I need it to be in order to effectively enjoy the story. The actual pithiness of the names, and in-world stylings and aesthetics of the different peoples and magic systems is more important to me personally.

As for the story, the actual action elements are, while solid and have no real discrete flaws for me to complain about, they're probably less compelling than the true merits of the story in my opinion

The book clearly sets the reader's expectations for the eventual scope increase of the setting and nothing at all about the first book suggests that this will become a weakness of the story. Thus far, the setting and characters is a strength for the novel, more so than the bulk of the action which is adequate. I have a lot of promising things to say in regard to the plotting of the later books, but that doesn't have a place in the current review.

While the story's main characters fill the silhouettes of familiar character archetypes, the actual characters are characterized well, with distinct and entertaining character voices—and more importantly—fun interactions with each other. It's not enough to be distinct or have novel character ideas, but to also have a cast that can bounce off each other in entertaining ways. This story has that. The character's descriptions and coding are sharp and memorable, and it manages to match a lot of the character development to the magical progression.

Some of the genre's best works shine so brightly because of that! I'll be doing my best to support this author and their works on all available platforms. I've certainly subscribed to this story's patreon. This story is probably one of the best stories I've found in 2025 and I'm looking forward to future releases!

Overall: 5 Stars
Style: 4.5 Stars
Story: 4.5 Stars
Grammar: 5 Stars
Characters: 5 Stars

[Tony Hinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, the plot of this novel was forced. Young Kai always had to get the rough end of the stick but somehow come out of it stronger. To facilitate this situation, his society is corrupt —providing few support opportunities for outsiders or the downtrodden.

Regardless, it's pleasant to ride along with the sole honourable character in the book, as he drives forward to achieve his goals, headless of the obstacles in his way... um, not totally headless as he spends a fair bit of time complaining about every unfairness in life.

The ending is not great. It comes out of nowhere and takes a dramatic and unexpected 90 degree turn, cranking up the scale to eleven and making all of Kai's achievements seem insignificant in comparison to the god-like powers now present.

When I finished the book I was in the odd situation of having enjoyed it and also having no faith that it was heading anywhere good. I guess I'll read the reviews of the next book, once it's published, to see if they can persuade me to continue.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another progression fantasy from the author of Street Cultivation. She is knowingly leaning more into the genre tropes than in S.C. with a standard fantasy setting and more litRPG stats with a slightly interesting background of there being one central "System" but lots of regional variations - so one country has purely class specializations, another has elemental magic, another has metal affinities, other have cultivation variations, and so on. Honestly I found the fantasy setting a bit of a let down after S.C. but there are definitely moments where the writing potential shines through.

[Fred A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

Sarah Lin's books are ones I always look forward too. They may seem like another xianxia or progression fantasy, yet I find myself looking forward to the quiet moments to sit and binge her books. Reading Depthless Hunger I feel we see Sarah's skills as a writer growing, and I can't wait for book 2!

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot with this. It is so depressing and relentlessly, stupidly unfair to the MC that I have to quit at 50%. I don't read books that are so bleak that they depress me. Maybe that was the intent of the author, I don't know, but it is not for me.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Sarah Lin's Street Cultivator series, give this book a read. This book is darker and a lot more serious but manages to capture the same great sort of magical world building as that one did. A lot of authors have done litrpg cultivation novels, most not half as well. Excellent book.

[Nathan Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Very entertaining take on the progression genre. I loved how the main character explored multiple systems in a world that seemed bent on rejecting him. The plot drew me in, especially in the second half of the book.

[Peter Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tough read at times, but a good story.

Many mysteries in a world that upon keeps expanding the more we find out. Interesting main characters, and differing ways to power up. Looking forward to reading more to see how the story, and characters, evolve. 5 stars.

[Dibdab · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing start to a series

I was hooked from the first pages, the world is interesting, the fights are exciting and the charecter relationships are so believable and fun. Can't wait for the next book!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshingly good

It’s not often you come across a lit rpg book that feels like it has a properly integrated power system. A fantastic start to a story that has me looking forward to the next instalments!

[Anthony Milton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greeting from Royal Road

I remember reading this story on royal rod years ago and can’t believe that I still enjoy it as much as I do.Excellent work.

[Raghu · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant

Weak to stronger progression was amazing. The amount of bad luck the protagonist started with was almost too much. And how he overcomes it .looking forward to next one

[Jon Honey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was outstanding, one of my favorites this year. Finally another cultivation series from sarah lin! Can’t wait for the next one.

[Heli Miranda ahumada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracias Sarah Lin

[Will Knight]

Note to self: not doing it for me. And the audiobook narrator doesn't help, even sped up it's... boring? Anyway, not for me.

[Michael Handlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

only read 15%

Like the author, just could not get into same old trope of kid gets a bad class, society turns back on kid, it is now kid vs world.

[Alex Riina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book as a fan of Sarah Lin's Weirkey Chronicles and Street Cultivation, based on her name and no investigation of the plot or setting.

I've read up to around chapter 392 and have developed mixed feelings on the book. On the good side, it successfully develops a world rich with different kinds of magic that blend together in interesting ways, far better in my opinion than books like Mark of the Fool in that regard. Each arc is also quite different, including monster hunting, nation building, backstabbing. The characters have different motivations and quirks throughout. There's tension and puzzles that the characters aren't able to figure out for a long time. All signs the series should be great.

It's hard for me to pinpoint what didn't work for me. The series is annoyingly horny and the main character seems to always find himself shacking up with the hottest ladies wherever he goes and that's probably what killed the series for me. That or the main character volunteering to help out in whatever conflict. But I'm not sure I'd have liked the series even with those elements removed and I feel no desire to finish the arc or the overarching plot.