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Gladesbale Grove: A Low-Stakes Cozy Fantasy LitRPG
A new low-stakes Cozy Fantasy Adventure filled with charm, wit, lovable characters, and magic.
From Project Manager to Magic Forest Protector.
Being a cog in the machine of an uncaring corporation has dulled Shawn's desire to see his dreams come true. He has accepted that he will never be a park ranger, fire watch, or anything fun.
Working his deskjob late one night, Shawn is visited by a strange woman... With wolf ears and samurai armor. She says his soul belongs to her, but the last time he checked, his company didn't have a LARPing department. He watches the clock as the time of his prescribed death draws sooner. Turns out, she was right.
Shawn is thrust into a strange ritual with a bunch of weird forest creatures chanting, "Plant the seed," until he finds himself in a fantasy world with druidic powers and a new name and body.
He is now the caretaker of a sapient tree and the druidic grove it encompasses. As if interacting with the local 'mortals' wasn't hard enough, he'll need to recruit help from intelligent forest creatures to make this work.
One Man. One Tree. Infinite Problems.
From the bestselling author of Newt and Demon comes this new low-stakes Cozy Fantasy LitRPG adventure oozing with wit, charm, and lovable characters.
What to
- Druid MC who is not overpowered.
- Sapient tree that generates production buildings and grows with the MC.
- MC helps others fight, but does not engage in combat himself.
- Low-stakes and cozy, with LitRPG Elements.
- Lots of talking animals, healing nature, and helping people.
- Tea. Lots and lots of growing, brewing, and selling tea.
- A house made from a mushroom. (A really big mushroom).
From Project Manager to Magic Forest Protector.
Being a cog in the machine of an uncaring corporation has dulled Shawn's desire to see his dreams come true. He has accepted that he will never be a park ranger, fire watch, or anything fun.
Working his deskjob late one night, Shawn is visited by a strange woman... With wolf ears and samurai armor. She says his soul belongs to her, but the last time he checked, his company didn't have a LARPing department. He watches the clock as the time of his prescribed death draws sooner. Turns out, she was right.
Shawn is thrust into a strange ritual with a bunch of weird forest creatures chanting, "Plant the seed," until he finds himself in a fantasy world with druidic powers and a new name and body.
He is now the caretaker of a sapient tree and the druidic grove it encompasses. As if interacting with the local 'mortals' wasn't hard enough, he'll need to recruit help from intelligent forest creatures to make this work.
One Man. One Tree. Infinite Problems.
From the bestselling author of Newt and Demon comes this new low-stakes Cozy Fantasy LitRPG adventure oozing with wit, charm, and lovable characters.
What to
- Druid MC who is not overpowered.
- Sapient tree that generates production buildings and grows with the MC.
- MC helps others fight, but does not engage in combat himself.
- Low-stakes and cozy, with LitRPG Elements.
- Lots of talking animals, healing nature, and helping people.
- Tea. Lots and lots of growing, brewing, and selling tea.
- A house made from a mushroom. (A really big mushroom).
555 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 24, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 9, 2026
I had a great time reading this!!!
The main character quirky personality added so much charm and made the story especially enjoyable!!!
The main character quirky personality added so much charm and made the story especially enjoyable!!!
March 30, 2026
This is amazing!! I swear the main character has three brains cells. And he shares it between Mint and Ban. I love it!! Beware of squirrels and always have a bribe of nuts ready.
April 18, 2026
Shawn works a job he really doesn’t like; he always wanted to be a park ranger, or in a watch tower protecting the forest, but that is never in his cards. Until the day the strange woman with a cool sword and wolfish ears tells him his soul belongs to her. When he dies right there, working at his desk, he is transported into a ritual of planting a seed. Then the wolf lady, Mint, explains to him his duties as caretaker of the sacred tree and the grove around it, and everything just evolves from there. Soon their band of three, Mint, the Guardian of the grove, Shawn, who is now the caretaker druid, Rud, and the sacred tree, becomes more as they help others get back on their feet, or those who need to have a purpose. All the while, the tree grows in height and mass, but also helps Rud grow himself.
I really like this book, and the characters it encompasses, my favorite being Dean. Dean does a lot of things that he doesn’t really like to do, but knows it is in everyone's best interest, so he relents. I was lucky enough to be able to listen to the audio version, with a wonderful voice actor, Garrett Michael Brown, who will transport your mind right into the story like you are part of the group helping. This is not exactly a fastest-paced story, but it is cozy for now, at least. There is action, and there is suspense at times, but really this is a nice get comfy in a nice chair with a warm blanket with some tea, see what I did there, read or listen to the book, and you will.
Review copy provided by publisher
I really like this book, and the characters it encompasses, my favorite being Dean. Dean does a lot of things that he doesn’t really like to do, but knows it is in everyone's best interest, so he relents. I was lucky enough to be able to listen to the audio version, with a wonderful voice actor, Garrett Michael Brown, who will transport your mind right into the story like you are part of the group helping. This is not exactly a fastest-paced story, but it is cozy for now, at least. There is action, and there is suspense at times, but really this is a nice get comfy in a nice chair with a warm blanket with some tea, see what I did there, read or listen to the book, and you will.
Review copy provided by publisher
April 21, 2026
Lovely cozy fantasy
When I think of cozy nature-focused fantasy, I picture something like this book. We've got a laidback yet responsible druid MC that talks to animals and lives in a cute mushroom house while tending the grove, and said grove with its motherly sacred tree, protective wolf lady, and other inhabitants. The story focuses on the growth of the grove, which includes the interactions with the mortals outside the grove. The action is mostly indirect (badass wolf lady and wolf friends are the muscle, not MC) and the focus is on tending to nature and the daily life of growing tea gardens, building stuff out of trees, digging in the mine, and chatting with people and animals alike to increase skills. I'd say it's quite engaging if you like slice of life slow progression fantasy with a blend of an infrastructure and nature focus. This is personally as close as a book has gotten to fulfilling all my tree-hugging cottage core/town-building fantasies all at once so far, so I definitely recommend if you've got similar tastes.
When I think of cozy nature-focused fantasy, I picture something like this book. We've got a laidback yet responsible druid MC that talks to animals and lives in a cute mushroom house while tending the grove, and said grove with its motherly sacred tree, protective wolf lady, and other inhabitants. The story focuses on the growth of the grove, which includes the interactions with the mortals outside the grove. The action is mostly indirect (badass wolf lady and wolf friends are the muscle, not MC) and the focus is on tending to nature and the daily life of growing tea gardens, building stuff out of trees, digging in the mine, and chatting with people and animals alike to increase skills. I'd say it's quite engaging if you like slice of life slow progression fantasy with a blend of an infrastructure and nature focus. This is personally as close as a book has gotten to fulfilling all my tree-hugging cottage core/town-building fantasies all at once so far, so I definitely recommend if you've got similar tastes.
July 12, 2026
I didn't get very far, because the protagonist is painfully stupid. His speech patterns are childish, and he does things like ask a sentient tree whether it "eats sunlight," which any 10 year old would already know.
It's kind of alienating that despite transitioning from normal city life to a fantasy world, he's perfectly happy sleeping with no shelter in the dirt and foraging for nuts for every meal. He also starts talking about other humans as "those mortals" as if he weren't a normal human just a couple of days ago. His behavior is just inexplicable.
It's kind of alienating that despite transitioning from normal city life to a fantasy world, he's perfectly happy sleeping with no shelter in the dirt and foraging for nuts for every meal. He also starts talking about other humans as "those mortals" as if he weren't a normal human just a couple of days ago. His behavior is just inexplicable.
June 12, 2026
Great Read
Once this book started going, it took off. I thought I wouldnt, but I really enjoyed this read. It seemed like Shawn's personality changed once he was transformed into Rud, the Talen Por. I just didn't like how he didn't haggle to get the most for his crafts and ore; its like he didn't care if he was getting cheated. But I loved how he leveled up and how he learned through trial and error; it made it feel more real. Im definitely going to keep this series.
Once this book started going, it took off. I thought I wouldnt, but I really enjoyed this read. It seemed like Shawn's personality changed once he was transformed into Rud, the Talen Por. I just didn't like how he didn't haggle to get the most for his crafts and ore; its like he didn't care if he was getting cheated. But I loved how he leveled up and how he learned through trial and error; it made it feel more real. Im definitely going to keep this series.
April 28, 2026
Excellent Series Concept
This is an awesome series concept. The execution is fantastic, the plot is cozy but not insipid. Definitely will be continuing it. As well as checking out other books in the author’s portfolio. The humor is great without being too cheesy (a sad but often found failing of Cozy LitRPG). The characters are fun and interesting. Great book!!
This is an awesome series concept. The execution is fantastic, the plot is cozy but not insipid. Definitely will be continuing it. As well as checking out other books in the author’s portfolio. The humor is great without being too cheesy (a sad but often found failing of Cozy LitRPG). The characters are fun and interesting. Great book!!
July 19, 2026
Not my cup of tea at all. Rud was a very boring and stupid character. Extremely childlike even though he was an adult in a past life. He described things in a weird almost robotic way. I dont know. It just didn't flow well at all.
April 1, 2026
Awesome
I really enjoyed this book with its interesting characters- looking forward to reading book 2- hopefully the groves can get together
I really enjoyed this book with its interesting characters- looking forward to reading book 2- hopefully the groves can get together
April 27, 2026
Nice.
I enjoyed this little slice of life cozy litrpg. I had been reading a lot of heavy stuff, and this really hit the spot. 5 stars.
I enjoyed this little slice of life cozy litrpg. I had been reading a lot of heavy stuff, and this really hit the spot. 5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews