Brainpunch: A Progression Fantasy Adventure

by Aaron Shih, Ghost Flower

An action-packed progression fantasy featuring a unique power set. For fans of Super Supportive and Worm.

Saving lives is the brand. Ending them is the instinct.
When Vivian gains a superpower that allows her to telekinetically apply ten pounds of force, it seems underwhelming. Hardly super. Almost useless.

On her first night out, however, she find out how wrong she was as she reduces a man's brain to mush.

F-rank telekinesis. S-rank lethality.

Do not kill. Many think that’s the first rule of being a superhero… and it’s the first one Vivian broke.

Now, pitted against villains, shady corporations, college debt, and the government's brutal hero program, she has to find a way to control her abilities, prove precision is the ultimate weapon, and become the hero she has always wished she could be.

The world has other plans.

Jump into an action-packed new Progression Fantasy from bestseller Aaron Shih where the line between hero and monster is only a heartbeat away. It's perfect for fans of Super Supportive, Drew Hayes' Superpowereds, and Worm.

480 pages, Paperback

Published June 9, 2026

About the author

Aaron Shih is a Chinese-American college student who is currently wondering why bios are supposed to be written in third person.

He writes progression fantasy and litRPG alongside everything that catches his fancy.

Reviews

[Dantegideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that her superpower turns out to be the ability to depress the hell out of you.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this is one of the better (best?) superhero books I've read - even better than Super Powereds, sorry not sorry - but I don't recommend reading it for two reasons.

1) The book ends on a cliffhanger after some absolutely wild shit goes down. This normally wouldn't be an issue, but...

2) The author stated (on Royal Road, prior to publishing the novel) that he wasn't going to continue the series because he didn't make enough money from it. Then he published the book on Kindle Unlimited, and changed his story: he commented on a Reddit post that he was only going to continue the story if he earned enough proceeds from it.

I understand that indie authors need to chase trends and also be very cautious when writing because their entire livelihood depends on how many readers they get. But why publish a book with a cliffhanger if you have no interest in releasing a sequel? The author is, essentially, holding any future books hostage, saying, "I will not release more books in this series unless I publish enough books!" But what is enough books? How much money is enough for future books to be published? Can you guarantee that you won't do this again with future books? Will the series never end because you're just not happy with the amount of money you're earning?

Don't get me wrong: I completely approve of authors getting their bag and earning what they can from their writing. That being said, if completing a series or producing a sequel is contingent on some arbitrary number of books sold or money earned, just don't publish the damn book or put it behind a paywall. Keep it on Royal Road and treat it like a vehicle for advertising your writing. No matter how good I think this book is, it feels like a waste of time and money that I will never get back.

So yeah, I'm rating this book 5 stars because it is genuinely really good. But the author's attitude towards publishing is appalling and I don't think I'll ever read anything else by him in the future. Sometimes things just don't need to be said.

[allowableman2 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wildbow deserves all the misery in the world for creating this sub genre

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

On an Earth where people inherit alien super powers, Vivian discovers a loophole that turns her low level power into something very deadly.

I wouldn't call it a "progression fantasy adventure" because while there are loose ranks for super powers, the plot and character arc don't rely upon the protagonist progressing. Instead it is focused on Vivian's past traumas and the consequences of her own powers.

Comic books are sometimes categorized into cultural eras - golden era, gritty era, dark era, etc. This feels very much of the current generation - most superheroes are also media influencers building their follows, a distrust of organizations that isn't the rebellion of the 60's or the cynicism of the 70's but more just a weariness and wariness about existing power structures. (I had the thought that since this generation has grown up with school shootings, Covid, and Trump they might suffer a collective PTSD.)

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading this book two or three times because of a single issue but ended up enjoying it. That issue is mind control. When writing about mind control the mind controller needs to be the MC. Otherwise all you do is remove agency from your MC. Here the author handled it about as well as it can be done but it is still a ridiculous storyline that requires the MC to overcome something just because they can and not because there is an actual logical reason for the MC to do so.

Finally, the ending lacked resolution, something which typically annoys me greatly. However, in this case I enjoyed the story enough that I expect to continue with the next book in the series. In part, this is because the story focuses on the main character's journey and so the lack of a solid end to that journey was only marginally detrimental to the storytelling.

[Robert Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy goodness!

You know, read one power scaling fantasy novel, you've read them all, right?
Wrong. DEAD wrong. Aaron has crafted a masterful thriller that explores psychology, trauma, and how the road to heck is paved with good intentions laced with emotional choices. The powers and the systems put in place are quite frankly a compelling (and sobering) glance at how a capitalist society would monopolize powers, and how quickly corruption sets into.. everything.
100% recommended, and of the 40 books I've read and left five star reviews on this year, this is only the SECOND book so good I was compelled to write a review.

[Ben Someone · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost this is one of those RR books that found its way to KU. It was abandoned and unless the sales are significant enough there will not be a second book. Even though it ends on (what almost anyone would consider) a massive character changing cliffhanger it's a good read. If you are opposed to cliffhangers stay as far away from this as possible as there is very little chance of this book seeing a sequel (corruption wielder for example has also been abandoned by this author and it had a decent readership plus three books in the series...)

[Orlando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jesus man if you don't intend to continue writing the series just have the kinetic at the end kill her or something instead of this Deus ex machina cliffhanger. Or idk make her fall to the ground and close her eyes or something so that she's technically not dead for if you want to write a sequel but it can function as a legitimate ending.

[Danny Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting superhero world. The MC is more complex than she first seems. There are a lot of twists and turns with the plot. Things are not that straightforward with the morality of the actions. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Toni Land · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this!! Vivian's telekinesis is basically my ideal super power, so maybe I'm biased but I think she's inherently cooler than the other supes. Sorry, Alex (as in, the Great).

Can't wait for the continuation.

[andrea banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

superheroes and super villains

Not my usual read, but it kept me turning pages and rooting for the protagonist. Backstory wasn’t fleshed out so I didn’t care for her as much as I could have, but there was tons of action and more to come
,

[Justin Flaherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible and heart wrenching

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

Who knew how powerful 10lbs of force could be?
Once I picked the book up I could not put it down. I’m excited for the next book in the series

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The MC is a very angsty mentally ill person. It gets really old and there's no resolution.

[Will Knight]

Note to self: not for me.

[Splke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty weird one, but I'm looking forward to the next one.

[Annika Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool premise, and a shame it isn't getting finished :((