Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2019 Challenge Prompt - Advanced
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45 - A LitRPG book
We'll, if Ready Player One works then Warcross should work too. And the sequel to that just came out! Yay! Wildcard it is!
While LitRPG is a new-ish genre for me, I used to actually play MMORPGs (Aion, Tera, Black Desert Online) when I had more time, so I'm excited about this prompt! I'm thinking of reading Catharsis by Travis BagwellFor anyone who might be doing Ready Player One this year, I recommend the audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton, he did a fantastic job and you don't have to be a gamer to understand this one! :)
EDIT: I found a new resource! There is a site with a LitRPG List and ***AT THE BOTTOM*** there is a list of 59 "publicly rated" LitRPG books which should be helpful!
EDIT #2: I have started reading some LitRPG for fun and will leave my thoughts!
Ascend Online ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I found this easy and enjoyable to read despite it's length (600+ pgs) and completed it in less than 2 days. It was action packed and there were a couple of surprises along the way. There were some gaming clichés (Jenkins wanting to rush mobs!) relatable moments for me as an experienced gamer but many more "cringe-worthy" moments because there were several things/ideas that do not fit with being successful in my MMO experience!! If you're not experienced it probably won't faze you. If you're experienced and that irks you, keep looking and if you want to try an MMORPG just know that this isn't the best place to get great ideas on how to be successful! The author did a great job of making this book a more immersive experience by setting this game in VR so describing multiple senses (even smell!) and having people feel their characters' pain which is probably unusual in this genre.
Violence: a fair amount and detailed but a lot of it wasn't too gory at least.
Stat/Skill related content: plenty but it's all easy to follow & understand, the protagonist often thinks about where to place his stat points and describes what the effects at some point.
Gamer Slang: minimal
*There are some typos (like 15 in the book or something?)
*There is some swearing...I wouldn't say it's prevalent but it's not rare either.
*There is one female protagonist and nobody "white-knights" her or treats her as less-than! :) She is treated just like one of the boys.
I'll try to make a list of some gamer slang in case any of you run across it in your choice for this category: (only hidden because it's LONG!) Also if you come across any that aren't on the list, don't hesitate to ask...I'm sure I've missed some common ones.(view spoiler)
Sara wrote: "We'll, if Ready Player One works then Warcross should work too. And the sequel to that just came out! Yay! Wildcard it is!"I had no idea what this prompt meant when I saw it, but if Wildcard works, then yay!
I think Warcross is also one. It's in my 2018 list, so I'll find another. I've also read Ready, Player One.
Mod
This is an EXCELLENT idea!!!! I haven't read Wildcard yet, so I think suddenly I'm all set for this category :-)
Would the Hunger Games books work for this prompt? This prompt is really hard for me, I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my reading taste, these are very rigid.
Mod
If you're a literalist, it doesn't work, because The Hunger Games were not "role playing games" - they were actual gladiator-style competitions.
BUT I think it's pretty darned close so it seems fair to me to bend the category a little bit and use it. (In that vein, The Maze Runner & Battle Royalewould also qualify then.)
Sara wrote: "We'll, if Ready Player One works then Warcross should work too. And the sequel to that just came out! Yay! Wildcard it is!"Oh, good, I just bought a copy of Warcross last month. After reading the article about the genre and the most literal interpretation of the label, I had decided to rebel and just finish reading the PHB and Xanathar's and count one of those. If I want to play an RPG, I'm just going to play a friggin' RPG. Gah.
Arielle wrote: "I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my reading taste, these are very rigid."*Sits next to Arielle on the Dislikes Rigid Prompts bench*
poshpenny wrote: "Arielle wrote: "I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my reading taste, these are very rigid."*Sits next to Arielle on the Dislikes Rigid Prompts ..."
*sitting right there next to the two of you*
Linda wrote: "poshpenny wrote: "Arielle wrote: "I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my reading taste, these are very rigid."*Sits next to Arielle on the Disli..."
We're gonna need a long bench!
Shasta wrote: "Linda wrote: "poshpenny wrote: "Arielle wrote: "I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my reading taste, these are very rigid."*Sits next to Arielle..."
*Brings nails, boards and a hammer for the bench*
poshpenny wrote: "Arielle wrote: "I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my reading taste, these are very rigid."*Sits next to Arielle on the Dislikes Rigid Prompts ..."
LOL posh penny, Linda, Shasta, and Tracy. Glad for the company :)
Nadine wrote: "Arielle wrote: "Would the Hunger Games books work for this prompt? This prompt is really hard for me, I sometimes wish there weren't such genre specific prompts. I like to bend a prompt to my readi..."Thanks Nadine, I think I'm going to opt out of literalist for this one. I can't even think of a literal one, lol.
😂😂😂..... I just don't even know with some of these prompts. What IS this????!!!!I do have Warcross on my TBR, so there you go, but honestly at this point I'm just making lists because I love to make them. I renamed my plans thread for next year "Tracy's 2019 Prompts To Pick And Choose From" because across the challenges thats how Im going to approach this.
Can someone help me with this phrase: "where visible RPG statistics (example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of this world." What does visible mean in this phrase?It's been a few years since I read Ready, Player One, but I'm not sure how the RPG statistics relate. Or does it just mean that the main character has to use intelligence to solve the challenges & find the easter eggs?
Am I the only one that's excited about this prompt? :-)I don't think any of my owned books count, unless I decide to read one from the Drizzt series that I haven't gotten around to yet. (This was the first one I read: The Crystal Shard). I do have these on my TBR though, and they're pretty high on my list anyway:
Kings of the Wyld
The Land: Founding: A Litrpg Saga
Katie wrote: "Can someone help me with this phrase: "where visible RPG statistics (example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of this world." What does visible mean in this phrase?It's been..."
Apparently there are books that read just like a video game walk-through, and after a combat scene, for example, the narrative will state how many hit points the character has left. Or mana. Or arrows, or whatever. I guess if it's Sims-based, it tells you if the character needs to pee or do their homework? I read Ready Player One, but I don't remember the book being quite so visibly stats-driven, so it sounds like the definition is being expanded for this challenge, which is totally fine with me. The strict definition sounds really boring, like watching a group of people play D&D. (Yes, I know there are podcasts of this very thing, and I don't get it.)
As I was looking through my TBRs, I saw that my husband has a bunch of the books in the NPCs series. I'm guessing they would count for this?
Raquel, I'm not sure I'm excited by the prompt but I did just think that it was nice there were a few prompts (this definitely being one) that would push me out of my reading comfort zone.
Maybe I should just read my 8 year olds Minecraft Graphic Novel.....
Alright, I like a challenge. But I need to understand this: The important thing is the characters understand they are in a game? A breaking of the fourth wall meta-awareness is essential? In this understanding the Minecraft books The Crash and The Island would work, because they are aware they landed inside the game, and something like Jumamji works, but Sapkowski's books that the Witcher games are based on won't work. Have I understood this correctly?
Katie wrote: "Can someone help me with this phrase: "where visible RPG statistics (example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of this world." What does visible mean in this phrase?It's been..."
Visible stat means a stat that you know about and can see some kind of measurement or number for within the game so in gaming you pretty much always know HP, MP/SP, Intelligence, Defence, Stregth, Magic Boost, Accuracy etc. but often times in RPGs there are also "Hidden Stats" one example of this that isn't too complicated is MarioKart, when you're in the menu choosing cars/tire/glider a menu can be brought up to see your overall speed, acceleration, traction etc. but each individual character has what you call "hidden stats" that affect the overall total of those things too and other things like "gliding speed" which isn't referenced in the stats menu at all...you just have no idea who has what in what amounts because there's no way of seeing that (unless of course you go through every character with one car/tire/glider build to see how things change) so taking that back to MMORPGs each different type of class (Cleric, Knight, Mage etc) might all have hidden stats to start with (aka base stats)...like usually a mage will have poor defence and a knight will have high defence but poor strength type thing but to keep things simpler usually everything starts at level 1 for everybody etc.
On the subject of Ready Player One, I'm fairly certain that it references avatar/character HP (Health Points or Hit Points) which in gaming usually has a visible number but always has a visible health bar :)
Hopefully that was helpful without being too confusing!!
Raquel wrote: "Am I the only one that's excited about this prompt? :-)"
Nope! I'm excited for it too! :)
Johanne wrote: "Alright, I like a challenge. But I need to understand this: The important thing is the characters understand they are in a game? A breaking of the fourth wall meta-awareness is essential? In this understanding the Minecraft books The Crash and The Island would work, because they are aware they landed inside the game, and something like Jumamji works, but Sapkowski's books that the Witcher games are based on won't work. Have I understood this correctly? ."It's kind of essential that characters know they're in a game because if they don't than no visible stats like HP/MP/SP/Damage etc etc would be mentioned because they wouldn't know they had those stats if they didn't know they were in a game?
Personally I have no idea about the minecraft books but if someone is playing minecraft in them and knows AND mentions that they have some kind of avatar trait like energy or health or whatever then yes they'd work.
I'm not overly familiar with Jumanji so I might be wrong on this but going by the original movie from way back when it wouldn't count as LitRPG and would instead be GameLit because actual people are in the game NOT a character with visible stats such as individuals' health bar, mana bar etc.
Hopefully that clears things up? xD
Vivian mentioned Otherworld by Kirsten Miller (author) Jason Segel (author). This would be a good pick for anyone who liked Ready Player One. I read it around the time it was new and loved it.
I am a gamer so I was thinking of reading one of the many books spawned from an actual game franchise.. though now I’m not sure they count? Because I think the books are written as if the characters are real people- not people playing an RPG. Any advice if these fit?
Mass Effect: Initiation by N.K. Jemisin
Assassin's Creed: Renaissance by Oliver Bowden
I'm not thrilled with this prompt. I'm not into gaming. I read Ready Player One this year for the cyberpunk prompt and didn't really enjoy it. It's just not my thing so I have a feeling I'm not going to like this one either. So far the only thing I've found that looks remotely interesting is AlterWorld: Play to Live. A LitRPG Series.
Stacey wrote: "Johanne wrote: "Alright, I like a challenge. But I need to understand this: The important thing is the characters understand they are in a game? A breaking of the fourth wall meta-awareness is esse..."Johanne if you are referring to the newest Jumanji yes that one would work.
I'll post some screenshots of what "visible" stats refers to in gaming from a couple different MMOs...hopefully that will help clarify what someone has to be referencing/describing in a game within a book to be considered LitRPG! :)Some of the names of these stats are abbreviated so STR = Strength, DEX = Dexterity, HP = Health Points etc.
Sarah wrote: "I am a gamer so I was thinking of reading one of the many books spawned from an actual game franchise.. though now I’m not sure they count? Because I think the books are written as if the characters are real people- not people playing an RPG. Any advice if these fit?"I think it works even though its' written that way as long as stats are referenced...I just hadn't really considered that someone would be referencing stats without knowing they're in a game, but in that scenario I could totally see that being possible! xD
Just here to recommend Kings of the Wyld, because it's SO obviously a D&D/rock band mash-up. There's an RPG called Mage, too, and most urban fantasies really borrow tropes (and spells!) from that, especially the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Also really highly recommend Spiderlight for another adventuring party narrative. None of these are meta, though, just tongue-in-cheek.
Stacey wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I am a gamer so I was thinking of reading one of the many books spawned from an actual game franchise.. though now I’m not sure they count? Because I think the books are written as if..."Thanks! You seem to be the expert so if you’ll count it, good enough for me! I’ve been wanting to read one for awhile and this is the perfect excuse.
Sarah wrote: "Thanks! You seem to be the expert so if you’ll count it, good enough for me! I’ve been wanting to read one for awhile and this is the perfect excuse"Aww thanks ^_^ not an expert on LitRPG by any means, just a lot of gaming experience, haha!
I only read Minecraft The Crash, not the island. But that would wotk here - the main character enters a Minecraft server through VR and things like health and the need to eat because if that are mentioned. It is not the best book I've ever read but not the worst either, and it's shortish so there's that.I am pretty sure The Island works as well, and that sounds fun - like a Minecraft Robinson Crusoe.
And yes it was the newest Jumanji movie I referenced. There is this description of the original short story. Wouldn't you experts say it and Zathura works? https://www.google.dk/url?sa=t&so...
(The world's longest link)
Okay Stacey, just pick me a book to read, hahaha.
Looking for Group by Alexis Hall might work here! It's a New Adult romance, and I enjoyed it a lot. I'll be using Wildcard for sure.
I recently discovered the Awaken Online series which starts with Catharsis and have really enjoyed it.NPCs is also a good one.
Looking through some suggestions on Goodreads, Opening Moves looks pretty good, I might try that one for this prompt.
Would Redshirts fit for this? I'm leaning towards it being an acceptable stretch definition (I'm seeing Monkiecat use the term pseudo LitRPG which is exactly how I would put it). There's no way for me to make my arguments one way or the other without spoilers, so can someone else put a yea or nay?
Shelley wrote: "Would Redshirts fit for this? I'm leaning towards it being an acceptable stretch definition (I'm seeing Monkiecat use the term pseudo LitRPG which is exactly how I would put it). ..."
Hmm... I'm not seeing how it would work, since it's based on a TV show, not an RPG, but since I'm not sure *why* you're thinking it would work I may be missing or not remembering something.
I get why you are thinking it, but I still think it would be a pretty big stretch.
Johanne wrote: "There is this description of the original short story. Wouldn't you experts say it and Zathura works? https://www.google.dk/url?sa=t&so..."I think it's too hard to tell from those descriptions whether they fit or not because I'm not sure if they reference character stats within the game there or not?
Maybe someone who's read it can chime in? :D
Katie wrote: "Okay Stacey, just pick me a book to read, hahaha."
Ahaha! Once my challenges are finished for 2018 I'll pick up some LitRPG books and then come back here to say whether I thought they were any good or not! I'll of course be saving my pick Catharsis for 2019 though! I can try it read it early in the year. :)
I've already read Ready Player One and liked it and I would call it "LitRPG lite" because while it does reference a couple of character stats, the references are to basic stats like Health, the game doesn't have a whole lot of elaborate confusing situations or mechanics that are mentioned and it's in a way that non-gamers have no trouble understanding, I think! :) Most people either love or hate that one, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of people on the fence there although I'm not really sure WHY the people who hated it felt that way...whether it was because it was a futuristic in-a-game setting and it just wasn't their cup of tea or another reason entirely??
I do have to say though that watching the movie after having read the book was a massive massive letdown because so many things were changed and it just didn't live up to the book! I'd say if you want to watch the movie do it before reading the book as long as you are okay knowing tidbits of the books' plot ahead of time.
Monkiecat wrote: "I think I'm going to go with Ready Player One if it counts, because it's been on my TBR forever - although the listopia called it "pseudo LitRPG" ...whatever that means?"
I just read it a couple months ago for 2018 Cyberpunk and I would say it counts as LitRPG, I'm not sure why the label would say "pseudo"...I would consider it more like "LitRPG lite". :)
Kristina wrote: "I recently discovered the Awaken Online series which starts with Catharsis and have really enjoyed it.
NPCs is also a good one."
Yay! Glad to hear you enjoyed my pick for this prompt! Also will try to check out NPC soon! =)
Shelley wrote: "Would Redshirts fit for this? I'm leaning towards it being an acceptable stretch definition (I'm seeing Monkiecat use the term pseudo LitRPG which is exactly how I would put it). "
So hard to say without having read it! Anyone else read it that can chime in??
From the synopsis I can't really see how it literally fits because there doesn't seem to be a role playing game happening although I see why you could say it has the same "feel" as something LitRPG!
I'm not 100% sure I've got this right but something like In Real Life might work for those just wanting a quick read to get the prompt out the way. It's a graphic novel about a gamer girl who meets a Chinese "gold farmer" (in game) and there's a bit of an economics lesson thrown in. From the discussion I think it would count. Now to find something for myself!
poshpenny wrote: "I get why you are thinking it, but I still think it would be a pretty big stretch."Yea, that's what I was afraid of. Towards the end I really think that it captured the feel of what this genre is getting at, but this prompt is probably a letter of the law and not a spirit of the law type situation.
Ugh. This may be the prompt I (purposely) don't get around to next year. I just am so not interested unless I can find something super short. Ready Player One and War Cross don't fit here ( unless you stretch to LitRPG lite or pseudo, and I'm not even sure that Warcross fits then). I'm going to search around on amazon and see if I can find something free on my kindle that my daughter might be able to enjoy ( but she's 8) so it would have to be LitRPG for kiddos. Then I might try it. The only bonus here is it would be interesting to understand some of what they are doing when they are playing MineCraft etc... Eh, I tried playing RoBlocks with them yesterday but I just kept running in circles LOL.
Mod
ohhhh I'm totally stretching this one, because this is not really the kind of thing I usually read. In Warcross, they play a computer game, and she regularly mentions player stats that she can see when she's wearing her special glasses (I remember it because it bugged me that she saw someone's stats when she did NOT have her glasses on), so Wildcard is IT for me. I'm not looking further. I'm not stressing if it doesn't fit perfectly. I'm reading it, and checking that box, and moving on!!! :-)
Found this I'm considering for Zoey but after previewing it I kinda want to try it LMAO:
The Secret of Dreamland: A Fantasy Adventure (92 pgs " a fantasy LitRPG adventure for young readers")
Seconding the Awaken Online series by Travis BagwellTravis Bagwell. I also really enjoyed Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw; it's a lighter, comedic take on MMORPGs.
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Wikipedia has a great definition for those of you who are new to this one (like me):
Sounds like Ready Player One fits this genre perfectly, so if you haven't read that yet, 2019 might be your year!
Goodreads has a shelf: LitRPG Shelf
I have NO idea what I'm going to read for this! LitRPG fans! help out a newbie!! What do you recommend?