Recently, I’ve been receiving the following two questions: “What is the LitRPG/Progression Fantasy genre?” and “What is Royal Road?” I’ve especially gotten these questions since preparing to launch my newest novel, Godspawn Ascendant, exclusively on Royal Road.
Let’s answer that first question. How many of you like to play video games? I know many of us do! I especially like the parts of the games where you can increase your character’s statistics and get stronger and stronger. You can also gain new skills or spells for your character in many games. Those elements exist in my latest book, Godspawn Ascendant, which is the “LitRPG” portion of the story. Many LitRPG books also take the main characters into actual games, where the story’s setting is the game.
Progression Fantasy is similar in that we are reading about a character who can continuously get as strong as possible, often following a path to eventual godhood in a fantasy world with magic and systems that extend beyond our regular earth.
I wrote Godspawn Ascendant like many of my other fantasy novels. But in this book, we follow Rayden as he learns how to advance through the Tiers (like levels in a video game) and eventually ascend and join the other powerful gods that rule over the many universes that exist in my story. Here is a quick synopsis of the book:
Receiving a Mark from the Goddess is all Rayden wants in life. Too bad he’s not from the same world as everybody else.
Cloned by a dead god and abandoned on a desolate planet, Rayden falls into the arms of people who would ostracize him for years to come.
Rayden is unusual. Not only does he look different from everyone, but he continues to struggle with training. Yearning for strength, Rayden hopes his upcoming Marking Ceremony will prove his worth. But when a sudden attack by a Nagari war band drives Rayden into an ancient facility, he meets someone he’d never thought he would: himself.
Now faced with a choice, Rayden must decide: should he follow the dead god’s plan or carve out his own fate?
Now, what is Royal Road?
Royal Road is a platform many authors use to post their books one chapter at a time–a platform for web novels or serial novels, as many call them. It is free to read books on Royal Road, so yes, you can read Godspawn Ascendant for FREE as each chapter is released.
The genres authors write in on Royal Road tend to lean toward LitRPGS/Progression Fantasies, but you can often find other genres on the platform.
Why am I Posting to Royal Road?
I wanted to dip my toes in the waters of places I’ve never been before, like posting a LitRPG/Progression Fantasy web novel. I am excited to share this story with all of you and can’t wait to see where this journey takes us. Thank you for coming along!
Here are some of My Royal Road Recommendations:
If you are new to Royal Road and would like a list of books to read there, I have your back! I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with many authors of Royal Road and found many stories worth reading. If you’d like to try your hand at reading some more LitRPG/Progression Fantasies in addition to mine, I recommend you check these out:
The world is dying, and everyone knows it. But is the alternative worse?
In rust-choked streets and hollowed-out cities, there is only one way out—Terra Mythica, a virtual world so immersive that time warps, hunger vanishes, and even the most broken can live like kings.
Jace wasn’t supposed to make it in. He cheated death, and now it’s catching up to him. As the reluctant protégé of Hades, Jace finds himself thrust into Mount Olympus University, where gods manipulate Travelers, and the line between real and digital blurs with every step.
Here, survival is about more than just staying alive—it’s about clinging to your mind before it slips away, lost in this strange never-never land.
In this mythological LitRPG, follow Jace as he battles deadly trials, navigates treacherous alliances, and uncovers shocking secrets. His fight isn’t just for glory—it’s for his soul.
If you crave epic tales of battling impossible odds and finding light in the darkness, Terra Mythica will pull you in and never let go.
After eight long years, peace is at hand. One final stronghold of foes is all that remains before the united forces of North America have pacified the continent after the arrival of the System. Santiago Silva, a powerful wind mage, leads the attack upon their enemies. Stumbling upon a powerful last ditch ritual to prevent them from losing, he is catapulted back in time.
Waking up two days before the arrival of the System, Santi is determined that he will make the most of his knowledge. Friends and family who had fallen before will live. The enemy will not be able to gather the strength they did the last time. And maybe, just maybe, they can figure out the goals of the System.
He’s not the only one who was thrust back in time though. Six Apostates have come back with him. Now in a race of time to stop their plots from hatching, Santi will have to take risks he never would have before.
Blood for life and life for magic.
At the age of six, Kizu was kidnapped and raised by a crone living deep in a tropical basin. Rescued ten years later, he returned to his negligent parents and former childhood life only to discover his older sister both disowned and missing.
After his homecoming, his parents quickly signed him up for Shinzou Academy. Three years behind every other student his age, he was ranked as the overall worst student in the academy. With a cut-throat student body and mysteries around every corner, Kizu must climb the rankings if he wants to discover the truth about his sister’s legacy.
There will be blood. There will be curses. There will be academia.
Callam Quill wants nothing more than to bind a tome and gain access to magic and the written word. In Port Cardica, his home, literacy defines power and those who have it lord over those who don’t. Mages climb the Seekers Tower, travel the Solstice Isles, and burn the embers of the Godwrought Lighthouse that protects the world. When Callam sees an opportunity to try and steal a grimoire, he takes it.
Now, if only his plans would stop going awry…
Left to die by an arrogant Young Master, Chang-li makes a deal with a ghost for lost knowledge. Now he’s in way, way over his head.
Despite being a mere scribe, Chang-li yearns to cultivate. Unfortunately the Divine Emperor’s strictures govern who may enter the towers to gather power — and scribes are only allowed in to serve true cultivators, not to advance on their own.
When a long-lost sect’s secrets fall into his possession, he finds his chance. Stealing supplies, sneaking into a forbidden cultivation tower, forging documents, cutting deals with the mob, using forbidden techniques, befriending runaway princesses and slaves — he’ll do whatever it takes to rise to the top.
His success has consequences — he’s made enemies of cultivators and fellow scribes alike, those jealous of his progress. How far will Chang-li go to reach the heavens?
A dead body is given a second chance and thrown into a mysterious cave. When Christopher wakes up in a dangerous swamp inhabited by eldritch abominations, he finds himself at a loss for answers. With him, there’s only a notebook with ancient-looking pages. On one of them, a single cryptic message: “She Lives. Find the Exit.”
The offer of reincarnation had shocked Tom.
Especially the chance to continue as a human. But guilt plagued him and a terrible fear.
What happened if his new life was one spent witnessing the decline of humanity? Experiencing his species’ extinction? A life spent being continually reminded of his failure. The logical part knew he had made one mistake, a single miscalculation and he shouldn’t blame himself for that, but being human meant that logic did not rule him absolutely.
But he had a choice, and so Tom took it. He would only be reincarnated if he had a chance to make a difference.
Thank you for reading this post, and I hope you enjoy your journey on Royal Road.
You can check out Godspawn Ascendant by clicking here.
-Aleese Hughes