Iron Prince

Iron Prince is unique in this list (and among most progression fantasy books) in that it takes place in the distant future, on one of many planets in a galaxy at war.

Instead of mystical cores or game or system-imposed leveling constructs, individuals are given CADs (combat assistance devices) that largely do the same thing. 

What I love about the book is that the main character, Rei, is the ultimate underdog. He’s done everything he could to achieve success despite his shortcomings, only to get crushed by peers and a governing system that abhors weakness.

His determination to push on… show more.

One of the things I desperately want more of in the GameLit genre is more sci-fi stories.

I’ll even take sci-fi fantasy ones, I love those too. And Iron Prince is just that. An awesome sci-fi fantasy read and a chunky one at that.

It follows Reidon Ward, a poor kid who’s been dealt a rough hand in life to put it mildly. But even with the whole world stacked up against him he buckles down and gets in to the Galen’s Institute where he starts climbing the ladder from a nobody to a capable warrior.

This story really hits… show more.

The Iron Prince by Bryce O’Connor and Luke Chmilenko is the gold standard for academy-style adventure fantasy. And it’s the only one on my list that has definite sci-fi elements, which I adore!

The progression in this novel is litRPG in that we have numbers/letters used to denote power levels. If you’ve never read a litRPG, think Dragonball Z or a video game level-up system. The whole point of this story is following Reidon’s ascension to godhood (or at least, the start of it) since his special power is to have the highest rate of gain stat ever seen! He… show more.