I would highly recommend Enthralled: Book 1 - The Crystal Heart - But I'm biased. Enthralled: Book 2 - Picking Up the Pieces is slated to come out by the end of March 2018.
One of the first LitRPG series I started with and it’s a great example. I think 6 is technically not the last book but it wraps up the series. These are also on audiobook so it made it easier for me since I tend to listen to books in the car and pick up reading when I’m at home or work. Book 7 is translated and out now but not on audiobook yet
Not really new but Viridian Gate Online series by James Hunter is an excellent series with a pretty good audiobook experience too. The first 4 books and the “DLC” book (kind of a spin off character book) are all on audiobook. There is a fifth book not yet narrated.
One more series is Awaken Online by Travis Bagwell. Two books and a “side quest” book out now with audiobooks. A third part (4th book) called AO: Evolution in the works that is due out next month in ebook, print, and audiobook.
I don't know why I just saw this, but I just have to tell you that when I read it I cracked up soooo hard
I've got a few recommendations that I can share that I don't think were already mentioned. I wouldn't classify all of them as great but I enjoyed them nonetheless. In no particular order. Dodge Tank by Rick Scott - 3 books currently out, I'm waiting to re-up my KU subscription to read the 3rd. Ring of Promise by J.A Capriano - 3 book series, no longer on Amazon tho, I liked the MC being a tank (since that's what I generally play) Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw - Not litrpg but one of the books I enjoyed the most in the past few years Unbound Deathlord by Edward Castle - 2 books out so far Level up or Die by Apollos Thorn - 2 books out so far Codename Freedom by Apollos Thorn - 2 books out so far, I liked the Level up or die more but this was also decent Ritualist by Dakota Krout - 2 books out so far Re-Start by Dan Sugralinov - Translated from Russian, 2 books written, 1 translated, a 3rd is coming Well that's a start and should keep you busy for now... I'm sure I'll think of a few more later..
It was a great book, but it was a total cliffhanger. And usually I am fine with writers working at their own pace, and if it takes a while to come up with a sequel, I understand. However he is just whiney. He whines, and it's obvious he just is not interested in doing anymore with the series. He should just admit it so people can stop asking about it. He picked up some social issues and has been working on a different book, he needs to just stop with the Dawn of Wonder. . This is a rant obviously. For some reason this guy specifically bugs me. I think he is trying to make a work of art with utter perfection which doesn't exist. He needs to piss or get off the pot. Hi Guys, Hope everything is going well. Oh...And I really have to recommend Restart-Level 1, and also Downfall and Rise for LitRPG
Downfall and Rise was good, I should have included it as well. Although I would argue that it was more of a cliffhanger ending than Dawn of Wonder. I actually didn't think it was too much of a cliffhanger, just that he found some information and started training to accomplish a new mission that he started on that info (trying to avoid spoilers). I guess I can't really complain about the wait at this point, I only read it earlier this year. I cut my teeth waiting for authors like Jordan/Martin/Rothfuss (and in two of those cases am still waiting), so it's not too bad so far. I know he took a break to work on his masters thesis, but that's done now and the bars on his website are moving. The thing that's interesting to me about your complaint is that I originally picked up the recommendation from someone who was complaining about another author and pointed to Renshaw as a good example of showing progress even if he's slow while the other author didn't.
I can see that. Yes, I read it abit after it came out. And the meters on his dashboard don't really move, and he has tons of drafts and revisions. Like I said though, good book, and I have to admit that even after talking about it I am thinking of re-reading it. That's funny
Books that should be considered foundation books for Virtual Reality cyberpunk, net-runner, and the for the precursers of LITRPG books. These are not LITRPG but set the expectations of cyberspace and VR universes I highly recomend Robert N. Charette Never Deal With a Dragon. And the entire Shadowrun series published by TSR on the 90's. Depicts life with hackers plugging into the metaverse through neural jacks and projecting there counchences into cyberspace. Neil Stenenson Snowcrash, depicting the metaverse and published in the age of America online, Prodigy, and bullitain boards. Published even before the internet became commonplace. Diamond age, Reamde, William Gibson Johnny Mnemonic, book not movie Neuromancer Count zero Monalisa Overdrive Rudy Rucker Hacker and the ants, Software - wetware - freeware - Realware Robert J.Sawyer WWW WAKE - WWW WATCH - WWW WONDER, Charles Stross Halting State Rule 34
I read Mathew Sylvestor's Spetsnaz: A Permadeath LitRPG Book recently. It was absolutely littered with typos and grammatical errors but it had a fairly unique premise that I haven't seen in other LitRPG books yet.