What is your favorite book in the The Land series... and why?

Which is your favorite? I'm partial to the first, personally.

 

That's the main one that feels like there was a story planned; it's been meandering for a while ever since. I get that's just the genre (and wuxia webnovels will always be worse at it than any litRPG)

 

For me like many, The Land along with a story called Access was a gateway into LitRPG. The first book was an interesting presence, it sparked my imagination, but the second book didn't feel the same. I guess I'd have to say the first.

On kindle, those charts killed it for me in the long run.

 

Favorite would probably be Seven. There is story progression and lots of charts that I love.

 

Yes. It added a great new mechanic, expanded the villages reach with the concept of vassals, and a major threat was defeated. Plus I liked getting an extremely long audiobook for a credit.

 

It was like 2 books in 1!

 

Don't really have a Favourite, say the first one because it introduced me to the series.

 

Book 8. Its the most hated book which means it generates a ton of discussions. Also, I kinda liked all the new mechanics. Bit boring storywise, but I figure its a setup book more than anything. As long as things pick up in book 9 and in the new series i'm good with it.

 

Before 7, I would say 5 is probably my favorite. But it is a tough call. They are all good.

 

I dont see how they wouldnt, hes perfectly primed for so many plot threads. In my mind book 8 is like goku's trip to Namek. Just setting the table for some epic battle and plot progression in the future.

 

And the settlement points...it was just so cool going to lvl 3 house of healing, barracks, research...not to forget moving the forge and the different metals to the mine.

 

I've read most of the book 8 reviews on Amazon and the biggest complaints were to little time (in the land...not even a week) and the several page episode on diarrhea. I seemed like filler to me. Yeah we wanted all the prompts and such but how many times does he have to explain certain concepts?

 

This. It's the eighth book in the series. You don't see us going into the first time Harry used magic/ cast a charm every time he casts a spell.

 

Comparing Aleron with one of the greatest authors alive isn't fair to either as their levels of talent are simply different, plus they write to different audiences and it shows.

If you want something more thoughtful, with religious undertones, I recommend challengers call, Tsun-Tsun Tzim Tzum or Cradle. All of them do far more of the thought out morals and realism that underpin the potterverse than the Land. All of them are in my opinion superior. Aleron is good, but he doesn't even reach my top five for litrpg currently. You don't want to know how he compares with other genres.

 

You didn't address his criticism at all. Most authors aren't explaining their universes in such detail this late in a series.

 

Right, it's unnecessary hand holding 8 books in

Also I admit HP is a great series but.. One of greatest authors alive? I disagree. Go back and read it again. Solid series, but the universe she set did most of the carrying. Once we were in it we were hooked (there was nothing really like it at the time), but over all she was pretty much along for the ride as much as we were.

 

There were similar series before HP, not as many as now but they existed.

The most meaningful measure I can see for whether an author has the talent of storycrafting or not, is the impact their books have on those that read them and the literary world. As HP introduced tens of millions to the world of fantasy for the first time, managing to awaken an interest in people that thought fantasy and science fictions was for nerds or childish people, it has definitely had an impact.

I cannot say the same for the land or any litrpg book currently on the market as they still struggle to reach beyond the litrpg genre and into the wider fantasy readership. A lot of fantasy readers barely realize litrpg exists. I'm still waiting for that series that can make litrpg more than a niche genre, the way HP made fantasy a stable of the literary world.

Edit:
Also, HP is pretty epic in its own right, it has so many nuggets of interesting info and so many things to speculate about. For example, there are indications that all three main characters as well as dumbledore was wrong about Trelawney's ability to foresee the future outside of those few times where she indisputably prophesized. Most of the things she foresaw, when she wasn't being a bitch, later came true.

 

You are right, ill make an attempt at explaining my point.

Basically he makes a comparison to a much better author who is simply better at worldbuilding and explaining. She also rarely goes into great detail about how magic works, as such explanations are largely irrelevant to the story and her audience - no one cares about the mana cost of casting a Patronus nor do we know whether wizards have a limited pool of mana, we only know magic use can be tiring.

In the land, the mechanics are very important because Aleron writes to a different audience, one that expects him to explain things in detail. It is also expected that he will attempt to refine his system of magic further (basically debug it) as well as expand on it with every book. In order to expand on it, a lot of repetition is by necesity included, in order for the audience to know where the changes have been made. Its also a factor that authors who do not explain their mechanics in every new book are often bashed on amazon for not reminding people how things work. Its a damned if you do, doomed if you don't situation.

 

Absolutely, want saying Aleron is on her level, far from it. But like many authors, she was better off by not treating her audience as though they hadn't been paying attention the whole time.

 

I'm unsure whether you saw my next post before responding?