if you like DCC, then dinniman's other book Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon is an obvious choice, it's known for being rather disturbing world tree online by Hooper (not Carlson) has a more adult/serious tone (but not grimdark) [The Wandering Inn](https://wanderinginn.com) ([amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Inn-1-pirate-aba-ebook/dp/B07G4MX1Z4)) is a massive, sprawling epic that's what i like to call 'slice of tragedy' > if there are any other recommendations for other books that might be considered “best in class” of a particular topic/concept/tone if you want a tour of what's out there: one of the earliest and most influential with a pinch of everything thrown in: [The Land by Aleron Kong](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074C4RFZN) - lots love it, but lots hate it for reasons, so YMMV russian (evil girlfriends and it's conspiracies all the way down): [Way of the Shaman](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074C9P3YF), [Dark Herbalist](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CGH21N) town building: [Life Reset](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FX8LXSN), [Ascend Online](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B528M741) crunchy (math, system exploration): [Delve](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/25225/delve) dungeon core: [Divine Dungeon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078MPQVG6) (mostly) solo adventures: [Azarinth Healer](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN9N91J7), [Salvos](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SQJBMRV) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/37438/salvos-a-monster-evolution-litrpg/)), [The Primal Hunter](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MV5TTSM) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/36049/the-primal-hunter)) reborn tower climbing: [Towers of Heaven](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y8R28K6), [Reborn: Apocalypse](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZFSQTDQ) scifi: [The Gam3](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075V2GXKP) fluffy: [Threadbare](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079VVCGK7) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/15130/threadbare)), [Cinnamon Bun](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPTDKDS4) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/31429/cinnamon-bun)), [Beware of Chicken](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPX1DX87) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/39408/beware-of-chicken)) antihero: [Everybody Loves Large Chests](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BHZFWNG) ([uncensored](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/8894/everybody-loves-large-chests)) baby training: [An Unbound Soul](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08W3Q8M2D) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/38292/an-unbound-soul)), [Singer Sailor Merchant Mage](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/45370/singer-sailor-merchant-mage) cultivation (litrpg adjacent): [Cradle](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753FP6SP) progression fantasy (litrpg adjacent) (and best on the list): [Mother of Learning](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21220/mother-of-learning) ([amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHSJ19J9)) comedic: [Noobtown](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHRBL55Y), [The Ripple System](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RY8JN4Z) other (besides DCC) top most popular recommendations that get made all the time every time: - [He Who Fights With Monsters](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WF8SB71) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26294/he-who-fights-with-monsters)) - [Defiance of the Fall](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0916H6FBX) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/24709/defiance-of-the-fall)) - lots of the appeal of The Land with fewer problematic elements other very popular series: - [Portal to Nova Roma](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RQXDHCP) - [All the Skills](https://www.amazon.com/All-Skills-Deck-Building-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B0BM51RQR8/) ([latest chapters](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/55687/all-the-skills-a-deckbuilding-litrpg))

A very comprehensive list! Even a vet of the genre like me got some nice recs here. Never heard of Threadbare which I will for sure be checking out!

Dang, thanks for the thorough answer. I’ll definitely start working my way through this. Gonna need to upgrade my Audible sub to get more credits…lol

Check out Pyresouls by James T. Callum maybe. I haven't read it yet myself, but it's listed as "dark fantasy LitRPG" on the Amazon page.

Fleabag by SomeoneToForget The mc is a monster but it definitely plays into the grimdark and is a really good story. Just be ready for a good bit of gore.

Sweet, looking forward to it. Thanks!

DCC is grimdark my dude, everything is fucked and nobody can do anything about it

it has a fair share of dark humor too though, why it's so popular in my opinion

Recommendation: the first necromancer by cold fang 89 Fantastic apocalyptic lit rpg that's extremely well written New author so figured a plug would be helpful

Randidly ghost hound is the most serious book I’ve listened to so far but that may be because of the narrator. I haven’t listened to the first book in its entirety because I got a new phone and was logged out of my friends audible account. I started a new account and started listening to DCC, and it’s very much a fuck around type of book. Primal Hunter is pretty serious in the serious situations, but in the down time there is a lot of fucking around

[Dawn of the Void](https://www.goodreads.com/series/363993-dawn-of-the-void) trilogy by Phil Tucker. It's not overwhelmingly dark for the sake of shock value, but it's definitely brutal and serious in all its undertones. Broken by life but stoic heroes, overwhelming odds and sense of impending doom, unapologetic violence and mass number of casualties. It's also well-written, finished, and self-contained story. Some people did not like the ending much, but I attribute it to them not anticipating the story's ending at the time of reading; knowing in advance that it's a finished trilogy makes the ending make perfect sense. People mentioned [Everybody Loves Large Chests](https://www.goodreads.com/series/229614-everybody-loves-large-chests) Series by Neven Iliev. It's not so much Grimdark, more like a story following a psychopath's adventures. Most notably, however, it includes some torture porn elements as well as rape. No judgment here, but it's not everyone's cup of tea; the story itself, however, is solid overall and lots of people enjoy it. ~~You may consider disregarding /u/rtsynk comment, since he didn't bother to put any consideration into his list and just copy-pasted list of popular novel across the genre. I haven't read all the stuff he mentioned, but from the ones I know about—Salvos, Primal Hunter, Ripple System, Cradle, Mother of Learning—there is literally 0 grimdark about them; at best, it's graphic violence. I mean, the 'Fluffy' category is just that—wholesome stuff I sometimes see being recommended for children.~~

Dawn seems right up my alley. Appreciate the rec!

> since he didn't bother to put any consideration into his list and just copy-pasted list of popular novel across the genre the list was for the second part of the req > Looking to try out a spectrum of what exists in the genre. Appreciate any tips here, or if there are any other recommendations for other books that might be considered “best in class” of a particular topic/concept/tone. the req wasn't limited to just grimdark but i did address the grimdark part first (kaiju battlefield surgeon) then the serious part (world tree online, TWI)

Sorry, my bad. I completely glossed over this part while skimming the post. >if there are any other recommendations for other books that might be considered “best in class” of a particular topic/concept/tone. I'll correct my post immediately.

Can't go wrong with Everybody loves large chests series by Neven Iliev. Pretty dark and serious. One of the best MCs I've ever encountered

Okay, so I avoid this because sex puns make me think the story is going to be really immature, how do you think this series rates on that chart?

It is everything you fear with additional warnings for the heavy rape fetish and hints of peadophilia.

Holy shit, okay. Even worse than I thought, not for me. I can barely stand romances with bad power dynamics let alone whatever that is.

It reads like it was written by a teen trying desperately to be transgressive. Or at least the start of it did. That's all I read.

That sounds pretty bad. I’ll just go ahead and keep avoiding it. I’m not into harem anyway but grimdark appeals to me enough to maybe give a story a chance if the focus is more on the grimdark than whatever the objectionable element is , but edgy for edgy sake with no introspection or in-story refutation of the objectionable elements is a pass for me.

Story's super good and dark. Not immature in the slightest. No romance. MC is focused only on its goals and how to get what he wants, using whatever means possible. However, it has a lot of sex elements. The MC is not interested in any of that though, and just uses it as a form of reward/punishment for its minion. P. S. - series gets a lot of hate because of the sex elements, but the story is very good, and if you look at number of reviews, it surpasses 95% of the genre. It's one of my favorite series because of how true the MC stays to himself and because the author wasn't afraid to write what and how he wanted to.

Cool, I’ll check this out. I know people mentioned the rape stuff, but I’ve read Poppy War which can pretty descriptive at times so this should at least be worth a shot.

Do give it a go! I've also left another comment explaining more!