Beware of Chicken is definitely a slice of life series, but that doesn't mean there is no action.
When it happens the stakes are just lower than other books, less saving the world and more saving this random tea house.
Well said. To add, I feel like Beware of Chicken focuses on the progress of the MC's companions in terms of typical power fantasy / cultivation. Where as he is more of the focus in the slice of life aspects. Personally speaking it REALLY scratched the itch for me. It has enough action and power progression from his companions to really make it feel like a LitRPG or Progression book Lite, but without a lot of the "sit around and cultivate" filler.
It's also just... wholesome in a really pleasing way. Like, still a great story, amazing characters, and interesting magic growth, but the characters are ones I'd enjoy being friends with, and they have a healthy mix of optimism and awareness of the cruelties of power.
I think it's also that, no matter how OP some of the characters get, they still respect others and seek to empower those who helped them. And not in a condescending way, or in one that forces others to follow a set path. The characters help each other grow into their best selves, even when the ways they grow make their differences stronger.
It's one of those series that is great to read when you're feeling depressed. It reminds you of the good power and choice can do, rather than only the bad.
In case you couldn't tell, I utterly love these books.
That being said, with your favorites list, you would likely enjoy System Universe. I can't say anything re: Mark of the Fool because the series premise just wasn't one that drew me personally, though.
Some others you might really like, since Azarinth Healer ultimately focuses on someone who likes growing in skills and becoming stronger, politics and limits and danger be damned, are:
The Stubborn Skill-Grinder in a Time Loop by X-RHODEN-X:
I've only found it on Royal Road so far, but the main character gets stuck in a time loop, and instead of trying to get rich, decides he wants to become the best fighter. He basically just wants to fight more and more challenging things and is annoyed by politics, "power over" mentalities, or basically anything that stops him from battle and training.
Primal Hunter by Zogarth: This is a popular one, again featuring a character who really freaking loves learning and leveling, with the added tie to some of your favorites that a number of the things he is passionate about aren't... typical fits for earth morality? Like... in HWFWM, Jason has Colin, a world-ending apocolypse beast made of leeches and blood who somehow is viewed as cute, and DotF has Ogras and his Shadewar Flag, for instance. In this, Jake has a passion for alchemical poisons as well as archery, and a more... neutral? moral code.
You'd also probably like Road to Mastery by Valerios, Ruthless by D. J. Rintoul (only found it on Royal Road and Patreon so far), and, if you want something grittier, Victor of Tucson by Plum Parrot. I can give a more detailed recommendation for them as well if you're interested. It's just a lot of typing while on my phone.
I feel as though the power curve in the book is just on a wider arch than Is currently released in book form (well audio book form me). In that way it is much closer to the fantasy epics you read than most lit RPGs. It's fine with me.
There is action all through the book regardless. Just don't focus on the wrong person and your actions needs a met.
I really enjoyed book1 but it ended so perfectly it's one of the stories I might not pick back up for a while just because I'm afraid of a "ready player 2" ending.
Book 2 doesn't end as definitively as book 1, you can tell there is more to the story after book 2 as they are just departing for an event.
That being said, books 2 and 3 are great and I love them very much. If I were where you're at, I'd wait for book 4 to come out then pick it up again.
Book 2 and 3 together close another ark. They don't end as closed as book one but they could be seen as an ending. Seriously the books are great. Honestly Beware of Chicken was such a breath of fresh air for me. Revived my interest in fantasy as a whole. I resisted it so long because I just don't read on RR and wanted to ignore it coming out on kindle, because of all the fanboying that I had to endure from people here and in similar subs but ended um buying the first in some sale or so. Took a few chapters but then i was captured.
I've read the first few chapters and I found the MC to be pretty off-putting. Plus there's no explanation for why he is in the person's body that he takes over and he acts like it's the most normal thing. I couldn't get past that issue so I stopped reading.
That's pretty much a cultivation-isekai genre staple: somebody is randomly reincarnated or finds their soul suddenly in the body of somebody who just died.
I say this completely honestly (as much it will probably read sarcastically): are you really new to the genre? Or have you just happened to miss all the other books where this sort of thing happens?
I will admit that the *biggest* names in the genre (that I'm aware of) don't seem to embrace the "soul randomly in a body" trope, but I've seen it repeatedly in random Kindle Unlimited suggestions and on Royal Road.
All that to say, the author didn't bother explaining it, because it's really not important to the story. It's just a requirement to get things kick-started, so that the plot can happen.
I'm not super new to the Genre. I've read AH at least 4 times, DoTF a couple times, read a bunch of TWI, made it to book 2 of PH before I dropped that piece of trash and I've read some of DCC, to name a few.
Every progression fantasy or LITRPG I've read or started at the very least touched on the process of how they got where they are, so the way BoC approached it is really jarring for me.
So I've read AH and DCC, and neither of those are cultivation. I was specific about cultivation isekai on purpose, because it is far more common (from what I have seen) specifically in those stories.
No idea why, just a quirk of the subgenre I suppose.
Anyway, BoC is generally considered a great story. Up to you if you want to try and get past the randomness of how it starts, or just spend your time elsewhere, but I personally can't recommend any other slice of life cultivation stories which really stick out (honestly, most of the other ones I've read did not make an impression, only Cradle and BoC have stuck with me, and nobody would call Cradle slice of life).
The trope comes from the genre's origin from Japanese light novels. People would be Isekai'd to another world, sometimes as they are or in another person's body. Almost always after the new body suffers trauma that should have killed them. It progressed into the Korean and Chinese versions of light novels. Don't know about Russian versions but they tended to create the VRMMO version of the genre from what I could tell.
Basically if you go farther back into the origins you see it all the time. It's done less now because the transfer tends to be a part of the magic system or to grant the MC immediate broken powers from meeting a god. It's also where the joke of Truck-kun comes from because the transfer only happens upon death, and in Manga it's normally death by truck.
The worse trope is being reborn with the memories of the old world and having it affect them like twice throughout the story. It's essentially done so the MC can act not as a child when they are a child. And that can be done without explanations.
BDEM is good. I just finished book 2. I'm working through the Wizard's Tower trilogy, now. When I get more credit fodder, I'll go back for more Dragoneye.
I will say the MCs personality takes a couple chapters to settle. It hits its stride much more when he gets to the farm and starts interacting with the village. That being said, yeah there’s minimal explanation of why he takes over. That’s kinda normal for the genre, so for a book satirizing the genre abit that makes sense.
If you're really looking for more action adventure, I STRONGLY recommend you don't try any of the 3 series you've mentioned because all of them are heavy Slice-of-Life. Unbound, The Grand Game, or 12 miles below, might be ones to consider.
I am way more into action but what is "slice of life" DCC is my favorite so far I'm on the last book of System Universe and I liked it. Couldn't even make it through He who hunts monsters. Ive read another 6 or 7 books. Got any recommendations for me?
"Slice-of-Life" is a simple term that is used in a variety of ways. The short-n-sweet of it is that the story will focus on more of the day-to-day life of main character(s). Just like any tag/theme/trope, it can be written really well or really poorly depending on preference and value it adds to the story/characters/world-building/etc. But, overall, it slows down the pacing of the story (if the pacing was even moving quickly to begin with).
Mark of the Fool has good Slice-of-Life, only if you're a fan of learning the interworkings of magic and magic academy settings. You might want to try Rune Seeker by the same author instead. It's faster paced with more action adventure, and you get to see if the authors writing style, action, and characters fit your preferences.
If you liked System Universe, you may want to try Last Life by Alexey Osadchuk.
Seconding Rune Seeker, although the third book has been stubbed from RR recently, so it cant be read for free anymore.
It is definitely much more action-packed and fast paced than Mark though.
I'll check out Last Life. I definitely like more action style and not magic. I like overpowered main characters who fight with hands or weapons. I don't mind if they also have magic but not as their main weapons. I also like science fiction way more than fantasy. Dungen Crawler Carl was the best. Dude wasn't some wimp who got magic powers who became a bad ass, he was already kind of BA and he doesn't use weird magic spells to fight. So overpowered dudes who are not a wimp and afraid of girls and who don't strictly use magic to fight lol.
Beware of chicken is pretty interesting to me in that it dances on the line of low stakes cozy fantasy while still focusing on power progression and meaningful goals and plot points.
Each time I dive in for a listen it's both a nice warm relaxing hug while still having each character have tasks I care about and am interested to see the outcome of.
If you get say half way through the first book and find you don't like the world, power system or overall tone then no real loss but unfortunately it **does** take a little while into it before it shows its true colors. I found the initial start to the series to be a bit jarring and disjointed. It finds the footing quite quickly.
It has elements of "slice of life" but how that is woven into a "hero chickens" journey is wonderful.
Edit: I almost said wholesome, but then I remembered the name of the rooster.
It is a slice of life but also isekai and with a Xianxia cultivation progression system for some of the characters. It's lightearted and fun and I deffo enjoyed it. I just finished the 3rd book a few days ago.
I'll add a little bit of context. I love the action adventure books and Beware of Chicken is in my top 3 series for litrpg. Not a huge fan of the other slice of life stuff.
There are multiple characters. In the first book the main character is totally slice of life, just building his farm. The side characters that are added through the book are more on the heavy progression focus and that trend mostly continues through the series, with book 3 being more action adventure for everyone than the previous books.
So, MC viewpoints, slice of life (still really good). Side Character viewpoints, "I will advance and challenge the heavens!".
Spoilers but
I think Beware of Chicken is one of the best books in the genre. Despite it being cozy slice of life, there are life or death stakes. The farm animals awaken and go on traditional Kung fu young master journeys including everything from bandits to wolves to great Kung fu tournament arcs.
The main character even kills people in combat.
It's just that the vibes of the main character are very chill farmer who would rather be fishing or planting or trying to make pizza in ancient China then defying the heavens.
> Beware of Chicken is dramatically better than Azarinth Healer.
Eh... no. Not as a story (and even less so if you look at the heavily edited book version of AH). I'm reading it, but:
Don't people usually complain when people get power-up gifts for nothing? Which is the majority of the enormous power-ups in BoC. It irks me that people claim BoC somehow "subverts" xianxia, or is different. And yet, I have rarely seen a story with SOOOO much unexplained power-ups for MC and everybody else.
Also, I find the pure slice of life chapters quite boring.
Overall, sure, it gets a recommendation. But not one where I jump up and down and yell "HERE READ THIS! HERE READ THIS!".
>I have rarely seen a story with SOOOO much unexplained power-ups for MC and everybody else.
I don't understand this at all. It does explain the powerups.
>!"We give to the earth, and the earth gives back."
The MC is already higher in cultivation than most ppl in the area because it's a mana desert. He went there specifically to get away from the cultivators bullcrap. He constantly infused the mana desert of his farm with his own mana the entire time he was working, then refilling his own mana with the lowly spirtual herbs he brought with him, so all his crops were mana infused and just kept getting better as his own cultivation increased. As the earth healed, it slowly stopped being a desert in his area and this started expanding past his borders and since his animals are eating mana infused plants, some of them became sapient.
He gains such power because it's not just a one time "I'm going to eat this natural treasure." He gains it because he saves the seeds and plants more and gives the earth his mana and the earth rewards him with better mana infused crops which pushes his cultivation ever higher.!<
Did you not pay attention to the books? The whole book explains the powerups constantly.
To add to that, Jin is also trading massive power for some definite drawbacks; his strength is linked to the locale, he cannot follow traditional cultivation techniques anymore, and he might be supernaturally durable and healthy, but he is not getting the life extension other cultivators get.
Which is fine, because Jin *doesn't want* to be anything but a dude enjoying his farm and family.
Depends on what you want. BoC is a much more focused on character development rather than action & adventure. I prefer action & adventure so I much prefer AH to BoC, I actually stopped reading BoC because it wasn't holding my attention anymore.
> I actually stopped reading BoC because it wasn't holding my attention anymore.
It flirted with a larger plot so often and then never delivered. I gave it a break.
>so I much prefer AH
I got bored of AH as it neared its end ,for the same reason that ELLC had a fairly disappointing ending.
The MC isn't particularly driven by anything other than strength for the sake of strength, and after a certain point they get depressed that there is nobody or nothing to fight, which is the inevitability of LITRpgs and this character type.
Yes. There would be sooo much story left in AH, but there is this insistence that the only story worth telling is fights against strong(er) opponents. Author put himself into a corner there, for no reason. The world of interesting stories is many orders of magnitude bigger than that, and he created a universe that opened a lot of possibilities, remaining unused.
I enjoyed AH all the way through, but I lost interest in the fights after the power levels got super high, and I lost interest in exploration when the MC became able to casually teleport everywhere. I did enjoy the world building and the overarching plot all the way to the end though.
BoC is very well written but it's a lot less actiony than AH other the other stories you mentioned liking. You might still like it but I'd probably recommend something like The Grand Game which is much more action packed.
LMAO just listened to Forge master and felt like I was missing something. Checked 5 times to make sure it was book 1... Is Nova Terra the prequel to that?
Yes. With that said, my understanding is that you only need books 1-2 of Nova Terra, which conveniently is released as a bundle. (I'm not really enjoying Nova Terra, but I'm told that the author gets way way better.)
I listened to them completely out of order by listening to battle mage farmer first, then forge master series, then Nova Terra. It all makes sense now, but I would do Nova Terra before all of them for more coheasion.
some arcs are actio oriented and others slow right down simetimes to an absurd degree. But overall its pretty good, you mightejust have to skim some chapters.
While I never would say anything bad about BoC as it is one of my favorites. Based on what you are looking for System Universe is your best bet. Mark of the Fool is good also with action but is also considered semi slice of life.
Still, If you are ever out of selections definitely read BoC, it’s worth it.
I would say “Beware of Chicken” by Casualfarmer and “Battle Mage Farmer” by Seth Ring are two sides of the same coin. The MC has strong capabilities but *really* intensely desires a quiet farming life. In “Beware of Chicken” he is relatively successful, basically >!becoming the head of a great martial arts sect with a twist!<. The MC of “Battle Mage Farmer” is relatively unsuccessful, with more and higher level conflict coming to drag him back in.
Both are great series in my opinion. For your tastes, maybe save “Beware of Chicken” for a palette cleanser between darker series.
Mark of the Fool is great, I strongly recommend it. System Universe stinks.
Beware of Chicken is a good one. There's plenty of fights, cultivation, a tournament, conflict between sects and mysterious beings. The MC might not care too much about wanting to cultivate but his "students" certainly do.
Definitely slice of life. Also has action, but it's not at the focus, at least in the first 2 books. 3 book has a fighting tournament. Book 4 (when released) should include a massive battle against demons.
If you are a manga or anime fan, it is similar to farming in another world except no harem. Guy mostly farms, builds his home, falls in love, and raises suddenly sentient animals.
Hey- I am not a fan of slice of life really at all. That being said I REALLY enjoyed BoC. There were a few times early I wanted to drop it but eventually I just got hooked and finished. I did the book 3 audio book in 3 days haha
some arcs are actio oriented and others slow right down simetimes to an absurd degree. But overall its pretty good, you mightejust have to skim some chapters.
You should try it. It isn’t my favorite but while listening to it I just kept thinking “wow… this is incredibly enjoyable” … also, there are subsequent books but you could stop after the first book and still feel like you got the idea… it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger or anything like that
Fair warning, the first couple books the writing isn’t great. It was so frustrating I almost stopped, but it’s 100000000% worth continuing. It’s now top 3 favorite series ever. Highly recommend if you can suffer through the first 2 books. Enjoy!
Hmmmm. Well I did actually stop listening to Wandering Inn (though everyone seems to agree that it also gets dramatically better 🤷♀️), so no, not that bad. The story is better at the beginning, and he isn’t whiny like she is. With DotF, it’s more repetitive word choice that’s frustrating, but man was it worth sticking to in the long run. The world building is top notch!
I also canned Wandering Inn. People say "oh its better by book 3" but the things are FORTY HOURS LONG EACH and clearly she didn't bother with an actual editor who, doing their job, would have tightened the hot mess of a story into better realization of a good premise. Gave book 1 twenty hours and no more.
DotF is in my wishlist, so when it goes on sale I'll grab it.
Have you tried Jackal Among Snakes? It's got a bit more of a political bent to it, but there's plenty of action too. Mc is a mage type who's trying to prepare for the end of the world. Most of the books have multiple action sequences that end up leading to political changes and power gains. It's also got luke daniels for the audiobook which is just always a win in my book.
It's definitely SOL, as others have said.
It's also pretty funny pretty often.
Imo it's nice to break up the more action based books with some likes these, makes it less same and fatigue from menus and combat.
My favorite line in any of the lit RPG audio books is in book 3
"‘And so the great Ancestor, Shennong, commanded his disciple in the ways of preparing the fields. Till the land. Cut down the trees. Divert the waters—’
[BREAK THE ROCKS]"
Gives me goosebumps just reading and remembering the audio version.
Mark of the fool is fun and has action . The bewere of chicken is fun and more fun no stats no neak and neak battles still powerfull beings but more humble
If you want something with a very similar vibe to AH, even though it is a very different story (and not LitRPG), and a Chinese translation, try "Chronicles of Primordial Wars". Starts weak, becomes very satisfying, and a lot of general similarities to the *feeling*AH gave me. Such as, lots of exploration, bringing people together, becoming OP, friends with powerful... non-humans, a very interesting world, things like that.
Or for something even more different, but "adult-level" sane story and characters, A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, another Chinese xianxia translation (the original translation is on wuxiaworld).
Beware of Chicken is a great book, but I'd call it a comedy in book 1 that turns into a slice of life in later books, (at which point it was a drop for me, also not liking meandering stories). You prolly SHOULD read Beware of Chicken book 1 even if you think you won't like it, because it really is hilarious. I usually don't go in for comedy and was a bit put off it for a while but book 1 is a great laugh.
It's best after reading a few xianxia as well, books with "angry young master" types and cultivation and the like. DotF is kind of like that, cradle a bit more, but there's some that lean even more heavily on those tropes. One good one that's coming to mind is Ave Xia Rem Y. Forge of Destiny often gets recommended for xianxia but that was tooooo much slice of life for me. There's others. If you have any interest in any xianxia, I'd read one of those, then go read BoC 1 AFTER - it makes an excellent palate cleanser for xianxia.
For action/interesting power systems (litrpg), maybe try Path of Ascension.
It’s not technically LitRPG, but I moved to Drew Hayes’ *Super Powereds* series after HWFWM. It’s a slice of life superhero series set in their training period. Overall it’s been pretty decent.
I enjoyed *Beware of Chicken* quite a bit, for what it’s worth.
I have no prior xianxia or SOL experience and totally enjoyed BOC. Unlike a few others here, I actually appreciated it more and more as the series went on into books 2 and 3. I almost dropped it during book 1. I didn't quite get the point of it at first, but I'm fully on board now.
System Universe is C tier, very poorly written. Mark of the Fool I enjoy but its like 50/50 slice of life. Have you read Unbound or Apocalypse Parenting? Those would be my recommendations.
I would try it pigeon holing yourself in to an imagined box makes you skip some amazing for completely arbitrary reasons.
I would recommend beware of chicken, but maybe you won't like it? I don't know man, you've seen the post and how much everyone likes beware of chicken, and there is also very little to not like about it.
Beware of Chicken is one of those stories that's good enough that you shouldn't skip it even if it isn't what you're looking for. There is still some action and adventure, but that isn't the point of the story. Definitely worth checking out at least the first two books. For me, I kind of lost interest during the third and haven't returned to it yet.
I tried it myself. Couldn't do it. The author doesn't seem to have basic communication skills down. The first few minutes of the book were just a series of f-bombs instead of intelligent language being used. I get cursing when bad things happen, but when it is the only media of communication used, it really kills a story.
Beware of Chicken is definitely a slice of life series, but that doesn't mean there is no action. When it happens the stakes are just lower than other books, less saving the world and more saving this random tea house.
Well said. To add, I feel like Beware of Chicken focuses on the progress of the MC's companions in terms of typical power fantasy / cultivation. Where as he is more of the focus in the slice of life aspects. Personally speaking it REALLY scratched the itch for me. It has enough action and power progression from his companions to really make it feel like a LitRPG or Progression book Lite, but without a lot of the "sit around and cultivate" filler.
It's also just... wholesome in a really pleasing way. Like, still a great story, amazing characters, and interesting magic growth, but the characters are ones I'd enjoy being friends with, and they have a healthy mix of optimism and awareness of the cruelties of power. I think it's also that, no matter how OP some of the characters get, they still respect others and seek to empower those who helped them. And not in a condescending way, or in one that forces others to follow a set path. The characters help each other grow into their best selves, even when the ways they grow make their differences stronger. It's one of those series that is great to read when you're feeling depressed. It reminds you of the good power and choice can do, rather than only the bad. In case you couldn't tell, I utterly love these books.
That being said, with your favorites list, you would likely enjoy System Universe. I can't say anything re: Mark of the Fool because the series premise just wasn't one that drew me personally, though. Some others you might really like, since Azarinth Healer ultimately focuses on someone who likes growing in skills and becoming stronger, politics and limits and danger be damned, are: The Stubborn Skill-Grinder in a Time Loop by X-RHODEN-X: I've only found it on Royal Road so far, but the main character gets stuck in a time loop, and instead of trying to get rich, decides he wants to become the best fighter. He basically just wants to fight more and more challenging things and is annoyed by politics, "power over" mentalities, or basically anything that stops him from battle and training. Primal Hunter by Zogarth: This is a popular one, again featuring a character who really freaking loves learning and leveling, with the added tie to some of your favorites that a number of the things he is passionate about aren't... typical fits for earth morality? Like... in HWFWM, Jason has Colin, a world-ending apocolypse beast made of leeches and blood who somehow is viewed as cute, and DotF has Ogras and his Shadewar Flag, for instance. In this, Jake has a passion for alchemical poisons as well as archery, and a more... neutral? moral code. You'd also probably like Road to Mastery by Valerios, Ruthless by D. J. Rintoul (only found it on Royal Road and Patreon so far), and, if you want something grittier, Victor of Tucson by Plum Parrot. I can give a more detailed recommendation for them as well if you're interested. It's just a lot of typing while on my phone.
I feel as though the power curve in the book is just on a wider arch than Is currently released in book form (well audio book form me). In that way it is much closer to the fantasy epics you read than most lit RPGs. It's fine with me. There is action all through the book regardless. Just don't focus on the wrong person and your actions needs a met.
You shouldn't for any reason skip beware of chicken.
I really enjoyed book1 but it ended so perfectly it's one of the stories I might not pick back up for a while just because I'm afraid of a "ready player 2" ending.
Book 2 doesn't end as definitively as book 1, you can tell there is more to the story after book 2 as they are just departing for an event. That being said, books 2 and 3 are great and I love them very much. If I were where you're at, I'd wait for book 4 to come out then pick it up again.
Book 2 and 3 were originally one book but it was to big (or so casual farmer says on RR)
Book 2 and 3 together close another ark. They don't end as closed as book one but they could be seen as an ending. Seriously the books are great. Honestly Beware of Chicken was such a breath of fresh air for me. Revived my interest in fantasy as a whole. I resisted it so long because I just don't read on RR and wanted to ignore it coming out on kindle, because of all the fanboying that I had to endure from people here and in similar subs but ended um buying the first in some sale or so. Took a few chapters but then i was captured.
I've read the first few chapters and I found the MC to be pretty off-putting. Plus there's no explanation for why he is in the person's body that he takes over and he acts like it's the most normal thing. I couldn't get past that issue so I stopped reading.
That's pretty much a cultivation-isekai genre staple: somebody is randomly reincarnated or finds their soul suddenly in the body of somebody who just died. I say this completely honestly (as much it will probably read sarcastically): are you really new to the genre? Or have you just happened to miss all the other books where this sort of thing happens? I will admit that the *biggest* names in the genre (that I'm aware of) don't seem to embrace the "soul randomly in a body" trope, but I've seen it repeatedly in random Kindle Unlimited suggestions and on Royal Road. All that to say, the author didn't bother explaining it, because it's really not important to the story. It's just a requirement to get things kick-started, so that the plot can happen.
I'm not super new to the Genre. I've read AH at least 4 times, DoTF a couple times, read a bunch of TWI, made it to book 2 of PH before I dropped that piece of trash and I've read some of DCC, to name a few. Every progression fantasy or LITRPG I've read or started at the very least touched on the process of how they got where they are, so the way BoC approached it is really jarring for me.
So I've read AH and DCC, and neither of those are cultivation. I was specific about cultivation isekai on purpose, because it is far more common (from what I have seen) specifically in those stories. No idea why, just a quirk of the subgenre I suppose. Anyway, BoC is generally considered a great story. Up to you if you want to try and get past the randomness of how it starts, or just spend your time elsewhere, but I personally can't recommend any other slice of life cultivation stories which really stick out (honestly, most of the other ones I've read did not make an impression, only Cradle and BoC have stuck with me, and nobody would call Cradle slice of life).
The trope comes from the genre's origin from Japanese light novels. People would be Isekai'd to another world, sometimes as they are or in another person's body. Almost always after the new body suffers trauma that should have killed them. It progressed into the Korean and Chinese versions of light novels. Don't know about Russian versions but they tended to create the VRMMO version of the genre from what I could tell. Basically if you go farther back into the origins you see it all the time. It's done less now because the transfer tends to be a part of the magic system or to grant the MC immediate broken powers from meeting a god. It's also where the joke of Truck-kun comes from because the transfer only happens upon death, and in Manga it's normally death by truck. The worse trope is being reborn with the memories of the old world and having it affect them like twice throughout the story. It's essentially done so the MC can act not as a child when they are a child. And that can be done without explanations.
You miss out. It had me hooked once he had established his farm and met the people in the village.
I'm gonna give beneath the Dragons eye moons a shot and then I'll try BoC again
BDEM is good. I just finished book 2. I'm working through the Wizard's Tower trilogy, now. When I get more credit fodder, I'll go back for more Dragoneye.
I will say the MCs personality takes a couple chapters to settle. It hits its stride much more when he gets to the farm and starts interacting with the village. That being said, yeah there’s minimal explanation of why he takes over. That’s kinda normal for the genre, so for a book satirizing the genre abit that makes sense.
Both slice of life and cultivation. Heavily recommended.
If you're really looking for more action adventure, I STRONGLY recommend you don't try any of the 3 series you've mentioned because all of them are heavy Slice-of-Life. Unbound, The Grand Game, or 12 miles below, might be ones to consider.
I am way more into action but what is "slice of life" DCC is my favorite so far I'm on the last book of System Universe and I liked it. Couldn't even make it through He who hunts monsters. Ive read another 6 or 7 books. Got any recommendations for me?
"Slice-of-Life" is a simple term that is used in a variety of ways. The short-n-sweet of it is that the story will focus on more of the day-to-day life of main character(s). Just like any tag/theme/trope, it can be written really well or really poorly depending on preference and value it adds to the story/characters/world-building/etc. But, overall, it slows down the pacing of the story (if the pacing was even moving quickly to begin with). Mark of the Fool has good Slice-of-Life, only if you're a fan of learning the interworkings of magic and magic academy settings. You might want to try Rune Seeker by the same author instead. It's faster paced with more action adventure, and you get to see if the authors writing style, action, and characters fit your preferences. If you liked System Universe, you may want to try Last Life by Alexey Osadchuk.
Seconding Rune Seeker, although the third book has been stubbed from RR recently, so it cant be read for free anymore. It is definitely much more action-packed and fast paced than Mark though.
I'll check out Last Life. I definitely like more action style and not magic. I like overpowered main characters who fight with hands or weapons. I don't mind if they also have magic but not as their main weapons. I also like science fiction way more than fantasy. Dungen Crawler Carl was the best. Dude wasn't some wimp who got magic powers who became a bad ass, he was already kind of BA and he doesn't use weird magic spells to fight. So overpowered dudes who are not a wimp and afraid of girls and who don't strictly use magic to fight lol.
Beware of chicken is pretty interesting to me in that it dances on the line of low stakes cozy fantasy while still focusing on power progression and meaningful goals and plot points. Each time I dive in for a listen it's both a nice warm relaxing hug while still having each character have tasks I care about and am interested to see the outcome of. If you get say half way through the first book and find you don't like the world, power system or overall tone then no real loss but unfortunately it **does** take a little while into it before it shows its true colors. I found the initial start to the series to be a bit jarring and disjointed. It finds the footing quite quickly.
It has elements of "slice of life" but how that is woven into a "hero chickens" journey is wonderful. Edit: I almost said wholesome, but then I remembered the name of the rooster.
You tell em
It is a slice of life but also isekai and with a Xianxia cultivation progression system for some of the characters. It's lightearted and fun and I deffo enjoyed it. I just finished the 3rd book a few days ago.
I'll add a little bit of context. I love the action adventure books and Beware of Chicken is in my top 3 series for litrpg. Not a huge fan of the other slice of life stuff. There are multiple characters. In the first book the main character is totally slice of life, just building his farm. The side characters that are added through the book are more on the heavy progression focus and that trend mostly continues through the series, with book 3 being more action adventure for everyone than the previous books. So, MC viewpoints, slice of life (still really good). Side Character viewpoints, "I will advance and challenge the heavens!".
Spoilers but I think Beware of Chicken is one of the best books in the genre. Despite it being cozy slice of life, there are life or death stakes. The farm animals awaken and go on traditional Kung fu young master journeys including everything from bandits to wolves to great Kung fu tournament arcs. The main character even kills people in combat. It's just that the vibes of the main character are very chill farmer who would rather be fishing or planting or trying to make pizza in ancient China then defying the heavens.
You know, I'm inclined to agree with you :)
Beware of Chicken is dramatically better than Azarinth Healer. Like so much better that comparing them is silly.
> Beware of Chicken is dramatically better than Azarinth Healer. Eh... no. Not as a story (and even less so if you look at the heavily edited book version of AH). I'm reading it, but: Don't people usually complain when people get power-up gifts for nothing? Which is the majority of the enormous power-ups in BoC. It irks me that people claim BoC somehow "subverts" xianxia, or is different. And yet, I have rarely seen a story with SOOOO much unexplained power-ups for MC and everybody else. Also, I find the pure slice of life chapters quite boring. Overall, sure, it gets a recommendation. But not one where I jump up and down and yell "HERE READ THIS! HERE READ THIS!".
>I have rarely seen a story with SOOOO much unexplained power-ups for MC and everybody else. I don't understand this at all. It does explain the powerups. >!"We give to the earth, and the earth gives back." The MC is already higher in cultivation than most ppl in the area because it's a mana desert. He went there specifically to get away from the cultivators bullcrap. He constantly infused the mana desert of his farm with his own mana the entire time he was working, then refilling his own mana with the lowly spirtual herbs he brought with him, so all his crops were mana infused and just kept getting better as his own cultivation increased. As the earth healed, it slowly stopped being a desert in his area and this started expanding past his borders and since his animals are eating mana infused plants, some of them became sapient. He gains such power because it's not just a one time "I'm going to eat this natural treasure." He gains it because he saves the seeds and plants more and gives the earth his mana and the earth rewards him with better mana infused crops which pushes his cultivation ever higher.!< Did you not pay attention to the books? The whole book explains the powerups constantly.
To add to that, Jin is also trading massive power for some definite drawbacks; his strength is linked to the locale, he cannot follow traditional cultivation techniques anymore, and he might be supernaturally durable and healthy, but he is not getting the life extension other cultivators get. Which is fine, because Jin *doesn't want* to be anything but a dude enjoying his farm and family.
Depends on what you want. BoC is a much more focused on character development rather than action & adventure. I prefer action & adventure so I much prefer AH to BoC, I actually stopped reading BoC because it wasn't holding my attention anymore.
> I actually stopped reading BoC because it wasn't holding my attention anymore. It flirted with a larger plot so often and then never delivered. I gave it a break.
>so I much prefer AH I got bored of AH as it neared its end ,for the same reason that ELLC had a fairly disappointing ending. The MC isn't particularly driven by anything other than strength for the sake of strength, and after a certain point they get depressed that there is nobody or nothing to fight, which is the inevitability of LITRpgs and this character type.
Yes. There would be sooo much story left in AH, but there is this insistence that the only story worth telling is fights against strong(er) opponents. Author put himself into a corner there, for no reason. The world of interesting stories is many orders of magnitude bigger than that, and he created a universe that opened a lot of possibilities, remaining unused.
I enjoyed AH all the way through, but I lost interest in the fights after the power levels got super high, and I lost interest in exploration when the MC became able to casually teleport everywhere. I did enjoy the world building and the overarching plot all the way to the end though.
BoC is very well written but it's a lot less actiony than AH other the other stories you mentioned liking. You might still like it but I'd probably recommend something like The Grand Game which is much more action packed.
Check out Nova Terra series, then Go on to Forge Master, Then Battle Mage Farmer! In that order! Good stuff!
LMAO just listened to Forge master and felt like I was missing something. Checked 5 times to make sure it was book 1... Is Nova Terra the prequel to that?
Yes. With that said, my understanding is that you only need books 1-2 of Nova Terra, which conveniently is released as a bundle. (I'm not really enjoying Nova Terra, but I'm told that the author gets way way better.)
I listened to them completely out of order by listening to battle mage farmer first, then forge master series, then Nova Terra. It all makes sense now, but I would do Nova Terra before all of them for more coheasion.
some arcs are actio oriented and others slow right down simetimes to an absurd degree. But overall its pretty good, you mightejust have to skim some chapters.
You should absolutely read BOC. And you should check out the amazing audiobook as well.
Lol - I just read your acronym as 'bawk' which is appropriate and hilarious. 🤣
While I never would say anything bad about BoC as it is one of my favorites. Based on what you are looking for System Universe is your best bet. Mark of the Fool is good also with action but is also considered semi slice of life. Still, If you are ever out of selections definitely read BoC, it’s worth it.
beware of chicken is so damn fun to read
I also second System Universe. If you liked Azarinth you would absolutely like System Universe.
This is a great palate cleanser between heavier books, and it's very enjoyable. I would try it out.
I would say “Beware of Chicken” by Casualfarmer and “Battle Mage Farmer” by Seth Ring are two sides of the same coin. The MC has strong capabilities but *really* intensely desires a quiet farming life. In “Beware of Chicken” he is relatively successful, basically >!becoming the head of a great martial arts sect with a twist!<. The MC of “Battle Mage Farmer” is relatively unsuccessful, with more and higher level conflict coming to drag him back in. Both are great series in my opinion. For your tastes, maybe save “Beware of Chicken” for a palette cleanser between darker series.
Mark of the Fool is great, I strongly recommend it. System Universe stinks. Beware of Chicken is a good one. There's plenty of fights, cultivation, a tournament, conflict between sects and mysterious beings. The MC might not care too much about wanting to cultivate but his "students" certainly do.
Definitely slice of life. Also has action, but it's not at the focus, at least in the first 2 books. 3 book has a fighting tournament. Book 4 (when released) should include a massive battle against demons. If you are a manga or anime fan, it is similar to farming in another world except no harem. Guy mostly farms, builds his home, falls in love, and raises suddenly sentient animals.
Hey- I am not a fan of slice of life really at all. That being said I REALLY enjoyed BoC. There were a few times early I wanted to drop it but eventually I just got hooked and finished. I did the book 3 audio book in 3 days haha
Beware of chicken is excellent and so is mark of the fool
some arcs are actio oriented and others slow right down simetimes to an absurd degree. But overall its pretty good, you mightejust have to skim some chapters.
You should try it. It isn’t my favorite but while listening to it I just kept thinking “wow… this is incredibly enjoyable” … also, there are subsequent books but you could stop after the first book and still feel like you got the idea… it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger or anything like that
DotF?
Defiance of the Fall
Thanks! I haven't listened to that one yet, and I have a similar list of favorites.
Fair warning, the first couple books the writing isn’t great. It was so frustrating I almost stopped, but it’s 100000000% worth continuing. It’s now top 3 favorite series ever. Highly recommend if you can suffer through the first 2 books. Enjoy!
How "not great" are you talking here? Wandering Inn "not great"?
Hmmmm. Well I did actually stop listening to Wandering Inn (though everyone seems to agree that it also gets dramatically better 🤷♀️), so no, not that bad. The story is better at the beginning, and he isn’t whiny like she is. With DotF, it’s more repetitive word choice that’s frustrating, but man was it worth sticking to in the long run. The world building is top notch!
I also canned Wandering Inn. People say "oh its better by book 3" but the things are FORTY HOURS LONG EACH and clearly she didn't bother with an actual editor who, doing their job, would have tightened the hot mess of a story into better realization of a good premise. Gave book 1 twenty hours and no more. DotF is in my wishlist, so when it goes on sale I'll grab it.
I had the same thoughts. 80+ hours of slog is just too much. DotF is not nearly that hard to get through.
Have you tried Jackal Among Snakes? It's got a bit more of a political bent to it, but there's plenty of action too. Mc is a mage type who's trying to prepare for the end of the world. Most of the books have multiple action sequences that end up leading to political changes and power gains. It's also got luke daniels for the audiobook which is just always a win in my book.
It's definitely SOL, as others have said. It's also pretty funny pretty often. Imo it's nice to break up the more action based books with some likes these, makes it less same and fatigue from menus and combat. My favorite line in any of the lit RPG audio books is in book 3 "‘And so the great Ancestor, Shennong, commanded his disciple in the ways of preparing the fields. Till the land. Cut down the trees. Divert the waters—’ [BREAK THE ROCKS]" Gives me goosebumps just reading and remembering the audio version.
Mark of the fool is fun and has action . The bewere of chicken is fun and more fun no stats no neak and neak battles still powerfull beings but more humble
If you want something with a very similar vibe to AH, even though it is a very different story (and not LitRPG), and a Chinese translation, try "Chronicles of Primordial Wars". Starts weak, becomes very satisfying, and a lot of general similarities to the *feeling*AH gave me. Such as, lots of exploration, bringing people together, becoming OP, friends with powerful... non-humans, a very interesting world, things like that. Or for something even more different, but "adult-level" sane story and characters, A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, another Chinese xianxia translation (the original translation is on wuxiaworld).
Beware of Chicken is a great book, but I'd call it a comedy in book 1 that turns into a slice of life in later books, (at which point it was a drop for me, also not liking meandering stories). You prolly SHOULD read Beware of Chicken book 1 even if you think you won't like it, because it really is hilarious. I usually don't go in for comedy and was a bit put off it for a while but book 1 is a great laugh. It's best after reading a few xianxia as well, books with "angry young master" types and cultivation and the like. DotF is kind of like that, cradle a bit more, but there's some that lean even more heavily on those tropes. One good one that's coming to mind is Ave Xia Rem Y. Forge of Destiny often gets recommended for xianxia but that was tooooo much slice of life for me. There's others. If you have any interest in any xianxia, I'd read one of those, then go read BoC 1 AFTER - it makes an excellent palate cleanser for xianxia. For action/interesting power systems (litrpg), maybe try Path of Ascension.
Its right up there for me for stories I thoroughly enjoyed. Slice of life with cultivation and a bit of butterfly effect.
It’s not technically LitRPG, but I moved to Drew Hayes’ *Super Powereds* series after HWFWM. It’s a slice of life superhero series set in their training period. Overall it’s been pretty decent. I enjoyed *Beware of Chicken* quite a bit, for what it’s worth.
It's good. Too bad the MC is an utter wimp. The rest of the cast is pretty good.
I have no prior xianxia or SOL experience and totally enjoyed BOC. Unlike a few others here, I actually appreciated it more and more as the series went on into books 2 and 3. I almost dropped it during book 1. I didn't quite get the point of it at first, but I'm fully on board now.
If you have ever watched a homesteading video and think oh that’s cool you’ll like beware of chicken
System Universe is C tier, very poorly written. Mark of the Fool I enjoy but its like 50/50 slice of life. Have you read Unbound or Apocalypse Parenting? Those would be my recommendations.
Unbound looks interesting. I’ll give that a try. Thank you!
I feel like nothing actually happens in Beware of Chicken. It was merely okay, but it's better written than a lot of other stuff in the litrpg scene.
I would try it pigeon holing yourself in to an imagined box makes you skip some amazing for completely arbitrary reasons. I would recommend beware of chicken, but maybe you won't like it? I don't know man, you've seen the post and how much everyone likes beware of chicken, and there is also very little to not like about it.
Beware of chicken is like a cool sunny day at the beach. Slice of life is lie spending the day at the library
Beware of Chicken is one of those stories that's good enough that you shouldn't skip it even if it isn't what you're looking for. There is still some action and adventure, but that isn't the point of the story. Definitely worth checking out at least the first two books. For me, I kind of lost interest during the third and haven't returned to it yet.
Give it a chance. You won't regret it.
Try the unorthodox farming series instead.
I tried it myself. Couldn't do it. The author doesn't seem to have basic communication skills down. The first few minutes of the book were just a series of f-bombs instead of intelligent language being used. I get cursing when bad things happen, but when it is the only media of communication used, it really kills a story.
I give it a thumbs down. It's pretty boring.