Hey everyone,
I’ve been diving deep into the genre lately, and I realized my "Finished" list and my "DNF" list do not match what I see on tier lists here. To figure out why, I built a small ranking system to drill down into what actually keeps me reading.
I’m sharing the data here (image attached) not to bash anyone’s favourite series, but to see if anyone else has similar "tastes" or can recommend something based on my high scores.
A few things I learned about my own taste:
- The "Vibe" matters most: I clearly have a massive preference for high-quality prose and strong side characters. That’s why Dungeon Crawler Carl, Way of Kings and He Who Fights With Monsters are my gold standards.
- The "Slice of Life" Wall: I realized through this that I struggle with lower-stakes "slice of life" or pure "grind" stories. Beware of Chicken and Primal Hunter are beloved here, but my spreadsheet showed me that without a specific kind of narrative "scope," I tend to lose interest early. (I have just finished book 1 of Azarinth Healer, and according to my ranking system, I shouldn't really have enjoyed it as it's a simple numbers go up book with relatively limited scope (so far!). But, I loved it. It felt well-written, and the MC was fun to follow.
- The Protagonist Pivot: If I don't click with the MC’s personality in Book 1 (like in Noobtown), it's a hard uphill battle for me, regardless of how cool the world-building is.
My Big Question:
Based on my love for DCC and Wandering Inn, but my struggle with the "purer" progression/cultivation stuff like Primal Hunter, what am I missing? Is there a "Top Tier" series that balances high-quality writing with a really strong supporting cast?
Curious to hear if anyone else tracks their reading like this!