If you want silliness and pop culture references, Dungeon Crawler Carl should do the job
this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2025
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"Silliness"!?!?
I mean sure there is silly humor in it, but that series is heavy.
Matt Dinniman says himself he considers the series horror, given the themes and topics.
He mostly writes horror derivative works. See: Kaiju, Battlefield surgeon.
Such a good series. Litrpg is a fun category.
If you ever want to disappear into a book series "the wandering inn" is an immense series. People either love it or hate it.
Cradle is probably the highest regarded progression fantasy in the niche communities. It is also completely.
Fair warning though, other than the occasional "three months passed" the main character does NOT get a break.
I won't recommend TWI to anyone even though I love it. It has consumed my reading life for the last 7 years and I'm still a few chapters behind. I cannot imagine trying to catch up now.
I started the audio books 2 ish years ago. I think I'm on book 15 over 1500+ HOURs of audio book. Its my soap lol.
And I hear they cut chapters from the audio books too. Its enjoyable but I hear you, it can be all consuming.
I started reading when volume 3 was new and managed to catch up mid volume 4. I was up to date for years but the chapters have gotten so long now it gets daunting to start. Sometimes a new arc starts and I'm not excited for it all so I put it off then when i finally read it I don't want it to end.
I've been listening to the audiobooks as a refresher on road trips/ at the gym but haven't made it very far maybe book 3. I'm not quite sure how the books line up with the volumes on the website but i know we are on volume 10 and the books are up to 16 or 17 behind by quite a few volumes.
I haven't noticed so far or would remember at this point but I think the only stuff cut would be some of the more experimental chapters that don't really add much to the overall story. I can't see any of the main chapters or most of the side stories being cut as they all eventally tie back together.
Its definitely my favorite thing I've ever read, made me laugh
I'll second this, and strongly recommend picking up the audiobook for the series. The narrator does an amazing job with the voice of the characters, and one character in particular I can't imagine anyone else doing other than the current narrator.
I've been thoroughly enjoying the audio books for weeks now. I have a45 minute drive to and from work everyday, And this has been a life saver. On gate of the feral gods now
I would recommend Ender's Game as sharing a number of themes as well as being easy to read.
Nice one thanks
Didn’t the author turn out to be an asshole?
Old Man’s War is a really fun, easy read. The aliens are pretty creative and the basic premise of old people getting new bodies to fight battles in space is fun.
You might like Red Shirts. A self aware poke at Star Trek.
Starter Villain by the same author (John Scalzi) is a fun read.
Oh, thank you. I'm going to read it!
Almost everything by that author is a good read. I have a few minor complaints, but his work is good entertainment.
I was introduced to him via the Old Man's War series, which I loved at the time.
I'll look for more of his stuff, thanks for the tip! I'm always looking for my next favorite book.
My biggest problem with his work isn't the work itself, but his chuceof narrator for audio books. I really like Wil Wheaton, but he just doesn't do a good enough job with multiple characters and differentiating voices in most of the audiobooks I've listened to.
It's why I need to get Starter Villain on ebook or physical
That's fair. I read almost exclusively on paper.
Off to be the Wizard by Scott Meyer, it's a blend of Sci-Fi and fantasy. Just a little bit different.
Great book and series!!
If you want something with a game/tech black mirror like feeling, I recommend Daemon and Freedom by Daniel Suarez.
Came here to recommend these. I'm glad you beat me to it. Very good and fun reads.
Check out REAMDE by Neal Stephenson.
I loved Snow Crash but didn't enjoy Anathem as much. Would I still like Reamde?
A lot of his work can get draggy and slow (Cryptonomicon, Seveneves). While I liked Snow Crash I bailed out of Anathem and some others. I have returned to Readme a couple of times for a re-read though.
Well, there's the book he ripped off, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw follows a sentient NPC unknowingly living in a video game. It's not so much wrapped up in nostalgia and is a dark comedy, but the author takes the premise seriously enough. I've read it several times. Not many books like it.
Ring World by Larry Niven is a big departure from the genre of video game existence, except that it's the inspiration for the Halo series. It's a old fashioned sci-fi romp, the kind of thing that inspired ready player one. It's got super technical cool hard sci fi concepts mixed with an extremely colorful cast of misfit protagonists. Very readable.
Random, but Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien is so extremely imaginative in the way it nest it's cast of talking animals within the real human world. (Yes it is actually sci-fi). The book is marketed towards children, but that was more an artifact of how it got published back in the day. It's extremely well written. The movie is cute but takes a lot of liberties.
Do you want the nostalgia factor? Or just good, fun, SciFi?
Both are great, but if I had to pick one it would be sci fi
Try The Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor. Good fun SciFi, with some nostalgia. Not nearly as much nostalgia as RP1, but it's there.
Going to second The Bobiverse. The Murderbot Diaries pairs well with it!
Both of those rank among my favorite book serieses.
'Only You Can Save Mankind' by Terry Pratchett.
If you mean similar as in the VR gaming aspect, look at Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde. It is written for young adults so it's easy reading.
Note: I just looked it up and I guess it's a part of a (loose) series of books https://www.goodreads.com/series/71160-rasmussem-corporation
I'd say maybe ubik, or snowcrash
Doesn't have the nostalgia, but I enjoyed "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" by Charles Yu in the same general zone as Ready Player One. It's playful yet dips toes into the serious or heartfelt at times. About a time mechanic who lives in his time machine with his dog, employed to traverse time and fix time machines of others.
Lucky Wander Boy is about a dude obsessed with finding an absolutely (fictional) bizarre arcade game he remembered from his youth called Lucky Wander Boy and ends up working for/with its creator trying to know more about the almost magical video game he grew up playing.
I didn’t read that series (referring to Ready Player One) since there was transphobic stuff the author put in the book.
But in terms of fun reading I would recommend the Monk & Robot series by Becky Chambers. It’s wholesome and heartwarming. It’s two sci-fi novellas.
I really don't remember transphobic stuff? I read it when it first came out though
It's only from what I heard from others and online articles. I haven't read the books personally but that's why I avoided them.
Ah I see I'll give the franchise a wide berth then