So… I started listening to LitRPG Audiobooks recently due to stumbling upon them while following an audiobook voice actor around. Specifically, I was trying to see if Travis Baldree had any other books that he voiced.
Travis Baldree is an author and voice actor whose most recent series (which he both wrote and voices) was a really enjoyable experience. I used my library’s digital accounts to listen to both “Legends & Lattes” and “Bookshops & Bonedust” and couldn’t get enough. Then I saw that he also did voice acting for Will Wight’s Cradle series which is a SciFi/Fantasy series that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed so far. I couldn’t get the audiobook version because it’s exclusive to Audible (I hate this with the heat of a thousand suns) so I started looking if there are other series he voiced.
So, I continued looking through his catalog of audiobook work and stumbled upon the series “A Thousand Li” by Tao Wong. My library thankfully had the first 3 books in Audiobook format so I listened to them…nearly non-stop. Tao Wong’s writing is superb when it comes to fight scenes and his concepts of character building and progression are some of the best I’ve read in a while. Since I couldn’t continue the series because the remaining audiobooks are Audible exclusive (aside: I implore authors to stop this. It doesn’t help the you in the long term as noted in “How to Resist Amazon and Why” and also “Chokepoint Capitalism”) I picked up one of the complete series that was available, “The Adventures on Brad”.
The Adventures on Brad is basically straight up LitRPG but it was one of Tao Wong’s first widely available series so the writing has a few problem but the story… man! This was basically my real introduction into western LitRPG. I’m not counting the light novels I’ve read here because while they’re also litRPG they swing more heavily into anime than western litRPG. I nearly finished the 9 books in one listening session. I won’t say much about the ending but… never mind. If I say anything else it would be spoiling.
I didn’t want the LitRPG addiction to stop so I saw they had Tao Wong’s “System Apocalypse” books 1-3 at my library in audiobook form. This series is more adult and leans heavily into Sci Fi post apocalyptic genre. I couldn’t get enough. While the main characters are similar to some degree across his series to some degree, I don’t hate it. They’re good characters and they each have their own problems and character development that they pursue.
I just wish that the audiobooks weren’t always exclusive to Audible. I’ve added them to my amazon wishlist but recognize that even if you purchase them, you have to break the law by breaking the DRM just to have them in a portable format so that you’re not locked into Audible. I stopped pirating and breaking DRM a long time ago and my Christian sensibilities won’t allow me to do it again, so I’m basically stuck. I’m not about to buy into the Audible ecosystem so I’ll just leave them on my wishlist in the event that someone else buys them for me. It’s frustrating.
Anyway, I’m thoroughly addicted to Tao Wong’s writing now and LitRPG as a genre. I’ll probably end up listening to the Solo Leveling light novels since it fits pretty squarely into the LitRPG genre. But before I do that, I’ve noticed that Tao Wong has a series called “Climbing the Ranks” that only has two books out but both are available with my library. So I’ll start that next.
I am addicted but I can’t help it.