Is this just me but I’ll find it incredibly hard to find interesting books to read?

[RavenWolf]

I love all kinds of fantasy. I especially like to read isekai fantasy and currently my favorite subgenres are LitRPG, yuri fantasy and gender bender (MTF). I also watch anime a lot. I have been wondering this for some time now but, is this just me, I find it incredibly hard to find interesting books to read. I mean those “professionally” published books that you can find from Amazon. Instead, for the last two years I have read almost exclusively webnovels from different sites like HS, RR and NovelUpdates etc. And I have read a lot and there is a huge backlog of interesting webnovels to read. I have tried to read “real” books but most of the time I just get bored and drop them halfway. I have in GoodReads currently 25 books marked as “Currently Reading” and I find them hard to finish.

For example I have read these hype books: The Priory of the Orange Tree, Dungeon Born and Best Served Cold and I don’t seem to get from them the same enjoyment that I get from reading webnovels. Many “real” books seem to try to be something like A Song of fire and Ice (adult) or The Twilight Saga (YA) which I just find boring. It is super rare to find interesting yuri/lesbian fantasy books, LitRPG or Isekai books. Especially yuri/lesbian fantasy books all seems to be more like something what Disney would write. Also it seems like professional western writers, game devs nor Hollywood has not noticed how popular isekai theme is. It is impossible to find a good modern isekai book from Amazon (excluding light novels).

Of course this just might be that I just can’t find interesting books to read because you can’t search books with tags like SH has. It is really hard to find books to read and all these hype mainstream books are all what you find when you try to search. But still, it seems like webnovels have something that “real” books lack and I can’t put my finger on it and figure out what. Books just seem to be dull somehow maybe because they are geared toward the mainstream or something?

 

[Deleted member 49654]

I find it incredibly hard to find interesting books to read.

+1
The problem is that it goes for webnovels as well. I find it quite hard to find a novel that can really catch my attention.

 

[scribesaga]

Hey RavenWolf, so if you are looking for published books. a really hot, Isekai story is JK Haru is a sex working in another world . It was originally an online story that was well received and then fully published. I think its still on amazon. If your looking for something a little more tame, Yuri fantasy, check out my Vampire novel ;)

 

[RavenWolf]

+1
The problem is that it goes for webnovels as well. I find it quite hard to find a novel that can really catch my attention.

Of course but it seems to be harder to find books than webnovels. Webnovels has also added plus that when you find one good then you can keep reading it weekly to the distant future. You get easily huge backlog which you enjoy reading weekly.

Hey RavenWolf, so if you are looking for published books. a really hot, Isekai story is JK Haru is a sex working in another world . It was originally an online story that was well received and then fully published. I think its still on amazon. If your looking for something a little more tame, Yuri fantasy, check out my Vampire novel ;)

JK Haru is a sex working in another world seems interesting it has been sitting on my backlog for long time now because webnovels have sucked all my reading time. :D

But I definitely are going to read it someday.

 

[scribesaga]

JK Haru is a sex working in another world seems interesting it has been sitting on my backlog for long time now because webnovels have sucked all my reading time. :D

it's really good, although just a fair warning there is non-consensual sex in it but the main character ends up getting some sweet revenge afterward.

 

[BenJepheneT]

I love all kinds of fantasy. I especially like to read isekai fantasy and currently my favorite subgenres are LitRPG, yuri fantasy and gender bender (MTF). I also watch anime a lot. I have been wondering this for some time now but, is this just me, I find it incredibly hard to find interesting books to read. I mean those “professionally” published books that you can find from Amazon. Instead, for the last two years I have read almost exclusively webnovels from different sites like HS, RR and NovelUpdates etc. And I have read a lot and there is a huge backlog of interesting webnovels to read. I have tried to read “real” books but most of the time I just get bored and drop them halfway. I have in GoodReads currently 25 books marked as “Currently Reading” and I find them hard to finish.

For example I have read these hype books: The Priory of the Orange Tree, Dungeon Born and Best Served Cold and I don’t seem to get from them the same enjoyment that I get from reading webnovels. Many “real” books seem to try to be something like A Song of fire and Ice (adult) or The Twilight Saga (YA) which I just find boring. It is super rare to find interesting yuri/lesbian fantasy books, LitRPG or Isekai books. Especially yuri/lesbian fantasy books all seems to be more like something what Disney would write. Also it seems like professional western writers, game devs nor Hollywood has not noticed how popular isekai theme is. It is impossible to find a good modern isekai book from Amazon (excluding light novels).

Of course this just might be that I just can’t find interesting books to read because you can’t search books with tags like SH has. It is really hard to find books to read and all these hype mainstream books are all what you find when you try to search. But still, it seems like webnovels have something that “real” books lack and I can’t put my finger on it and figure out what. Books just seem to be dull somehow maybe because they are geared toward the mainstream or something?

Maybe it's the filtering of the mainstream market. Remember this: NOT EVERYONE READS AS MUCH AS YOU DO. They don't market to hardcore readers; they market towards the normie, casual public. They're more lightly to shop for books like they shop for apples than they're gonna carefully scrutinize the synopsis and research the author.

For WEBNOVELS however, that's when it changes. Back then, you had publishing firms as the middle man between the creator and the audience. Problem is, the creator NEEDS the middle man to reach the audience. That's fine and all but remember, a publishing firm is where the money's at. They publish books and advertise it, making them judge and jury. They follow the paper trail and see where it goes. If the creator doesn't provide something that traces the paper trail, well, the publishing firm becomes the pre-executioner.

Webnovels don't have that middle man, which means they don't have any advertising or promotion, at least from a third party. All have to be done by themselves. But the upside is that now, since you're the one in charge of yourself, the only thing between you and the free market is an internet connection. You can either be the hand to your success or the architect to your demise, which the risk lies. However, since you have the choice to NOT follow the paper trail, you have free reign to advertise whatever the fuck you want.

In other words, free game.

Rape fic? Incest fic? Harem isekai comprised entirely on bugwomen? Living a cyberpunk city with only lesbians that have Godzilla shlongs bulging out of their sci fi latex suits? Male Nipple fucking in the Lord of the Rings universe? George of the jungle swinging off trees using his massive dick as a lasso?

Bitch, if it can be put into comprehensible words, it's possible. Hell, it doesn't even need to be comprehensible. There's enough poorly written isekai Lit-RPGs out there to write a dozen thesis on.

Of course, that also means there's enough poorly written isekai Lit-RPGs out there that NEVER see the light of day. Without a cultivated release, webnovels are basically playing a Russian roulette on seeing which piece of shit flung onto the communal shit-flinging wall is worth your time. One thing a publishing firm does is that it has quality control. That, webnovels don't have, unless it's a cultivated writing site with heavy moderation (with reputation, mind you. Most of those kinds of site die in 2-3 years, tops). At MOST, you have those prestiges like WATTPAD ORIGINAL or RoyalRoad Achievements to give some semblance of credibility to show that the author HAS done some worthwhile shit to get to where they are.

But in terms of content, the webnovel scene is unmatched. There's bound to be something out there for you, and with no content moderation/mainstream restrictions, there's no stopping the next million dollar idea to come out of filthy bunghole of the internet loo.

Still, there's 7 billion people on the planet, and probably less than 6.9 billion of them will even consider writing. Cutting all the fat and dividing it with the years you have left, it's possible that you'd never find that one book perfect for you.

In that case, shall I remind you once more: open game. Hand of your success. Communal shit-flinging wall.

If it can be put into comprehensible words, it's golden. The only thing stopping you is you.

 

[AKnightWithaKnife]

I usually go to royal road to find something to read as although to my knowledge there is no visual content flitering the community does it so eh

 

[Saileri]

We all go through different writing phases switching from time to time or developing. That also doesn't mean that we are completely abandoning the reading habits or lies from the past, just there's always something that will divert our attention towards a certain aspect for some time, making us enjoy it more than the other things we read or might read. And yeah, that's when we are looking for things similar to that one which made us feel better than the previous things, so it's not really weird. I also started with "mainstream" western fantasy and after years arrived in more of a light novel format of fantasy and litrpg too. Now, I mostly read the light novel or web novel format most of the time as it just appeals more to me at the moment, mostly the continuity of it.

 

[witch_sorrowful]

I have nothing much to add to this: your taste, and your time, are yours to spend.

However, calling A Song of Ice and Fire BORING ... is almost, almost, criminal. Incomplete, surely true. Boring? Nuh uh.

If you read it with care, you will find riches in the subtleties of dialogue, in the machinations of the characters, and the fascinating world he builds.

If he could only manage to complete it, I would call it the third greatest work of High Fantasy Fiction of all time. The first two, of course, being Lord of the Rings and The Dark Tower.

That being said, ASOIAF clearly is a thousand times better than any webnovel ever. Cheerios.

 

[Lord_Drakonus]

I am the same as well. I have read many published novels, and they make me sleep all the time. Even famous good novels such as; The Hobbit, TLOTR, and Harry Potter, make me go bored. And this is coming from someone who's actually a fan of these franchises.

It's pretty much the same with most webnovels. It's just that webnovels are way more free, broader in a sense, and greater in quantity. That's why people have a greater chance to find something they like in webnovels more than published ones.

 

[BackWoodsJ_ACK]

it's really good, although just a fair warning there is non-consensual sex in it but the main character ends up getting some sweet revenge afterward.

I could say the same for Pure Love x Insult Complex. It starts out as a simple smut/hentai but as I read on, I found out that it develops into a well thought out story (imo). I recommend it to people who like smut.

Be warned though, rape is involved and some characters are non-human peices of shit.

 

[DoctorZero]

Hey! I've been reading webnovels almost exclusively for a while now, and I feel what you're saying. I recently picked up a book from one of my favourite authors (Jim Butcher) and it did not compare favourably to the free books I've been reading.

That said, webnovels can run out of steam. There's a lot of 1000 page books with a 100 pages of ideas.

 

[AliceShiki]

Ah, well, you've just found your niche I guess? That's not really a problem, you just found what you enjoy the most.

I personally enjoy the stuff I see in JP WN/LN a lot more than the stuff I see in Western published novels, so I basically stopped reading the latter. Seems like something similar happened to you.

What I can suggest, is that you may try finding e-books from authors of webnovels you like and buy those, since the e-books tend to be more polished versions and stuff, so you may like it more than their webnovel, while still having the style you like~

 

[RavenWolf]

Hah! I basically asked same question in /r/fantasy and got downvoted to hell. :D

There is just something in webnovels which makes them different. It is probably that they had more freedom to express because authors doesn't need to worry about selling books and there aren't gatekeepers. Also webnovels tend to be medium which youth use so it is more inclusive and progressive medium in gender and sexuality. For example I can wager that one can find more gender bender stories on webnovels than on Goodreads database. Yuri is also good example. There aren't lots yuri light novels compared to webnovels. BTW. The odd thing is that you can basically find endless supply yuri manga instead.

 

[AliceShiki]

Hah! I basically asked same question in /r/fantasy and got downvoted to hell. :D

There is just something in webnovels which makes them different. It is probably that they had more freedom to express because authors doesn't need to worry about selling books and there aren't gatekeepers. Also webnovels tend to be medium which youth use so it is more inclusive and progressive medium in gender and sexuality. For example I can wager that one can find more gender bender stories on webnovels than on Goodreads database. Yuri is also good example. There aren't lots yuri light novels compared to webnovels. BTW. The odd thing is that you can basically find endless supply yuri manga instead.

Well, the people in r/fantasy are probably more used to published books, while the people in scribblehub are probably more used to webnovels... So... The result is not really surprising~

As for the high amount of yuri manga when compared to webnovels... That's basically because the manga translation scene is a lot more popular than the novel translation scene. You find more yuri manga than yuri webnovels because there are lot more translated manga over translated novels.

 

[KyoruS]

Honestly, I feel the same way as you do. After reading so many Japanese isekais, Chinese cultivations, Korean tower systems, or any other tropes of eastern web novels, things just become quite stale after you get used to it. I've tried branching out to published fantasy books but I found western published stories are boring and hard to read with its elaborate and excruciatingly difficult vocabulary that forces me to google its word like every minute. Not something that you can read while chilling. The only published stories I've enjoyed are local published stories that are set up in the local ancient world, but these types of stories are very few sadly.

Because of this staleness, it motivates me to write and try to bring something to the web novel world. Which somehow got a decent amount of following, which I'm also very grateful for and honestly quite surprised because although it follows the classic isekai tropes, it's written quite differently and doesn't really follow the classic isekai world setting.

And I think that's how most authors here work. They are very adept at the web novel scene and are very passionate and inspired to bring something new.

 

[Lord_Drakonus]

I could say the same for Pure Love x Insult Complex. It starts out as a simple smut/hentai but as I read on, I found out that it develops into a well thought out story (imo). I recommend it to people who like smut.

Be warned though, rape is involved and some characters are non-human peices of shit.

Ayy, PLIC is actually a really good novel, minus the horrifyingly slow plot development.

 

[BackWoodsJ_ACK]

Ayy, PLIC is actually a really good novel, minus the horrifyingly slow plot development.

True. What I thought be at least a couple of months happened in days.

 

[witch_sorrowful]

I will still say you find much, much better books in the stuff that are published by the publishing companies. They are edited, and that makes them so much better. They cost money for a reason.

Of course, not everyone will like such books - but know that you got downvoted in reddit or anything other larger forum, because most Webnovels are not that good.

If you feel like trying out EPIC fantasy novels, read The Wheel of Time, and Stormlight Archive.
Or, literally anything from Pratchett. The wit and the craftsmanship of the work is just amazing.

Easy enough in language, with very engaging stories.

 

[RavenWolf]

I will still say you find much, much better books in the stuff that are published by the publishing companies. They are edited, and that makes them so much better. They cost money for a reason.

Of course, not everyone will like such books - but know that you got downvoted in reddit or anything other larger forum, because most Webnovels are not that good.

If you feel like trying out EPIC fantasy novels, read The Wheel of Time, and Stormlight Archive.
Or, literally anything from Pratchett. The wit and the craftsmanship of the work is just amazing.

Easy enough in language, with very engaging stories.

The thing is that I have read lots of books in my life The Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings, Hobbits, Dune, Sword of Truth etc. those are just few. I have read hundreds of published books. I mostly have read them back in the days when I wasn't so into the anime world yet and I didn't know "better". Today when I try to read new fantasy books I just can't get same enjoyment from them than from webnovels. Of course this excludes those books which originally where webnovels like Demon Princess Magical Chaos.

I also like to read light novels but sadly because my crave from that specific genre (fantasy yuri) there isn't many published light novels about that genre (at least in English). Instead webnovel world is full of them. Of course, I read also other than fantasy yuri but still these days it seems that it is easer to find good story to read from webnovels. But honestly I usually prefer published light novels over webnovels if that is available and I usually prefer anime over light novel.

Don't make it wrong I think The Wheel of Time is incredibility good fantasy book series and I'm waiting that new Amazon TV-series from it very much.