/lit/ - Literature

Chrysalis by RinoZ

[Summary]

Anthony... has died. Luckily for him, a wizened old voice informs him that he has been reborn on the world of Pangera - a planet of humans, monsters, and litRPG rules. He quickly learns that he's been reborn as a monstrous ANT, trapped in a dungeon beneath the surface. Separated from his colony and lost on one the dungeon's top floor, it takes all of Anthony's cunning just to survive. Luckily the transition to a new body comes with a certain awareness of how to use it - a call to kill other monsters, consume their biomass, and EVOLVE.

After learning that each species he consumes grants a single point of Biomass, Anthony is able to evolve different appendages. Changing his eyes so their visual range is closer to that of a humans, enhancing pheromone glands, strengthening his carapace to withstand blows. The possibilities are endless but Anthony focuses on being the 'all-arounder' and invests evenly across his new body. If only the process didn't itch so much, causing him a horrific sensation each time he advances his physical form.

As Anthony matures his form and develops his Skills within the dungeon, he also accrues levels. Upon reaching level 5 he's provided the ability to evolve, though the options are few to begin with. Killing other monsters also divests them of a core, which can be used to create a magical core for yourself. Anthony quickly takes to the idea of being a magic ant and begins developing the practice early on in the story. Though the process is satisfying and becoming capable of surviving humans, terrifyingly large crocodiles, wolf-snake hybrids, and the sort is fulfilling but Anthony has a goal...

Find his family and serve the queen because ants fucking rule.

[Final Thoughts]

Very directly inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl's pet system, particularly Princess Donut and Mongo. While the story and characters are nothing to write home about, the system is expansive and interesting. The different flora and fauna that the author comes up with are engaging and I actually experienced some hype when Anthony underwent evolutions. I undersold how expansive the skill system is, alongside the evolutions of different monsters but both have equal amounts of depths. Skills like Bite, Dig, and Sneak can all be leveled up to 5 and then evolve into a more focused version such as Crushing Bite, etc. The limb evolutions vary greatly too from simple offense and defense options to classic cultivation tropes like 'collect mana each time you impact the ground'.

There are a LOT of reused jokes and Anthony as a character doesn't grow very much until his second evolution, with the story (at least on audible) carried by Jeff Hayes' narration (same guy as Dungeon Crawler Carl, if that's any indication). Everything is presented very lightly and the story is tremendously easy to follow. If you told me this was a Young Adult LitRPG I would believe you implicitly. That said, perfectly serviceable entry level series.

7/10

>>21869055
Ohh, it's been months since I last amassed all my scores hasn't it...

>Lord of the Mysteries by Cuttlefish – 9/10
>Dungeon Crawler Carl Series by Matt Dinniman - 9/10
>Cradle Series by Will Wight - 8/10
>Mother of Learning Series - 8/10*
>Ave Xia Rem Y by Mat Haz - 8/10
>All The Skills by Honour Rae - 7.5/10*
>Iron Prince by Bryce O'Connor and Luke Chmilenko - 7/10*
>Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar - 7/10
>A Thousand Li by Tao Wong - 7/10
>Retribution Engine by Akaso - 6/10
>Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer – 6/10*
>Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe - 6/10*
>Wandering Inn by Pirateaba - 6/10
>Virtuous Sons by Ya Boy - 6/10
>Bastion by Phil Tucker - 6/10
>Heaven's Laws by Apollos Thorne - 6/10
>I Shall Seal The Heavens by Er Gen - 5/10
>Reverend Insanity by Gu Zhen Ren - 5/10
>Soulhome by Sarah Lin - 5/10
>Soulship by Nathan Thompson - 4/10
>Azarinth Healer #1 by Rhaegar - 3/10
>Reincarnation: Threads by Michael Head - 3/10
>Portal to Nova Roma by JR Mathews - Dropped
>He Who Fights Monsters by Shirtaloon - Dropped
>The Elevation Chronicles by Captain Capslock - Dropped
>Last Ship in Suzhou by Lungs - Dropped
>Defiance of the Fall by J.F. Brink - Dropped

>Still Reading (Cultivation)
18. The Human Emperor
19.
20.

>Still Reading (LitRPG)
==Still Reading==
11. Chrysalis by Rinoz
12. Battle Mage Farmer
13. Worth the Candle
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Anything with an asterisk is a change from last time. I finished Mother of Learning, thought more about All The Skills, Iron Prince, Sufficiently Advanced Magic, and re-read Beware of Chicken. Still got a lot of blank spaces so if you've got recommendations or write your own stuff, kick it my way. I think the last Cradle book comes out in a month or two and Bastion 2 just dropped - has anyone picked it up? Any thoughts?

So this really isn't technically bad, for what it is. A given chapter might be better than one from another book in this bottom-level genre. The problem is that it's just hundreds of pages of monologue. There are no other characters or character interactions. There is a flash of hope when the MC gets a pet, but it turns out to be largely mute and retarded. More monologue. Then he meets up with a human he can speak with in a situation with good story potential. It's over in two chapters, back to a loner narrating his life. It's wearying. Another character appears, gone in pages. Next time it's a group, but he can only speak to one, and he has no relationship with her. I made it into book 2, but it might be time to pull the plug on this.

>>21798449
Would you consider adding Chrysalis to your list? Monster protagonist is a strange and interesting sub-genre of LitRPG, and Chrysalis might be the most successful one that I've seen. It's an utterly silly, weird and absurdist story of a young boy dying and being reincrnated as a monster Ant in the dungeon of a fantasy world. A light read.