#40 Arcane Ascension series by Andrew Rowe

Sometimes you read the heavy books; Sanderson, Martin, or Herbert. ASometimes I do not want a book that is going to make me think and try to do a lot of understanding of unique lore. So I look for something that I would consider a light pulp fiction or fantasy book. Usually they are thrown away. Star Wars, Star Trek (decades ago) or other books that are not literary masterpieces, just something fun.

However, in the middle of those I have found gems. I love origin stories, the reveal of something new and special. This book was one of those.

Youth struggling with magic, check. Going to go to a wizard school, check. Struggling to be looked upon as a real person, check. This could have easily been so boring. Yet I found it fascinating. This falls into a new genre of Fantasy books that has arrived lately, LitRPG.

LitRPG stands for literary role playing game. This is different from the old choose your path adventure books. It is a book series where leveling, adding and mastering powers, is an important part of the story.

It starts with a youth doing a challenge in a tower. If you want magic in this realm, you have to go to one of the towers and participate in a challenge. Go to a room, overcome the puzzle or fight, then select one of three doors that exit in to the next room. This goes on until you die, or you are given a magic mark that will signify your power and its use.

Then as you kill creatures, they leave power cores that you can sell, or use. Then the rooms reset. It reminded me a lot of an anime that I watched once. I have not seen much anime, but this did remind me of that.

Corrin Cadence’s brother went in and never returned. He idolized his brother, and vows to find out what happened to him and get him back. His belief is that when he gets his magic, he can master it and then eventually reach the spire of the tower, where you can ask a boon from the guardian. He wants his brother back. The loss broke up his family and drove his dad to be more overbearing and demanding from his kids.

He goes to the tower, meets a number of people and beings, and leaves with his power. Then he enrolls in school. Do poorly, and you have to do your military service, and if you do ok you will also get to do military service. Do extremely well, and you get to climb towers and only get called on when you are needed. That is a shortened version of his goals.

LitRPG talks about levels a lot. They have a way to measure their power levels, and because he is a student wondering about power, he refers to it regularly. I have seen this in other books, and it is needlessly tossed about and annoying. I feel this is the first one that did it well. It did not seem forced. Of course a school would have a way to measure magic ability, there are dangers with using too much, so knowing your limits is important.

The character is also written without sexuality. Dating and others does not interest him. A guy asks him on a date, and he panics and wonders what to do, not because it is a guy, but the panic of being in a social situation with another. Corrin is socially inept, he struggles with the touch of others. Hugs and touches make him cringe. It is interesting to see how this is portrayed in his mind. He knows that his friends do like to give each other hugs, and does not want to alienate the friends he does make. It makes for an interesting story.

Other than the school, the series focuses a lot on the tower. The tower creates challenges. You go and fight, get rewards and leave. So basically they are doing dungeon crawls to level and gather materials. The dungeon may trap you or kill you, so be smart, and you get rewards. The gods that oversee the towers will reward you.

However, the story unfolds in a fun way. His magic is not what his family expected, he is making the best of what he has. I found it fun. If I had known it was a series I think I would have stayed away, but over time I have really come to enjoy the story, and I have looked forward to the new books.

#41 Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey

I was thirteen in 79. I do not remember where we were going but we were traveling as a family. I bought my first fantasy book. I was a young backwards nerd, and had few friends at this point. So most of my time was getting trapped into the fantasy worlds. Some were not great, others were something of a good memory. So The White Dragon captivated me.

I saw the cover above and was fascinated. The white dragon with the guy riding it. Dragons were monsters, from legends. Smaug, and from the movies. So this idea was completely fascinating that humans should have bred them for riders. Most covers from that era were pretty bad. (some may call them classic, but they were not great art or illustrations)

Think of the old Tolkien, cs Lewis, or black cauldron. They were washed out watercolors, little detail and leaving a lot to the imagination. Or were the dramatic sexualized covers of Frank Frazetta from Tarzan, Conan, and John Carter of Mars books. This was the era of the arrival amazing, colorful artwork that so many of us are familiar with. Swrod of Shannara, wheel of time. and Thomas Covenant. So I was drawn in.

I was sucked into this world and I remember dreaming with the covers of tiny dragons and the dragon riders. This was truly a unique word, a blend of fantasy and science fiction that was new and difficult at the time for me. However the memories have lasted though I only ready a half dozen, I was in a fantastic world that opened my eyes to new corners of fantasy.

#42 Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

I think I read this in jr high. Our library there was maybe 800 square feet. It was a small town. I think I was introduced to sci-fi and fantasy there. They had a lot of comic books. Seems odd now, but it was old classics illustrated. Comics that illustrated literaty books. Three musketeers, The Time Machine, 20,000 leagues under the sea, and others. I read them and then dug through all the fantasy and sci-fi books in that library.

That led me to our old city Carnage library. Still not huge, but a good size for a small community of 4000. That led me to Frankenstein. Published in 1818 by a 20 year old Mary Shelly. Many credit is as the first sci-fi book. I think it is better to think of it as the oldest remembered sci-fi. Whatever the case this book is a fascinating book on what it is to be alive and human. She could have easily made it a horror, ghost story, or just a slasher book.

Yet the book evokes feeling and heart. There is a reason why it is a favorite, and why it was made into a movie in the early 30’s. It can invoke horror and revulsion and follow those up with thought and caring. Exploring what is life and caring. You can see todays culture reflected in the writing. Lets give everyone a chance to love.

This was the era where many remembered the founding of the United States. The thoughts were going through Europe of what it meant to be free, and what are the rights of the people. This is a window into that time. A time of horses, and armies marching through Europe. A different age, that we can still see as relevant now.

It is funny to think this is public domain book that carries so much weight today. how many other writings will survive through the eras.