LitRPG | Shadow Alley Press

Hi, William Myrl here.

What’s your favorite part about progression fiction? I think it’s all in the name. You get to be along for the ride as characters rise from obscurity to renown, from novice to master and beyond. In the case of The Dark Lord of Crafting, our guy begins his journey in a new world literally naked and quickly afraid (zombies are spawning). By Book Two, the monsters have grown bigger, and the stakes are higher, but the tools at his disposal have gotten a serious upgrade to match. Instead of grass and sticks, we’re working with superdense alloys, magic-eating metals, and armies ready to ride.

Life is tough, but I’m a big believer in happy endings, even if you have to go a little dark to get there. Heroes can make mistakes, face hard choices—they should still be heroes in the end. Of course, with all the system apocalypses popping up, some heroes never get a break. In Jakob H. Grief’s new series, Outrage of the Ancients, ancient kings and warriors are brought back to life to face trials modern humanity isn’t ready for. It’s new to Audible this week.

But I’m the Minecraft (cough…Maincraft) guy, so I’ve got an ocean monument to break down and rebuild on a mountaintop because that’s just what you do. Hope you enjoy the book. If you’re looking for somewhere to talk about it, you can always find me on this Discord.

Hearts and stars everybody.

This week has been an absolute whirlwind. It’s not just the Audible release of Familiar Magic, we are headed to the first-ever LitRPG Con in Denver, Colorado—any excuse to hang out with Travis Baldree and Matt Dinniman is a good excuse, right? If you’re planning on attending, you can find us in the vendor hall on Friday and Sunday.

We won’t be hard to spot.

New to Audible

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞.

Nexum should be a paradise. A world where a radiant Goddess cures every illness, her Chosen enforce peace, and monsters can be tamed into powerful Familiars. But for Ethan Bishop, a fun-loving doctor ripped from Earth, paradise has a pulse… and it’s not healthy.

Beneath the wonder and magic, something is very, very wrong.

Fixing things with his traditional training won’t be possible—on Nexum, medical knowledge is considered heresy. His only hope of survival lies in Bonding with magical Familiars. Familiars that grant powers not meant for a doctor, but for an Assassin.

To the Church, he’s a heretic. To the royal family, he’s a weapon. And to the dying world of Nexum, he might be its last chance.

But to save it, Ethan will have to become the very thing he’s spent his life fighting against.

Doctor. Assassin. Savior. Monster.

Which one will he be when the world ends?