I  prune this list often with  better replacements. Last page has the "updates"... more>>

1. Charm of the soul pets 2. Mechanic 3. Overlord 4. Throne of magical arcana 5. Mage Adam 6. shrouded sea scape <<less

Isekais are fun reads when done right, cringey when generic, and horrible when done wrong.... more>>

Sorted from Best to Worst with the ratings being pretty biased.

Honorable Mentions: The Beginning after the End (NOT ON NU) {4.35/5} It's cool, that's all I can really say.

THE LIST NOW HAS A SECOND PART IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/8455/ <<less

How would you bring technology into a fantasy world? Make sense of the magics? Feed people and get rid of the corrupt nobles? This is specifically on developing a city or territory, not:
- Developing a dungeon/core (see my other list: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10742/)... more>>

First, a few worthy mentions that aren't on NU:
1. Castle Kingside (rewrite) - a lot of inspiration from Release that Witch, imo improved! Warning: it's slow. Kingdom only begins around c60ish.
2. The iron teeth - although territory development comes late in the story, it's well done and exotic, being based on a goblin kingdom
3. 1632 (published book) - an American village goes back to the 30 years war. It's much less fantastical, but has a lot of similar elements to other kingdom building novels.
4. The Eagle's Flight - highly intricate fantasy webnovel
5. Defiance of the fall
6. Randidly Ghosthound - neither Randidly nor Defiance of the Fall focus on kingdom building, but they both have elements related to setting up a post-apocalypse system city - complete the quest to get the village crystal/coin!
7. The Expansion (Legend of the Arch Magus) - [have not yet read] - recommendation from Hitexh in the comments
8. Enlightened Empire - weaker than the others <<less

I dislike ret*rds!!!!! Too much emotional mc is also a big no~~~~~~... more>>

Extremely kind mc is also meh... 

Lets be realistic everything is meh in front of benefit oriented mc.... But they are hard to find......

Ranking after first 3 is useless.  <<less

these novels aren't ranked. all are good and i recommend all of these for you guys to read. there's no (or some may have a little) romance here,  but no harem. ... more>>

♡ contains action, adventure, fantasy, horror, mystery, cultivation, supernatural, slice of life, world hopping etc...
♡ cn, kr, jp <<less

Sequence is CN- JP- KR- Fluffy- (Comedy)- Exceptions- To-reads. Not ranked by number. 
My descriptions varies greatly from a gist, polished review, impressions, or explains key points.        ... more>>

[Flexible Preferences] 
A. Protags are somehow mostly male but I read both!- interesting, has compelling qualities, flawed with development
B. Entertaining, Distinct, & Creative
C. Steady premise, no TERRIBLE plot hole 
D. Romance: good execution, pacing, build-up, & evokes emotion; no bullsh!t drama & brain-dead denseness
E. Vital, relevant, fleshed-out characters
F. Comedic & Fun
G. Danger, Wars, Battles, Strategy, Tactics, Trials, Fights, Thriller, Suspense
H. Lore, Culture, Kingdom, Worldbuilding 
I. Political Intrigue, Schemes, Mind Games, Manipulation, Mystery
J.  Pure tragedies rarely - it hurts!
K. No BL/GL(yet?)
L. Can be R-18 
M. Polygamous-like IF great story | even if you're averse consider my recs. ;)

[Criteria]
1. These are (mostly) 4/5 stars in story, translation and enjoyment according to my flawed evaluation that is mainly 3/10 objective, 7/10 subjective.
2. I have perused the novels or adaptation before sharing my thoughts.
3. Writing must be consistent, coherent and engaging and the ending must at least not be sh!t. Clichés to a point are fine however it needs to be purposeful & executed well. 
4. I will keep adding books that are promising, satisfying, translated.  <<less

(There's a second list, just add a 2 to the name of this list and you'll find it) ... more>>

There are too many novels with cliché romance and harems with annoyingly useless girls. Reading them gets extremely tiring. There are too few novels with absolutely no form of romance or harem. Here are some novels I've found to not have romance/harem or have an harem/romance theme that didn't affect the plot of the novel to the point of it being annoying. 

Feel free to recommend novels that fit the criteria, arigatou^o^

P. S. I haven't read all the novels in this list so I might not be accurate in judging them. And there are some I've read but didn't finish and the novel ended up having romance or harem elements in a later chapter, please feel free to correct me anytime you see that I wasn't accurate. Arigatou minna-san <<less

50+ High Quality Novels.... more>>

read untranslated novels using ChatGPT, superior to Mtl. <<less

My Fav List with Only the Best

Light novels in this list are my favorites and worth to read, and these are also the list of mtl ver. and my ratings on them :
2. Save Reloading Immortal: https://comrademao.com/novel/save-reloading-immortal/
3. I Just Won't Play by the Book: https://www.mtlnovel.com/i-just-wont-play-by-the-book/
4. The Ogre's Food Box: https://www.mtlnovel.com/the-ogres-food-box/
6. My Primitive People Are Awesome: https://www.mtlnovel.com/the-caveman-made-me-awesome/
7. Magus Tech: https://jpmtl.com/books/1214
9. This Big Shot is a bit Careless: https://comrademao.com/novel/this-big-shot-is-a-bit-careless/
10. I Really Am Not a Demon Lord: https://www.mtlnovel.com/i-really-am-not-the-lord-of-demon/
11. Monster Synthesis Master: https://www.mtlnovel.com/monster-synthesis-master/
13. RMJI - Immortal World: https://comrademao.com/novel/a-record-of-a-mortals-journey-to-immortality-immortal-realm
15. I Can't be A Sword God: https://www.mtlnovel.com/i-cant-be-a-sword-god/... more>>

List updated occasionally <<less

Noice Novels...they are not in order

Any kind of influence building like kingdom, clan ,buisness, gang,  secret organisation, etc, is considered.... more>>

Novels aren't ranked, so ignore the ranking. <<less

1. got transferred or got isekai'ed... more>>

OR 

2. Second chance

i am 17 y.o kid so this list might not be your taste,

after 3rd. the number is useless <<less

This is a list for my personal 0.1%. ... more>>

List is not ranked in order <<less

Evil and Ruthless Male Protagonists... more>>

More info on what i am searching: (The title may not be entirely accurate.)

Evil mc ( someone who do not care about other people, and can do anything for his goals )

Ruthless mc ( someone who do not hesitate to kill )

Neutral mc ( Neither a good person, nor a bad person, But care more about his own profits, Rational-Pragmatic type of route )

No Romance ( For this one, i also mean, less romance or none maybe, as well. No romance and no female lead are different. )

No Heroine ( i will use this word for those novels where there is no female lead. ) This is a word you find usually in mtl.
Extra:https://www.novelupdatesforum.com/threads/no-romance-and-no-harem-novels-only-can-be-evil-cold-ruthless-or-villain-egoist-pragmatic-mc.161306/

Sharing a Discord Invite Code, For Evil mc novels, But only MTL. Discord invite: ywyGwvK5ns. 

P.S: My reviews might be rough sometimes, but they're my honest thoughts. I wouldn't share a novel in here if I didn't think there was something worthwhile. Use them as a guide and decide for yourself. Treat each novel like a Poison Test. Enjoy your reading! <<less

Don't expect many harems with characters who can't think for themselves or fall in love with the MC before page 1. Many might have a slow moving plot... have to invest yourself into the characters to find the tragic, beautiful and poignant!... more>>

First, some English original webnovels that are superb and easily googleable (in order of best characters, not necessarily plot): 
1. Trailer tr*sh
2. Iron Teeth
3. Castle Kingside (rewrite)
4. Metaworld Chronicles
5. The Good Student
6. Worm (Parahumans)
7. AnimeCon Harem (18+)
8. Mother of Learning
9. Selena's Reign
10. Double Blind: A modern litRPG
11. Tidal Lock (unfinished)

Note that I've been recently pruning and updating the list to remove some that were just good stories with average characters and move them over to new lists that are top of their genre. You can see all my rec lists at https://www.novelupdates.com/user/10378/tallrice/ <<less

Here's a list of novels you might enjoy if you, like me, want to read some good stories that don't force an unnecessary & underdeveloped romance subplot where it isn't needed.... more>>

So these stories will have minimal to no romance, and I despise the harem trope in general. On the other hand, I'm a sucker for good bromance/brotherhood/friendship/found family stories. I also won't add any series to the list that I haven't personally read.

I decided to create this list because I've seen many similar 'no romance' lists on the site from which I've gotten many great recommendations to the point they have now become my go-to sources for new novels.

- - - - - - - - - - -

I'll be trying to organize the list based on how good I personally think the books are, but I'm only really certain about the first 4 being my favorites, the list then gets quite ambiguous, but I personally really like everything on the first page.

In the descriptions, I'll include how many chapters of the series I have read as well as how much romance there has been up until where I've read, as well as additional thoughts/opinions/warnings that I might have about the series.

I'll try to update the list whenever I find another good series to add. If you know of any series you think I'd like based on my list I'm more than open to suggestions! 

UPDATED JAN 1ST: Added 'The Nebula's Civilization' to the list. <<less

List of good cn novel 

Tired of harem/romance ruining the plot? Check these out!... more>>

BTW, they're not in any particular order. <<less

I've read novels over the years, and I guarantee you won't regret diving into them.... more>>

No BL, GL. Sorry that's not my type of novels. 

Other novels from another websites (webnovel, scribblehub..)

Time emperor (fanfic)
https://www.webnovel.com/book/time-emperor-(champion)_17500339706298405

Fox in a inverted world 
https://www.webnovel.com/book/fox-in-an-inverted-world_19203318006781205

Author POV 
https://www.webnovel.com/book/the-author's-pov_20524563005115705

Administrator
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/94510/-the-administrator-/

School idol (yandere/gore novel)
https://www.wattpad.com/story/296700221-the-school-idols-yandere-harem

Shadow s*ave
https://www.webnovel.com/book/shadow-s*ave_22196546206090805

A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/256241/a-budding-scientist-in-a-fantasy-world/

The Reincarnation of Alysara 
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/278151/the-reincarnation-of-alysara/

Nanomancer reborn 
https://www.webnovel.com/book/nanomancer-reborn---i've-become-a-snow-girl_14064812306272705

Mother of learning 
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21220/mother-of-learning

My vampire System
https://www.webnovel.com/book/my-vampire-system_16709365405930105

Library of Rain
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/858447/library-of-rain/

For more recommendations, check out my next list: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/83142/ <<less

i noticed that a lot of readers dislike harem so i compiled the novels i read without it. genres are mixed so there's a lot... more>> you can choose <<less

No description.

I've read a bunch of webnovels, thought I'd list my favorites for others to enjoy

This list are my true loves. It includes mostly action, fantasy, adventure, I love my comedy and slice of life and maybe some romance and tragedy as well. If you have a similar taste please feel free to comment and recommend some!... more>>

Some are on-going while some are completed, but there's also dropped or axed ones (mentioned in description) but they are still worth reading. Some may have many many bad reviews but do give them a try. they are good. <<less

Novels with a great detail to their world building and history. Also great stories.