Sturgeon's law: 99% of everything is terrible.... more>>

I know many people say that there are no good novels on this site, and it oftens feels like the top lists are filled with overpowered MC's, undeveloped harems, 2D characters, and lacking plots.

There are some novels that stand out, however, whether that be for their plots, characters, or translations.

This is a list for my personal 1%. It is ranked in order. <<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

My favorite ML/MC <3

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

S tier - absolute masterpiece ... more>>

A tier - excellent

B tier - really good

All of the novels have enough chapters, have something special and are my favourites, therefore there are no bad novels here.

Of course this is purely my opinion. <<less

In order for a novel to appear on this list it has to meet at least 1 of these requirements:... more>>

1 - MC is evil or antihero

2 - MC focuses on (or at least is greatly influenced by) some sort of evil or dark power. For example, necromancy, demonic powers etc.

------------------------------

Not on NU, but still counts:

1 - Supreme Magus;

2 - Lord Shadow

3 - The Nightmare of Alamir

4 - Only I am Necromancer

5 - Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner in the Apocalypse

6 - Epic of Vampire Dragon: Reborn as Vampire Dragon with a System

7 - Super Necromancer System

8 - Hero of Darkness

9 - Divinity Against the Godly System

10 - Re: Evolution Online <<less

A list of novels I like so I don't forget. Not in order. I try to not make this similar to FIEND's and other people's list but there aren't that many decent ones with no romance y'know. ... more>>

Some novels : Since The Red Moon Appeared, The Damned, Supreme Grandpa, Is That A Wisp?, Spending My Retirement In A Game.

P.S. I still haven't differentiated quick transmigration and world hopping so I could be mistaken about some. Thank you for understanding. <<less

Here is some novel list that hit my taste. ... more>>

Please tell me if you have another recommendation.

*The order in the list doen't mean anything. I just put them in based on my memory. <<less

Here is the list of the best translated novels you can find, be it Japanese, Chinese or Korean. (This list is based on my taste and subjective opinion and our opinions and taste might differ). Although I tried to rank it, but you should READ all these novels nevertheless, that's a MUST. ... more>>

This list mainly features novels from two genres : ACTION (mainly cultivation novels) and ROMANCE (preferably tragic romance which leaves deep impression on you) and excludes YAOI/BL (not a big fan of those)

If any novel isn't on this list, its because :

1. I haven't read it yet. (Believe me, I have read 300+ big-ass novels if not a thousand)

2. I didn't like it. (It may be good, just didn't suit to my taste)

Apart from this, if you are looking for ORIGINAL novels, you should give the following a try :

1. The Beginning After The End - By TurtleMe

2. The Author's PoV - By Entrail_JI

3. Supreme Magus - By Legion20 <<less

Well first off these are my masterpiece novels and you can be rest assured each of novel here are quality novels that has something for everyone on each of them. But it will heavily depend on your taste whether you will like them or not. I will leave out description for what to expect so even though they are my masterpiece you might not enjoy. Pick carefully.... more>>

And Please ignore the ranking i love each and every novel here equally they cannot be ranked as  each one of them excels in their own genre. And another advise dont trust NU ratings blindly. Who knows you might enjoy the novel very much even though ratings are low. Low-ratings doesnt mean bad novel. I have found myself there and sometimes even though NU ratings were low i really enjoyed the story.

Another thing is there are very less JP/Kr novels here cause good CN novels are wholesome while KR novels are short and sweet but not wholesome. About jap novels though,i have lot of grievance with them, None of Jap novel MC feel humane except the 1% jp novel Mc. Yes i feel sociopathic, Hypocritical, Genocidal, Arrogant, Racist, hotblooded CN mc more humane then jap beta c*ck pu*sy Gary stu mc.  <<less

These are the novels that drew me into Wuxia, Xianxia, and Xuanhua and made me a fan.... more>>

They might not always be the best in every aspect, but they are epic, amazing, and the classics. Enjoy them, enjoy the young masters getting stomped on, enjoy the mc's going from beeing a weak insect to beeing a great cultivator stealing the hearts of the ice cold beauty by lucky coincidences.

Enjoy the old beast reincarnated, Enjoy the new worlds, enjoy the journey!

Mostly CN, some KR if they are good, and no JP. Please follow the list if you enjoyed it, and comment if I'm missing something too good. <<less

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

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

This is it, yal already know... more>>

Webnovels: f*ck WEBNOVEL, sh*t ASS SITE, PIRACY W

Shadow s*ave: "I can't believe I am still finding good novels to read. This is one of the best novels I've ever read and is f*cking well written. Deep plot, good apocalypse setting, characters are incredibly lifelike, interesting and diverse. An actual f*cking masterpiece currently. Enough said." #0.5

Paragon of Sin: "Very very very very good. MC is cool, not very generic, a different feeling all together while still being a cultivation ln. Also dude is just incredibly op but still feels like its deserved idk not for everybody and this is coming from a guy who hates disgusting op mcs off rip. Enough said." #1.5

Birth of the Demonic Sword: "Falls off at the end but rly cool, dark, and powerful mc. Enough said." #10.5

Divine Emperor of Death: "Man has cheats but somehow it doesn't take away from the overall story. Harem as well. Enough said."   #18.5

Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner in the Apocalypse: "Very similar to God and Devil in the beginning but then changes for the worst, it feels like a self-insert type thing. Also the mc is brainless and s*upidly op. Enough Said." #26.5

Chao's Heir: "From the same author of BotDS and it greatly dissapoints. There's so much things wrong with this one that it would take me a day to get into the details. Do not read. Enough said." #40.5 <<less

Chinese Cultivation novels, from Coiling Dragon to Against the Gods, were some of the absolute earliest novels listed on Novel Updates. Japanese isekai novels have... more>> been around the block for quite awhile, too, with middling popularity before Novel Updates even existed. ... And we <<less

Need that starting from humble beginnings progressing to vast empires and kingdoms fix? Or a weak MC that grows with a small territory into becoming... more>> a broken MC with a large kingdom. Novels suggested are based around territory-building and character-growth.  (Some may contain romance/harem tags) <<less

No description.

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

Another story is: "Tyranny of Steel" The story progress something like Release That Witch. MC makes Austria become a power house by introducing gun technology... more>> in an era of cold weapon. Some reader says its unacceptable since MC does not have super power like the witches in Release That Witch but the author keep mentioning the MC have an almost photographic memory and he is an engineering soldier who focus on technology knowledge. Warning: MC is grooming his teenage fiancé to be his wife. There are s*x scenes too. (Recommended but with warning: Adult/Mature tag.)  <<less

No description.

After reading many novels I reached the conclusion that (for a male at least) the perfect novel needs 3 ingredients to satisfy the reader without boring him:... more>>

1 - STRENGTH : Constant MC drive to Increase his power/strength via cultivation or other means. The greater the obstacles he overcomes, the hardship, and the explosion of his power after he strengthened himself, the greater is the psychological reward. Examples: I Shall Seal The Heavens, Against The Gods, The Desolate Era.

2 - BEAUTY : An unending series of beauties in distress, with saving them as the main motivation to go on with the story. The MC should not be necessary a righteous person, but he should have a soft spot for damsels in distress. The beauties must not necessarily become part of the MC harem, they just need to be grateful to him. Examples: Womanizing Mage, Ancient Strengthening Technique, Battle Through the Heavens.

3 - WISDOM : The MC must outsmart his enemies. The most cunning, the better. Battle strength alone is not going to keep interest in the long run. Scheming and strategy, especially long term grand designs and political ploys, keep the story interesting. Antagonists also need to be crafty to make defeating them a rewarding experience. EXAMPLES: Legend of Ling Tian, Nirvana in Fire, Transcending the Nine Heavens.

So the formula is Xianxia/Xuanhuan + Save-The-Beauties + Cunning Protagonist.

This is a list of the best novels of this kind. <<less

No description.

I like sane, smart and scheming characters. ... more>>

My Royalroad recommendations ~

-Fodder

-Castle Kingside

-Arrogant Young Master Template A Variation 4

-Ave Xia Rem Y

-Beware of Chicken

-Chrysalis

-The Red Lands

-The Rise of Lord <<less

I'll be adding my own ratings for each novel on this list. The core of this list is the [S] rating. The rest are just additions.... more>>

[S]: Masterpiece

[A]: Very Good

[B]: Good

[C]: Normal <<less

You will find quite a diverse list of suggestions here. ... more>>

Recommendations are welcome

List is not in any particular order mainly because it is a bit hard to rank my favourites <<less

Long novels with more than 150 chapters. Has bl, romance, and long af fantasy/scifi novels. Quality kind of guaranteed, negative points can still be acceptable (actually, no but yes but you can handle it). Sad endings not included. But some of the extremely long ones tend to get repetitive and a tad bit boring by the end. The 2nd to 24th book follows the pattern bl-bg-ml and each set has at least one lighthearted read so I don't get sick of reading. If I get bored halfway, I'll pause and read shorter novels as a palate cleanser... more>>

This is short novels list's part 1: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/26055/

This is short novels list's part 2: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/26079/

After I finish reading them, they go to this list, although they're mixed with short ones: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/16143/ <<less