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

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

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

After reading like dozens, maybe even hundreds of isekai(more like fantasy), these are some of the good one that aren't that well known, or at least they got unique theme. Ranging from decent to godly one. If you got reccomendation, please put in the comment (I NEED MORE ISEKAI TO READ, or just magic fantasy stuff in general). And sorry I don't read Manhwa or Manhua stuff.... more>>

The ranking doesn't really matter since some of the better stuff might get pushed down as I add stuff. Though I'll try to keep the better stuff at the top. <<less

 WARNING !  ... more>>

 THE LIST CONTAINS HIGH RATE OF INSULIN AND MAY CAUSE DIABETES

NO BL & YURI

JP ONLY <<less

personal faves innit, will update if I find/have any more... more>>

Novels not on NU: 

Author's POV 5/5

Supreme Magus 4/5

Chrysalis 4/5 <<less

Novels with high-quality translations and plots that give a satisfactory face slap (the list is not in any particular order)... more>>

- Predominantly BL (with Happy Endings)

- Any non-BL that I find interesting 

- Binge-worthy  <<less

Romance that gratify my soul. They are super sweet novels that give me a dopamine rush. Novels that make you crave for that kind of love. In addition to underrated gems, I have tried to include various fluffy, BG novels of different genres. Enjoy!! :)... more>>

-Not ranked in order; highly rated novels; BG; 1v1 (no harem), HE, lots of fluff <<less

Novels I enjoyed/am planning to read in the future. A lot are in the kingdom building, some otome game, some reincarnation. Novels are generally ranked... more>> by page from favorite to least favorite. <<less

Nothing too edgy or boring. Just simple, quality romance stories. The story is not the only thing that needs to be good, but the translation as well. I also look to see if series either have a lot of available chapters or are new but consistently updating. There is no specific order to this list.... more>>

Currently looking for someone with similar tastes and standards, willing to help curate this list. <<less

UPDATED!!! <Shoujo Fantasy Novels> Good Reads!! All of them are worth reading ヾ(≧ ▽ ≦)ゝ... more>>

We all love a strong female lead, don't we?  Here are my recommendations~ Hope you enjoy! <<less

The original list was closing in on a hundred title so I decided to cut it in three parts, one for each country.... more>>

Here are the comic adaptations of japanese novels that I read, I’m reading or will read in the near future.

Part I (Manhwa/Korean): https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/17612/

Part II (Manhua/Chinese): https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/18150/ <<less

This list a mishmash of all kind JP novel, hope you find good stuff to read, rank doesn't matter

A really good kingdom building book isn't really about simple making bigger buildings. It's about improving the lives of the people the MC cares about... more>> around them and in doing so improving a nation. There's this heart felt way of doing it so that's what I want out of these books. Some of them do have harems but the female characters are done in such a way that they are fully develop human beings and it's classy or I just enjoyed it. It's really hard to find kingdom or development books like that in this space so I wanted to highlight them when I found it. <<less

Where family plays a big role in the story.... more>>

* FL is either a child, a part of a big family, or raising a family *

I've reached the max 100 novels per list so I will start removing unfinished dropped novels so that I can add regularly-updated novels. I might just put the removed novels in the comments so I can go back to them. <<less

Anger meter getting high up into the clouds inducing novels. How misunderstandings, miscommunications, hateful third parties are always in the mix. ML's need to STEP... more>> UP!!! The PLOT needs to be straightened!!! THINGS NEED TO BE SET STRAIGHT!!! Genres? Will add whatever genre, whatever language and whatever theme (more or less) so be open. ^^ <<less

As a man, I am not interested in shoujo novels in general... However, there are some that I've dared to try out that I've quite enjoyed. Here's a list!... more>>

Some I've admittedly not yet tried but soon intend to do so since they look like they would appeal, so my confidence level in the appeal is high for the first 15 titles, and... more experimental for the following...

Also, check out:
- The calamity of a reborn witch on RRL, it's a really great novel

I welcome thoughts and comments, particularly on ranking, additions and unsuitable novels for this list. <<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

Good stories of all kinds that I'm reading or have read. I'm sure you'll find something you like and are interested in.

Just see the tags.. Only add Complete novel (translated or MTL), and no BL/GL. There still some novel in my bookmarks chrome that yet i move here..... more>>

Oh, i can't add anymore (⁠・⁠o⁠・⁠)  i already make the sec list \⁠(⁠ϋ⁠)⁠/ <<less

No description.

A list of the best novels I've read so far. The rating is based on Story > Characters.... more>>

Check out my other lists here!

Top Tier Novels (Personal Opinion) 2 -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/74300/

Badass Heroines who aren't damsels in distress 1 -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/62346/

Badass Heroines who aren't damsels in distress 2 -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/63149/

Girl Crush FL (CN Only) - 
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/89513/

Slow Burn Goodness -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/64099/

Overpowered KR MCs Give Me Life -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/71430/

The Blissful World Of VRMMORPGs - 
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/73205/ <<less

The isekai here is pointed to another world, but not only to the usual Jpn isekai with reincarnation/rebirth/transmigrate MC. It can be the world that's totally not in the earth, and maybe it's not a reincarnation/transmigration and MC is from that world. ... more>>

My ideal isekai novel is the one with the world building as its central theme and the romance is non existent, even if there's romance element in it, usually it's slow and just as unnecessary side dish.

NO HAREM for me. Tho few of them has harem and romance tags, for me there are those that are not romance and harem, so I'll explain in related description instead. 

  <<less

Part 2: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/9169/?ft=yes... more>>

Honestly just a cluster of different stories that fall under this title that I enjoyed. I love humorous stories, so you will notice that is a theme. I also like mu*der mysteries, transmigration, some otome/villainess, and gaming genres. This is my first list, so it is fairly unorganized but I left comments on a few directly relating them to others. Note that some of these stories start out fairly serious and do not become fluffy or comedic till much later in the reading. Feel free to comment any recommendations you may have for me after seeing my preferences! It is greatly appreciated. 

During my free time, I’ll add scores between 1-5 on how worthwhile they are to read. 1) Only read if you’re bored to absolute tears; 2) it’s an okay read, some dissatisfying parts, not a priority at all; 3) Not particularly bad or good, just something to pass the time when you have a long trip (it won’t feel like an absolute waste of time or make you feel particularly dissatisfied after reading); 4) Good read that you should read; 5) Excellent/MUST read. If the score contains a .5, then it could go in either direction of the whole numbers it’s closest to. Keep in mind, none of the novels listed here are awful. Some are definitely better than others, but all of them have their own merits.  <<less

A comprehensive list of novels I’ve read including, but not limited to: dropped series, BL, smut, good reads, etc. This is my personal opinion and does not always reflect the actual reception or rating of the novel. Listed in no particular order.... more>>

Personal Recommendation Level:

5 — You have to read it!!

4 — Satisfactory

3 — meh 

2 — not my tea

1 — I can’t... <<less