Serious/Seinen themes with as less cliché elements as possible. Preferably clever and calm MCs. No harems, maybe one odd love interest but nothing frivolous. Negligible... more>> comedy tropes.  <<less

Bl, bg, and no romance.  Genre’s pretty diverse.  I consider all of these top tier yummy food with good plot and fleshed out characters.  Not... more>> all of these are complete but some are good enough for me erode my brain and mlt.  Hope u all find smth u like.  (List incomplete) <<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

Noice Novels...they are not in order

NO YAOI/YURI(No offense to lgbt but  i can't handle that stuff well)... more>>

MINOR TRAGEDY 

AND AS ALWAYS,FANTASY
QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Call a jack a jack.Call a spade a spade.But,call a who*e lady.They alredy have it hard son"

pt 2: "https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/34551/?ft=yes" <<less

No description.

I've been faithfully reading webnovels (Chinese, Korean, and English) for 10+ years. The list is based on my taste mainly neutral evil to neutral good personality MC and decently paced novel with less fillers than the standard webnovel. Most of these novels are written by well-experienced authors. ... more>>

"Well-experienced" meaning he/she has written over 2000+ chapters of webnovel before the novel was created!

I don't like romance, especially harem in my action/adventure novels but I make an exception if the novel is really good.

Starting from tier Decent-, they are not in order because these novels are just "decent enough" to kill your time.

I would not recommend rank 1-15 if you are a newbie reader because it's gonna spike up your standards in webnovels.

If you think that the novel is worthy enough to be put in this list, then comment below. I'll check whether I've read it or not. <<less

The web novels in this list are not ranked.  I look for in protagonists these characteristics:... more>>

Ambitious//Ruthless/Intelligent.

I too favour Kingdom building novels.

Also in this list, I only included novels that I read somewhat or finished. <<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

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

A list of memorable stories I read on novelupdates that covers mostly survival stories, reincarnation in non-human beings, second chances in other worlds and novels that felt unique in some way.... more>>

More often than not, stories I included had some grim parts to them. Where I find it necessary, I'll put a warning. 

Some stories are simply positive. Not everything needs to be dark. <<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

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

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

Novels which are still in MTL (high-readability, guaranteed minimum brain cell mortality) and not yet translated:... more>>

- Bulgarian Empire (same author of Holy Roman Empire)
- Holy Roman Empire (60 chapters translated, the rest just go to MTL, high quality MTL is the reason translators didn't bother to translate it in the first place)
- Rise of Rurik (thank you Zurdonx for recommendation)
(More will be updated later) <<less

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

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

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

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

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