Jesse Bullington's trilogy (each is unrelated beyond taking place in a world of magical realism). **The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart** follows the titular brothers as they seek the legendary treasures of "Gyptland." **The Enterprise of Death**, about a necromancer seeking her mentor's book to free herself from a curse. **The Folly of the World**, about a would-be noble whose proof of their legacy is in the drowned ruins of Holland.
Books like this don't seem to be pushed much by publishers.
What kind of real people do you know with agency? I know a handful of people IRL who actually pursue and accomplish personal, meaningful goals. Most of their progress is a slow build of tedious hard work that is absolutely dependent on luck, outside forces, and is occasionally set back by things they have no control over.
I think this is addressed in the second caveat. I'm not saying that real people always have agency over their outside circumstances, just that they try hard to achieve what they can within the bounds of whatever luck or outside forces affect them.
Choosing to do the slow build of tedious hard work that someone else without the goal would never have thought to do is exactly the kind of agency I'm describing, no matter the uncontrolled random outside setbacks that might happen.
Almost everyone I know is like this---striving for something as best as you can within your circumstances is what makes someone a fulfilled person.
I think you may like **Will of the Many** but maybe you'll also hate it. The main crux is the main character has his own aspirations that he's chasing while being given conflicting tasks from a variety of other people (hence (partially) the reason for the title)
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, if you want to see characters have a soul, her books are not the classical can-do-it-all protagonist, she doesn't let the main character go unharmed, in general the characters decisions are very realistic (as much as human decisions are) and everyone has their objectives.
The first book is Assassin's Apprentice, it can feel slow at first but Robin Hobb likes to construct the characters, she doesn't rush into action nor lacks in descriptions
Interesting. I dropped Farseer after Book 1 because I'm not sure I've ever seen a more happless, aimless, agency-less group of characters. That they could have repeatedly solved a lot of their problems with a few sentences.
Did you try Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality? Harry spends a while thinking things through (and discussing things with his inner split personalities), and his plans sometimes fall apart despite being well made. Professor Quirrel does a good job of behaving in a plausible way too, though you don't get his inner thoughts on account of this being Harry's story.
I suspected you might have with your Worm/Mother of Learning/Practical Guide list.
Something else I have liked recently are the Awaken Online books; While they are kinda partly litrpg, the characters do have realistic goals and motivations, and some of the story is set in the (more near future sci-fy than fantasy) real world rather than the game.
I wonder if Mark Lawrence's The Broken Empire series would fit your criteria. Jorg, the protagonist, is a bit of an anti-hero whose actions are guided by his own ambitions, and a relentless drive to reach his goals.
The follow-up series of *Red Queen's War* as well, possibly? The protagonists definitely have their own goals and plans. If someone's not super into the villain-hero that Jorg is, Jalan and Snorri might be a better fit, and it really doesn't matter which of the two series you read first.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson fits the bill, I think.
Jesse Bullington's trilogy (each is unrelated beyond taking place in a world of magical realism). **The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart** follows the titular brothers as they seek the legendary treasures of "Gyptland." **The Enterprise of Death**, about a necromancer seeking her mentor's book to free herself from a curse. **The Folly of the World**, about a would-be noble whose proof of their legacy is in the drowned ruins of Holland. Books like this don't seem to be pushed much by publishers.
What kind of real people do you know with agency? I know a handful of people IRL who actually pursue and accomplish personal, meaningful goals. Most of their progress is a slow build of tedious hard work that is absolutely dependent on luck, outside forces, and is occasionally set back by things they have no control over.
Facts.
I think this is addressed in the second caveat. I'm not saying that real people always have agency over their outside circumstances, just that they try hard to achieve what they can within the bounds of whatever luck or outside forces affect them. Choosing to do the slow build of tedious hard work that someone else without the goal would never have thought to do is exactly the kind of agency I'm describing, no matter the uncontrolled random outside setbacks that might happen. Almost everyone I know is like this---striving for something as best as you can within your circumstances is what makes someone a fulfilled person.
I think you may like **Will of the Many** but maybe you'll also hate it. The main crux is the main character has his own aspirations that he's chasing while being given conflicting tasks from a variety of other people (hence (partially) the reason for the title)
Thanks! This looks promising. Just out of curiosity, how are the characters in the author's previous trilogy?
I haven't read it yet. It's on my list though
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, if you want to see characters have a soul, her books are not the classical can-do-it-all protagonist, she doesn't let the main character go unharmed, in general the characters decisions are very realistic (as much as human decisions are) and everyone has their objectives. The first book is Assassin's Apprentice, it can feel slow at first but Robin Hobb likes to construct the characters, she doesn't rush into action nor lacks in descriptions
Interesting. I dropped Farseer after Book 1 because I'm not sure I've ever seen a more happless, aimless, agency-less group of characters. That they could have repeatedly solved a lot of their problems with a few sentences.
Since you said 'most LitRPG', I assume you're already reading Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Did you try Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality? Harry spends a while thinking things through (and discussing things with his inner split personalities), and his plans sometimes fall apart despite being well made. Professor Quirrel does a good job of behaving in a plausible way too, though you don't get his inner thoughts on account of this being Harry's story.
I have read that one. It's a good recommendation and the end was a pretty fun puzzle.
I suspected you might have with your Worm/Mother of Learning/Practical Guide list. Something else I have liked recently are the Awaken Online books; While they are kinda partly litrpg, the characters do have realistic goals and motivations, and some of the story is set in the (more near future sci-fy than fantasy) real world rather than the game.
nightfall by mao nie, there is a english translation compilation on anna's archive
I wonder if Mark Lawrence's The Broken Empire series would fit your criteria. Jorg, the protagonist, is a bit of an anti-hero whose actions are guided by his own ambitions, and a relentless drive to reach his goals.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll look into it.
The follow-up series of *Red Queen's War* as well, possibly? The protagonists definitely have their own goals and plans. If someone's not super into the villain-hero that Jorg is, Jalan and Snorri might be a better fit, and it really doesn't matter which of the two series you read first.
How'd I get downvoted already?! SMH.
Someone seems to have downvoted everything in this thread...reddit is weird sometimes.