Shiba's collection of good stories
Good stories above all: this automatically excludes harems, shounens, games, isekais. Everybody says "but there's this harem/isekai/..." but there isn't*. Changing love interests is not a harem.
No yuri/yaoi and their milder versions. Smut or gore - if I have to. Usually these dominate stories and turn the novel into Xfest, and this really isn't what life is about.
Good dialogues and or characters are definitely for a plus. Good writing is as well. So is good translation quality.
Overall, a novel needs to have a story to tell. I value my time and have troubles finding it. I'm cooking something
new every chapter is not a story that will enrich me. So is monster of the week. Or face slapping. Face slapping creates enemies and is less refreshing than sneezing or equally short-lasting. If the action scenes or fights aren't written on a Sapkowski's level, it's usually best to forego them.
* yeah, there definitely will be some 1 in a gazillion exception. But I don't want to read gazillion mediocre attempts at inflating one's ego to find it. I know there are exceptions. The Kingdom's Bloodline uses reincarnation and has traces of cultivation and is overall fascinating. But the weak writers reach for weak tropes and don't even squeeze them, so overall I'm using this as elimination criteria. Aside from reading professional books, historical books and real novels, aside from work and side-jobs, I also live. So - as I said - I value my time.
No yuri/yaoi and their milder versions. Smut or gore - if I have to. Usually these dominate stories and turn the novel into Xfest, and this really isn't what life is about.
Good dialogues and or characters are definitely for a plus. Good writing is as well. So is good translation quality.
Overall, a novel needs to have a story to tell. I value my time and have troubles finding it. I'm cooking something
new every chapter is not a story that will enrich me. So is monster of the week. Or face slapping. Face slapping creates enemies and is less refreshing than sneezing or equally short-lasting. If the action scenes or fights aren't written on a Sapkowski's level, it's usually best to forego them.
* yeah, there definitely will be some 1 in a gazillion exception. But I don't want to read gazillion mediocre attempts at inflating one's ego to find it. I know there are exceptions. The Kingdom's Bloodline uses reincarnation and has traces of cultivation and is overall fascinating. But the weak writers reach for weak tropes and don't even squeeze them, so overall I'm using this as elimination criteria. Aside from reading professional books, historical books and real novels, aside from work and side-jobs, I also live. So - as I said - I value my time.
Novels on this list
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- My husband has died.In a marriage devoid of affection, there existed no room for sorrow.Yet, with his demise taking everything away from me, I just had to return the favor.I lived believing that patience was the answer for a long time, but I wont endure it anymore.Retribution shall be meted out upon the two houses that, as they were blinded by greed, had abandoned their childrenAnd the...
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- Once she transmigrated over, Li Haitang, an elite female doctor from the big city, is demoted to a pitiful little cabbage whose parents have both died. She is surrounded by extreme jackals, wolves, tigers and panthers family and relatives. What? She is sold to a half-dead body that is going to be buried in the ground. Has she been sold to an old man with a heavy taste? The only way to ...
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- Alcohol! Women! Money! I was supposed to have it all and live as I please!… Or so I thought.Ouga Vellet, the eldest son of the notorious Vellet duke family of corrupt nobles, is a reincarnated individual.After working at a black company and dying from overwork, he had one dream.“To create a cute harem and eat delicious food. I’ll live an easy and carefree life with my subjects’ taxes!”...
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- Legend has it that all demons in the world originate from the abyss, shaped by the Lord of the Abyss.And the era of demons began.But when great changes occurred in the abyss, demons fled.Human era, year 1034A young man with a disheveled appearance walked out of the cemetery, his first words were:“Where did my kids go?” · Before his death, Xiu Si was most worried about his children, fea...
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- Living together with a naughty older girlfriend is full of excitement!“Shall we try living together?”That was the question my girlfriend Kureha Senpai asked me on the day I turned twenty.From there, our lovey-dovey cohabitation began, and there’s practically zero distance between us!Kureha Senpai, who loves alcohol, becomes even more enchanting and seductive once she starts drinking… m...
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- An Yun finally got into college, but on the day of freshman registration, he was hit by a car while saving a child.The good news was that he was still alive when he opened his eyes again. The bad news was that he had come to an unknown dynasty, no longer a boy, and had fallen into the hands of a human trafficker.In order to get rid of the predicament, An Yun, with the idea of dying t...
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- Rosemary spent 18 years believing herself to be part of the affluent Harris family, only to discover the truth – she was an imposter among the rich. When the genuine heiress reappeared, Rosemary was discarded and returned to her humble origins in a small town. However, her life took an unexpected turn when she realized her hometown was, in fact, the nation's elite villa district. Overn...
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- Armed with the Mech Designer System, Ves aspires to craft the most magnificent mechs in the vast expanse of the galaxy. In this era known as the Age of Mechs, human civilizations have embraced these towering war machines as their primary combat force. However, piloting such behemoths requires a rare genetic aptitude, leaving many like Ves Larkinson, born into a military family on the g...
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- Katherine Zara, a middle-aged office worker, followed her routine as usual: wake up, go to work, return home, and unwind with reading or games. However, today was not like any other day. Before she left for work, her ex broke into her apartment and took her life.When Katherine awoke, she found herself faced with numerous choices. She could select her new world, determine her starting p...
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- Originally from the slums, Adam was selected as a candidate for an experiment aimed at igniting the Spark—an entity bestowing superpowers. Unfortunately, he failed and was cast into the Dead Lands—the world's remnants after the fall of the Last Star, marking a perilous and unpredictable new era for humanity. Here, he confronted monsters and dangerous anomalies, occasionally crafting ar...
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- In a world where kingdoms rise and fall, a seasoned player unexpectedly finds himself transmigrated into the very game he once mastered—Caldera. However, his new life as a ruler comes with a crushing twist: severe debuffs and harsh restrictions on his talents make survival nearly impossible. Against overwhelming odds, he fights tooth and nail to carve out a legacy. Despite his brillian...
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- Fake it till you make it It became Leo's sole mantra for survival, thrust into the role of a formidable boss despite being just a small fry. In a universe where Earth is plagued by natural disasters and humanity must relocate to new planets aboard colossal arc ships, this novel charts the journey of the Skyshard brothers, Luke and Leo. They battle against their destiny, climbing from t...
