Noh Bdy's 3 favorite reads in 2025

I started it just for a break from the more fantastical stories that I usually read. It swept me up with memorable characters, great plotting, clever writing, and an overall sense of fun. I don’t even like football/soccer. It’s just that good.

At this point, I have been following this book for years. One of the things that I love the most about serialized storytelling is when an author will hint at something in the story or world only for the author to return to it much later in a surprising way that shows the immense detail and plotting that has gone into the story. This story does that kind of storytelling better than anything else in the genre with small details from early chapters coming back to importance a thousand chapters later. It’s not a perfect story, but it rewards reading it better than anything else out there.

While the trappings of the story are familiar in the genre, a system apocalypse, a tutorial, quests, and experience, Cerim manages to make it all feel fresh through the lens of his main character. The genre is filled with characters that seek to improve themselves and are battle crazy. Cerim gives us Nathaniel who is all that, but is willing to do truly audacious and surprising things for power. It’s always a fun read as you experience the world through Nathaniel’s eyes and watch him grow and change in ways that surprise himself and even in ways that he doesn’t fully recognize.