Picked by A Summoner Awakens fans

Here are 2 books that A Summoner Awakens fans have personally recommended once you finish the A Summoner Awakens series. Book DNA is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Book cover of Shadeslinger

Chris Tullbane Author Of See These Bones

From my list on starters in progression fantasy.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an author, I’m fascinated with the fictional quest for power and the challenges and changes that journey both entails and provokes. Progression fantasy, beyond all the numbers and formalized rankings, is about the character first… not just people growing stronger, but how that growth impacts them on a fundamental level. It's something central to my own fiction, and as I’ve explored the progression fantasy genre, I’ve loved seeing the different ways other authors tackle that same idea. The worlds, people, and magic systems vary wildly between different series in the genre, but that central conflict’s impact on those engaged in it remains uniquely compelling.

Chris' book list on starters in progression fantasy

Chris Tullbane Why Chris loves this book

Shadeslinger is another LitRPG but belongs to the subgenre known as VRMMO.

The characters are playing a full-immersion, virtual reality MMO, and it’s the game world that provides the framework of levels, skills, and advancement. It’s not a subgenre that I always love, but Shadeslinger and its sequels are an exception to that rule!

I love how the author leans into the game nature of the world to create constant challenges and global threats, and I love the main character’s me-against-the-world attitude, which changes as he finds an in-game family beyond anything he had in the real world.

But my favorite aspect is one unique to this subgenre… as someone who played MMOs for decades, these books do an incredible job of capturing that atmosphere while injecting humanity and pathos into the mix.

By Kyle Kirrin ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Shadeslinger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Corporate flameout Ned Altimer dreams of leaving his world behind. So when Earthblood Online splashes onto the VRMMO scene, he dives in and never looks back.

His advantages are twofold: exclusive access to the game’s three-day Head Start period, and a ridiculously handsome talking axe named Frank who has knowledge of the game’s deepest secrets…if the magnificent Frank ever feels like sharing them.

But those advantages also make Ned a target. Once the Head Start period ends, his fellow players will stop at nothing to rip that suave, violent-yet-disarmingly-charismatic axe right out of his hands.

In seventy-two hours, the greatest…


Book cover of Mark of the Fool

Gillian Owen

From Gillian's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Gillian loves this book

Enjoyed how creative the MC is at working around their restrictions.

By J.M. Clarke ,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Mark of the Fool as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The gods chose him. He said no.

After his parents died, Alex Roth had one desire: become a wizard. Through hard work, he was accepted into the University of Generasi, the world’s greatest academy of wizardry...

Fate, however, had other plans.

On his eighteenth birthday, he is Marked by prophecy as one of his kingdom’s five Heroes, chosen to fight the Ravener, his land’s great enemy. But his brand is 'The Fool'. Worst of the marks.

Rather than die or serve other Heroes like past Fools, he takes a stand, rejects divine decree…and leaves. With his little sister, his childhood…