Here are 18 books that Mark of the Fool fans have personally recommended if you like Mark of the Fool. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Primal Hunter

Toby Davidson

From Toby's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Toby loves this book

Jake is just awesome. The world building is amazing and the battles are super intense. There are so many other reasons too. I love how the system works how skills work how powerful people get.

By Zogarth ,

Why should I read it?

65 authors picked The Primal Hunter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On just another average day, Jake finds himself in a forest filled with monsters, dangers, and opportunity.... It was a day like any other when suddenly the world changed. The universe reached a threshold humanity didn’t even know existed, and it was time to finally be integrated into the vast multiverse. A place where power is the only thing anyone can truly rely on.Jake, a seemingly average office worker, finds himself thrust into this new world. Into a tutorial filled with dangers and opportunities.. His new reality should breed fear and concern. His fellow coworkers falter at every turn. Jake,…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Random Answer

From Random's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Random loves this book

A long answer would just rehash what everyone says. Bottom line it was my first foray into modern LitRPG (I think I may have read some really early LitRPG from before it being a thing...which I also really like...Quag Keep by Andre Norton back in the 70s maybe?) and turns out as a lifelong gamer (I've been playing RPGs since before DnD had editions) I really enjoy it. I have DCC to thank for turning me onto it.

By Matt Dinniman ,

Why should I read it?

112 authors picked Dungeon Crawler Carl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're…


Book cover of Annihilation

Amelia Lim

From Amelia's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Amelia loves this book

Annihilation is the first book of the Southern Reach series, which is one of my favourite series of all time.
The writing and the world building is incredibly beautiful.

By Jeff VanderMeer ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'A contemporary masterpiece' Guardian

THE FIRST VOLUME OF THE EXTRAORDINARY SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ALEX GARLAND (EX MACHINA) AND STARRING NATALIE PORTMAN AND OSCAR ISAAC

For thirty years, Area X has remained mysterious and remote behind its intangible border - an environmental disaster zone, though to all appearances an abundant wilderness.

The Southern Reach, a secretive government agency, has sent eleven expeditions to investigate Area X. One has ended in mass suicide, another in a hail of gunfire, the eleventh in a fatal cancer epidemic.

Now four women embark on the…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of The Wandering Inn

E G

From E's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why E loves this book

The beginning was tough but once it gets going it doesn’t stop

By pirateaba ,

Why should I read it?

31 authors picked The Wandering Inn as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

(This novel is the e-book version of the free web serial. You may read the entire ongoing story at wanderinginn.com free of charge.)

“No killing Goblins.”

So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.

It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of…


Book cover of He Who Fights with Monsters

patrick o.

From patrick's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why patrick loves this book

World building is excellent, power levels scale, and captivating supporting characters. MC power set is my favorite in ARPGs.

By Shirtaloon , Travis Deverell ,

Why should I read it?

56 authors picked He Who Fights with Monsters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jason wakes up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters.It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil.He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants.After cementing itself as one of the best-rated serial novels on Royal Road with an astonishing…


Book cover of Beware of Chicken

jared1

From Jared's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Jared loves this book

Good philosophy... We do not challenge the heavens alone

By Casualfarmer ,

Why should I read it?

36 authors picked Beware of Chicken as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A laugh-out-loud, slice-of-life martial-arts fantasy about . . . farming????

Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I’m stuck in his body.

Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I’m getting out of here.

Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you’ve got the strength of ten men—though maybe I shouldn’t have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster. I’m not used to…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

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 The Lost Metal

Tim Facciola Author Of Ghosts of Rheynia

From Tim's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Tim's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Tim Facciola Why Tim loves this book

Brandon Sanderson never ceases to showcase how different “heroes” can look. This book might exemplify that best as he concludes the second era of the Mistborn series. It deals with some deep emotional traumas with light hearted comic-relief while building upon the ever-expanding universe of the cosmere.

By Brandon Sanderson ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Lost Metal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Return to #1 New York Times bestseller Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn world of Scadrial as its second era, which began with The Alloy of Law, comes to its earth-shattering conclusion in The Lost Metal.

For years, frontier lawman turned big-city senator Waxillium Ladrian has hunted the shadowy organization the Set―with his late uncle and his sister among their leaders―since they started kidnapping people with the power of Allomancy in their bloodlines. When Detective Marasi Colms and her partner Wayne find stockpiled weapons bound for the Outer City of Bilming, this opens a new lead. Conflict between Elendel and the Outer Cities…


Book cover of All the Skills: A Deck Building LitRPG

Nik B

From Nik's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Unknown Author Why Nik loves this book

Stopped on book two as that was all that was released on Kindle. There's more on RR, but I'm waiting for more to read on kindle so the author gets something from me reading it.

By Honour Rae ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked All the Skills as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The most Arthur could hope for was to someday earn a trash-tier spell card. When fate grants him a Master of Skills card, he's thrust into a world of opportunity and danger.

To survive and grow strong, Arthur must learn skills. All the skills.

This is an epic progression-fantasy with strong gamelit elements, featuring a unique card-based magic system.


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Mother of Learning

Ash Setter

From Ash's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Ash loves this book

The characters and world building was fantastic, deep and believable characterisations and organisations and a really interest world which was complex but made sense. The time loop was used to great affect to explore the setting and how different actions effect the world, people and organisations and explore what is happening at different places during the time loop.

By nobody103 ,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked Mother of Learning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Zorian Kazinski has all the time in the world to get stronger, and he plans on taking full advantage of it.

A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems.

As it happens, though, time is something he is…


Book cover of The Primal Hunter
Book cover of Dungeon Crawler Carl
Book cover of Annihilation

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