Wayward: Running: An Isekai LitRPG cover art

Wayward: Running: An Isekai LitRPG

Wayward, Book 1

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Wayward: Running: An Isekai LitRPG

Written by: T. A. Star
Narrated by: Hannah Church
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A chronically ill teen trades her hospital bed for a world of adventure, intrigue, and magic in the first installment of this imaginative LitRPG series.

For as long as she can remember, Phoenix Fraser has been stuck. Stuck in the wrong body, losing both friends and family, and no future to plan for. So when a mysterious entity known as the Night Witch appears in her room, offering her a new start in a strange land, she can't believe the opportunity to fulfill her ever-elusive potential.

At first, Phoenix is enraptured by the second chance at life into which she's been transported. Equipped with a new body that matches her spirit and, with it, discovering exciting new abilities—like respawning—she's suddenly on the sort of quest she'd only ever read about. But surviving the world of Makera isn't all fun and MMO-style games . . .

True danger lurks in every direction: namely, uncanny monsters, jealous nobles, and other cruel creatures who would destroy everything Phoenix cares about, including her very soul. Now, she'll have to rely on her wit and intuition alone to determine who to trust and befriend—before she finds herself at the mercy of mages, mercenaries, rivals, and even gods.

The first volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than a million views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

©2025 Tristan Star (P)2025 Podium Audio
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This story is pretty decent and it's creative in its own way. My only real issue is how the author bases their book-world off HWFWM, a few years after the Builders attack, but does not acknowledge that anywhere. If this was original I would give the story 4 stars.

HWFWM Spin-off

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I've listened to the first two books of this series and it's very true; a lot of aspects are copy-pastes from He Who Fights With Monsters with some tweaked details. Those familiar with that series will notice that:

The magic system is a minimally edited clone

A number of abilities are virtually identical or are inspired by abilities used by the main team in HWFWM

The racial trait system is not even subtle about being a copy, down to the Human race traits starting out blank, and traits being able to evolve under stressful circumstances, etc.

Key plot elements involving antagonistic forces are very similar, as are their motivations and mutual antagonism to each-other.

The Gods functioning similar, and the primary antagonist god being counterparts.

It's a generally entertaining series so far, and the main character is distinct from Jason, and it seems like it's targeting a somewhat younger audience, but I feel ambivalent about rewarding the author's borderline plagiarism, which feels like they just gave up on coming up with their own ideas after coming up with the main characters and some of the world building.

It'd be one thing if it was only one thing that was very similar (for example, if you come up with a good magic system it's understandable that someone might crib from it, as a lot of magic systems are similar to one-another to the point that some magic systems on a base level end up being treated as public property eventually), but this series is painfully blatant about how many things it copies from a single source material.

I don't like to be harsh or go out of my way to badmouth anyone, (like I mentioned, I do find it entertaining enough) but I just felt that I needed to give potential readers the heads up about this. To be frank, I'm a little surprised that this got a publishing deal, and from the same audiobook publisher of the HWFWM series of all things, though the actual novel publisher is different.

Cribs too much from He Who Fights With Monsters

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Is the Magic System basically another parallel universe to Jason's He Who Fights With Monsters but slightly less understood by the inhabitants of that world?
Yes.

Do I expect the builder to show up?
Yes.

Is this it's own fun story with characters that I come to care about and is not just a copy of that other amazing adventure?
Yes, Yes. Yes!

Is the writing great and the narrator excellent?
Another happy Yes.

I've already recomended it to my friends, now I suggest you give it it's fair shot.
Hope you enjoy.

HWFWM Magic system with original characters and story.

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What I Like:
* Great world-building and character development.
* Pacing is good (brisk, with mediation/cultivation details skipped)
* Similar magic system to HWFWM where you pick 4 aspects and evolve from there, except MC’s abilities are a lot more interesting compared to Jason's
* Narrator is very good with a very wide range of voices

What I don't like:
* Very disappointed with the stereotypical damsel-in-distress beginning, where MC acts like a normal teen girl - not smart (to put it nicely), indecisive, weak-willed, screams, cries, and gets knocked out a lot, but can miraculously get out of tough situations (due to luck, big muscular dude, and gods of course), and has powerful skills handed out to her like candy. I was hoping for better due to MC’s background, where she had been bedridden and endured constant hardship/pain for 18 years. She should at least have been mentally/emotionally strong and mature. It does get better as MC grows, but she never reaches the level of “special” that the book keeps claiming (ignoring her cheat skills).
* There are some hints of “chosen one” trope. It’s not a big factor right now, but I’m not sure how much influence it will have on MC in the future. I’m not a fan of a story where MC is “fated” to move along a fixed path.
* The story also puts some focus on the mentor, whom I liked at first, but he seems to become less mature as the relationship develops

flawed

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