Two new series opened this week, both from Aethon on September 8, after several weeks of sequels only. One series also reached its end. Ascendant closes Cale Plamann’s six-book Tower of Somnus, and it has been added to our list of completed Gamelit series.
New Series
Warmage by DG Stevenson
Shaya Amon’s Awakening bonds her to a legendary spirit and opens her access to aether, the energy the Empire’s war mages fight with. She is trichromatic, able to channel Ruby, Amber, and Jade aether, which is rare enough to win her a place at the Imperial War Academy. Progression runs on rank, spirit-forged armor, and control of a blood rage that arrives on its own schedule. This suits readers who want a military academy training arc with a colored-element magic system. 470 pages, from Aethon Books.
Rock, Paper, Boss Battle by R. Wines
Battle Quest is a galactic esport, and Tal Ortiz enters it as a Level 10 Rogue carrying an experimental cybernetic implant that houses an AI named Britney in his skull. The progression is explicit: levels, classes, and team advancement through the Versai Rookie Challenge. This is book one of Intergalactic Rookie, a zero-to-hero arena story with a science fiction frame and a talkative system voice. 526 pages, from Aethon Books.
Continuing Series
Ascendant (Tower of Somnus Book 6) by Cale Plamann
Kat Debs climbs the Tower ahead of humanity’s integration into the Galactic Consensus. The series runs on one rule: abilities earned inside the sleep-based tower persist in the waking world, so every floor Kat clears changes her leverage against the arcology corporations that hold her hereditary labor contract. This is the ending. Amazon lists Tower of Somnus as a six-book series with Ascendant as book six, and Risingshadow’s series page agrees. It has been added to our list of completed Gamelit series. For readers who want cyberpunk dystopia and tower climbing in the same chapters.
Homebound (Millennial Mage Book 13) by Actus
Tala’s ladder runs Mage, Bound, Fused, then Refined Archon, built on inscription work and the forging of an Archon Star, with soulbonds tying other characters’ fates to hers. Book thirteen is a consolidation volume. Tala is a year into her marriage and back from her outbound travels to build something permanent among the cycling cities, planning on the thousand-year horizon an Archon has to use. The author’s site lists book fourteen, Eskau Reforged, for March 2027. This is for readers already deep in the series who want settlement and craft work.
Reborn as a Demonic Tree 9 by XKarnation
Ashlock is a sentient flesh-eating spirit tree who cultivates through a daily sign-in system that pays credits for growth and for devouring. His immobility is a constraint that shapes every tactic he uses. Book nine turns the series into a war story. The Ashfallen Sect, grown out of the carcass of the Blood Lotus Sect, moves openly against the Celestial Empire, which has ruled the Ninth Layer by feeding its cultivators the golden sap of an enslaved World Tree. 517 pages, from Aethon Books. This carries the highest community rating in this week’s batch.
Industrial Mage 3 by Nectar
Theodore advances on two tracks at once. The personal track is rune enchantment and skill work in an isekai magic system built on inscribed runes. The territorial track is developing the barony of Holden into an economic power and competing in the empire’s Grand Tournament. At 710 pages this is the longest release of the week. It suits readers who want kingdom-building arithmetic sitting alongside the magic. From Aethon Books.
Draconic Core: Breach (Draconic Core Book 3) by Sean Oswald and Aaron Holloway
Dean is a dragon consciousness inhabiting a dungeon core, and that origin drives his play toward dominion and territory, which shapes his dungeon design around aggression and chokepoints. Book three expands his holdings above and below ground and brings in allies, and the growth draws attention from forces that can end him. Kindle Unlimited. Dungeon core readers who find core protagonists too passive will find this one forward-leaning.
Riftside 5 by Cassius Lange and Henrik Saetre
Ash Aldrich is bonded to Roq, a sentient warhammer that demands blood sacrifices, refuses to sleep on anything short of satin, and believes it is the protagonist of the story. Book five raises the cost of that bond. Roq’s demands escalate, the Hive Mind’s influence spreads, House Domitius tightens its hold on Dawnwatch, and something new comes out of the rifts. System apocalypse with dungeon delving and portal fantasy elements. Kindle Unlimited. Romance stays minimal throughout, which the series’ own readers point out.
The Coming of God of Death Book 9 by Dmitry Dornichev
Gauss is a god of death reincarnated into a sickly mortal child who inherits debts, and his solution is a labor force of zombies that never sleep, eat, or complain. The series treats that as a business model and does the accounting to match. Book nine moves him into Celestial Empire politics, where a faction of his own fanatical followers has gone off script. Some listing copy describes this as the final installment, which is wrong: Amazon already has books ten, eleven, and twelve, so the series continues. Portal progression fantasy. Kindle Unlimited.
Last Save Dave 2 by Michael James Ploof
The One Thousand Worlds are a god-run game with levels, loot, stats, and collectible talismans. Dave’s distinguishing mechanic is the ability to rewind his own death, and his party clears worlds to gain levels and stockpile talismans. 460 pages, from Aethon Books. This is a light-toned party adventure that uses its death-loop mechanic for comedy as often as for tactics.
If you would rather start something you can finish, our running list of completed Gamelit series collects the runs that have reached a real ending. This roundup goes out to subscribers every week, and you can join the newsletter here.