About the Series
Marcus and his friends enter Ascend Online, a full-immersion VRMMO. Marcus is separated from them at login and lands in a remote frontier village under attack by goblins, and he rallies the villagers to defend it. The series splits between personal combat progression (Marcus fights, levels, gains abilities) and settlement building (the group develops their town from nothing, recruits NPCs, establishes trade, and defends against threats).
The dual-track structure of individual leveling alongside group town-building gives Ascend Online more variety than single-track VRMMO series. The party dynamics are genuine; different players contribute different specializations and the group coordination matters for major challenges. The settlement progression follows the growth of the frontier town of Aldford across the series.
This works for readers who enjoy VRMMO LitRPG with meaningful base building and party dynamics. The group-protagonist approach avoids the solo-MC isolation of many similar series. The tradeoff: VRMMO framing means nothing has real consequences. It’s a game, and the real-world stakes are minimal. The writing is competent but not distinctive. If you need genuine danger or literary quality, the game-world setting works against both. If you want a solid VRMMO experience with settlement building, it delivers.
Reading Order
- Ascend Online (2016)
- Legacy of the Fallen (2018)
- Glory to the Brave (2020)
- Threads of Fate (2024)
If You Like This Series
- Life Reset by Shemer Kuznits. VRMMO with base building from a monster’s perspective; completed
- Awaken Online by Travis Bagwell. VRMMO with settlement elements and a meta-narrative about AI; ongoing
- The Land by Aleron Kong. Settlement-building LitRPG with more stat density; hiatus
- Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel. Town management class with comedic tone; ongoing
- The Good Guys by Eric Ugland. Simpler LitRPG progression without the town-building layer; ongoing