Best Web Novels to Read in 2025 (Actually Good Recommendations)
Curated web novel recommendations across genres. No filler lists, just the ones actually worth your time in 2025.
I read a lot of web fiction. Like, probably too much. Here are my actual recommendations for 2025, not a generic list pulled from rankings.
The Criteria
To make this list, a novel needs:
- To be actively updating OR completed
- Quality writing (not just good premise)
- Something that makes it stand out
- My personal recommendation (I've actually read these)
Progression Fantasy / LitRPG
Mother of Learning
Status: Completed Why it's great: Time loop fantasy done perfectly. The MC is stuck in a month-long loop and uses it to become increasingly competent. The magic system is excellent, the mystery unfolds beautifully, and it actually has an ending. Read if you like: Groundhog Day, hard magic systems, competent protagonists
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Status: Ongoing Why it's great: Earth becomes a dungeon and reality TV show for alien entertainment. It's funny, dark, creative, and has genuine emotional moments. Matt Dinniman's writing is legitimately good. Read if you like: Dark comedy, creative worldbuilding, cats with attitude
Cradle
Status: Completed Why it's great: Western cultivation done right. Clear progression, great characters, satisfying payoffs. Will Wight knows how to write escalating power levels without losing stakes. Read if you like: Cultivation, martial arts, underdogs becoming powerful
He Who Fights With Monsters
Status: Ongoing Why it's great: Australian guy gets isekai'd and handles it with appropriate sarcasm. The system is interesting, the humor lands, and the MC has actual personality. Read if you like: Snarky protagonists, portal fantasy, long series
Fantasy
The Wandering Inn
Status: Ongoing (LONG) Why it's great: Slice of life meets epic fantasy. An innkeeper in a fantasy world. It starts slow but builds to genuinely epic moments. Warning: it's millions of words long. Read if you like: Slow burns, worldbuilding, found family
A Practical Guide to Evil
Status: Completed Why it's great: Fantasy where narrative tropes are literally magical forces. The protagonist is a villain, but it's more complex than that. Smart, subversive, well-written. Read if you like: Trope awareness, morally grey protagonists, completed stories
Pale
Status: Completed Why it's great: Urban fantasy with incredibly deep magic systems and character work. Wildbow's best work, in my opinion. Three teenage girls become practitioners. Read if you like: Deep magic systems, character-driven stories, long reads
Romance / Romantasy
The Beginning After The End
Status: Ongoing Why it's great: Reincarnation fantasy with romance elements that actually develop. Good progression, good worldbuilding, good character growth. Read if you like: Reincarnation, slow burn romance, cultivation elements
Beware of Chicken
Status: Ongoing Why it's great: Cultivation parody where the MC just wants to farm. Cozy, funny, surprisingly heartwarming. The rooster is the best character. Read if you like: Cozy fantasy, cultivation, comedy
Newer / Rising
Paranoid Mage
Status: Ongoing Why it's great: Modern magic hidden world, but the MC refuses to play by the rules. Satisfying "competent adult makes rational choices" energy. Read if you like: Urban fantasy, OP protagonists, no-nonsense MCs
Mark of the Fool
Status: Ongoing Why it's great: Academy setting done well. The MC is marked as a "fool" (support class) and has to work around it. Good magic system, good pacing. Read if you like: Magic schools, clever protagonists, progression
How to Find More
These are my picks, but web fiction is vast. To find what you specifically want:
- Royal Road's Rising Stars tends to surface quality
- r/ProgressionFantasy has solid recommendations
- NovelUpdates for translated Asian fiction
- narrator if you want something specific that doesn't exist
The beautiful thing about web fiction is the variety. There's probably something perfect for your exact taste; you just have to find it.
What's Missing
This list skews toward my tastes (progression, fantasy, completed stories). I deliberately didn't include:
- Translated Chinese novels (would need its own list)
- Fanfiction (would need its own list)
- Webnovel-exclusive content (paywall concerns)
If you want recommendations in those categories, that's a different article.
Go Read Something
Seriously. Pick one from this list and start. Web fiction at its best rivals traditionally published work, and most of it is free.
What are you reading right now? What would you add to this list?