★★★★★ 5
Ambitious universe building that starts small
Format: Kindle
Defiance of the Fall is in the Top 5 of my favorite progression fantasy stories (for reference, I think you should at least try the first book of all 5 series with the other 4 series being Primal Hunter, He Who Fights with Monsters, Azarinth Healer, and The Calamitous Bob). The scale of this series world-building is beyond any other series that comes to mind. And the crazy thing is that 16 books in, there's still a TON of room to keep building. I'm hoping the author can keep the series at this quality out to at least 30 books.
The series starts out slightly slower-paced, but 16 books in I think that was a good thing as it really sets up the main character and enables a slow build up of their new existence. You learn as the MC does, and at the beginning the MC is still struggling with the basics. But as the main character progresses, that 'world' gets more and more complex and grows vastly in scope (there's a whole giant universe out there), with that complexity being the main challenge of the series. When there is 16 books worth of progress, remembering all the details can get a bit challenging. Book 16 books in, I'm still eagerly reading every book that comes out.
All in all, I highly recommend this series and all of the others in my Top 5 list. If I had to round that out to a Top 10, other series I would recommend would be Paths of Akashic, Dual-Class, Grand Game, Unintended Cultivator, and A Thousand Li. None of those latter 5 are a strong as the top 5, but all are worth reading IMO.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2025
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