/lit/ - Literature

>>20578852
This is an author who knew exactly what they wanted out of their series. The plotting of coincidence and passive events between characters contributing to the larger narrative is handled better in this Chinese web novel than I've seen in most western work. Though the author reiterates details of the world frequently, it helps to build a sprawling magic system in a world that's so unique I truly wonder how deep the planning goes. The interaction between characters and how they lean on each other for their development is presented in such a pleasant way. You really feel each of these characters as a completed person; I've yet to find any two that have felt jarringly similar.

9/10

So much more to say about Lord of the Mysteries but I won’t spoil it in my review. The first 100 chapters are a roller coaster of worldbuilding and magic system development. I was gun-shy about the frequent reiteration at first, but I came to enjoy it as the exposition was layered against an event or personal growth for Klein. Someone in a previous thread said that it’s there because the actions themselves happen so fast. Without an explanation of function, the act itself is grand and concise.

Great book. The combination of charms, techniques and spells was extremely well done. Gladly picking up the rest of the series. Looking forward to going back to it after I finish the rest of this 20-book challenge. Thanks to the anon that recommended it to me in a thread some time ago.

Previous Scores:
>Cradle by Will Wight - 9/10
>Lord of the Mysteries by Cuttlefish – 9/10
>Ave Xia Rem Y by Mat Haz - 8/10
>Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar - 7/10
>A Thousand Li by Tao Wong - 7/10
>Virtuous Sons by Ya Boy - 6/10
>Bastion by Phil Tucker - 6/10
>Mother of Learning Act I - 5/10
>Reverend Insanity by Gu Zhen Ren - 5/10
>Beware of Chicken (Non-Edited for Release) by Casualfarmer – 5/10
>Soulhome by Sarah Lin - 5/10
>Beware of Chicken (Edited for Release) by Casualfarmer - 3/10
>Reincarnation: Threads by Michael Head - 3/10
>Last Ship in Suzhou by Lungs - 0/10 (Dropped)
Mean Score of 5.8 (6.3 without the dropped score)

>Current Book:
Heaven’s Laws: Prodigies by Apollos Thorne

>Next Audio Book:
Soulship by Nathan Thompson. Done with audiobooks after this. Think they’re robbing me of my experience and I fucking HATE Travis Baldree.

I also re-read Beware of Chicken in its original RR format, so I’ll provide that re-review next (changed from a 3/10 to a 5/10 above). Linking back to my old reviews seems masturbatory, so I’ll skip that and provide the links if requested. I’ve also created a goodreads account and will be reformatting most of my reviews to resemble this one. The goal in this challenge is to explore characters, magic systems, and their plots. I’ve been good about touching upon this in some respects and terrible about it in others.

>>20411117
Reviewed this (thanks anon) and added in links to my previous reviews... It turns out I never dropped a review for Cradle, Bastion or Virtuous Sons. However, I did make reviews for my friends on Virtuous Sons and Bastion which I'll post now...

Virtuous Sons: A Greco Roman Xianxia by YaBoy

Very interesting cultivation system but it relies solely on philosophical rhetoric as a combat solution after a certain point in time. You believe that the tools you have are better than the other person's and thus they are, conjecture being fact or by forcing your memory onto the other person so they see your truth. Uses all the old greek gods as their cultivation ability system, which is super cool, but the abilities cultivators manifest don't seem to be specific to their gods. Seems like people can really do whatever the hell they want, and just get a special feature. Character writing in this is... alright, but you have to accept the fact that you're dealing with two Gary Stus in a world of Gary Stus, trying to be the best Gary Stu. This is a fictionpress work and rolls out on a weekly basis and it shows. The formatting isn't novel-esque, its episodic and I think the pacing and development of the world struggles for it.

If everything else on my list is disappointing, I'll pick up the second half of the Arc but as of now it's a pass.

Immortal Great Souls - Bastion Book One
Final Score: 6/10

Great cultivation system, dealing almost exclusively with fire concepts and burning your Heart (cultivation core in this novel). I don't really understand how all the techniques manifest, but they seem to be extensions of the concept... either hardened by fire (shielding), crafted by fire (weapons) or some straight on transformations into demonic looking entities. Character writing in this is worlds above most of the cultivation shit I've read so far, though most of the females come off as written too similarly. Author needs to work on individualistic tones. MC has a lot going on for him, but the struggle in advancing is conveyed well. This feels like 3 books crammed into one and has the page count of 2, so I think the pacing could be a lot better.

First 25% of the book would be a 4/10 for me, but the last 75% was satisfying if not hindered by repeat conventions.

Will be picking up book 2.

Previous Scores:
> Cradle by Will Wight - 9/10
> Ave Xia Rem Y by Mat Haz - 8/10
>>20409801
> Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar - 7/10
>>20276359
> A Thousand Li by Tao Wong - 7/10
>>20259011
> Virtuous Sons by Ya Boy - 6/10
> Bastion by Phil Tucker - 6/10
> Mother of Learning Act I - 5/10
>>20367274
> Reverend Insanity by Gu Zhen Ren - 5/10
>>20259349
> Soulhome by Sarah Lin - 5/10
>>20374490
> Reincarnation: Threads by Michael Head - 3/10
>>20209353
> Last Ship in Suzhou by Lungs - 0/10 (Dropped)
>>20279014

>>20411153
Are you the one that recommended it to me? You were a good sell, hope its as good as you made it out to be.