I signed up literally for one reason only. To warn you away from reading this book, at least until further chapters are released. I will not reveal spoilers. I will only say that the most important quality which makes a novel worthy of being read - the agency of the main character - is violated in the most unsatisfying way, after hundreds of chapters of suspense and development. The end of the second volume genuinely makes me wish that I had not started this book. Wherever this trope appears, it is almost universally reviled. This is partly because it is the ultimate exercise in lazy arbitrariness - if the character is forced to act a certain way, then the plot can move forward regardless of the actual personality of the character. I will not insult the author. But I will say that going by the tone of his writing, there will be little to no karma from his agency having been betrayed. There will be no satisfying resolution. The main character will continue to be disrespected, pitied, and remain fundamentally pathetic. The underdog will remain in the mud, and those that spit on him will go on with their day with a calm face and a superior conscience. I hope I am wrong. But I suspect not. It is too much to expect that this feedback will be received. So I can only warn - if you want over 300 chapters of well-written, exciting action and development followed by a whimper which nullified all that came before it, then read on.
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Well said. I've read to chapter 350 and your assessment is spot on. If Sunless doesn't see the light soon, I'm dropping it.
Same. I’m going to stack chapters rn, but with a bad taste in my mouth. Not sure if I’ll ever pick this back up or not. Literally infinite possibilities for how vol. 2 could have ended, and this is the route we went.
Indeed. Unfortunately, in my experience, there is hardly ever any improvement after this sort of trope. Every single story which has featured protagonists of this type - dependent and controllable - either tends to grow out of it after at most a few dozen chapters (partly because it is so unsatisfying) or makes it a point to hammer it home at every opportunity. I've learned to cut my losses and simply drop such volumes. In my mind, a story can go down bleak alleys, but there must be a trade-off that makes it worth it. Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is the furthest thing from a happy novel, but it makes up for it in the sheer insight it provides. This story, I am sorry to say, is merely unsatisfying - like many "realist" fantasies. The author can always respond by some variant of "betrayal and compulsion actually does happen in real life, so I'm just trying to reflect that." There is scarcely a more condescending phrase. We do not need fantasy authors to remind us that life is unfair - if we needed a dose of real life, all we'd need to to is attend a funeral, or visit a hospital. We go to fiction - fantasy in particular - to sake the thirst of those parts of ourselves which hope for something better; growth, justice, truth. They are like water in a desert. We do not to be reminded of the unfairness of the real world. I shudder to think of a "realist" Lord of the Rings.
Zach_G_1524:Same. I’m going to stack chapters rn, but with a bad taste in my mouth. Not sure if I’ll ever pick this back up or not. Literally infinite possibilities for how vol. 2 could have ended, and this is the route we went.
I so disagree with you. For once, everything doesn't end well with intense emotions, that's what makes a book vibrate. Okay, he's not too free anymore, but so much the better, it had to happen one day, so it might as well be early enough and it's surprising. Instead, every time he comes close to losing everything to win like you see in most books and everything ends well. In fact when it happened I was at the end of it and disappointed, but that's the kind of emotion I'm looking for. If I read a novel just to be happy, it's just boring. It's like the death of an important character, it brings a bitter taste, but then has a refreshing change that gives a second life to the novel. My opinion of course.
It's really not surprising considering Sunny's passive nature in the second nightmare. I see nothing unique or interesting about a servant boy and his hypocritical master. If Sunny were free and became a slave, that would establish a sense of loss. However, he was subservient to begin with. Ideally Sunny would have many masters throughout the course of the novel, and would think up creative ways of escaping or destroying them.
Yarakiri:I so disagree with you. For once, everything doesn't end well with intense emotions, that's what makes a book vibrate. Okay, he's not too free anymore, but so much the better, it had to happen one day, so it might as well be early enough and it's surprising. Instead, every time he comes close to losing everything to win like you see in most books and everything ends well. In fact when it happened I was at the end of it and disappointed, but that's the kind of emotion I'm looking for. If I read a novel just to be happy, it's just boring. It's like the death of an important character, it brings a bitter taste, but then has a refreshing change that gives a second life to the novel. My opinion of course.
It holds.
L_Poren:It's really not surprising considering Sunny's passive nature in the second nightmare. I see nothing unique or interesting about a servant boy and his hypocritical master. If Sunny were free and became a slave, that would establish a sense of loss. However, he was subservient to begin with. Ideally Sunny would have many masters throughout the course of the novel, and would think up creative ways of escaping or destroying them.
Your point is well taken. I wouldn't like to read a wholly predictable story with a character so over-powered that any exercise of personal agency is immediately fulfilled by the world. But there are shades in between preserving agency and violating it, and this story simply runs a bit too far towards the latter for me to derive any true enjoyment from it. There are many stories out there who achieve a better balance without as much filler. But even unsatisfying stories have a way of gripping you, even though you know you will have regretted spending so much time on something so personally unsatisfying after the fact. Hence the warning. I also think we disagree on what it actually means to be happy reading a book. I can derive genuine pleasure from reading a tragedy as I can from a comedy. That a book should make you happy doesn't require it to be a happy book. But conversely, an unhappy book isn't of good quality just because it puts the characters through the ringer. It takes a bit more than making the main character consistently pathetic in order to write an enjoyable piece.
Yarakiri:I so disagree with you. For once, everything doesn't end well with intense emotions, that's what makes a book vibrate. Okay, he's not too free anymore, but so much the better, it had to happen one day, so it might as well be early enough and it's surprising. Instead, every time he comes close to losing everything to win like you see in most books and everything ends well. In fact when it happened I was at the end of it and disappointed, but that's the kind of emotion I'm looking for. If I read a novel just to be happy, it's just boring. It's like the death of an important character, it brings a bitter taste, but then has a refreshing change that gives a second life to the novel. My opinion of course.
The worst part is probably that it’s literally the most predictable ending, unfortunately.
he became a slave so......
This is well said, and honestly better than I ever could put into words. I would be absolutely blown away if the author could fix this, but I seriously have no interest in reading anything more. Easily one of the best writers in the original section, a tad bit of a slow story. But, really good writer. This plot in volume 2 though, yeah I can't give anyone, no matter how good a writer my time after that.
There's a certain feeling of relief when reading novels where the main character is always overpowered, always gets his way, and nothing wrong ever happens to him. When I started reading web novels, or at least the chinese cultivation inspired ones, I was absolutely stunned finding almost all books seemed to be like that. That's because I was used to reading books centered around heroes getting pummeled every which way, stewed, fried, getting defeated constantly and sometimes yes, even forced into slavery or commanded only to be able to win out at the end, after facing all those trials. And I also loved those kinds of books. So... yeah. Don't lose hope on this book just because the main character isn't the most powerful, or has to overcome major obstacles, like gaining back his freedom. It's more fun that way.
I would disagree. I thought the ending to volume two was thenomenal. A lot of plot twists I didn’t see coming. I think this is more opinionative than fact based. You dislike the way it went but it’s still great.
This novel is not the cliche trope where the MC is so OP and simply defeats his enemies using brute power or simply ridiculous plots. No this novel is more realistic and harsher in this regard. The power levels are very respected in this novel. So if a creature or person is of a higher level the MC will either have to retreat or come up with a 'treacherous' (lol) and sensible way to gain the advantage. Things don't just conveniently happen to help him like most cliche plots nowadays, everything the MC does or happens to him at most times are so well explained. The World is so rich in terms of lore and the characters are so fleshed out. Even the villains have a personality, sensible logic. Not everything is black and white. This book is definitely tailored to the mature readers whi have outgrown cliche tropes where the MC simply overpowers everything, gets trophy women in his harem and every man is either a bad guy or a prop to further tge glory of the MC. That being said one of the biggest flaws in this book is the fact that most villains and minor characters are men while the 'good' and polished (in terms of skill and power ) characters are mainly women. This is just a minor irk on my side but otherwise this book is definitely worth a try. It is definitely up there with my best books of all time.
An update on my previous review, is that past tge point where Sunny becomes a Master the character development took a drastic turn and Sunny became a wimpy MC and now kind of has a Harem. I mean at this point, the only other male lead is now just a prop to glorify the MC. Sunny is now just follows what every female character in story tells him to do. From doing his best to fight the fate of him being a slave both metaphorically and in reality, he now just does what he is told . All the defiance, gone, all the spite for the world and its inhabitants (both in the dream and waking world) are all gone, all the treachery, gone. Tge fleshed out characters, gone. Its really so heartbreaking to see such an amazing novel now taking the route to the cliche OP MC, Harem type book. Am literally in tears. Not sure why the author would take this route. But I do thank for him for the great time I had with this book in the previous chapters. Otherwise, I don't think I will continue and if I do continue I'll do it reluctantly in hopes that the story will be what it once was.
Henry_macharia:This novel is not the cliche trope where the MC is so OP and simply defeats his enemies using brute power or simply ridiculous plots. No this novel is more realistic and harsher in this regard. The power levels are very respected in this novel. So if a creature or person is of a higher level the MC will either have to retreat or come up with a 'treacherous' (lol) and sensible way to gain the advantage. Things don't just conveniently happen to help him like most cliche plots nowadays, everything the MC does or happens to him at most times are so well explained. The World is so rich in terms of lore and the characters are so fleshed out. Even the villains have a personality, sensible logic. Not everything is black and white. This book is definitely tailored to the mature readers whi have outgrown cliche tropes where the MC simply overpowers everything, gets trophy women in his harem and every man is either a bad guy or a prop to further tge glory of the MC. That being said one of the biggest flaws in this book is the fact that most villains and minor characters are men while the 'good' and polished (in terms of skill and power ) characters are mainly women. This is just a minor irk on my side but otherwise this book is definitely worth a try. It is definitely up there with my best books of all time.
so that I try not to spoil for anyone. THe police basically just commands sunny to do everything. Sunny has no control over who comes into his home even of they're destroying it. And lastly the female characters were definitely changing him. Like what he did to that transcended after all she did to her. Sparing his close 'betrayer' even if it cost him everything. In contrast to how Sunny was in the beginning, where he wouldn't be so quick to forgive something like that. A more Sunny reactions is what he did with his Slaver later on and rejected her. That would have been a more fitting response to his close 'betrayer'. But, the author seems to have gotten his groove back cause Sunny's latest expedition around chapters 800+ gives me hope. I can't say 100% that it's back cause I haven't seen Sunny being put between a rock and a hard place yet. But I do have hope that this book is going back to how it was. The fleshed out characters, the tough choices that have to be really made and not just solved by the power of friendship or tye Charcters doing things that are very put of character for the ladies.
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He might have 'reservations' but what he says and does create a really huge gap. He claims to have reservations but when it actually matter you see He deeply cares for her. Also, Sunny is not a blank book. This is someone who has lived in the slums for his entire life and for the better part of it, as an orphan. To survive that long in the conditions described by the author, alone especially, you expexlct certain behaviors. Being witty for one, which he is, Calculating, which he is and lastly not very trusting or forgiving, who he even mentions quite a few times in the course of the book. Also, he is not very likely to aggravate the big powers in the world which from the way Sunny was behaving (before the ball) most likely suggested that he would be in it with his Master. All this l, feels like a gross violation of Sunny's character, which I think the author probably noticed (I apologize if am being to presumptuous) and corrected it. The way the story is before the ball and and the previous 50 or so chapters are drastically different. Also when I did write the follow up 'review' I did so with a lot sorrow. I was so sad that a novel I loved so much (second only to Overlord) was going down the same path of harem or wimpy MC tropes where there is no form of actual charcter development and the Character just seems synthetic , a perfect guy with a penchant for collecting women, basically a made up character. A character that reminds us that constantly reminds us that this character is made up. Sunny for the better part of the novel was not like that, Sunny feels real for the most part. He behaves in character most times, and so do the other characters in the novel but during the period I was batching about, those characters blurred out but now they seem to be getting clear again. I am not attacking anyone, just a review I was writing and am happy someone read through and gave a reasonable counter.
Volume 5 is where Sunny's character goes through so much growth. He's becoming a leader from a follower.
i too just signed up to comment that do not read this if you don't like beta Mc . it is okay to be naive , kind and all that but being a slave to your rival .. pfff pathetic
go read it now that you have now 500 more chapters :) and you can change your comment that you were so wrong and this author is writing masterpiece!
Thialas:go read it now that you have now 500 more chapters :) and you can change your comment that you were so wrong and this author is writing masterpiece!
