Kergonan

Inheritor of Magic: The Magi King I really enjoyed Aoki Akus previous novel, Humanity’s Greatest Mecha Warrior System, so I came to to tale hoping it would be to fantasy what its predecessor had been to SF/space-opera. The basic setting is a post-apocalyptic one with contemporary level technology with a bit of low level magic in some places, including the protagonists hometown, but it progressively evolves into a high- magic or high magictech (depending on the locations) thanks to the intervention of the main character and his friend (at first) and the nation they build (later). It is well-made, especially since the story first involves a small region, but moves by increments to larger regions, continent, the world and others planes inhabited by faes, demons or other entities. The cast is quite mostly nicely done. The protagonist, Wolfe Noxus is an intelligent, resourceful, witty, practical, kind and horny magic users who knows how to make the best of the circumstances he comes upon and the increasingly greater powers he wields (in fact, he tends to be too good sometimes). His circle of friends, most of them females are also quite well-written, particularly if you consider this is a harem novel. The ones closest to him, like Cassie, Ella, Stephanie or Rail, are really well-written with their merits and flaws, definitely no daft bimbos (although not at the level of Nico in the previous story, as the quality of the character writing is spread among the love interests). Other characters tend to be well-made, although some antagonists (there is no real big bad enemy) feel a bit one dimensional. The power system is built relatively well. It is rated in scale from 1 to 9 (with two important levels being 7- Saint and 9- King), with different kind of being (magi, witch, fae, demon, mage, etc …) having different access or proficiencies in wielding various kind of magic (like witches being better at healing). The peculiar perk of the MC being that he is the only Magi in the world after a near-extermination of the bloodline, which is quite advantageous as magi are the best and most varied elemental magic users and have the highest power mana reserves among all. The only problem at this level being that progression can seem a bit rough at times. The biggest flaw of the novel is the story itself. No, let me rephrase that, the last third of the story is the biggest flaw of the novel. The first two thirds are amazing, a great mix of exploration, adventure, action, slice of life, romance (with a dash of R18 content) civilization-building and magic based macgyverism. Sadly, toward the last third of the novel, two things happen. First Wolfe becomes too strong for the setting, pretty much no one represents a danger to him and his close circle, the antagonists are no challenge to him and the few who could be actually be dangerous are either friendly or reasonable enough to solve conflicts without threats or violence. And second, as a consequence, the story turns almost entirely to slice of life, civilization and family building complete with doses of pointless technical details the reader to power through has to power through, only alighted by the ancient history details or humour. At that point, the story is a walk in the park for the protagonist. The writing is what allowed me to finish the novel, for it has energy, humour (lots of innuendos and puns) and shows Aoki Aku still has what it takes when it comes to style. The only issue here is the typo, as a few persist even in the latter chapter. So, Inheritor of Magic: The Magi King is still a fair novel, with fine characters, interesting setting, good power system and great writing, but it is let down by a poor last third of the story. My final verdict is a low 7 out of 10. I still consider Aoki Aku as a very good author and I will read his other novels in due time, but here this novel made me want to look at other novelists in the meantime. Kergonan out.

*many of "us"

God’s Eyes Stopped at chapter 532 of 1115 As this novel of HideousGrain was high in the rankings, I decided to give a try to this author whom I never read before. Sadly, I was disappointed. I tried to like this novel, I really did, but its interesting premises were sapped by too many flaws that I can’t push through anymore. This tales has a fine setting at the beginning, but its latter expansions seem only to exist in order to justify the plot. The plot which appears quite chaotic with only the tiniest underlying coherence. Adding to that is the protagonist, Jason Stella, whose intelligence, maturity and personality vary on a large spectrum, depending on where the author wants to go. In fact, a number of secondary characters are better written than the MC. The power system is quite interesting, but suffers from the same coherence problem (the writer has a real problem with numbers). Finally, the writing itself is the main issue of the novel. Beyond the typos and mistaken homophones, the story is affected by filler and a very rough style. My current verdict, as of chapter 532 (a bit less than half the novel), is a 4 out of 10. I’m putting this one on hold, maybe indefinity, and it will be a while before I try another HideousGrain tale. I really hope he has improved since then. Meanwhile, I’m spend time reading other new writers, as well as those whose books I already enjoyed. Kergonan out

I am the God of Technology I decided to read to read a short novel as I often do between two long stories. And as I finished reading the very good “Humanity’s Greatest Mecha Warrior System”, I settled for this short tale also in the Sci-Fi genre. Sadly, it seems that I recently have no luck with short novels, as “I am the God of Technology” appeared to have an alright rating at first but in fact quickly became a drag, until it devolved in disgust. Dante is a okay overall protagonist, more an anti-hero, self-centered pretty much except when his family or love interest are involved. Not a complete sociopath, but definitely not a good person. His paramour Beatrice is a fine character with a detailed background, also more on the anti-hero side of the morality compass, but still right (she is in fact better written than the MC). Alas, beside them, the family and a couple other characters, the rest of the cast is quite bareboned. The setting and the story are low points of the tale. The protagonist has the power to switch between universes, first his seemingly native contemporary Earth universe and the space-opera Eternal Universe, then a number of quantum computer created universes with various elements of fantasy (western and eastern), science, post-apocalyptic or even anime, each with its own power system. Since all of these elements are introduced in a relatively short time, I felt like there was overwhelming arrival of new elements, but no real development in depth, just the parts that allow the MC to power level by taking advantage of the interaction between his universe-hoping power and the various systems of the worlds he visits. Beside the romance with Beatrice, the story is pretty much just that when I finished. The writing is another bad spot of the novel. First, Kotaro overuses breaking of the fourth wall in a not very subtle way, either directly or with references to other media franchises, so much that I felt I had in front of me a story that could not stand on its own. Next, not only there are a number of typos, misspelling and grammar errors, but the style itself can be qualified as raw, dry and stuffed. The author doesn’t try to ease the reading, especially when he gives huge list of items, powers or others things that make the novel appears less a sci-fi tale and more a technical manual or a catalogue. I had to force myself in a number of chapter and it is one of those lists, one full of plagiarised materials that made me drop. Because yes, I dropped this novel, a rare thing, but between the unrefined style, the overabundance of references, the lack of depth of the various universes and the just okay protagonist, I already had a hard time carrying on with my reading, but the plain plagiarism, even before the mid-point of the book was the last straw for me. My final verdict is a 3 out of 10. Now, I’m moving to a fantasy story, which I hope will show it is worth its high ratings.

Humanity’s Greatest Mecha Warrior System Another novel with a cheesy long title, but it’s a top ranker on Webnovel’s charts and others tales by Aoki Aku are also highly praised. After a lot of fantasy, I’m in for some science-fiction for a change, so why not ? The setting is not hard SF, more like a space opera, although more grounded than Star Wars. While it draws heavy inspirations from top SF universes (Warhammer 40K, Mass Effect or Alien/Predator, among others), it really feels unique and original. It also includes plenty of well-coordinated elements of strategy, politics, economy, diplomacy, social, technology … that give consistency to the whole and make it feel alive. It truly is one of the highlights of the book. The other is the characters, especially the two protagonists. Yes, because there are two, the power couple Keres Max and Nico Tarith, one can’t go without the other. One is a more classic hero down-to-earth with amazing tactical and psychological insights, the other is a battle-maniac with a gift for technology and massacre, both are intelligent, strong, funny and made for one another. The secondary characters are also well-made, not as detailed but good enough for the screentime they get. Of note are Nico’s mother Mary and the group of Envoy from the Alliance. The only downside is the final antagonist who, while understandably mysterious, doesn’t get enough attention. The power system is really well-thought. For one, it is not exclusive to the protagonists, in fact, this nanobots-based power is the trademark of the empire where they are born, they just have the highest level of compatibility possible with it. This system gives special powers specific to each person as they pass thresholds in their physical abilities while raising their physical peak to superhuman levels. Max tends to get, beside his initial mind-reading power, more combat-oriented abilities, whereas Nico gets more engineering/hacking perks. You could also consider the memories they get from their previous lives as part of their power, but since there are related to mostly unrecorded ancient times, they are a boon but not always relevant. The story is very good, with a fine progression of the stakes from the small and local (on a galactic scale) to the universe shaking, with a great variety of subjects, involving matter of war, politics, discovery, romance (amazingly told, that’s rare), a lot like Babylon 5, but more light-hearted. The problem here is the ending, which is rushed and a bit frustrating, although the author makes it clear this novel is only the first part of an epic tale. The writing is very good, the action gives sensations like fine anime mecha/power-armor combat scenes, the intrigue parts are also greatly described and the exchanges between the two MCs are a real treat. What prevents the writer from being qualitied as “excellent” are the various typos, grammar and homophones mistakes (few but a bit cringy for a tale that well-told) and the pacing, especially toward the last fifth of the novel. I understand that Aoki Aku intended to write a multiple parts story, and it relieved me to know this end is but a pause, but there should have been a better way to prepare the reader for this. Still, even with its bad sides, Humanity’s Greatest Mecha Warrior System is a very good SF novel, borderline excellent. Great characters (one of the best power couple of protagonists I’ve read about), fine system, excellent setting, a very good story served by a writing of equal level, my final verdict is a high 8 out 10 (and it could have been 9 with a better ending/transition to part 2). Aoki Aku deserves his spot as one of Webnovel’s best original author, I will be reading the next part of Max and Nico’s tale when it will be out and likely read another story by him in the meantime. Kergonan out

Deja vu.

MMORPG: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God I confess, the cheesy title made me strongly hesitate before reading this novel, and only its consistent presence at the top of Webnovel’s charts finally decided me to read this story. This is by the way the second volume of Raj_Shah_7152’s MMORPG trilogy (the first being “Rebirth of the Strongest Guildmaster” and the third currently underway “Villain with the Strongest System”), but not having read the previous volume did not prevent me from enjoying this tale. Because yes, I enjoyed it. The setting, a wide universe mixing fantasy and science fiction while integrated with a MMORPG-like system called Sigma, is very well written, coherent, with many levels of underlying mysteries unveiled as the story progresses. It also evolves significantly with the actions of the characters in ways that are natural and logical. The characters are the best point of the tale, from the protagonist Max Rajput, to his brother Rudra (the protagonist of the first novel and a true deuteragonist in this second part), to their companions, families, allies, antagonists and major sides characters, each is described with a complexity in relation to their significance. None of them is all white or black, everyone believably exists in shades of gray, with their merits and flaws, the antagonists can elicit sympathy and even the main characters’ shortcoming are not hidden, as well as their consequences. Another good point is the evolution of the character, especially the MC and his entourage, they change as the story moves forward, they accumulate power in various forms and experiences gives them new perspectives. The power system is well made and coherent, resembling a RPG with levels, tiers of power (from 0 to 9) with stats, skills and mastery levels. But what differentiates the main character from the rest is how he progresses in this system, more than the quite small cheat he gets as a regressor/reincarnator at the beginning. His advantage is mostly built with his hard work and suffering. The story is the final strong point of the novel, as Raj Shah gives us a true rolllercoaster of a story with action, intrigue, a bit of kingdom building (the shallowest part), romance (the harem part is well written) and comedy. It is not the best I’ve read, but it’s very good. The writing is a bit of a letdown, as it contains quite a number of mistakes, typos and misspelling, at least one per chapter, sometimes more, even by the end of the novel. Honestly, the author should get a proofreader. The style itself is on the other hand quite good and dynamic. So, despite the mouthful of a title, MMORPG: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God is a very good story with a fine setting, excellent characters, logical power system and a dynamic style of writing with sadly a serious need of a proofreader. My final verdict is a low 9 out of 10 (with a high 9 if the novel was to be corrected one day). Raj Shah certainly deserves praises as a great author and I will certainly read the last part of his trilogy once it is completed (although I’m not sure I will go read the first part, as part of it has already been spoilt for me), or I might for another of his tales in a different setting. Kergonan out.

Transmigrating to Modern Earth from the Future I started to read this novel because I wanted a good short story between the often thousand chapters long chapters tales I’m fond of. So, let’s go first with the one good thing about this book, the author has good grammar. Everything else is a letdown. It is not a short story, it’s a supposed-to-be long novel that has been abandoned by the author, so it’s not a completed story, more a short road leading to nowhere. The original premises, a hyper advanced AI from the ten of thousand of year in the future, sick of its pointless existence, tries to self-destroy ends up in a modern Earth in a human body, is wasted. The main character (Lumen) is a generic isekai character who ends up a collection of tropes, appears quite stupid at the end. And I say Isekai purposefully, as in the first 10 chapters, the action leaves Earth for an unoriginal fantasy tutorial then fantasy world setting, with a system trope which is good at first but unexploited. Finally, the writing is alright at the beginning, but toward the end of the first volume, it starts to go bad, and for the second (and final volume of the tale), the storytelling becomes incoherent, sloppy, repetitive (filler), just bad to the point I had to force myself to read the last chapters. In conclusion, this novel is a wasted opportunity, in character and setting (a cheat, as it almost doesn’t take place in modern Earth), the writing is awful and it is no wonder the author gave it up. My final verdict is a 1 out of 10. P.S: I can’t even thank the author for the effort of writing this novel, as the last 10 chapter were a torture to read, and he did not even have the sincerity to say in the synopsis that it was not a completed tale, but one which would remain unfinished. I wasted my coins for nothing.

"docks" not docs

Unlimited Power – The Arcana Path I started to read on Webnovel with The Wizard World, plus Throne of Magical Arcana is one of my all times favorite, so you can say I have a fancy for tales about magic and arcane. Seeing this novel well placed among the collections ranking of completed novels, I decided to give it a go… Sadly, I faced quite a disappointment. While the first fifth/quarter of the novel is pretty good, after that point, the writing starts to feel dry, the plot repeats itself with long isolation/grind sequences that even the numerous humorous cliches and trivia can’t make more digest. It leads to a rushed and mediocre ending, which I welcomed as, after reaching the third fifth of the tale I really had to force myself into a reading forced march in order not to leave that story behind without finishing it. The cast is okay, but the protagonist becomes a weak point of the novel, as he feels quite a feeble, bland victim of circumstances rather than a hero or anti-hero, even with the major plot revelation toward the end. The writing contains plenty of wrong uses of tense, grammar mistakes, confusions of homophones, at least one by chapter even in the last one. Clearly, the author needs to improve in this field. In conclusion, I dislike that novel enough that I don’t want to elaborate any further. Just know that Unlimited Power – The Arcana Path is a bad/mediocre novel, a bare 3 out of 10 which high ranking I just can’t understand. I wasted my coins on that book and I will stay away from all the other tales by ExSoldierLv99. If you want to read an excellent story of wizards and magic, go read Throne of Magical Arcana by the awesome Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also on Webnovel, it is worth every coin. Now if you excuse me, I’m off to read Reincarnated with the Strongest System, hoping that it is the excellent novel its top ranking indicated, for I need to wash my brain of that last bad experience.