Mike Montague

The worst Sanderson book, a chore to read

Revisado: 12-18-24

I love all of Brandon Sanderson's other book. but this is the worst by far. It is so boring. The book is incredibly long and so little happens. Sanderson got self-indulgent; writing and writing and not bothering to edit the book for content. He thinks having longer and longer books is a badge of honor. There are so many pointless empty scenes where nothing of importance or interest happens that he should have cut.

It takes a really long time to grab your attention. I am 15 hours—edit 26 hours!—in and I still have a hard time staying focused on the book. I keep wanting to turn it off an listen to something else. Part of it is he over uses his Sanderson Cliffhanger chapter ending. His signature technique where some exciting hook is introduced that makes you want to know what happens next, but then he cuts away to another perspective character. And then we have to rotate through all the perspective characters before we get back to the thing that caught your interest. The problem is in this book he does it nearly every time anything interesting happens. And it disrupts the flow of the book.

With the number of perspective characters by the time it rotates around to that character again, I've forgotten my excitement.
It's like where on Roshar and he's developed the most efficient method for baiting, fishing for, and killing Anticipation spren.

26 hours in and this book still can't hold my interest yet. That is egregious!!! I get that books are often slow in the beginning and get better later but 26 hours is unacceptable. I could get to the exciting part of and then FINISH most books in the same genre in the amount of time this book has drags its feet!

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

[placeholder title because I haven't finished yet]

Revisado: 07-19-23

This review is currently a placeholder because I had already started to forget what point in the book it had shifted from slow to interesting and knew if I waited until the end, I would forget like all the other reviewers did. The 5 star rating is a placeholder, because everyone else seems to like this at a 5 star rating, so I'm not going to ruin the books nearly perfect rating by rating it less than that until I finish the book.

While reading the began the book we were frustrated that none of the reviewers spoke to how slow the first handful of chapters of the book was so we had no idea if it got better. I pushed through and discovered it did. So I wrote this review to tell you it does!


The first 5 chapters are slow and boring but starting in chapter 6 it slowly ramps up more interesting by 10 it is exciting and hooks you to keep going (if you liked the last book you'll like the rest of this book).
The problem with the first 5 chapters is it feels like a genre switch to historical fiction building out the backstory for characters we don't care about. It's like for the first 5 chapters he forgot he was writing sci-fi/fantasy litrpg and started writing historical fiction. It's not that he forgot that the book was fantasy, but rather that after discovering what was really going on it was hard to care the mundanity of [spoiler for book 1] life.
Then the book starts to ramps up starting in chapter slowly at first, but eventually i hit ch 10 and realized I couldn't put it down.

The book is worth sticking with it through the first 6 - 10 chapters! I see why all the reviews for it are great.

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Cringy and Excessively problematic but gets better

Revisado: 03-28-23

Excessive cursing. Excessively violent. Among other problems. But the dungeon stuff is exceptional.

For all the negative things I have to say about this book. I will continue the series if/whenever the next book goes on sale.

The Bad is real bad but the good is solidly good enough to keep me reading once I got past the obnoxious first half of the book.

MC shouts MF (but the actual curse) all the time and other curses of that level.
I read some violent books but the MC has a level of love for violence the exceeds a level the protagonist of The Land only reaches after many books turning him jaded. MC reaches that level of violence after 3 fights. And he approaches that level of jaded to violence after the third fight as well. The MC does get better by the end of the book.
Also DESCEIPTIONS of the violence in the beginning of the book are exceedingly graphic! But it tones down. Like author learned how to manage descriptions of violence part way through writing the book.
MC is a womanizer. Tries to hook up in the first chapter he appears.
Early in the book the author drops large stat blocks all at once that are hard to understand in audiobook format. Have to go back and relisten to them half a dozen times to makes sense of them. And I say this as a veteran LitRPG reader. LitRPG is my favorite genre. But some authors don't understand how to spoon out stat and info dumps in small portions so the reader/listener has time to process them. Author gets better about this later in the book (that I'd kind of the theme in this review).

Author wastes a lot of time with graphic depictions of violence slowing the book down.

Regarding the review who called the MC an "Incel." Normally if I hear someone use language like "incel" I assume they are a certain type of person who I normally safely ignore the opinions of (if you know what I am talking about then you know). However, in this case what I think the reviewer is talking about is that the MC will do ANYTHING for sex. The MC is *that* type of person. Even to the point of considering sex with a certifiable sociopath who had b÷even about to torture him with a cheese grater to his junk, all because she talked seductively about sexual stuff as well. Also he brutally kills or disfigures & maims everyone of her comrades he can get his hands on. But leaves her alive with nothing more than a bruise, seemingly only because she was seductive. This pattern of his behavior towards women continues throughout the early part of the book, but mellows out some as there becomes less and less opportunity for him to act that way.

The good:

The magic stuff is great. The dungeon stuff is great. Like really great. It is better than most in the genre. Their purpose makes sense in a way that most dungeon explanations in the genre feel like hand waves in comparison. And the options presented to the character feel like all good options in a way that gets the reader excited and their mind spinning with creativity. He presents this depth and options in brief sections that never drag on too long and show a level of authorial efficiency in writing I can't describe. A level of efficiency in writing I don't have if this paragraph is anything to go by.

The story does draw you in eventually once he starts getting more involved with the dungeon stuff.

Unlike most books the MC isn't some above average specimen. Most books in this subgenre of litrpg give the MC a background as either military or a doctor. This MC isn't either of those which is a nice change.

Author actually gives us average stat numbers to compare against for the MC to lend both context and show how the MC stacks up. We get both averages for humans on the whole and for humans with the same height, age, and sex as the MC.

MC is specifically called as below average stat wise in the later category. With his only above average trait be above average Dexterity (not the same as agility which he is below average in) meaning he is good at video games (which isn't relevant to his current predicament).

All of these are a good thing. Not every MC needs to be the main character because of an excess of natural talent and smarts. In this genre in particular the MC is almost always minimum IQ 115, alongside other advantages. Author refrained from that here.

Back to bad:
However, while MC is below average intelligence, it is worth mentioning he makes some odd decissions that either reek of no forethought or WAY TOO MUCH forethought. Example, at one point MC will die if he doesn't raise his Intelligence and Wisdom (but those stats don't help him fight at all because he doesn't yet have any spells). After discovering leveling he realizes he needs at least one more level's worth of stat points in those stats to survive, maybe two. At his current values he has a 26% chance of dying in 6 hours and the 6 hours after that he'll have another 28% chance of dying (for a total chance of dying of 47% in the next 12 hours, and 63% in the next 18 hours). And he also sees that exp seems exponential in requirements to next level. So what does he do? Does he pick intelligence or wisdom? No. He dumps all his points into his best stat, Dexterity, taking a wild gamble with his life. I get that the stat helps him win those fights but why would a real person take that level of gamble? What does he do next level? Does he finally raise the stats he needs? Nope. (Although he finds out it isn't quite x4 exponential (additional exp needed to level by level: 20, 80, 200, etc.)). This improves later whether because the MC's intelligence and Wisdom go up or the Author's writing skill goes up, it is not clear.

The following parts of the review were written part way through reading:
It is slow. 6 chapters in and I am still having trouble engaging with the story.
Chapter 9, this book is cringy, but it has been showing just enough promise to keep me pushing through.
Chapter 19, I got drawn in many, many chapters ago and forgot to update the review. It is kind of like that. Unengaging for a while, but then sucks you in enough that you forget to finish the review.

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Story is excellent but MC too overpowered.

Revisado: 03-21-23

Story is excellent, and has some game changing twists later.

The following part of the review was written before I finished the book. The book contains a major twist in the third act that recontectualizes everything, making the bad not as bad. However since the review is valid for six sevenths of the book, I decide to leave what I wrote as is:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good: Ambitious quest. And not some ambitious-but-far-off-goal quest like your cliche "destroy the dark lord" quest. The quest is aways feels present and active, not just an end goal. It isn't one of those "big far off quest but the journey along the way is what the book is about" quests. The MC actually makes constant diligent progress and is ever further expanding his scope as he see new opportunities. I do like that the MC is ever vigilant for new opportunities to further his quest. Plot twists are well written. They make sense. I just wish they present more actual challenge to the MC. Author also understands what it takes to keep governments running, economies working, and it shows in the book. I also enjoy how the MC's actions ripple across government and economy and nation accurately based on the authors in depth understanding of those aspects. Author also knows his stuff about Medieval variations and complications that come into play in those world building aspects, and we get to see those. world building is good and accurate, this is mostly a good thing, problem is the accuracy goes too far in that it fails to fully adapt for the new security risks magic presents to these systems. And people don't properly defend against them.

Story is good, except his powers are OP and the MC has no real challenge (everything is too easy)--which overall brings it down to decent story.

The somewhere-in-between: MC is not a Mary Sue in personality (good), even though he is in his powers (bad). So it could be worse.

The Bad:
MC starts off actually having struggles for the first chapter, then once he realizes how good his shadow magic is in combat everything becomes easy from there. He also uses killing to solve all his problems, so shadow magic being great at combat and stealth solves all his problems.

it also protects him absolutely from all threats because he can just "hide in shadows," which means his own private pocket dimensions that protect him from all harm, not just being invisible, and he can see out of it just fine.

Every time he would come across a serious obstacle, he gets a new power (usually a magic item) 2 chapters beforehand that already solves the problem. (Need to hide someone's identity? He got a ring of disguise a chapter or so ago.)

While he is ambitious in his quest, which causes him to push himself against the limits of his powers. Everytime he touches the limits of his powers, an "inconvenient" random encounter attacks him just in time for him to rob the magic items they were carrying to give him all new powers for him to push the limits of.

None of the governments have any defenses against any of his magics. While that makes for shadow magic given its rarity (it's even more rare then he initially thinks). It doesn't make sense against any of the others.

And each of his powers always has the absolute most generous interpretation of what it can do. step into shadow? Turns out size of the shadow doesn't even mater. A pigeon sized shadow is enough for a man to step into. There are far more examples that are more egregious, but I can't share them without spoiling some of the new powers he gets which are presented as a reveal later, so out of respect to authorial intent, I won't spoil them.

The Ugly: MC is 16 but acts 25. MC solves almost all his problems through killing, but the rest of the world is as violent as him so at least it's thematically consistent. MC is a murderhobo.

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This series is great

Revisado: 02-06-23

I don't understand why some people don't like this series. Maybe just because it is different than his other work?
It has all the elements of a classic fantasy story: Heroes Journey story of an orphan boy but with unique twists in a unique interesting world. Dakota took a chance experimenting with a new cultures for this setting. Maybe it just wasn't for them. I enjoyed it.

In old times in the real world being fat was seen as beautiful because it was a sign of wealth. This book calls back to that. While in present day even the poorest amongst us are rich enough t have enough to eat, it wasn't alway that way. Which is why being fat equalled wealthy.
history lesson aside. Not sure why a couple reviewers act like this book hates on fat people, it doesn't. Only 1 character in this book doesn't view obesity as attractive and it isnt the MC, just a sidekick.

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ending is not one

Revisado: 12-14-22

yes it is book 2 of 3 but a story should tell a complete story. This sacrificed this for the sake of drawing people into the next book with a cliff hanger. (I took a star away for that.)

also there is one reveal of a secret that is handled horribly. the characters stretch their personality to be extra emotional for the sake of drama of character I terrify, just so that they can go with the most dramatic and heartbreaking way of handling the reveal. uncool.

still overall a good book and a good series.

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Potentially good story ruined by bad writing

Revisado: 12-03-22

Author's good at writing action but ruins it by her adding these not-believable "tell not show" exposition dumps of Rory telling the *reader* how badass she is.

Author shows believable action in the way Rory uses everything at her disposal in a fight scene to reach the peak of capability for someone who is a trained infiltrator, and at peak capability of a non-supernatural human woman. But then she ruins it example: Rory tells the *reader* how she was once locked in a room with 15 assasins and she was the only one who lived. Which is totally unbelievable in the context of the story. Or tells us she's able to beat two shifted dragons at the same time. These exposition dumps that add nothing to the story and make the skill level LESS believable, than if she would have just kept writing her.

And then she gets super powers.

Rory is a huge hypocrite. She doesn't treat anyone else the way she demands to be treated. Constantly gets offended when people treat her even half as bad as she treats them. Example: she keeps her spectre side a secret to "protect" someone who she just discovered is basically the equivilant of a spectrum himself--and thus doesn't need protection, after being mad at him for not telling her that side of him despite him not knowing amything about her. Then half a chapter later gets mad that someone else who owes her NO loyalty, might keep who they are a secret from her to protect her.

She trusts no one but gets mad when people don't trust her immediately. She demands anyone non-hostile spill their every secret, before she will even share her name.

She demands everyone do what's he says as if it's law, even though she isn't in charge. But she never listens to anyone else's rules--even when a guest in someone else's home, she will go as far as to respond with demands and commands of her own instead.

She is a huge contrarian. Someone tells her to do or not do something and she'll do the opposite just to prove "no one orders me around and no one forbids me to do anything."

She won't even listen to advice from other people. Even though she constantly looking for information and advantages, she'll just ignore them if it is offered to her.

A guy offers her a ride when she's desperate to escape and she demands he get out and let her drive his car. And this is after she already threw him from the passenger seat of a moving vehicle, stolen from someone else, once before. He doesn't even know her name and she expects him to trust her. Then when he slides over to let her drive instead of get out, she tells the reader that was smart because she would have stolen his car otherwise. "!?"

The hypocrisy and not trusting others are meant to be a much needed character flaws for her. But everyone else puts up with it so easily that it ruins.

Later she transforms into a horny schoolgirl (to use her own words). Stupid exagerated reactions and everything.

Writing is inconsistent.
Example: She starts the story frustrated that she never gets to work solo. Then later when someone she can trust shows up to help her, she laments she "isn't a team player," and doesn't have experience working with others.

Story also wildly shifts tone. It starts off as a hard edge action spy novel and then changes to a horny harem midway through.

Has weird things in there like her saying her organization "has never condoned monogamy." As if monogamy is something that needs to be condoned and not the default most stable and healthiest form of a relationship. Which causes her to view monogamy as "possessing someone" (side note: that's a super unhealthy lens to view the world through). Although her organization also didn't condone sisters interacting with each other, so maybe we aren't supposed to take her organization's views as a good thing like Rory does. Then she gets jealous *every* *time* a guy she like tells her he's had sex in the past?!

It's a shame because the author took what had the seeds to be a really engaging story and ruined it with bad writing, and inconsistent tone turning the story into a harem.

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an emotional impactful end to the series

Revisado: 11-23-22

This book was a masterpiece. an emotional impactful end to this series. And an eye opening gateway into the next series set in the next era of Scadrial.

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This book is too short

Revisado: 11-08-22

It doesn't feel like a complete story.
This book is survival genre unlike the others. I don't like that genre. On the otherhand, it means that Aleron Kong is still trying new things and new stories, which is good. but it still lost stars from me because I don't like the survival genre.
But I'm sure somewhere out there there is some one who will be a fan of the new hybrid genre of survival litrpg this book creates.

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an amazing end to the series

Revisado: 07-30-22

Many book series have endings that fall off at the end. Not this series. This night be the best book in the series yet!

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