O-C

Liar, Liar, Kingdom On Fire

Revisado: 03-29-25

The spring is here, the dragons are coming, and the king is a dopple.

The world will not stand still for Aaron to avenge the late king. Marcus has a family Aaron needs to meet, the Late Wake has skills Aaron needs to learn, and even if Orin is a human, not everyone will be as happy with that as they should be. And perhaps most importantly, Lastreign has been losing a war of attrition against the dragons for over a decade, and the breaking point is approaching fast. If humanity is to survive, Aaron will need to trust people. But which people? And with what secrets?

This sequel is one of the best I've ever read, expanding upon the relationships and stakes of the first while deepening our understanding of the world. We learn more about the humans outside of Oneking, of the people who fight the dragons every year, and the people who once served the northern Griffins. The narration and prose are once more fantastic, and the pacing manages to stay smooth and interesting despite shifting between quick summaries of multiple weeks and more standard adventures multiple times, always keeping the story interesting.

Things are becoming tenser as secrets new and old are revealed, and plots long in the making are tightening their grip around the kingdom of Lastreign. Time is running short for everyone, and Aaron only has so much attention to spare. He has schemes of his own, after all, and even for a man who can see death coming, not everything can be avoided.

I cannot recommend this enough.

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Dark, Brutal, and Intruging

Revisado: 01-16-25

This review is going to be a bit odd, because the books in this series are weird. They're really short, and book one is free to boot. Rather than giving them each a review, I'm going to review the whole series here, on my review of book one. For reference, I only got to about a quarter into book five, which is roughly 38 hours of story, and halfway through the series.

Okay, so, overall, this setting is fantastic. Brutally motivated people trapped in a dying artificial world. In an interesting change of pace, the governing system seems to be doing its best to keep everyone alive and happy, and the current situation of grimdark misery where your limbs are rented commodities is a result of necessary resource budgeting. As we get further into the series, we get glimpses of the desperate measures that have been taken to stave off the decay of the artificial world, and we get little hints at the horrors that forced this to be a fate worth volunteering for.

The characters are mostly good as well. Many have turned to abusing what little power they have, with no future in sight and the reality of being a limbless worm just around the corner. Still, kindness has not been lost, and people still cling to scraps of humanity, protecting friends and loved ones, and perhaps giving a handout to a beggar now and then. Our protagonists are forced to adapt and overcome their terrible situations, and the whole thing feels so human and believable that I never had to suspend my disbelief for any character interaction.

The narration is really good, as is much of the prose and dialog. I could practically see the dingy, dirty hallways these people live in, and could imagine the squirming wretches that were the limbless worms. There are a few cases of painfully expository dialog, but they were few and far between.

However, when all is said and done, I DO NOT recommend this series. The characters may be believable and human, the world may be complex and interesting, and the writing may be good, but the main character is ultimately a detriment to the story.


So, our protagonist, Elb, is a pretty interesting case, at first. He's driven, confident, morally outraged at the situation, and perfectly willing to risk his life to make things better. Like everyone else, his memories are gone, so he's pretty much building himself from the ground up. For most of books one through three, he's a great driving force in the plot, seeking out ways to acquire power, and using it to right the wrongs in this rotting world, hunting down slavers, cannibals, and even small-time bullies.

But the thing is, as he gets more and more power, and as he gets exposed to more and more situations, something becomes very clear. Elb is a piece of shit. He's cruel, callous, self-centered, and utterly unconcerned with anyone else's opinions or feelings. He has no concept of honor, and has no qualms about anything, from torture to cold-blooded execution. He's got an ego to make Narcissus blush, and is the most foul mouthed person I've ever read about.

He technically has a "live and let live" policy, but will immediately jump to torture and maiming over minor backtalk or insults (Remember, limbs are an EXTREMELY valuable commodity in the world, and those who lose them are explicitly doomed to the worst sort of life). He takes pleasure in scalping people, and will crush someone's genitals to pulp just for the sin of belonging to a neutral faction. He makes no consideration for the station of others, and will thoughtlessly insult people who he really cannot afford to alienate. The only reason he doesn't get killed out of hand before the end of book two is sheer luck and plot armor.

Additionally, the concept of other people deserving any modicum of respect or them having things they care about is foreign to him, and this includes his companions. He views them as nothing more than tools, and constantly attempts to mold them into obedient soldiers for him to command. There's a strong correlation between how "skilled and experienced" he considers his friends, and how little they're willing to offer their own opinions on things. He views subordinating their personalities to his as progress towards them being worthy of following him.

As mentioned previously, he's also driven. Insanely driven. He actively intends to die pursuing his goals, and expects all his friends to die with him. He has no intention to find a happy ending, and actively scorns the concept of trying to live a fulfilling life. He isn't even a "enjoy the journey" type of person. He seems to just hate the world, hate his life, and hate the idea of not hating everything. And if his companions are unwilling to abandon any chance at happiness and join him on a nebulous and likely impossible crusade, then he cuts them loose. And while he claims it's in the "This is for your own good" sort of way, the subtext very clearly shows that it's actually the "You worthless trash" sort of way.

The only reason it took me five books to realize that Elb is a terrible person with no sense of empathy, honor, human decency, or any other redeeming qualities is that, for most of the series, he's surrounded by people who are worse. In a very real sense, his only virtue is not being as evil as the cannibal slaving rapists he fights.


Eventually, I became disgusted with him and couldn't read the series any further. By the beginning of book five, I had no faith that I would enjoy seeing the world from this monster's twisted perspective. The only thing he seems interested in doing is causing suffering, and as the story progressed, we moved away from those who it was fun to see him hurt and torment. I became certain that any character with redeeming qualities would either be killed, cut loose, or beaten down until they viewed the world from the same hateful lens as Elb.

This series is 100% a grimdark story, and if that's your thing, this is great for you. Otherwise, I'd give this a hard pass.

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Interesting Episodic Story, But Badly Written

Revisado: 01-16-25

This book is a bit of an odd case. Generally, I'm of the opinion that a concept is worth very little - it's the execution that matters. And yet, for the most part, this book proves me wrong.

The execution is middling. Dialogue is clunky, side-characters are two-dimensional at best, and the worldbuilding is pretty shallow. If you've seen anything Tolkien derivative from the past two decades, you already know this setting. As far as I can tell, nothing original is done with the world, although admittedly I didn't get much farther that half-way into this book.

And yet despite that, the premise is still very interesting for most of what I managed to read. Getting quick, clearly biased glimpses into the lives of various fantasy folk is quite interesting, and the protagonist's reactions to them were both believable and fun. Of particular note was how he handled the changes to his situation in the normal world, which weren't a drag on the story at all.

Eventually, though, the novelty wore out. The plot progressed in ways that gave us longer spans of times with each character, and the book suffered for it. When we were popping in and out in 5 min, dialog that explained a character's history, station, and motivation in twenty words or less is excusable by appealing to the shortness of the scene. When we spend more than a chapter with these characters, though, it becomes apparent just how painfully shallow they are. That, combined with the most cookie-cutter fantasy setting I’ve seen in a while, led me to put down this story with five hours to go.

Overall, it had a lot of potential. The System wasn't as omniscient as most others (giving the protagonist more wiggle room), and the situation on Earth was kinda interesting. But with so little to enjoy on the fantasy side of the question (beyond the introduction of each shallowly interesting scenario), I can't really find it in myself to recommend. This book is on the low end of average, and your ability to enjoy it to the end will depend largely on your tolerance for dialog that more often than not is phrased something like "I, [fullname] from [background] with [motivation], am sure glad you’re here to help with [current situation]."

For reference, in most of those situations, appropriate dialog would simply be an order to "kell that thing" or "carry this load". No need to justify your position to an automaton.


I do not recommend.

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Fantasy Unmatched

Revisado: 12-15-24

It's been years since I've read the previous books, and I gotta say that it lives up to all my expectations. I worried that my fondness for this series was misplaced, and that it would be an archaic and mediocre read. I thought maybe modern LitRPG had surpassed it, and the novelties and depth of the story wouldn't stand up to scrutiny from a critical adult, as opposed to a curious teen.

I'm glad to announce that despite my fears, The Wraith's Haunt is in truth a fantastic series that deserves to stand alongside the classics of this genre. With complex characters, good plot, interesting magic, and a psychological theme, there's so much to enjoy here. Best of all, the sound production for this book in particular is the highest quality audiobook I've ever heard, with fantastic sound effects, nice background music, and numerous different voices for all our characters.

I was fully enthralled by Ed's journey, connected with his rage and passions, and was on the edge of my seat for much of the climax. The Silver Knights and King Veron were a wonderful complication, and even Ryan had a nice few chapters. It was pretty brutal to see all the "perfect" timelines slowly slip away, but I understand how we got here. The blind zealotry of the Inquisition remains infuriating, and I mourn those who we lost along the way.

The only criticism I have is that I never fully believed Huesca would allow Ed to achieve peace. Too many threads would have been left unfinished, too much of the core of the story would have been cut out, and too much interesting potential would have been squandered if the war had been nipped in the bud. Still, these issues were a mere few moments in hours of entertainment, so I'm mostly mentioning it out of a sense of thoroughness.


Overall, I highly recommend this book. It properly accounts for us readers forgetting little details over the years, has peak narration, and is an amazing story. You won't regret this read.

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An Interlude Worth Enjoying

Revisado: 12-06-24

Overall, this book is another wonderful installment in the series. We get more cybermodding, a few low stake side quests, and a bunch of good progress on the main quest. As always, the character interactions are wonderful, the worldbuilding is complex, the narration is great, and I enjoyed all of Juliet and Angel's dynamic. It still continues to be interesting to see how Juliet will approach any given station.

My only (even somewhat viable) complaint about this story is the plot convenience of the psychic powers, which I discussed in depth in my review of the previous installment. TL;DR is that it always shows her what she needs, when she needs, with negligible limitations. I am happy to report that not only are the powers only BS in the first few chapters, but their incredible convenience is acknowledged by the story itself. I have high hopes we will be getting a satisfactory explanation somewhere along this story,

I highly recommend.

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It's Neat

Revisado: 12-04-24

More of what we like. The occult stuff starts to go off the rails, and the othersiders STILL haven't attacked, but we get a bunch of cool knight combat, new Feather shenanigans, and stuff. The pacing is weird, but it's not the end of the world, and I certainly enjoyed the book.

Overall, I'd recommend.

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It's Quality Work

Revisado: 11-17-24

Not much to say about this one.

The strengths of the first book were the setting, the characters, and the philosophy of practical nihilism. And in that regard, we've gotten a perfect continuation. More character stuff, a few cool insights in the setting, and a bunch of tidbits on apathetic philosophy.

The weaknesses of this book are much the same, though. Cal's "Divine Inspiration" at the end of the first book was pretty clearly a case of Deus Ex Machina, and we get another case of "incredibly convenient revelations" in this one.

That said, I don't really...care? The direct stakes of combat have never been what hooked me on this series, and they still don't, regardless of the Deus Ex Machina. Sure, they should all be dead, but it's more interesting if they're not. All this plot contrivance does is weaken the least interesting part of the series, so I give it a pass.

Also, in a pretty nice touch, we don't just forget Nick. And we explore the synergies of dark and light chi a bit more. While it's certainly pretty interesting, we're still on the building blocks of that system. So that's neat, but not very substantial, yet.

Overall, I highly recommend.

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On The Edge Of Meaningless

Revisado: 11-14-24

While it's great to see more of Lift and her voidbringer, and I appreciate a lower stakes look at Roshar, the writing in this book is abysmal. The theme is practically shoved down your throat, the plot is intentionally misleading, and the final confrontation between Lift and Darkness is so hollow and obviously scripted that every person involved feels out-of-character.

Honestly, it's really not worth it. You get a few cool references and tidbits, but the story itself is meaningless and inconsequential. It's a side story crammed in between two books where it really doesn't fit. You can tell it's bending over backwards to justify stakes or character arcs at several points.

Just read a summary of it. I do not recommend.

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Slower Than Before, But Still Good

Revisado: 11-14-24

This book is still the same quality as all the previous ones in terms of characters, magic, and worldbuiliding. We get to see a few threads from the first two books start to come together, but overall this is mostly setup. In many ways, it's similar to the second half of book three (when Sylver is in the Garden's plane).

Honestly, the placing of these books is really painful. The story arcs themselves are fine and nicely done, but the breaks in between "books" is really rough. The Garden arc should have been one entire book, as should have been this Cultivation arc. I suggest going back and reading the last few hours of Book 4 if you can (everything since Sylver left the Garden) so you don't get whiplash from how the story starts.

Still, I greatly enjoyed this and can't wait for the next one. I highly recommend.

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Murder, Mayhem, And The Art Of Terrorism

Revisado: 10-19-24

As with the previous installment, book three picks up directly after the events of book two, to the point I feel vaguely silly calling it a separate book. Now that Truth has returned to Jay-on(?), we get to see his new blessings and spells in action as he rampages through the country, leaving chaos, death, and fear in his wake.

For those who disliked the unexpected swerve into the romance genre taken by the second book, you will be happy to learn that Truth is almost the sole character in book three, and his beloved's role is limited to five-ish lines and one dream sequence. He is far from his friends, surrounded by enemies and liabilities, and still too weak to save the Sibs. The only person he can depend on is himself.

Honestly, this is a very interesting book, especially from a meta perspective. The clear parallels and criticism of South Korea, capitalism, and religion become more apparent as Truth's internal philosophy begins to coalesce. And yet, rather than feeling preachy, these concepts act to primarily flesh out both our main character and the world he lives in. This is helped by the author not stating what a "correct" opinion is on these topics, only pointing out the clear and undeniable errors in Jay-on's(?) current philosophy. It is thought provoking, rather than confrontational.

Additionally, having someone willing to commit acts of terror for his beliefs is a novel concept for a protagonist, especially since the author takes the time to wrestle with the concept of "for the greater good", and how much that really maters. It fleshes out an archetype that is often paper thin, and in doing so, expands the reader's worldview. Not by championing or demonizing extremism, but by explaining it.

However, above and beyond all these meta aspects is the delight of Truth and the worldbuilding of this series. He shines in this book, faced with many immoral decisions in the pursuit of his goals, forced to adapt, overcome, and justify himself, displaying a sense of maturity that is refreshing. The things we learn about the way Jay-on(?) works deepen both the themes and vibes of this story, returning us to our Cyberpunk roots. Too many times, I saw uncomfortable parallels to our own societies in the collapsing hellscape of Jay-on(?).

Overall, this is a topical but primarily character driven Cyberpunk story, interweaving an interesting magic system with morality, ethics, and philosophy. The world, people, and dilemmas are constantly engaging, and I was hooked for the entire duration. My primary complaint is that there is not yet a book four in audio format.

I highly recommend.


TL;DR: Direct continuation, no romance, prevalent but natural social commentary, a bunch of ethical questions, and a return to our Cyberpunk roots. It's good stuff.

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