- Despite my usual tendency to avoid cultivation-based stories, I found this one growing on me fairly quickly. I think it’s partly a result of the protagonist being aware of and not beholden to the genre’s tropes and partly the engaging dynamic between him and his (eventual) friends. That said I do feel the dreamscape elements can get rather out of hand.
- A pretty good story about an amnesic, evil blood and soul-sucking blade trying to piece together its past and get revenge on those that once sealed it away. Expect lots of bloodshed with an assortment of different wielders alongside the occasional technical error the author refuses to fix for whatever reason.
Snake, Scarab, & Sons: Purveyors of Fine T
- For the first twentyish chapters this is a highly entertaining adventure comedy with a style in-line with the author’s previous works. Eventually however dramatic events with the same issue as House of Caroline‘s begin to appear; they lack believability, feeling more like the whims of a fickle god than the result of environmental cause and effect.
SERAPHINA: THE VILLAINESS IS THE VILLAINESS
- Starts out rough with a (presumably intentionally) insufferable protagonist. Post-transmigration her attitude ends up less grating due to the high concentration of awfulness in the setting, but the often cartoonishly evil behavior can still be a bit much.
- While well-written with an interesting setting, the spontaneous alien-sourced exposition dump was a deal-killer. Also, although the setup is reminiscent of Rebuild World‘s the transition from starving drifter to AI-enhanced explorer here isn’t nearly as smooth.
- The protagonist has some serious issues with accepting the obvious.
- I have no idea if this or good or not, having had to check-out partway through the foreword/prologue when the term ‘Feys’ appeared.