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Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

Various Thoughts

Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

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  • Tag Archives Fantasy
  • WELCOME TO Olivia’s Magic Jewelers & Who Killed the Hero?

    Posted on July 1, 2025 1:35 pm by Offkorn Comment

    The first Olivia Maseki Houshokuten e Youkoso novel has some believability issues at the beginning and a somewhat rushed pace, yet still ends up decently entertaining overall. It resembles the Oukyuu Majutsushi toshite Hirowareru series a bit in setup with the core difference being that the protagonist here is ‘merely’ highly skilled instead of monstrously overpowered.

    From the same author as Monster no Niku o Kutteitara Oui ni Tsuita Ken, Dare ga Yuusha o Koroshita ka is a completely different beast. Rather than focusing on the hero’s journey it instead focuses on the events leading up to it and the events after it, told from multiple different perspectives. A perfectly self-contained story that turned out to be remarkably well-made all around.

    Related posts:

    1. In the Land of Leadale #7 & Reborn to Master the Blade #7 I can no longer chalk up the consistently disjointed character...
    2. Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! & The Other-Worlder, Exploring the Dungeon Neta Character Tensei toka Anmari da! (English subtitle: Advent of...
    3. The DO-OVER DAMSEL CONQUERS the DRAGON EMPEROR #1-2 & As The Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings! While it has a number of surprisingly cute romantic comedy...
    4. The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #9 & HOW I BECAME KING BY EATING MONSTERS After the disappointment of Kuitsume Youhei no Gensou Kitan’s eighth...
    5. Mushoku Tensei #24 & I’M not the HERO! As expected the twenty-fourth Mushoku Tensei entry mostly focuses on...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Daken Dare ga Yuusha o Koroshita ka Fantasy Olivia Maseki Houshokuten e Youkoso Rinrin Yuki Young Adult Novel
  • Building & All Roads Lead to the Phoenix Princess: Rebirth as a Wind Cultivator

    Posted on June 26, 2025 5:04 am by Offkorn Comment

    The eighteenth Lich Returnee novella features a several year time skip and mostly focuses on the expansion of the protagonist’s domain to cover a chunk of the Pacific ocean, opening the door for future conflict on a slightly more macro county-wide level.

    All Roads Lead to the Phoenix Princess is your standard ‘transmigrated to a game world’ sort of story which does not happen to feature any actual game mechanics, instead going with more organic cultivation systems and their related tropes. Despite my general dislike of cultivation, that this story is fairly self-aware of those tropes works in its favor to create an engaging enough narrative that moves along at a brisk pace. The only real oddity at this point is the subtitle singling out wind when the protagonist explicitly takes an omni-element path.

    Related posts:

    1. The Eminence in Shadow #4 & Sword Saint Adel’s Second Chance #2 Against my better judgement, I went and picked up the...
    2. Miss Savage Fang #2 & My Magical Career at Court #4 The second Savage Fang Ojousama novel is 90% school life...
    3. Mystic Knight: Emergence & the one who eats MONSTERS Ryan Jackson‘s first Mystic Knight novel is a pretty standard...
    4. Katalepsis & MOB Sorcery #4 Hazel Young‘s Katalepsis novel strongly brings Otherside Picnic to mind....
    5. Recent Books Normally I do these three at a time… but, well…...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged All Roads Lead to the Phoenix Princess Erios909 Fantasy Lich Returnee Novella Stuart Grosse Urban Fantasy
  • ARIFURETA #14 & Mercedes and the Waning Moon #2

    Posted on June 19, 2025 6:09 am by Offkorn Comment

    The fourteenth Arifueta novel is the first composed of nothing but Afterstory chapters. While for the most part they remain unchanged from when they were first published online, they have been sorted chronologically and enhanced in mostly minor ways (the first chapter being a notable exception that was totally overhauled). Note that this only covers up to the first post-return Christmas, so there’s no real combat and we don’t get to see any of the alternate worlds quite yet.

    The second Kaketa Tsuki no Mercedes book retains the spirit of the first while focusing mainly on an academy arc. While I’m certainly no fan of school-life segments, this one was handled well enough and didn’t overstay its welcome… so I’m cautiously optimistic about future developments.

    Related posts:

    1. ARIFURETA #13 & Arifureta After I-V The last of the main Arifureta novels starts out much...
    2. Hollow Regalia & The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #7 The Utsuro naru Regalia series is apparently written by the...
    3. ARIFURETA: FROM COMMONPLACE TO WORLD’S STRONGEST #5-11 Although this franchise is getting a second Anime adaptation relatively...
    4. Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter #5-8 Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi‘s second arc differs from the first...
    5. ARIFURETA: FROM COMMONPLACE TO WORLD’S STRONGEST #1-4 Originally, I had not bothered to read these since the...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Arifureta Fantasy Fire head Kaketa Tsuki no Mercedes Paranormal Romance Ryo Shirakome Urban Fantasy Young Adult Novel
  • Continuing On & ULTIMATE BOUNDARIES

    Posted on June 9, 2025 12:31 am by Offkorn Comment

    The seventh Reborn as the First Boss novella is much better than the previous one, feeling both more in-line with how the series presented itself at the beginning and as a spiritual successor to Winterborn.

    Shawn Wilson‘s eighth Ultimate Level 1 novel unfortunately returns to the garbage arena world of the sixth. Making things worse, while the author apparently realizes how terrible this place is partway through and eventually writes it out of the picture… the method used is a literal deus ex machina. This is indicative of a larger shounen-ization issue starting to plague the series: By any objective measure the protagonist is obscenely overpowered, yet somehow there’s always someone inexplicably stronger waiting just offscreen to curb-stomp him and trigger a training sequence.

    The power levels are horrifically ill-defined and arbitrary. He’s killed a world champion tower-clearing dragon along with the allegedly favored child of a god, and has blazed through the tower itself for some time, but somehow a dwarf that abandoned the tower at level 60 because it was too hard (a level he breezed through solo) can utterly destroy him and his party attacking together. It’s nonsense. All that said… I do want to see him burn the elven capital to ash and so will be picking up the next book in the series. Although if that too turns out disappointing I’ll probably drop it there.

    Related posts:

    1. The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! #8 & Free Life Fantasy: Online -IMMORTAL PRINCESS- #8 I picked up this eighth volume of Isekai Mahou wa...
    2. ULTIMATE LEVEL 1: NEW FREEDOMS & NEW POTENTIAL The fifth of Shawn Wilson‘s Ultimate Level 1 novels continues...
    3. ULTIMATE TRUTHS & MAGICAL GIRL: RENDING NIGHTMARE Coming as something of a shock after the disappointment of...
    4. SHATTERED LIMITS & C.O.R.P.S.E. #1-3 The second of Shawn Wilson‘s Ultimate Level 1 novels, Shattered...
    5. The Grave of VALOR, HERETICAL FISHING #2, & SHATTERED BOUNDARIES Aside from some grammatical issues and a bizarre cover image,...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Fantasy Novella Paranormal Romance Reborn as the First Boss Shawn Wilson Stuart Grosse Ultimate Level 1
  • I’m Quitting the Hero’s Party #1-5

    Posted on June 4, 2025 1:20 pm by Offkorn Comment

    Let’s get the bad out of the way first:

    The Yongsa Pati Ttaelyeochiubnida series features some extremely bare-bones editing, possibly none at all, with a noticeable number of basic technical errors (e.g. missing/wrong words, wrong names, disjointed sentences). It also has a somewhat awkward conversation style and general syntax which doesn’t always flow quite right.

    The actual story and characters though? Those are both remarkably engaging and more than make up for those issues.

    The main things to note would be that this is absolutely an overpowered-protagonist story (albeit with them in the role of mentor; think along the lines of Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan or SukaSuka), there are no romance aspects whatsoever, and the genderswap appears to have been done solely to provide an excuse for switching to that mentorship role while also facilitating the noted lack of romance. It’s never commented on by those who knew him both before and after, and he himself barely mentions it.

    Related posts:

    1. The Hero Laughs #7 & That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime #19 The seventh Nidome no Yuusha novel thankfully keeps the incestuous...
    2. The DO-OVER DAMSEL CONQUERS the DRAGON EMPEROR #1-2 & As The Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings! While it has a number of surprisingly cute romantic comedy...
    3. Villainous Lord #2 & Mushoku Tensei #23 The second Ore dake Level ga Agaru Sekai book is...
    4. Lazy Dungeon Master The 17-book Zettai ni Hatarakitakunai Dungeon Master ga Damin o...
    5. The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #1-6 Based on the cover of the first Kuitsume Youhei no...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Fantasy NariaTa Yongsa Pati Ttaelyeochiubnida Young Adult Novel
  • The Water Magician: The Central Provinces Arc IV & The Great Cleric #11

    Posted on May 30, 2025 12:48 am by Offkorn Comment

    The fourth Mizu Zokusei novel continues along at the same pace as earlier entries while giving us a little bit more in the way of romantic development. That said, I don’t really like the idea of the highly advanced floating city tech civilization that was introduced… but I guess we’ll have to see how heavily they end up being featured.

    The Seija Musou series has had a rather long hiatus period, but the eleventh volume was finally released recently. It took me a little while to dredge up old memories and re-acclimate to the series, and I still don’t quite remember who all the characters are, but once past the church uprising debacle events started moving along nicely.

    Related posts:

    1. The Great Cleric: White-Collar Survival in Another World #1-10 A surprisingly good series that doesn’t overly resemble anything else...
    2. The Water Magician: The Central Provinces Arc I & FINDING AVALON #2 Though Mizu Zokusei no Mahoutsukai Daiichibu has a number of...
    3. Lazy Dungeon Master The 17-book Zettai ni Hatarakitakunai Dungeon Master ga Damin o...
    4. A Livid Lady’s Guide #2, The Water Magician: The Central Provinces Arc II, & The Otome Heroine’s Fight #2 Nothing of any interest occurs in the second Buchigire Reijou...
    5. ARIFURETA #12 & So I’m a Spider, So What? #14 The 12th Arifureta novel is unexpectedly not the last in...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Broccoli Lion Fantasy Mizu Zokusei no Mahoutsukai Daiichibu Paranormal Romance Seija Musou Tadashi Kubou Young Adult Novel
  • Pathfinder: WotR – INEVITABLE EXCESS

    Posted on May 12, 2025 3:26 pm by Offkorn Comment

    Finally got through the game with my Azata character (which was a Core Ironman run for the related achievement) and Trickster/Swarm/Legend character, which just leaves Demon as the last mythic path I have to take. Azata wasn’t very good, though it at least had a unique ending. Trickster turned out insanely good in basically all respects, while Swarm would absolutely be a challenge run if you don’t happen to have the Midnight Isles DLC installed. As for Legend… it’s pretty damn powerful when used with a fighter build and adds some interesting exposition regarding your soul.

    Before starting my final main campaign playthrough though I thought I may as well run through the Inevitable Excess DLC (with Legend) for the import bonuses, but since I really didn’t want to play it all that much I did so almost entirely on Story difficulty. Switched to Unfair for Inevitable Darkness and managed to kill him on the second try with the combo of Guarded Hearth, Freebooter’s Bond, Smite, Fortune Hex, and then just wailing away with Dimension Strike.

    Overall I’d have to say the DLC is just as bad as suspected, with it being essentially half pointless/tedious combat and half infuriating platform puzzler. I’d strongly suggest skipping it unless you really need the import bonuses for something like a Test of the Starstone run. Something I’m currently waffling on whether to attempt or not… although I suppose I could simply start out on Unfair and just lower it if it ever become too much hassle.

    Related posts:

    1. Pathfinder: WRATH of the RIGHTEOUS – Chapter IV WotR‘s fourth chapter is the equivalent of Baldur’s Gate II‘s...
    2. Pathfinder: WRATH of the RIGHTEOUS – First Impressions Originally I was going to wait until completing the game‘s...
    3. DRAGON QUEST XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age I sincerely wish they would do something about this franchise‘s...
    4. Pathfinder: Kingmaker – DLC The Wildcards is the most obviously useful of the three...
    5. Pathfinder: WotR – THE LAST SARKORIANS & The TREASURE of the MIDNIGHT ISLES The Last Sarkorians DLC turned out to be fully integrated...

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    This entry was posted in DLC PC Video Game Related and tagged Fantasy Pathfinder RPG Tactical RPG Third Person Perspective
  • UNWORTHY & POWERLESS

    Posted on May 7, 2025 10:40 am by Offkorn Comment

    J.A. Vodvarka‘s first Blacksea Odyssey novel starts out well enough, if a bit shaky due to the rather large chip the protagonist has on her shoulder. By the halfway point though it becomes far too hard to look past the combination of her weirdly self-destructive actions and the runaway’s idiocy. Like… you obviously don’t want to stay free all that much if you never mention the void collar or don’t keep hammering on about how corrupt the first master was.

    The first book in Lauren Roberts‘ Powerless Trilogy has a different problem: The atmosphere. There’s this persistent sense of dread hanging over the proceedings that make it somewhat difficult to read, although it wasn’t quite bad enough to get me to drop it until ‘the Resistance’ suddenly popped up and became a central plot point. You already have all this drama with the powerless secret, death games, and forbidden romance; did you really have to toss in highly questionable spy games (she literally just met these people) on top of all that?

    Related posts:

    1. The WITCH who TRADES with DEATH & BIOSHIFTER The Witch who Trades with Death is an engaging stand-alone...
    2. Primer for the Apocalypse & Awakening The first of Braided Sky‘s Primer for the Apocalypse books...
    3. The RUNIC ARTIST: BLANK CANVAS & Paladin of the Sigil The beginning of Ellake‘s first Runic Artist novel just didn’t...
    4. Over the Woodward Wall & CAST IN CONFLICT I’m unsure why Over the Woodward Wall, written under the...
    5. My Magical Career at Court #2 & Enough with This Slow Life! #2-4 The second Oukyuu Majutsushi toshite Hirowareru novel showcases the source...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Blacksea Odyssey Fantasy J.A. Vodvarka Lauren Roberts Paranormal Romance Powerless Trilogy
  • EXP Is Golden #2 & HOW I BECAME KING BY EATING MONSTERS #2

    Posted on May 4, 2025 9:51 am by Offkorn Comment

    The second Ougon no Keikenchi novel moves away from the solo-play focus of the prequel to introduce some multiplayer elements to this MMO setting with the introduction of both an actual friend and the protagonist’s estranged sister. I’m not really sure at this junction where it’s intending to go, but so far it’s been entertaining enough.

    The Monster no Niku series‘ second novel meanwhile is pretty much more of the same: The protagonist’s followers misunderstand his intentions/desires while his influence and power continue to grow unchecked. It still works well enough… though that may not be true for much longer. We’ll have to see if the epilogue events shake anything up or it just ends up a repeat of the first invasion.

    Related posts:

    1. Free Life Fantasy: Online -IMMORTAL PRINCESS- #3 & Min-Maxing My TRPG Build #6 Free Life Fantasy Online’s third entry is much the same...
    2. The Former Assassin Who Got Reincarnated as a Noble Girl & EXP Is Golden Feeling a bit like Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou...
    3. The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #9 & HOW I BECAME KING BY EATING MONSTERS After the disappointment of Kuitsume Youhei no Gensou Kitan’s eighth...
    4. The Brilliant Healer’s New Life #3 & Rebuild World IV The third Yami Healer novel starts off with a summer...
    5. Infinite Dendrogram #1-15 Infinite Dendrogram is a series that reminds me of The...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Daken Fantasy Harajun Monster no Niku o Kutteitara Oui ni Tsuita Ken Ougon no Keikenchi Paranormal Romance Science Fiction Young Adult Novel
  • Homunculus Tears & The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #11

    Posted on April 29, 2025 11:05 am by Offkorn Comment

    I had to drop the Homunculus no Namida novel (English subtitle: Alchemy for the Brokenhearted) halfway through. It’s just so painfully overloaded with both forced sentimentality and forced fanservice. Basically nothing redeeming about it.

    Something else I ended up dropping was the eleventh Kuitsume Youhei novel, which features the protagonists acting like complete idiots. They’ve experienced mind control before! Why are they so baffled about the people in this village not acting normally? When the animal companion is the smartest person in your party something has gone very, very wrong.

    Related posts:

    1. The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time #1-5 & The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary #8 Nidome no Yuusha wa Fukushuu no Michi o Warai Ayumu...
    2. The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #1-6 Based on the cover of the first Kuitsume Youhei no...
    3. The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #9 & HOW I BECAME KING BY EATING MONSTERS After the disappointment of Kuitsume Youhei no Gensou Kitan’s eighth...
    4. Hollow Regalia & The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #7 The Utsuro naru Regalia series is apparently written by the...
    5. EASYGOING TERRITORY DEFENSE #4 & The Strange Adventure of a Broke MERCENARY #10 Not much to say about the fourth Okiraku Ryoushu no...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Fantasy Homunculus no Namida Inori. Kuitsume Youhei no Gensou Kitan Mine Paranormal Romance Young Adult Novel

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