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Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

Various Thoughts

Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

  • Tag Archives Grey Gates
  • Hunted & Solo Leveling #8

    Posted on July 24, 2023 10:18 am by Offkorn Comment

    It came as something of a surprise that Hunted was not the conclusion of Vanessa Nelson‘s Grey Gates series. No idea why I thought it was going to be a trilogy, but I did.

    It’s pretty much as far from a conclusion as you can get, opening up the world in some questionable directions and leaning into the earlier hinted romance. Honestly it feels a bit like a stopgap, a stalling measure, as nothing is really resolved and only more questions are raised. It also stops sort of abruptly in an odd place. End result being that this is probably where I get off.

    In a reverse of the above situation, the eighth Solo Leveling novel shockingly appears to be the series’ conclusion despite the wiki listing thirteen novels.

    Weirdly enough the central conflict is resolved in the first few chapters with the rest devoted to an assortment of epilogue stories. It’s very strangely structured, sort of like they just lifted it wholesale from piecemeal webnovel form without any editing, but yet still somehow works for the most part. Assuming this actually is the end I’d classify the work as a pretty solid overpowered protagonist series with a slightly weak endgame.

    Related posts:

    1. The IDEAL SPONGER LIFE #9-12 My earlier misgivings turned out to be unfounded as very...
    2. Solo Leveling #1-5 Another series I picked up on Amazon’s recommendation, Chugong’s Solo...
    3. BRIMSTONE BOUND, Outcast, & Called The first of Helen Harper‘s Firebrand novels does not inspire...
    4. Chillin’ in Another World with LV 2 Super CHEAT POWERS #1-7 As you might expect from the title, Lv 2 kara...
    5. Cast In Oblivion & Guild Hunter #6-11 The fourteenth entry in Michelle Sagara‘s Elantra series resolves the...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Chugong Grey Gates Paranormal Romance Solo Leveling Urban Fantasy Vanessa Nelson
  • BRIMSTONE BOUND, Outcast, & Called

    Posted on June 11, 2023 6:56 am by Offkorn Comment

    The first of Helen Harper‘s Firebrand novels does not inspire any desire to follow the series, suffering as it does from the crippling issue of having a garbage protagonist.

    The main issue here is that despite being a trainee, she acts as if she’s a veteran detective with complete and total authority over anyone she meets. No one questions this and anyone who provides any notable pushback is framed as being in the wrong (she also lies through her teeth to someone presented as a caring and supportive boyfriend). The worst part is all the author had to do was start her out as an experienced detective to avoid most of these issues. Why make her a trainee when all it does is undermine the story?

    A lesser issue would be that no one on this fantasy-infused Earth has ever heard of a demon or phoenix before. Seriously? No one has any suspicions of what she could be despite resurrecting in flames? Just bizarre.

    The first two books in Vanessa Nelson‘s Grey Gates series (Outcast and Called) are more grounded with a strong Kate Daniels energy to them. While there are some notable similarities with the Order organization for the most part this series very much does its own thing, which works well for it more often than not.

    While I’m not completely sold on the demon angle it will be interesting to see whether the protagonist ever ends up getting revenge on the people who set her up in the past… and the fuel protests were a nice touch.

    Related posts:

    1. Hunted & Solo Leveling #8 It came as something of a surprise that Hunted was...
    2. Primer for the Apocalypse & Awakening The first of Braided Sky‘s Primer for the Apocalypse books...
    3. 86: Under Pressure & Death, Be Not Proud The fourth 86 novel continues from where the Anime adaptation...
    4. I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage #2 & The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! #1-7 The second Moto Saikyou no Kenshi wa Isekai Mahou ni...
    5. Legend of the Arch Magus & Dragon Missing Michael Sisa‘s Legend of the Arch Magus novels are an...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Firebrand Grey Gates Helen Harper Urban Fantasy Vanessa Nelson

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