Various Thoughts

RavensDagger’s Dead Tired series is an interesting mix of tabletop RPG elements, cultivation, and dad jokes… with the dad jokes (e.g. bad puns for miles) being by far the weakest part. The strongest aspect, which handily carries the series, is the character interactions. The maid, limpet, and both mantis girls are all fantastic and well worth wading through the occasional burst of cringe-inducing wordplay.

Natalie Maher‘s Vigor Mortis series is a work that’s overall quite good, but only consistently so in the first novel.

The second has an issue of expectation, where something occurs about halfway through promising serious consequences… only to end up just kind of ignored until nearly the end. The third makes it clear there’s a bit of shounen-itis going on (i.e. the protagonist seemingly becomes powerful only for someone/thing to randomly show up and curb-stomp her; repeat). And the fourth, despite having an ending that fits the series’ main themes, feels like a punt (and includes a baffling therapy segment partway through which reminds me of how the Evangelion TV show ended).

Those themes, by the way, would be: Self-acceptance (or the lack thereof), no good deed goes unpunished, and pleasant servitude vs. unpleasant freedom (i.e. is it better to serve in heaven or reign in hell).