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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 Stuart Grosse
  • The Seal of Death & Corsairs & Cataclysms #1-4

    Posted on October 13, 2024 1:25 pm by Offkorn Comment

    Stuart Grosse‘s fifteenth Lich Returnee novella holds no surprises, beyond that I continue to have no complaints. I can’t even quite explain how the various elements manage to combine in just the right way… but they do.

    There are two things to be aware of about Devan Drake‘s Corsairs & Cataclysms series which really should have been mentioned in the description. The first is that the protagonist is not simply a pirate, but a slaver pirate (although this becomes less significant beyond the first book). The second is that, as stated in the Foreword, it’s an erotic power fantasy. What that means in practice is that sexual topics come up in conversation from time to time, the love interests all have some degree of domination fetish, and there are a few dedicated sex scene chapters per novel.

    While those two things alone will probably be a deal breaker for many, there’s one more potential issue: The exposition. Just about everything under the sun gets exposited upon at some point and it can really kill a scene’s forward momentum when it gets out of hand… though oddly enough, one particular thing (Pandaemonium) doesn’t get any mention at all until it suddenly becomes a central plot point from the third book on. And then less a significant issue but still a general annoyance is how frequently old enemies keep crawling back to cause mischief.

    All that said, if you can look past the above then the amusing character dynamics and standard power fantasy aspects are more than solid enough to carry the series. Up to this point anyway. For whatever reason the length of each subsequent novel has been decreasing (and the first third of the fourth is basically a side-story on top of that), which seems like it’s going to be an issue with the fifth presumably being the last despite there being more than a few loose ends still floating about.

    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. Frost Burned, Touch of the Demon, & The Infernal Devices Frost Burned is the seventh novel in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy...
    4. Green Gryphon & Obsidian Queen #4-5 The first book in JS Kennedy‘s Mackenzie Green series shares...
    5. Of Shadow Born, Blood Before Sunrise, & Crave the Darkness Of Shadow Born is Dianne Sylvan‘s fourth Shadow World novel....

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Corsairs & Cataclysms Devan Drake Lich Returnee Novella Paranormal Romance Stuart Grosse Urban Fantasy
  • MOONFALL, Aftermath, & The Seal of Earth

    Posted on October 9, 2024 1:10 am by Offkorn Comment

    The first thing to be aware of about Selkie Myth‘s Moonfall novel is that it’s quite short, being only slightly longer than your average light novel. The second is that it’s transitionary, consisting mostly of isolated events separated by multiple-year timeskips (although unlike in the previous novel the titular event here does get significant coverage). If neither of those things sound like a problem to you then it should end up just as entertaining as the series’ earlier installments.

    Stuart Grosse‘s fourth Reborn as the First Boss novella takes a middle path where the sex is concerned. While the early books had detailed sex scenes and the previous one had none at all, this one compromises by mentioning the act without going into a play-by-play. Aside from that the only thing of note is that the blue boxes are a bit heavy here (eating up the limited page count by quite a bit) due to a somewhat large level-up after the goblin fight.

    It’s been a while since I read the fourteenth Lich Returnee novella (sometime in mid-July) and… honestly at this point I can’t remember anything notable about it besides that it wasn’t bad. I think I’ll have to stop trying to pair these with the above series and just post them as they appear.

    Related posts:

    1. The First Witch-Mage & BENEATH THE DRAGONEYE MOONS Isabel Campbell‘s The First Witch-Mage is, on the surface, a...
    2. The Eminence in Shadow #4 & Sword Saint Adel’s Second Chance #2 Against my better judgement, I went and picked up the...
    3. The Witch With No Name, The Great Ordeal, & The Unholy Consult The concluding novel in Kim Harrison‘s Hollows series makes it...
    4. Phoenix Peaks & by Blood Oath Bound Despite the title, the twelfth Beneath the Dragoneye Moons novel...
    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 Beneath the Dragoneye Moons Fantasy Lich Returnee Novella Paranormal Romance Reborn as the First Boss Selkie Myth Stuart Grosse Urban Fantasy
  • The Approach of Dawn, REBORN as the FIRST BOSS #3, & The OP Lich IS A RETURNEE #13

    Posted on June 27, 2024 1:01 pm by Offkorn Comment

    The second of Braided Sky‘s Primer for the Apocalypse novels is much like the first in that most of the action takes place in the real world while the game is basically an afterthought (which eventually disappears completely). The ending leaves things a little unclear as to whether it’s going to head in a Na Honjaman Level-Up direction or not, but the journey’s so far been entertaining enough for me to stick around to see which way it goes.

    Stuart Grosse‘s third Reborn First Boss novella focuses entirely on defending a town from a goblin attack. Unlike the earlier books there are no sexual scenes here, which is a very good sign for future developments.

    Another of the above author’s series, the thirteenth Lich Returnee entry focuses on the expected seal unlocking, but also takes some time to give an update on the Yakuza Princess’ relationship situation. It’s surprising how much can be accomplished in a book a third the size of a standard paperback.

    Related posts:

    1. Fake Saint of the Year #4 & The Frontier Lord #2 Nise Seijo‘s conclusion turned out to be a total disappointment,...
    2. Returner’s Defiance #1-3 & The Grand Imperial Prince #1-2 I picked up Bruce Sentar‘s Returner’s Defiance series expecting a...
    3. FORGING DIVINITY & Echoes of Fate I picked up the first War of Broken Mirrors novel...
    4. Primer for the Apocalypse & Awakening The first of Braided Sky‘s Primer for the Apocalypse books...
    5. ARIFURETA #14 & Mercedes and the Waning Moon #2 The fourteenth Arifueta novel is the first composed of nothing...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Braided Sky Fantasy Lich Returnee Novella Primer for the Apocalypse Reborn as the First Boss Stuart Grosse Urban Fantasy
  • REBORN as the FIRST BOSS #1-2 & LEVIATHAN

    Posted on April 25, 2024 9:27 am by Offkorn Comment

    Another novella series, Reborn as the First Boss is notably different from the author‘s Lich Returnee series.

    That’s post-isekai while this is ‘reincarnated into a game world’, that features an asexual antihero while this has a promiscuous villain in the lead, and that is superficially anti-slavery while this is openly pro-slavery. What they share is a similar page count, an overpowered protagonist (albeit less of one here), and entertaining character interactions. So give it a chance if you liked that and don’t mind the occasional sex scene.

    I picked up Erik Schubach‘s Leviathan, the first book in his Worldship Files series, by accident. See, I have two hard rules about whether or not to pick up a series: Avoid those that advertise the genre in their title (Half-Life Empire slipped through here because I mistook ‘Alien Apocalypse’ for the series name), and avoid any with a consistently sub-200 page count (novellas excluded). This falls into the latter category, with each book being a bit shorter than your average light novel.

    That said, it seems decent enough if you can look past the rather forced romance elements. ‘Urban fantasy on a colony ship’ is a pretty interesting setting at least.

    Related posts:

    1. Miss Savage Fang #2 & My Magical Career at Court #4 The second Savage Fang Ojousama novel is 90% school life...
    2. Sparrow Hill Road & Laughter at the Academy The first of Seanan McGuire’s Ghost Roads novels is a...
    3. 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...
    4. My INSTANT DEATH ability is so OVERPOWERED: After Story & Sword Saint Adel’s Second Chance #3 Sokushi Cheat ga Saikyou sugite‘s Atoshimatsu-hen installment, oddly, starts off...
    5. Blood Heir & So I’m a Spider, So What? #12 I actually read Ilona Andrews‘ Blood Heir way back at...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Erik Schubach Fantasy Novella Paranormal Romance Reborn as the First Boss Science Fiction Stuart Grosse Urban Fantasy Worldship Files
  • The OP Lich IS A RETURNEE #1-12 & Metaworld Chronicles Ch201-497

    Posted on February 28, 2024 2:36 pm by Offkorn Comment

    A work I initially skipped over for reasons I can’t recall, Stuart Grosse‘s Lich Returnee series turned out to be somewhat similar to Arifureta After. Which is to say it’s a story about what happens to an overpowered isekai antihero when they manage to return to Earth only to find that the world is not as mundane as previously thought.

    This story has little in the way of dedicated comedic aspects however and no romance whatsoever, instead being focused primarily on mechanic/worldbuilding discussion with a subfocus on action. Though there are some issues with repetition, and being novellas each book is roughly half the size of your average LN, the pacing is handled amazingly well with smooth transitions from event to event. That the author doesn’t rely upon cliffhangers is also a mark in their favor.

    On a whim I decided to take a look at the web novel source material for a couple of the recent series I had been reading, and discovered to my shock that David J. Wuto‘s Metaworld Chronicles happened to have roughly seven more books of content available to read. So read them I did.

    On the one hand, the ‘university years’ unfortunately happen to take up the vast majority of that additional content with her graduation only finally taking place rather recently. On the other, very little time is actually spent in or around said universities. Most of the action takes place either on field trips to various exotic locales (South America, the Underdark, the Asian steppes, Antarctica, Aukland), where things have to die, or is focused on the protagonist’s various business and kingdom-building endeavors. The base setting also undergoes some changes, first to the UK and then to mid-Asia.

    Anyway; it’s good. Real good for the most part. Just have to be forewarned that every now and again you’ll get a chapter that’s far too overdramatic by half.

    Related posts:

    1. The Adventures of a Xeno-Archaeologist & Metaworld Chronicles Jenny Schwartz‘s Adventures of a Xeno-Archaeologist series ends up a...
    2. Katalepsis & MOB Sorcery #4 Hazel Young‘s Katalepsis novel strongly brings Otherside Picnic to mind....
    3. The Eminence in Shadow #4 & Sword Saint Adel’s Second Chance #2 Against my better judgement, I went and picked up the...
    4. The RUNIC ARTIST: BLANK CANVAS & Paladin of the Sigil The beginning of Ellake‘s first Runic Artist novel just didn’t...
    5. BE the SERPENT & Ruby Fever After the previous October Daye entry, things were looking up...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged David J. Wuto Lich Returnee Metaworld Chronicles Novella Paranormal Romance Stuart Grosse Urban Fantasy Web Novel

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