Various Thoughts

The first of Envy Mercury‘s Crestbreaker novels subverts expectations. Not only does the protagonist get transported to an unfamiliar gameworld, but he ends up transported as himself at a basic starting level. Even more unexpected is that the only reason he ends up able to accomplish anything at all is thanks to the questionable and extensive generosity of a complete stranger. It’s an interesting setup which works very well for the most part; there are a couple interactions that inexplicably use modern Earth-slang that sound completely out of place.

I’d initially dismissed Benjamin Medrano‘s Talyn’s Saga series after the ‘accompanied by a deity’ part of the description brought to mind my having bounced off Black Summoner and KonoSuba. A reaction that turned out both inaccurate, since the goddess here is very much a supporting character, and unfair considering I certainly had no problem with Shinchou Yuusha.

What’s most interesting about the series is that the protagonist is something of a walking contradiction who ends up heavily relying upon the protection/affection of those far more powerful than herself to survive and prosper. This is a through-line from the very beginning of the story when her baffling class and skill choices are made (taking a generic spellblade class despite hating weapon-casting, choosing magic for future flight capability when her race get wings). It’s a somewhat unusual dynamic to find outside of stories featuring female leads with male harems.