{"id":14493,"date":"2026-08-10T12:02:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.offkorn.com\/blog\/?p=14493"},"modified":"2026-08-13T12:52:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:52:02","slug":"dark-fate-1-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.offkorn.com\/blog\/dark-fate-1-16\/","title":{"rendered":"DARK FATE #1-16"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dark Fate novella series<\/a> is misleading on a couple levels. The first is that while it gives the impression it will be similar to the author<\/a>‘s Free VRMMO Life<\/a> series… it is not (aside from both protagonists being former heroes who suddenly become rapacious slavers). Instead it turns out to be a variation on Into the Black<\/em>, complete with the same spacefaring technology and Warhammer 40k<\/a> references. An inferior Into the Black<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While it does not have the same ‘hell space’ issues, it has a worse problem: Unbalanced characterization. One-scene wonders have more personality than nearly any re-occurring character. The harem members in particular suffer from this so badly they may as well have been puppet-branded with how interchangeably indistinct they are.<\/p>\n

The second bait & switch is that it’s in no way a revenge story. The protagonist almost immediately forgets about getting revenge on those who betrayed him, a situation later hand-waved away with ‘actually he did get revenge during an off-screen timeline’. This complete abandonment of early plotlines happens a few other times as well, most notably with that knowledge spirit that never appears again and the lamia having been genderswapped.<\/p>\n

Overall the best way I can describe this series is as an intensely personal power-fantasy, tonally fitting in between Reborn as the First Boss<\/a> and Corsairs & Cataclysms<\/a>, which happens to have a distinct impregnation fetish on display.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dark Fate novella series is misleading on a couple levels. The first is that while it gives the impression it will be similar to the author‘s Free VRMMO Life series… it is not (aside from both protagonists being former heroes who suddenly become rapacious slavers). Instead it turns out to be a variation on Into the Black, complete with the same spacefaring technology and Warhammer 40k references. An inferior Into the Black. While it does not have the same ‘hell space’ issues, it has a worse problem: Unbalanced characterization. One-scene wonders have more personality than nearly any re-occurring character. The harem members in particular suffer from this so badly they may as well have been puppet-branded with how interchangeably indistinct they are. The second bait & switch is that it’s in no way a revenge story. The protagonist almost immediately forgets about getting revenge on those who betrayed him, a situation later hand-waved away with ‘actually he did get revenge during an off-screen timeline’. This complete abandonment of early plotlines happens a few other times as well, most notably with that knowledge spirit that never appears again and the lamia having been genderswapped. Overall the best way I can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1417,841,29,62,813,30],"class_list":["post-14493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-related","tag-dark-fate","tag-novella","tag-paranormal-romance","tag-science-fiction","tag-stuart-grosse","tag-urban-fantasy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t