Within the first few chapters i knew what the plotline of this entire series was going to be.The power to save humanity by growing faster than any other fighter ever is super cliché and a generic heroes journey plot. I wasnt even on planning to read this book, i just needed something to read to kill time for a day or two while i waited for a different book to come out. Boy am i glad i read this, because just like the wheel of time. The moment i started reading about the main charechter and the setting i was blown away about how enthralled i was about the main charechter.
It got to the point whwre i was even smiling about the stupid cliche love side plot i usually hate in stories like these where the damn teenagers spend 5 years pretending they dont like each other. But this story fealt different. I dont know how the author managed to enthrall me like they did with what at first seemed like boring plot and main characters with an ok setting. That quickly turned into a page turner where i couldnt wait to find out how rei got the courage to as aria out, or even when he got the damned sword from the cover. All in all this was a fantastic read and i cant wait until the next one comes out.
This story most certainly will scratch the itch for anyone who enjoys seeing the scrappy hero clawing their way up from the bottom while gathering and helping a group of friends do the same. I wish it was told in a tighter third person limited perspective but it is pretty loose bordering on third person omniscient but without head hopping. Honestly is a bit awkward but it works and didn’t really pull me out much. It is a story appropriate for most audiences with only a few curse words and with action that while interesting and intense is not overly graphic. It does fit a young adult label giving back the main characters are first year students at a war college. Is rather unique story that does hearken to manga with many of the elements coming from the genre it seems.
This book was recommended by Will Wight author of The Cradle series as something close enough to what he wrote that would satisfy his readers you like his style. While his book is more centered around the martial arts and has more of an epic fantasy feel with just a dash of sci-fi the element of having a protagonist scrapping his way from the bottom and earning his abilities through training hard work and getting his butt kicked are the same period. In essence if you like the part about dragon Ball z where Goku continues to get his tail kicked only to come back stronger through training and hard work this is for you.
The world building is okay with plenty of seeds planted for future books of the series, but it is really not the focus of the story. The characters and the setting they find themselves seem to be more of the focus of the authors. While it is young adult there is nol teenage angst nor actually heavy focus on a romantic subplot. While romance is a bit there is more a suggestion with a lot of blushing and no actual pursuing a relationships other than growing closer as friends. There is enough character building that all the relationships both friends and enemies seems to be legit. Nothing is forced at least from what I could tell. You’re pulled back enough with older characters and situations in which I feel makes this story more appropriate for any audience.
While the story is a lengthy page Turner the plot is a bit weak without a true main antagonist. Still the story maintains a number of minor antagonist that helps push the story along to an extent. However what really pushes the stories pacing is the consistent movement and progress of the characters against their own limitations. This is great and unique I think considering that the world at least so far is not in danger. It makes the story feel much more personal with more down to earth ramifications of success and failures.
In the end I was worried that the authors were going to bobble the ball. The pacing that kept the story interesting from beginning to end seemed to slow down a bit with the final training montage so to speak. It was a lot of build up for the climax of the story and the authors chose to hide the results from the reader in a way that did feel off compared to 90% of the book. I say this because it was a deliberate decision by the authors to try to get more bang for their buck. While we did get a few povs from the side characters how the authors switched from the main character in order to hold off the big reveal of a story point felt dishonest. That said the ending was still pretty good and being able to see where the story might go in the future is well worth it.
I will say this for all my complaining there is a lot about this story I enjoyed immensely. In fact the story links and the way it did pull me into the story even if I didn’t like some of the writer decisions rather than the story decisions is testament to how interesting and worthwhile it is. In fact I cannot wait for a sequel to come out. And while collaborations to end up with a next story voice I do hope that it helps them produce the same quality and quantity of story for the second book in a timely manner.
reader flipping pages is the consistent movement and progress of the characters against their own limitations and toward goals. This is great and unique I think considering that the world at least so far is not in danger. It makes the story feel much more personal with more down to earth ramifications of success and failures.
In the end, I was worried that the authors were going to bobble the ball. The pacing that kept the story interesting from beginning to almost end seemed to slow down a bit with the final training montage so to speak being lengthy and a little too close to the end for my taste. It was a lot of buildup for the climax of the story and the authors chose to hide the results from the reader in a way that did feel off compared to 90% of the book that had come before it.. I say this because it was a deliberate decision by the authors to try to get more bang for their buck in the reveal. The execution of this where the authors switched from the main character’s pov suddenly to a side character in order to hold off the big reveal of a story point felt dishonest in drawing up fake suspense. That said the ending was still pretty good and being able to see where the story might go in the future is well worth it.
I will say this for all my complaining. There is a lot about this story I enjoyed immensely and which keep it at 4 star rather than falling to a 3 star. In fact, the story length and the way it did pull me in even if I didn’t like some of the writer framing decisions is a testament to how interesting and worthwhile it is. I cannot wait for a sequel to come out. And while collaborations tend to end up with a mixed story voice I do hope that it helps them produce the same quality and quantity of story for the second book in a timely manner.
Hello, I just wanted to let you know the second book came out today! I was hoping you could post it here if possible. Thank you so much for posting this amazing book, me and my friends enjoyed it. The second book is called “ Fire and Song (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 2)”
Thank you for posting more LitRPG’s recently your site really got me into the genre.
♥