Serial Saturday: The Dragon Within Book 01 by SlyOkami

Hey all I’m back with a series the author of Our Chaoz; Our Reality requested me to review. It’s  The Dragon Within Book 01 by SlyOkami!

Plot: The plot is a lot darker than OC:OR, and while that’s a good thing for a lot of readers I don’t particularly enjoy it all that much myself. This is a personal issue that ties into my own psyche and how I immerse myself into stories I enjoy. Frankly while the story is quite good in my opinion, I won’t be continuing with the series until it’s finished as I’m hoping for a happy ending to the entire story. One thing I will say is that this series takes place in the same universe as OC:OR so some things will be familiar for those who read that series.

Characters: Our main character is Erik, and he’s a bit of an asshole at the beginning of the story. By the end of this first book I actually enjoyed him as a character. However my favorite character is probably Thea, because she’s got very good depth as a character and I enjoy her personality and what she does for Erik. The rest of the cast is equally good as well, but for me the stars are Thea and Erik.

Grammar: There are occasional small issues, but for the most part this is easily readable and not hard on the eyes at all like some of the other stuff you’ll find online written by novice authors.

Overall: A good book, and series. If you enjoyed the darker parts of Our Chaoz; Our Reality you’ll love The Dragon Within.

For those who like: Fantasy, Magic, Dragons, Great Plot, Awesome Characters, Good Grammar.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or Darker Fantasy.

Anime Sunday: Dragon Crisis Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with another old series. It’s my Dragon Crisis Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: High school student Ryuji’s older cousin Eriko returns from abroad to drag him to the scene of an underground transaction where he gets caught up in a shootout and car chase. While they thought they had stolen a miraculous Lost Precious from the criminal brokers, they ended up with a mysterious young girl….

Plot: The plot is so generic and stereotypical that it’s honestly not that interesting at all. If this was made in the 90’s I might have been more accepting, but honestly it’s so bad that I really can’t stick up for any good points.

Characters: Ryuji is a really bland main character, in fact you could stick him into a dozen different series and he’d probably fit right in.  The rest of the cast is no better to be honest.

Art: Sadly for this series it was animated by Studio Deen, my least favorite and respected Japanese animation studio. The artwork is subpar and honestly only makes the entire experience even worse.

Music: The music is no better sadly.

Overall: Stay far, far away from this sad excuse of a series.

For those who like: Bad Anime.

 

Anime Sunday: Dance with Dragons Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering another series from the Spring 2018 season. It’s my Dance with Dragons Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: A long time ago, dragons were the only creatures capable of wielding magic, which they used to terrorize humanity, until humanity learned to channel magic through special formulas and spells called “jushiiki”. Those capable of using jushiiki became known as jushikiists, and became crucial in fighting dragons throughout the years, until a peace treaty was enforced to prevent both races from wiping each other out. In the modern day, Gayus and Gigina are two jushikiits who take special jobs from a variety of clients in the city of Eridana.

Plot: Honestly this series doesn’t really introduce us to the world very well. Most of the time I had no clue what was going on. Whether this is a problem with the original source material, a Light Novel series, or it being an adaptation I have no clue. But frankly I wasn’t interested enough in the world after this first episode to continue watching this series.

Characters: The characters seem to have some depth, but with the plot being thrust upon us in the manner it was, I didn’t get too attached to them and couldn’t really relate to any of them. This isn’t a good thing, and only further cements my own decision to not continue watching the series. Gigina and Gayus are okay leads, but they just don’t mesh well and don’t give me any reason to care about them.

Art: The art is okay, I’ve seen much worse series, but I’ve also seen much better series. This includes series like Sword Art Online which while being good doesn’t come close to the quality of work of my favorite studio, ufotable.

Music: The music is okay, but it’s not really amazing either.

Overall: This could be a decent series, but it didn’t grab my attention enough in the first episode for me to dedicate time to watching it personally.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Action, Drama.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Bookish Wednesday: Past Tense by John Van Stry

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m back with a series I stumbled across fairly recently. It’s Past Tense, Book 01 of the Days of Future Past series, by John Van Stry!

Plot Synopsis: Paul’s been having a bad day, perhaps one of the worst days he’s ever had. And now into the middle of all this, his instructor just got drafted by some mystical goddess to help save a world. As for Paul? Well, he’s really not supposed to be there, and if he thought he was having a bad day before all of this, it just got worse, a lot worse. He’s now on a one way trip, forced to help a man who despises him…

Plot: The plot is pretty good, nothing spectacular, but not super terrible either. It was entertaining and I enjoy the use of Native American mythology in conjunction with more standard Fantasy. I won’t say more about the plot, because this book is fairly short, but it’s good for quite a few laughs.

Characters: The cast is pretty good, and while Paul is occasionally incredibly dense as hell, he’s not a terrible lead character. Of the side characters I think Heather is my favorite, if only because she’s quite true to her own nature.

Overall: A good first book in an fairly interesting series. Worth a read if you like Fantasy.

For those who like: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Native American Mythology, Good Plot, Decent Csat of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Serial Saturday: New Journey Old Soul Chapters 1-20 by Vhiyungrang

This week for Serial Saturday I’ve got a Fantasy story for you all, what you thought I only was going to do LitRPGs? It’s The New Journey of an Old Soul Chapters 1-20 by Vhiyungrang!

Plot Synopsis: The story of a soul seeking new adventure in a new life. A secret wish to find some things he never really found in his old life. Will the universe have other ideas for him again?

Plot: Let me get this out straight away, this isn’t a story for children and it contains some topics and subjects that may make you uncomfortable. I won’t say more than that there are sex scenes (although they add nothing to plot so skipping is completely ok). As for the plot this combines some concepts from Eastern Fantasy (Xuanhuan) into Western Fantasy although if you are expecting Coiling Dragon you will be sorely disappointed.  The plot is pretty damn amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story’s first arc which is covered in these 20 chapters. This novel is completed just so you are aware.

Characters: Nelah is our main lead, and I find him to be quite enjoyable. The rest of the cast is also quite good as well.

Overall: A solid story, and a must read. That is, if you can stomach some uncomfortable subjects.

For those who like: Eastern Influences, Fantasy, Reincarnation, Awesome Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or some uncomfortable subjects.

Personal Status: Completely Read.