Serial Saturday: Dao of Magic Chapters 61-80 by Andries Louws

Hey all I’m back with the fourth set of chapters in Teach’s journey in a really odd world for this week’s Serial Saturday. It’s Dao of Magic Chapters 61-80 by Andries Louws!

Plot: This covers the start of the second arc and it’s pretty good, Teach deals with some oddballs and some jerks in this set of chapters, while we also get to see the Disciples really cause some havoc.

Characters: We get some new characters in this chapter, but my favorite newcomer is probably Ares. I won’t say why, but she’s pretty hilarious. That said Rhea has easily grown to replace Tess as my favorite character thus far. The fact she’s a giant freaking dragon is just icing on the cake.

Overall: A really fun and chaotic set of chapters.

Serial Saturday: Upheaval Chapters 9-16 by Hodhandr

Hey all I’m back again with more of Lars’ shenanigans for this week’s Serial Saturday. It’s Upheaval Chapters 9-16 by Hodhandr!

Plot: Again like the last set of chapters this is really slow and much more Slice of Life than action oriented. That said there is action, just not a bunch of it. Honestly if you want anything resembling a plot, or action you’d best look elsewhere.

Characters: We get introduced to a couple new faces, but they aren’t very consequential in the grand scheme of things.

Overall: An okay set of chapters, but like the last severely lacking in a driving force in the plot or much action.

Serial Saturday: Upheaval Chapters 0-8 by Hodhandr

Hey all I’m back with another LitRPG for this week’s Serial Saturday. It’s Upheaval Chapters 0-8 by Hodhandr!

Plot: The plot is really quite haphazard, and doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s very much a Slice of Life series that has LitRPG elements. That’s not a bad thing exactly, but for some they’ll only get pissed off that the story doesn’t really ever progress. If you were expecting it to be like most other LitRPGs with tons of action and adventure, you will be very disappointed.

Characters: Lars is our main character and he’s very much an airhead. He does things that most would either find horrific or does stuff that most people would think is really stupid. Granted that the plot allows for some ridiculous things, but honestly I don’t like the main character all that much. The rest of the cast is fairly boring at the moment, though it does get a bit better later on.

Grammar: It’s passable, but it can be grating at times. If you are expecting quality work here in terms of grammar, you will be disappointed, but not to the point of wanting to throw something out or through a window.

Overall: An okay series, but it’s not that great. If you’re bored there are worse series to read out there, but there’s also better series to read.

For those who like: LitRPGs, Slice of Life, Fantasy, Airhead Lead Characters.

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

Serial Saturday: Azeal Neralum by Kazi

This week for Serial Saturday I’m back with another series I got asked to review by it’s author.  It’s Azeal Neralum by Kazi.

Plot: Let me get this out of the way, I would normally have never bothered with reading this series, and I must have either missed the Grimdark genre tag or it was added after I had bookmarked it as a potential series to read. Either way I find the overly dark nature of the “genre” usually makes stories I tend to despise. Azeal Neralum isn’t an exception to my distaste. I honestly don’t enjoy the overly dark fantasy epic craze that’s seem to come up in the past decade. Even one of my most adored series, Mistborn, is a bit too dark for me. While I’ve read the entire thing once, I probably won’t ever do that again due to that darkness.  However other than the tone there are other serious issues I have with Azeal Neralum. Mainly the constant switching of points of view that is happening, and the lack of forward progress with regards to the main character. I don’t care about some random fort getting slaughtered, what does it have to do with the main character? If the answer to that question is “nothing” in the next 30 chapters I’ve just wasted my time reading extraneous world building that could’ve been experienced through the main characters point of view instead.

Characters: Azeal is a mediocre main character, he’s got nothing extremely likable about him that makes me interested in him as a character and the rest of the cast is just as bad. It’s even worse with the most recent chapters that the author wrote. I don’t give a rat’s ass about some “hero” or gallant general that is dying if he’s being introduced out of the blue and has no noticeable connection with the protagonist. If I had met that character 100 chapters before and grew attached to him I might feel a bit of sympathy over his death, but the way the author the author brings up these characters out of the blue is more than a bit annoying.

Grammar: The grammar is okay, but the writing itself seems off. I can’t put it into words much better than it feels just a bit wrong when I read it. Either the way the author writes is grating on my internal sense of how a book is supposed to read, or the issue is something else, but I just find it’s “flow” to be not pleasing to the eye.

Overall: If for some reason you love dark fantasy, Azeal Neralum might be up your alley after a few editing passes have been done by the author. Otherwise steer clear of this.

For those who like: Fantasy, Grimdark, LitRPG.

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

Serial Saturday: Atros Imperium Chapters 9-16 by Terry

This week for Serial Saturday I’m back with the second set of chapters in Anton’s exploration of a new world. It’s Atros Imperium Chapters 9-16 by Terry!

Plot Synopsis: Anton Thorn died in an incident of his own creation, his body torn and shredded to pieces. Yet death and eternal rest did not await him. Gods, from another world, took his soul along many others to their world to fight an overwhelming and impossible foe. By chance and oversight his soul was missed by the gods, his soul destined to remain in limbo and torment for all eterinity. A few weak and desperate gods took a chance with him and brought him through to their world. Now sent far away from the battle, in his original body, to a small village in the husk of a dead kingdom. It is now up to him to restore the Kingdom and fight off anything that would threaten him or those he loves; be they human, beast, monster or hero.

Plot: This is a rather important set of chapters as it really sets up the rest of the series, and shows us how dark the world Anton has found himself in. I won’t say much more, but this set of chapters is not for the faint of heart.

Characters: We get to meet a couple new faces, but for the most part this entire set of chapters is based on exploring the already met cast. Anton is still very much the protagonist though.

Overall: A solid, if somewhat dark, set of chapters in a series that is pretty awesome.