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Defiance of the Fall #13
Defiance of the Fall 13
War has arrived to Zecia.
Zac returns from the Perennial Vastness, finding Earth already embroiled in war. The Kan'Tanu Cult pouring into the sector, determined to make it theirs. The System is fanning the flames with treasures and opportunities, using the conflict to choose candidates for its trial.
A strong arm and a sharp axe isn't enough to keep Earth safe. Zac has to secure the resources and alliances necessary for his empire, all while dealing with the fallout of Leandra's schemes.
But who can he trust? The appearance of the Ultom Courts has set the Multiverse astir. Powerful outsiders are flocking to Zecia in search of fortune, where the local Sealbearers are prey. One wrong move and it's over.
Book 13 of the hit Defiance of the Fall LitRPG Series is here. Grab your copy today!
About the Series: Jump into a story that merges Apocalyptic LitRPG elements with eastern cultivation. Class systems, skill systems, endless choices for progression; it has everything fans of the genre love. Explore a vast universe full of mystery, adventure, danger and even aliens; even a random passer-by might hold the power of a god. Follow Zac as he struggles to stake out a unique path to power as a mortal in a world full of cultivators.
Zac returns from the Perennial Vastness, finding Earth already embroiled in war. The Kan'Tanu Cult pouring into the sector, determined to make it theirs. The System is fanning the flames with treasures and opportunities, using the conflict to choose candidates for its trial.
A strong arm and a sharp axe isn't enough to keep Earth safe. Zac has to secure the resources and alliances necessary for his empire, all while dealing with the fallout of Leandra's schemes.
But who can he trust? The appearance of the Ultom Courts has set the Multiverse astir. Powerful outsiders are flocking to Zecia in search of fortune, where the local Sealbearers are prey. One wrong move and it's over.
Book 13 of the hit Defiance of the Fall LitRPG Series is here. Grab your copy today!
About the Series: Jump into a story that merges Apocalyptic LitRPG elements with eastern cultivation. Class systems, skill systems, endless choices for progression; it has everything fans of the genre love. Explore a vast universe full of mystery, adventure, danger and even aliens; even a random passer-by might hold the power of a god. Follow Zac as he struggles to stake out a unique path to power as a mortal in a world full of cultivators.
674 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 26, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
July 2, 2024
significant decline in quality
This has been one of my favorite series. This book, however, was a significant let down. It felt like more of a wiki than a fantasy novel. It seemed like every other page was another explanation of cultivation. Very little story telling, plot progression or character development. Lots of explanations. Even when the MC is in the middle of battle, the author breaks the flow to explain some random thing. Honestly, the cultivation system is way too complex at this point to the point of becoming uninteresting. We’re 13 books in, and the MC still hasn’t figured out his core. We still don’t know anything more about the Imperial Left Palace and somehow everything manages to be a huge mystery. This whole thing is getting really tired. Additionally, the author leaves out many of the characters that made the story good. I really hope the author finds his way back to what made this series great.
This has been one of my favorite series. This book, however, was a significant let down. It felt like more of a wiki than a fantasy novel. It seemed like every other page was another explanation of cultivation. Very little story telling, plot progression or character development. Lots of explanations. Even when the MC is in the middle of battle, the author breaks the flow to explain some random thing. Honestly, the cultivation system is way too complex at this point to the point of becoming uninteresting. We’re 13 books in, and the MC still hasn’t figured out his core. We still don’t know anything more about the Imperial Left Palace and somehow everything manages to be a huge mystery. This whole thing is getting really tired. Additionally, the author leaves out many of the characters that made the story good. I really hope the author finds his way back to what made this series great.
July 4, 2024
If you liked the last 25% of book 12 where nothing happens but there's lots of thinking about Dao or cultivation stuff, you're in luck.
If you liked the parts where things happened or plot advanced or people were likable or had interesting interactions, then just skip this.
The author has 100% committed to the readers who like long web novels and discussions about cultivation. Unfortunately that leaves a lot of readers outside the target audience with little motivation to continue. I won't be.
If you liked the parts where things happened or plot advanced or people were likable or had interesting interactions, then just skip this.
The author has 100% committed to the readers who like long web novels and discussions about cultivation. Unfortunately that leaves a lot of readers outside the target audience with little motivation to continue. I won't be.
July 1, 2024
to many characters… to much focus on cultivation…
Ever so slowly the MC crawls toward D level and upgrading all his E skills to D level so he can battle with middle and high peak hegemons.
Way too many characters to keep track of after many many months of waiting for the next book out…. So many little blurbs of enemy descriptions that attempt to kill off the MC. I can see this might be because not enough time was spent in determining where the story was headed… in RR he had to writes something every day… most likely not knowing where he was really headed but just playing with ideas. So not a lot of plot action occurred. MC splits himself into two physical bodies yet… how would the author write the action for each body… he ignores the other body either meditating or consolidating cultivation, while writing about the current Zac. Sometimes very confusing. Body consolidation/Resolution is not happening fast enough to keep me interested. The book devolves into a gritty game of capture the flag/planet/troops of your opponent to get merit points. No real advancement on: 1. Left palace… 2. Keeping Zecia safe / earth safe from outside influence. 3. No real advancement to saving his sister other than being told to do it in the next 500 years. 4. Too many bad guys that can crush Zac at any moment. 5.. Fate this… Fate That… oh still need to write 2000 words every day… no framework to move the plot… /sigh
Ever so slowly the MC crawls toward D level and upgrading all his E skills to D level so he can battle with middle and high peak hegemons.
Way too many characters to keep track of after many many months of waiting for the next book out…. So many little blurbs of enemy descriptions that attempt to kill off the MC. I can see this might be because not enough time was spent in determining where the story was headed… in RR he had to writes something every day… most likely not knowing where he was really headed but just playing with ideas. So not a lot of plot action occurred. MC splits himself into two physical bodies yet… how would the author write the action for each body… he ignores the other body either meditating or consolidating cultivation, while writing about the current Zac. Sometimes very confusing. Body consolidation/Resolution is not happening fast enough to keep me interested. The book devolves into a gritty game of capture the flag/planet/troops of your opponent to get merit points. No real advancement on: 1. Left palace… 2. Keeping Zecia safe / earth safe from outside influence. 3. No real advancement to saving his sister other than being told to do it in the next 500 years. 4. Too many bad guys that can crush Zac at any moment. 5.. Fate this… Fate That… oh still need to write 2000 words every day… no framework to move the plot… /sigh
July 5, 2024
I love this series and started the book as soon as I noticed it was out. But the quality went down in this one. There were so many characters that didn’t matter who popped up drawing away from the important parts. It felt like the plot went in circles just to move a step forward.
June 29, 2024
I adore this series. I just wish there were more scenes with Ogras in it (he's my favourite character besides the MC).
While the beginning chapters were shocking and took a while to accept, I really enjoyed the story overall. It was cool to see Zac interacting with his people/armies and contributing more directly to the war efforts.
Not much progression has been made with Zac's human side, but that's okay. I find that the key to enjoying this series and other LitRPG books, in general, is to be patient.
While the beginning chapters were shocking and took a while to accept, I really enjoyed the story overall. It was cool to see Zac interacting with his people/armies and contributing more directly to the war efforts.
Not much progression has been made with Zac's human side, but that's okay. I find that the key to enjoying this series and other LitRPG books, in general, is to be patient.
July 4, 2024
Loved this series, but it’s become a nonstop meditation on dao with brief interruptions of battles on a scale that makes them intangible and unremarkable. Passages of ethereal description mark an author who apparently has something inside his head—but can’t quite communicate it to the rest of us in a way that connects.
I really WANT to like this book, but the series is pretty much done now with very little dialogue or interest in the characters we’ve enjoyed from the start. I had hoped this high-brow meditative-rich trend was a feature of the last book, but it continued in 13 and is likely the new normal, so I suppose I’ll stop reading the series at this point.
I do appreciate the author’s speed of writing (though there are several glaring grammatical errors throughout) but he’s lost the ability (in my opinion) to connect with his readers and tell a relatable and comprehensible story.
I’ll check reviews of 14 and onward to see if he eventually gets back to basics and recovers the characters he spent so much time developing.
I really WANT to like this book, but the series is pretty much done now with very little dialogue or interest in the characters we’ve enjoyed from the start. I had hoped this high-brow meditative-rich trend was a feature of the last book, but it continued in 13 and is likely the new normal, so I suppose I’ll stop reading the series at this point.
I do appreciate the author’s speed of writing (though there are several glaring grammatical errors throughout) but he’s lost the ability (in my opinion) to connect with his readers and tell a relatable and comprehensible story.
I’ll check reviews of 14 and onward to see if he eventually gets back to basics and recovers the characters he spent so much time developing.
November 1, 2024
The pacing in this series is horrendous. First, in this book almost nothing occurs to progress the plot. This book was 90% internal exposition and 10% actually doing anything. The entire plot can be summed up as Zac wraps up entering into hegemony by becoming 2 bodies and visits the Undead Empire at the start of the war. That is all you need to know to skip this book. Second, the overall pacing in this series is troubling for any long-term interest in completing this series. It has taken us 13 books for Zac to reach hegemony with each step in the evolution process supposedly going to take even longer to reach. We are looking at 50 plus book series with horrible pacing. The series has simply lost its sense of direction and it is going to be difficult to get headed back in the right direction.
July 4, 2024
This series has really dropped off in quality. Too much metaphysical discussion and cultivation details. If we were true cultivators and needed a manual this is it. But it is all make believe and the author is either just showing off he has thought of all these details or padding he book pages so he can add more books to he series. Needs an aggressive editor to avoid losing bored readers who will drop the series if we get one more like this.
It would be helpful if the author added a table showing the titles as you progress so we can understand where a hegemon Ranks versus a monarch etc.
It would be helpful if the author added a table showing the titles as you progress so we can understand where a hegemon Ranks versus a monarch etc.
July 8, 2024
Too much exposition, not enough story
I thoroughly enjoyed the first several books, where I felt there was a good ratio of story advancement to explanation and internal debate/self-discovery. The last several books have been very heavy on the exposition, with only baby steps of story advancement. Toward the end of this book, during combat, there is an extended tangent to provide unnecessary context and reflection regarding a specific attack. It lasted almost two pages. Its almost comes off as "He drew his sword. The same sword he acquired in the kingdom of whocaresia, which was made by goodgrief, the blacksmith, who was a contract laborer to duke getonwithitalready, who was best known for his contributions to his craft via..." You get the idea.
I like the story and characters, but could do with a little less minutia on how everything works, how the characters think everything works, and multiple pages of description for almost every little thing that happens.
That said, I've enjoyed the series and will likely continue to read future books - I'll just have to continue skimming thru the 1000 words to find the picture.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first several books, where I felt there was a good ratio of story advancement to explanation and internal debate/self-discovery. The last several books have been very heavy on the exposition, with only baby steps of story advancement. Toward the end of this book, during combat, there is an extended tangent to provide unnecessary context and reflection regarding a specific attack. It lasted almost two pages. Its almost comes off as "He drew his sword. The same sword he acquired in the kingdom of whocaresia, which was made by goodgrief, the blacksmith, who was a contract laborer to duke getonwithitalready, who was best known for his contributions to his craft via..." You get the idea.
I like the story and characters, but could do with a little less minutia on how everything works, how the characters think everything works, and multiple pages of description for almost every little thing that happens.
That said, I've enjoyed the series and will likely continue to read future books - I'll just have to continue skimming thru the 1000 words to find the picture.
June 27, 2024
Fanfreakingtastic!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful character's! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful character's! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
June 29, 2024
Defiance of the Fall, Book 13, left me perplexed and unsatisfied. As a reader who has followed this series through thirteen installments, I expected growth, depth, and purpose. Unfortunately, this book fell short on multiple fronts.
Lack of Grandeur: The absence of greatness and awe-inspiring moments disappointed me. I yearned for scenes that would make my heart race, my imagination soar, and my mind contemplate. Instead, I found myself trudging through mundane passages.
Zac’s Contradictions: The protagonist, Zac, embodies contradictions. His desire to protect his people clashes with his tyrannical rule. War readiness dominates his thoughts, leaving no room for beauty, art, or philosophy. It’s a bleak existence.
A World Without Beauty: The author’s world-building lacks nuance. There’s no respite from conflict—no moments of reflection or artistic expression. War overshadows everything, leaving readers starved for depth.
Missing End Goal: What drives Zac? What lies beyond his conquests? The lack of a clear end goal frustrates me. Will he ever find redemption or reckon with his past? The author seems as lost as Zac.
Mind vs. Body: Zac’s obsession with physical improvement neglects intellectual growth. Where are the moments of reading, learning, and introspection? Information delivery feels haphazard, leaving gaps in understanding.
Lack of Grandeur: The absence of greatness and awe-inspiring moments disappointed me. I yearned for scenes that would make my heart race, my imagination soar, and my mind contemplate. Instead, I found myself trudging through mundane passages.
Zac’s Contradictions: The protagonist, Zac, embodies contradictions. His desire to protect his people clashes with his tyrannical rule. War readiness dominates his thoughts, leaving no room for beauty, art, or philosophy. It’s a bleak existence.
A World Without Beauty: The author’s world-building lacks nuance. There’s no respite from conflict—no moments of reflection or artistic expression. War overshadows everything, leaving readers starved for depth.
Missing End Goal: What drives Zac? What lies beyond his conquests? The lack of a clear end goal frustrates me. Will he ever find redemption or reckon with his past? The author seems as lost as Zac.
Mind vs. Body: Zac’s obsession with physical improvement neglects intellectual growth. Where are the moments of reading, learning, and introspection? Information delivery feels haphazard, leaving gaps in understanding.
June 28, 2024
painful
Really felt like a waste of time. Way too complex and can’t follow half of what is going on. Book felt like a filler before the next big event. Not a lot happened except for the mc at beginning.
Really felt like a waste of time. Way too complex and can’t follow half of what is going on. Book felt like a filler before the next big event. Not a lot happened except for the mc at beginning.
July 10, 2024
Hegemony comes with a surprise for Zac
As Zac strives to gain power and strength, the invasion of Zecia by crazy heart curse cultivators has thrown the sector into madness and some old monsters are waking up to try and grab some of fates providence.
Meanwhile the war grows every day as millions are killed every day during the war’s height. Invaders versus defenders who sadly are at a disadvantage due to the heart curses’ ability to attack after death. Many have fell to the cursed madness after killing their foe. Zac cannot let that happen to him, and does all he can to protect his people while giving them and himself opportunities to grow in power. All they must do is survive and conquer!
As Zac strives to gain power and strength, the invasion of Zecia by crazy heart curse cultivators has thrown the sector into madness and some old monsters are waking up to try and grab some of fates providence.
Meanwhile the war grows every day as millions are killed every day during the war’s height. Invaders versus defenders who sadly are at a disadvantage due to the heart curses’ ability to attack after death. Many have fell to the cursed madness after killing their foe. Zac cannot let that happen to him, and does all he can to protect his people while giving them and himself opportunities to grow in power. All they must do is survive and conquer!
July 3, 2024
Solid book definitely a transitional one between story arcs but it isn’t lacking in substance. Does a good job filling in plot points and good set up
September 24, 2024
It was OK. Pretty slow, especially towards the end. Interesting progression happened off screen
July 3, 2024
wasn’t bad
I think the biggest problem in the later books is that Zac has too many abilities and no one remembers them all anyway. So instead of fighting it’s just a paragraph or two justification for how seven or eight Skills let Zac win while his opponent was only able to activate one thing and that one thing sucked anyway.
Undead politics was the best part. Even Zac’s progression on seven different skills or bloodlines etc was kind of random and disjointed.
Also I had no idea why he doesn’t use his established and main line NPCs. Instead of all the character development with Ogras and Catheya etc in the last book we get a whole new random assortment of people we don’t know or have time to care about. Most of these authors struggle with their PC out progressing the NPCs so it’s hard to build lasting stakes or care much. And of course none of the good npcs ever die. The worse fate they have is just to fall behind and never be mentioned again.
The war was a big let down. Only 3 battles or so were touched on and most of it was glossed over. I thought this whole novel would be a series of hard fought battles progressing through adversity and hardship towards some epic battle for the XYZ that would turn the war on its head.
Nope. Just Fate and the System doing a bunch of random stuff.
I think the biggest problem in the later books is that Zac has too many abilities and no one remembers them all anyway. So instead of fighting it’s just a paragraph or two justification for how seven or eight Skills let Zac win while his opponent was only able to activate one thing and that one thing sucked anyway.
Undead politics was the best part. Even Zac’s progression on seven different skills or bloodlines etc was kind of random and disjointed.
Also I had no idea why he doesn’t use his established and main line NPCs. Instead of all the character development with Ogras and Catheya etc in the last book we get a whole new random assortment of people we don’t know or have time to care about. Most of these authors struggle with their PC out progressing the NPCs so it’s hard to build lasting stakes or care much. And of course none of the good npcs ever die. The worse fate they have is just to fall behind and never be mentioned again.
The war was a big let down. Only 3 battles or so were touched on and most of it was glossed over. I thought this whole novel would be a series of hard fought battles progressing through adversity and hardship towards some epic battle for the XYZ that would turn the war on its head.
Nope. Just Fate and the System doing a bunch of random stuff.
June 27, 2024
Disappointed
Waited so long for him to get too d grade only for him to have separate bodies.....this is where my journey ends I didn't even bother reading the rest of the book.....such a trash move.
Waited so long for him to get too d grade only for him to have separate bodies.....this is where my journey ends I didn't even bother reading the rest of the book.....such a trash move.
July 11, 2024
Series is getting too complicated
I liked the book overall, but the author kept name dropping people that I can't remember anymore from about 7 books ago. The series has picked up too many characters, and it's getting impossible to remember them all. Same with cultivation and abilities. The MC keeps combining, renaming, and upgrading abilities and I can't keep track of them anymore. This book was especially bad that way, I think he renamed pretty much every ability he had. Couple that with the split thing and each side having all new everything and...meh, too much!
Perhaps I'm the only one having a problem with this, but if you want to write a 15 book series, maybe it would be good to limit the number of characters readers have to remember. Or don't casually reference them without some context? Maybe don't change the name and function of every ability all in one book after he slowly picked them up over long periods of time?
I liked the book overall, but the author kept name dropping people that I can't remember anymore from about 7 books ago. The series has picked up too many characters, and it's getting impossible to remember them all. Same with cultivation and abilities. The MC keeps combining, renaming, and upgrading abilities and I can't keep track of them anymore. This book was especially bad that way, I think he renamed pretty much every ability he had. Couple that with the split thing and each side having all new everything and...meh, too much!
Perhaps I'm the only one having a problem with this, but if you want to write a 15 book series, maybe it would be good to limit the number of characters readers have to remember. Or don't casually reference them without some context? Maybe don't change the name and function of every ability all in one book after he slowly picked them up over long periods of time?
January 15, 2025
My prediction? I’ll remember about 5% of this series when the very installment comes out. If I’m lucky.
I was right. It took half of Book 14 to remember 20% of what happened before. Chat GPT did put together a solid summary.
I was right. It took half of Book 14 to remember 20% of what happened before. Chat GPT did put together a solid summary.
August 25, 2024
Many others have spoken about the problems in this novel so I wont keep you long. I'll go ahead and explain why this novel may be worthwhile anyways.
The bad:
You see, the author has passion and talent. The problem is: he earns money per chapter posted. This results in terrible bloat. The author solves the problem by spamming you with endless exposition that would make any average and normal reader feel like they just got a copy pasta in their face.
The good:
The author has created a unique setting with great worldbuilding and interesting characters. The characters feel different and somewhat layered. The book manages to be exciting and comedic when it fits. In comparison to other novels of the genre it simply has longevity.
The solution:
Skip every single exposition and only start reading again when the dialogues start. The author goes in these insane tangents over 30-50 pages which are boring and don't advance the story at all. Simply skip them and start reading again when the first conversation starts. The author literally writes a summary when the first dialogues starts/ when a new chapter starts. It is the only way to read his novel- otherwise you have to drop it and consider the book a bloated mess 2/5. if you skip everything the book goes to a 4/5
Conclusion:
Overall I've read up to book 13 and I don't regret my time spent if I use my technique to read it. It's a nice and fun ride through a different universe.
I'd encourage the author to stop this exposition and write a better book instead but he wants to get that Patreon cash and kind of (ironically) emulates his main character by sacrificing a lot because of greed.
;-)
The bad:
You see, the author has passion and talent. The problem is: he earns money per chapter posted. This results in terrible bloat. The author solves the problem by spamming you with endless exposition that would make any average and normal reader feel like they just got a copy pasta in their face.
The good:
The author has created a unique setting with great worldbuilding and interesting characters. The characters feel different and somewhat layered. The book manages to be exciting and comedic when it fits. In comparison to other novels of the genre it simply has longevity.
The solution:
Skip every single exposition and only start reading again when the dialogues start. The author goes in these insane tangents over 30-50 pages which are boring and don't advance the story at all. Simply skip them and start reading again when the first conversation starts. The author literally writes a summary when the first dialogues starts/ when a new chapter starts. It is the only way to read his novel- otherwise you have to drop it and consider the book a bloated mess 2/5. if you skip everything the book goes to a 4/5
Conclusion:
Overall I've read up to book 13 and I don't regret my time spent if I use my technique to read it. It's a nice and fun ride through a different universe.
I'd encourage the author to stop this exposition and write a better book instead but he wants to get that Patreon cash and kind of (ironically) emulates his main character by sacrificing a lot because of greed.
;-)
July 5, 2024
Rating 4.0 stars
By book 13, everyone should know what they are getting. The stuff that I like is still as good as before and the stuff that is just meh, is still just meh. This one is no different. There are things that I really like and things that just didn't appeal to me. I do like how the author almost always reinvents Zack in some way while still making it seem like this is the way things have been building for a while.
By book 13, everyone should know what they are getting. The stuff that I like is still as good as before and the stuff that is just meh, is still just meh. This one is no different. There are things that I really like and things that just didn't appeal to me. I do like how the author almost always reinvents Zack in some way while still making it seem like this is the way things have been building for a while.
July 17, 2024
Defiance of the Fall 13 by JF Brink feels like a book in between. The first few chapters probably could (and should) have been attached to the 12th book, and the concluding chapters offer tantalizing hints about the Limitless Empire, its remnants, and the legacy of the Void Emperor - which is, it appears, separate from Emperor Limitless. Two emperors... Sort of like how Atwood has two now. Anyways, the story is good. A lot of it is fussing about, but the world building remains top notch. The character dynamics remain strong too. If I have a criticism, it is that the author seems to relish in every potential detail of cultivation and advancement, but shies away from exposition. We barely get any information about some details that are arguably among the most important secrets of the series, only to be informed by the characters in story that the background information is taking too long to work through... what? Here's 20 chapters on cultivation and you'll like it, but half a chapter of background on the origins of the system and a main driving conflict for the narrative is a bit too much information.
Well, whatever. Its good. The ending will be a bit frustrating as its a bit of a strange cliff hanger.
Well, whatever. Its good. The ending will be a bit frustrating as its a bit of a strange cliff hanger.
June 28, 2024
You don't get 13 books into a series unless you have some real love for it. Where I get bored is when we get lost in the weeds of cultivation babble, and I feel like I'm reading a cultivation dissertation. It's especially aggravating when it happens in the middle of fights, which are otherwise a welcome break from the babble. So there's my strange criticism of the day: the book was great, but some of the fights were too introspective.
I'm ambivalent about the two-body solution. It was a clever fix to the Edgewalker problem, but it's not been realized well so far. I know that Zac has two bodies, but it's not easy to relate to, obviously. It doesn't help that Zac and Arcaz are still being written as before; the author is just skipping the transformation step when switching POV. We rarely have both bodies present at the same time, never mind interact. It would have been nice to see them both in the same battle, leaning into the seamless integration of their fighting styles, etc.
I'm looking forward to the next one, but I hope we don't continue this spiral into ever-increasing abstraction.
I'm ambivalent about the two-body solution. It was a clever fix to the Edgewalker problem, but it's not been realized well so far. I know that Zac has two bodies, but it's not easy to relate to, obviously. It doesn't help that Zac and Arcaz are still being written as before; the author is just skipping the transformation step when switching POV. We rarely have both bodies present at the same time, never mind interact. It would have been nice to see them both in the same battle, leaning into the seamless integration of their fighting styles, etc.
I'm looking forward to the next one, but I hope we don't continue this spiral into ever-increasing abstraction.
July 14, 2024
a lot of nonsense happened, but not a lot of plot.
The further this series gets, the more metaphysical handwavium “stuff” happens. And this book had a LOT of that. Other than a couple of fights where the MC decides he might not be as invincible as he thought he was, nothing really sticks out as having moved the plot forward. He advances to D grade, but that was the last page of the previous book and the first of this one. Otherwise he… meditated, killed bad guys, meditated some more. Had seemingly random “insights “ and meditated some more. Improved some skills, and… That’s it? The “war” is picking up and he spends a lot of time being sad about all of “his” people, who die. This book feels a bit like forgettable filler until we actually get to Uldom. Definitely not my favorite in the series.
The further this series gets, the more metaphysical handwavium “stuff” happens. And this book had a LOT of that. Other than a couple of fights where the MC decides he might not be as invincible as he thought he was, nothing really sticks out as having moved the plot forward. He advances to D grade, but that was the last page of the previous book and the first of this one. Otherwise he… meditated, killed bad guys, meditated some more. Had seemingly random “insights “ and meditated some more. Improved some skills, and… That’s it? The “war” is picking up and he spends a lot of time being sad about all of “his” people, who die. This book feels a bit like forgettable filler until we actually get to Uldom. Definitely not my favorite in the series.
July 6, 2024
A lot of these series abandon the concrete (and interesting) parts of cultivation for more and more long winded and esoteric cultivation and it gets very tedious and uninteresting. This book spends probably 75% of its run time explaining nonsense that doesn't really matter to plot and isn't interesting to anyone who isn't deeply invested in being bullshitted to.
This stuff has always been a part of these books but it has gone from an interesting side part of the story to the entire point of the series. Like, the concept of the daos and all of the surreal stuff was interesting the first time it was explained but the 87,000th time he spends twenty pages thinking about how he can't understand the insane depths of these concepts makes me want to die.
This stuff has always been a part of these books but it has gone from an interesting side part of the story to the entire point of the series. Like, the concept of the daos and all of the surreal stuff was interesting the first time it was explained but the 87,000th time he spends twenty pages thinking about how he can't understand the insane depths of these concepts makes me want to die.
July 23, 2024
Character is interesting, endless descriptions are not
It seems the further we get into the story, The less it becomes about the story, and the more it becomes about endless descriptions of the magic system. Often repeated again and again, The descriptions about how the character develops every single little power becomes so Tiresome that I find myself both skimming and wishing the story would just get on with it.
So I give it four stars for the characters, characters and some of the imagination, but I wonder if it really deserves even four stars.
The original books in this series were much tighter, much more packed with action, and a whole lot less about endless complications of character power development and politics among NPCs.
It seems the further we get into the story, The less it becomes about the story, and the more it becomes about endless descriptions of the magic system. Often repeated again and again, The descriptions about how the character develops every single little power becomes so Tiresome that I find myself both skimming and wishing the story would just get on with it.
So I give it four stars for the characters, characters and some of the imagination, but I wonder if it really deserves even four stars.
The original books in this series were much tighter, much more packed with action, and a whole lot less about endless complications of character power development and politics among NPCs.
September 9, 2024
Well I do believe I'm done with the book. What started out as a system integration series has become a boring long slog of cultivation blocks of text. Well in the audiobook long stretches of dialogue that become mind numbingly boring. I can take some cultivation but when the author goes on about an action that leads to an idea and covers past thoughts on that idea and how that idea plays into a character or maybe an opponents fighting style that still leads to some other tangent, I just don't get the point. Not only do half the cultivation realizations seem childish but it's just too boring of a way for character growth.
Speaking of character growth the sidekicks and other characters get so little time it's just another reason to be bored. I tried, I'm done :-\
Speaking of character growth the sidekicks and other characters get so little time it's just another reason to be bored. I tried, I'm done :-\
July 15, 2024
Just when I thought this series couldn’t get any more tedious. My goodness, this author must get paid by the syllable. To spend so much time talking about upgrades and dao and go on and on and then to skip over ability upgrades is just weird. The timelines in these last few books have been impossible to understand. Somehow Zac barely escapes one trauma after another but then somehow has had time to train and practice with his newfound skills/power/upgrades.
Not to mention it’s getting increasingly more difficult to understand what the central narrative is when so many events are occurring and the writer keeps adding more points of view from random individuals.
This was a slog.
Not to mention it’s getting increasingly more difficult to understand what the central narrative is when so many events are occurring and the writer keeps adding more points of view from random individuals.
This was a slog.
June 28, 2024
mixed bag
The storyline is branching into more and more characters. The first few books, the story bounced between Zac and Ogras, so the story kept a decent pace. The later books started adding more characters to the story which caused the story’s pace to slow down. The overall story is still interesting, it’s just boring with all the other characters views added on. Do side stories if you want to tell their tales. This book is below average compared to the other books in this series.
The storyline is branching into more and more characters. The first few books, the story bounced between Zac and Ogras, so the story kept a decent pace. The later books started adding more characters to the story which caused the story’s pace to slow down. The overall story is still interesting, it’s just boring with all the other characters views added on. Do side stories if you want to tell their tales. This book is below average compared to the other books in this series.
July 1, 2024
Interesting concept but it's convoluted
Honestly I like the concept of the book at times it has some interesting stuff but the plot is all over the place so overly complex and too many characters to keep track of. Some parts of the book are like filler while giving you a sense of disconnectedness. The focus shifts too many times between too many people to properly follow. There is so much focused on Zac's progress this or that let alone how badly any conversation goes also it feels like most of what goes on is internal monologue and just senseless rambling nonsense.
Honestly I like the concept of the book at times it has some interesting stuff but the plot is all over the place so overly complex and too many characters to keep track of. Some parts of the book are like filler while giving you a sense of disconnectedness. The focus shifts too many times between too many people to properly follow. There is so much focused on Zac's progress this or that let alone how badly any conversation goes also it feels like most of what goes on is internal monologue and just senseless rambling nonsense.
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