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The Stargazer's War #1
To Flail Against Infinity
Infinite power, infinite danger.
Growing up mortal, I only knew a few things about cultivators. They like their hierarchies, they hate disrespect, and if you leave one out in deep space long enough, they'll go homicidally insane.
It turns out, there's a reason for that. Away from all the gravity wells and biospheres that generate natural energy, things get just quiet enough to notice the infinite ocean of qi entirely incompatible with our own.
I should know. I've seen it.
Only difference is, I didn't go mad. I wasn't a cultivator. Technically, I wasn't even alive.
But now I can sense it. I can touch it.
I can cultivate it.
From the bestselling author of This Trilogy is Broken! and Dungeon Devotee comes the cultivation epic you've been waiting for.
Growing up mortal, I only knew a few things about cultivators. They like their hierarchies, they hate disrespect, and if you leave one out in deep space long enough, they'll go homicidally insane.
It turns out, there's a reason for that. Away from all the gravity wells and biospheres that generate natural energy, things get just quiet enough to notice the infinite ocean of qi entirely incompatible with our own.
I should know. I've seen it.
Only difference is, I didn't go mad. I wasn't a cultivator. Technically, I wasn't even alive.
But now I can sense it. I can touch it.
I can cultivate it.
From the bestselling author of This Trilogy is Broken! and Dungeon Devotee comes the cultivation epic you've been waiting for.
493 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2023
987 people are currently reading
1738 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 218 reviews
June 19, 2023
This is a cultivation story (with qi and opening meridians and all that pseudo-Chinese mystical stuff), but it's not LitRPG, so no stats or any of the stuff I've been reading a lot of recently (which is why I draw that forward). The premise is fairly unique as the setting is very sci-fi, rather than any kind of fantasy. Cal, our protagonist, is a deepspace welder used to contemplating the vast emptiness of the void. And we start with him dying but finding strength in that void such that he comes back. Not in a zombie way, but in a "found inspiration" way that starts him off on the path of a cultivator. Only one with a crucial difference in that he draws power where everyone else finds emptiness.
Which is kind of a cool conceit, plus Valentine is great with characters, including the lovely Lucy who is the spaceship that rescues Cal from his now-lifeless (except for him) space station. She pulls some strings to get him into a sect where he can start learning all the cultivator stuff that he's never had to deal with before. And the rest of the story is Cal making waves and other people trying to figure out the weirdness attached to him.
And I enjoyed Cal and his misfit friends very much. They're all very different and combined with Cal's insight and drive I liked seeing them bounce off each other and variously thrive and/or falter. The series name should be tipoff enough that this is a story heading into massive conflict but this particular novel is all setup. There's no war at this point, and it isn't until the very end that you can see even the shape of one that might come. Which I thought was very good for my own personal enjoyment because I really liked the start of the careers these characters are undertaking and their initial friendship that will likely see them through the hardships to come.
Which is why I have zero plans to continue the series even though I'm giving this first bit four stars. It's a great story. I enjoyed it immensely. But I don't like some of the antagonists being setup through misreads and conclusion jumping and how Cal and friends are going to be at the mercy of some very big forces that they haven't even begun to suspect yet. Good book. I'm glad I read it. But yeah, no interest to continue.
A note about Chaste: Cal isn't looking for love though some of his friends end up going there. There's no intimacy on-page, though, so this is pretty chaste.
Which is kind of a cool conceit, plus Valentine is great with characters, including the lovely Lucy who is the spaceship that rescues Cal from his now-lifeless (except for him) space station. She pulls some strings to get him into a sect where he can start learning all the cultivator stuff that he's never had to deal with before. And the rest of the story is Cal making waves and other people trying to figure out the weirdness attached to him.
And I enjoyed Cal and his misfit friends very much. They're all very different and combined with Cal's insight and drive I liked seeing them bounce off each other and variously thrive and/or falter. The series name should be tipoff enough that this is a story heading into massive conflict but this particular novel is all setup. There's no war at this point, and it isn't until the very end that you can see even the shape of one that might come. Which I thought was very good for my own personal enjoyment because I really liked the start of the careers these characters are undertaking and their initial friendship that will likely see them through the hardships to come.
Which is why I have zero plans to continue the series even though I'm giving this first bit four stars. It's a great story. I enjoyed it immensely. But I don't like some of the antagonists being setup through misreads and conclusion jumping and how Cal and friends are going to be at the mercy of some very big forces that they haven't even begun to suspect yet. Good book. I'm glad I read it. But yeah, no interest to continue.
A note about Chaste: Cal isn't looking for love though some of his friends end up going there. There's no intimacy on-page, though, so this is pretty chaste.
October 3, 2024
The Void Sage starting his Sect early, I see?
Wait, wrong series
Wait, wrong series
May 10, 2023
I enjoyed the first half or so; the character’s perspective was quite dry and funny. But it lost its way as he became increasingly pompous and melodramatic. Without that personal sympathy the plot was revealed as clunking and occasionally nonsensical. I was quite cross with it by the end.
December 28, 2023
A great sci-fi litRPG. The book has great concepts, fight scenes, twists and turns, and sets up for a series very nicely. The only hang up was a lot of the book focused on unlocking the various meridians and thus gaining power but I believe that’s all part of the genre.
June 6, 2023
Okay, this is good
Perhaps a touch philosophical, but an adventure story. Is it grimdark? I don't know but it has plenty sad. It's in space and it has the second coolest thing after a dragon, a soulship. The MC makes friends and is a very nice guy. I want to read the next book.
Perhaps a touch philosophical, but an adventure story. Is it grimdark? I don't know but it has plenty sad. It's in space and it has the second coolest thing after a dragon, a soulship. The MC makes friends and is a very nice guy. I want to read the next book.
May 15, 2023
This is an amazing book. It might not seem like it when you first pick it up, and I say that because I felt the same way.
Cal, the MC, is a miner on an asteroid. A cultivator shows up in his soul ship and immediately begins killing everyone on the station. Including Cal. He wakes up days later but something important has happened in the time between. He's seen the infinite, and it's imprinted on his soul. It's also turned him into a cultivator.
Fast forward and Cal has been taken to a system that two planets circling around one sun. He joins, as as the newest cultivator he's placed in classes with young children. He is disrespected right and left, but he doesn't care because he knows the truth: the qi that he cultivates is different than the solar qi that the rest of the cultivators use. People can't sense his qi, and on top of that the leadership is eager to push him out since he's a waste of resources.
The summary only scratches at the story. Cal befriends mortals (non-qi users) and makes friends with other cultivators after sharing his few hours of meditation time.
The editing is good but honestly, I didn't care. Cal is snarky (which does him no favors) and goes against all the usual rules. I can't wait to read book two to see what happens next. There are no stats, but the cultivation almost implies stats to be there.
The book does drag at the 50% mark. At least, it did for me. I put it down and read something else before picking it up again. Recommended. 5/5*
Cal, the MC, is a miner on an asteroid. A cultivator shows up in his soul ship and immediately begins killing everyone on the station. Including Cal. He wakes up days later but something important has happened in the time between. He's seen the infinite, and it's imprinted on his soul. It's also turned him into a cultivator.
Fast forward and Cal has been taken to a system that two planets circling around one sun. He joins, as as the newest cultivator he's placed in classes with young children. He is disrespected right and left, but he doesn't care because he knows the truth: the qi that he cultivates is different than the solar qi that the rest of the cultivators use. People can't sense his qi, and on top of that the leadership is eager to push him out since he's a waste of resources.
The summary only scratches at the story. Cal befriends mortals (non-qi users) and makes friends with other cultivators after sharing his few hours of meditation time.
The editing is good but honestly, I didn't care. Cal is snarky (which does him no favors) and goes against all the usual rules. I can't wait to read book two to see what happens next. There are no stats, but the cultivation almost implies stats to be there.
The book does drag at the 50% mark. At least, it did for me. I put it down and read something else before picking it up again. Recommended. 5/5*
August 6, 2023
It's been a while since I read the first book in The Nothing Mage series, which left me unexcited. After reading To Flail Against Infinity I can only conclude that Valentine has been working hard at his craft.
Like his first series, this one has an intricate yet believable magic system. But this book seems more polished. The pacing is good, with deliberate waxing and waning of the tension. The characters are fleshed out thoroughly and the world-building shows promise... it's still early days in the larger story. I particularly liked the central premise, with its associated space-faring society where cultivation is the primary source of power.
On the downside, I'm not a fan of sect/academy stories. This one has some of the weaknesses of most cultivation sect stories – how to address the massive power gap between the god-class acolytes and the newly arrived plebs. It fails to address this problem except to portray it as systemic corruption and cultural bastardization.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next release. I may even go back to continue the Nothing Mage series.
Like his first series, this one has an intricate yet believable magic system. But this book seems more polished. The pacing is good, with deliberate waxing and waning of the tension. The characters are fleshed out thoroughly and the world-building shows promise... it's still early days in the larger story. I particularly liked the central premise, with its associated space-faring society where cultivation is the primary source of power.
On the downside, I'm not a fan of sect/academy stories. This one has some of the weaknesses of most cultivation sect stories – how to address the massive power gap between the god-class acolytes and the newly arrived plebs. It fails to address this problem except to portray it as systemic corruption and cultural bastardization.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next release. I may even go back to continue the Nothing Mage series.
May 13, 2023
nothing new here
Han Solo. Tony Stark. Harry Dresden. Jason Asano. They are likable jerks. They might irritate you, but you wouldn’t mind hanging out with them.
The main character here is a self absorbed and self righteous jerk. I rooted for the bad guys to smash his teeth in. As so many characters do these days, he alternates between insolence and sarcastic “cuteness.” He disrespects his friends at every opportunity.
To quote Puscifer, he “speaks like someone who has never been smacked in the effing mouth.” I get that he is in his early twenties, but the cute/insolent “protagonist” has been overdone by far more interesting characters. Even a 22 year old can develop emotional restraint beyond what you’d expect in a petulant 5 year old. It’s writing like this, that’s no different than anything else coming out lately, that makes me not want to read anything where the protagonist is younger than 40.
Han Solo. Tony Stark. Harry Dresden. Jason Asano. They are likable jerks. They might irritate you, but you wouldn’t mind hanging out with them.
The main character here is a self absorbed and self righteous jerk. I rooted for the bad guys to smash his teeth in. As so many characters do these days, he alternates between insolence and sarcastic “cuteness.” He disrespects his friends at every opportunity.
To quote Puscifer, he “speaks like someone who has never been smacked in the effing mouth.” I get that he is in his early twenties, but the cute/insolent “protagonist” has been overdone by far more interesting characters. Even a 22 year old can develop emotional restraint beyond what you’d expect in a petulant 5 year old. It’s writing like this, that’s no different than anything else coming out lately, that makes me not want to read anything where the protagonist is younger than 40.
November 21, 2023
I don't know what to make of my feelings on this. It took a big fantasy turn towards the ending, then wrapped itself up nicely in the final chapters, then blew everything wide open again in the epilogue.
I marked three stars for a neutral rating. This is one of my team's SPSFC quarterfinalists and the score reflects absolutely nothing, not even my own opinion yet.
Full review to come
I marked three stars for a neutral rating. This is one of my team's SPSFC quarterfinalists and the score reflects absolutely nothing, not even my own opinion yet.
Full review to come
April 16, 2023
I am struggling to express how brilliant this book is
Firstly, the characters are so vivid and realistic that I could see them stepping out of the pages and into reality. Secondly, the book meaningfully deals with nihilism and meaninglessness rather than giving the MC generic void powers. Thirdly, it is not afraid to have him fail and be imperfect. The cultivation system has not been yet explored in a lot of depth, but is satisfying nonetheless. The setting is also unique for the genre and the world building well done. There are a few grammatical and punctuation errors; however, they are not very intrusive. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who like this cultivation novels and progression fantasy in general.
Firstly, the characters are so vivid and realistic that I could see them stepping out of the pages and into reality. Secondly, the book meaningfully deals with nihilism and meaninglessness rather than giving the MC generic void powers. Thirdly, it is not afraid to have him fail and be imperfect. The cultivation system has not been yet explored in a lot of depth, but is satisfying nonetheless. The setting is also unique for the genre and the world building well done. There are a few grammatical and punctuation errors; however, they are not very intrusive. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who like this cultivation novels and progression fantasy in general.
May 25, 2025
This sat in my TBR pile for a long time, so I'm glad I finally read it, but also it's not a series for me.
It has two things going for it:
The sci-fi / cultivation hybrid genre is a great mashup.
The story is well-written and the author knows his way around a story.
I think my problem is that I don't enjoy cultivation tropes or the whole setup of a poor schmuck trying to navigate an established system of intergenerational wealth and nepotism. The antagonists aren't very interesting to me and the endless navel gazing, even when well-written, gets old. While many litrpg stories fall into the shallow fight/loot loop, I at least get some variety with the encounters compared to the same meridian opening and enlightenment farming. Or maybe I just don't have the cultivation connoisseur's palate.
The sci-fi angle combined with the nice writing was enough to carry me through this book, but I have no motivation to pick up the next volume. People who are fans of cultivation should enjoy this somewhat fresh twist on familiar tropes, so I'd encourage them to check this story out despite my lukewarm review.
It has two things going for it:
The sci-fi / cultivation hybrid genre is a great mashup.
The story is well-written and the author knows his way around a story.
I think my problem is that I don't enjoy cultivation tropes or the whole setup of a poor schmuck trying to navigate an established system of intergenerational wealth and nepotism. The antagonists aren't very interesting to me and the endless navel gazing, even when well-written, gets old. While many litrpg stories fall into the shallow fight/loot loop, I at least get some variety with the encounters compared to the same meridian opening and enlightenment farming. Or maybe I just don't have the cultivation connoisseur's palate.
The sci-fi angle combined with the nice writing was enough to carry me through this book, but I have no motivation to pick up the next volume. People who are fans of cultivation should enjoy this somewhat fresh twist on familiar tropes, so I'd encourage them to check this story out despite my lukewarm review.
November 6, 2023
4.5 Stars
To Flail Against Infinity by J.P. Valentine was only my second full read for the SPSFC-3 competition. It was the last of my slush reads but I was enjoying the first 20% so much, I went ahead and continued on to finish it out completely. As always with competition reads, please keep in mind my public reviews are entirely my own feelings toward these books and may not necessarily reflect our entire team overall.
The pacing of this read worked well for me. There were a handful of editing issues sprinkled throughout but nothing too glaring that tripped me up while reading. Mostly it just seemed some typos that I noticed once in awhile. This read did lean a bit into the faster pace but not so much that I felt like too much was being left out. There is certainly plenty of action and intrigue to keep things interesting. And as I usually mention in my reviews, I didn't have any issues with names to trip me up in this one other.
The world building was really unique. Now keep in mind that Science Fiction is probably my second most read genre I still don't read an overly abundant amount which means some of the aspects to this world may be more commonly found than I am aware of. But I really enjoyed the "magic" of Qi in this world. I also ended up enjoying the academy setting which as I've voiced before, I'm not a huge fan of stories that revolve around school. This one kept things interesting and spent enough time away from the academy itself for my enjoyment.
The character development also worked really well for me. Not only did we of course see quite an arc for our protagonist Caliban and several of our supporting characters, but we even get glimpses back to fill in some information of characters introduced briefly at the beginning to let us understand those characters and their reasoning just a bit more. I really liked the constantly struggle that Cal has throughout most of the book as he realizes his power and abilities. Sure he seems to progress quickly but it takes a lot of work for him and his friends to figure out how things work with his Qi being so different!
I'd also like to mention there were a couple of times reading this book that I ended up with goosebumps. That doesn't happen often and usually only when really connecting with a story and its characters.
The ending was really good as well. I had made some notes along the way with some suspicions I had and I was close on a couple but I didn't really nail anything specifically.
This isn't necessarily a happy story due to many things that happen in this story but it all seemed to have meaning by the end.
This was my first read by J.P. Valentine and I will have to look into some more works from this author. I will certainly be looking to continue this series as well.
To Flail Against Infinity by J.P. Valentine was only my second full read for the SPSFC-3 competition. It was the last of my slush reads but I was enjoying the first 20% so much, I went ahead and continued on to finish it out completely. As always with competition reads, please keep in mind my public reviews are entirely my own feelings toward these books and may not necessarily reflect our entire team overall.
The pacing of this read worked well for me. There were a handful of editing issues sprinkled throughout but nothing too glaring that tripped me up while reading. Mostly it just seemed some typos that I noticed once in awhile. This read did lean a bit into the faster pace but not so much that I felt like too much was being left out. There is certainly plenty of action and intrigue to keep things interesting. And as I usually mention in my reviews, I didn't have any issues with names to trip me up in this one other.
The world building was really unique. Now keep in mind that Science Fiction is probably my second most read genre I still don't read an overly abundant amount which means some of the aspects to this world may be more commonly found than I am aware of. But I really enjoyed the "magic" of Qi in this world. I also ended up enjoying the academy setting which as I've voiced before, I'm not a huge fan of stories that revolve around school. This one kept things interesting and spent enough time away from the academy itself for my enjoyment.
The character development also worked really well for me. Not only did we of course see quite an arc for our protagonist Caliban and several of our supporting characters, but we even get glimpses back to fill in some information of characters introduced briefly at the beginning to let us understand those characters and their reasoning just a bit more. I really liked the constantly struggle that Cal has throughout most of the book as he realizes his power and abilities. Sure he seems to progress quickly but it takes a lot of work for him and his friends to figure out how things work with his Qi being so different!
I'd also like to mention there were a couple of times reading this book that I ended up with goosebumps. That doesn't happen often and usually only when really connecting with a story and its characters.
The ending was really good as well. I had made some notes along the way with some suspicions I had and I was close on a couple but I didn't really nail anything specifically.
This isn't necessarily a happy story due to many things that happen in this story but it all seemed to have meaning by the end.
This was my first read by J.P. Valentine and I will have to look into some more works from this author. I will certainly be looking to continue this series as well.
April 7, 2024
Dang this is good
Honestly I can't say what I expected going into this, especially as a new comer to JP's books. But dang if I didn't enjoy it. Eagerly looking forward to the next book here!
Honestly I can't say what I expected going into this, especially as a new comer to JP's books. But dang if I didn't enjoy it. Eagerly looking forward to the next book here!
August 21, 2025
Caliban (Cal) Rex along with his brother are simple vac welders working on a space station. That all changes when a cultivator suffering from psychosis arrives. He kills everyone aboard the space station including Cal. That is until Cal revives himself as a cultivator. He quickly learns he can cultivate qi from the void itself as he sets off to begin a new life.
To Flail Against Infinity was an interesting story. It has many of the typical elements of cultivation wrapped into a space setting. People travel using space ships and live on space stations. Space is far from the ideal place to cultivate for everyone except Cal. Meridians are opened, techniques are learned, and there is a lot of meditating.
I enjoyed the overall story and characters. Cal is a good guy albeit a bit crude. He sets off into the vicious world of cultivation by joining a sect. He immediately runs into trouble with one of the Elders of the sect who despises him and everything he represents. Cal chooses to be friendly and hard working despite all this. He makes friends in Charlotte, Xavier, and eventually Nick. Charlotte is the scheming yet knowledgeable type, who decides to help Cal as she learns what's in it for her. Xavier is earnest in everything he does from talking to fighting. I imagine he's the best friend most everyone would love to have once they get accustomed to his exuberance. Nick is a young man who wants to live life as a farmer yet is forced into cultivation by his parents. He's talented at cultivating yet uninterested in it. The last main protagonist is the soulship Lucy. Lucy is a ship who can cultivate in her own way that has gained sentience. She dotes on Cal despite their rough introduction to one another.
The sect Cal joins is a dangerous place and Lucy warns Cal of as much before he steps foot in there. Nearly everyone believes they are special. Many look down at Cal because he wasn't raised to be a cultivator and because of his weakness. The sect members disrespect non cultivators that they label as mortals. Barely seeing the value in them. Cal however chooses to be befriend the mortals he comes across. They are more apt to take up his offers of friendship than most cultivators.
There was only one thing about the story that truly bothered me. The psychosis that is warned about throughout the story is called void-induced psychosis which is all well and good. However for some odd reason they chose to abbreviate it as VIP. Since VIP is such a common abbreviation, I find myself momentarily distracted every single time someone mentions VIP. I wish they just called it void sickness, void madness, or perhaps void psychosis rather than using the abbreviation.
The other small item I would have preferred to see improved was the antagonists motivations. The two primary antagonists simply seem to be arrogant and judgemental. There isn't much else. One wants out of the sect and the other wants to preserve what they feel is right. Fleshing them out a bit more may have made the story more enjoyable.
To Flail Against Infinity was a good start to a series. I'm curious to learn what happens next.
To Flail Against Infinity was an interesting story. It has many of the typical elements of cultivation wrapped into a space setting. People travel using space ships and live on space stations. Space is far from the ideal place to cultivate for everyone except Cal. Meridians are opened, techniques are learned, and there is a lot of meditating.
I enjoyed the overall story and characters. Cal is a good guy albeit a bit crude. He sets off into the vicious world of cultivation by joining a sect. He immediately runs into trouble with one of the Elders of the sect who despises him and everything he represents. Cal chooses to be friendly and hard working despite all this. He makes friends in Charlotte, Xavier, and eventually Nick. Charlotte is the scheming yet knowledgeable type, who decides to help Cal as she learns what's in it for her. Xavier is earnest in everything he does from talking to fighting. I imagine he's the best friend most everyone would love to have once they get accustomed to his exuberance. Nick is a young man who wants to live life as a farmer yet is forced into cultivation by his parents. He's talented at cultivating yet uninterested in it. The last main protagonist is the soulship Lucy. Lucy is a ship who can cultivate in her own way that has gained sentience. She dotes on Cal despite their rough introduction to one another.
The sect Cal joins is a dangerous place and Lucy warns Cal of as much before he steps foot in there. Nearly everyone believes they are special. Many look down at Cal because he wasn't raised to be a cultivator and because of his weakness. The sect members disrespect non cultivators that they label as mortals. Barely seeing the value in them. Cal however chooses to be befriend the mortals he comes across. They are more apt to take up his offers of friendship than most cultivators.
There was only one thing about the story that truly bothered me. The psychosis that is warned about throughout the story is called void-induced psychosis which is all well and good. However for some odd reason they chose to abbreviate it as VIP. Since VIP is such a common abbreviation, I find myself momentarily distracted every single time someone mentions VIP. I wish they just called it void sickness, void madness, or perhaps void psychosis rather than using the abbreviation.
The other small item I would have preferred to see improved was the antagonists motivations. The two primary antagonists simply seem to be arrogant and judgemental. There isn't much else. One wants out of the sect and the other wants to preserve what they feel is right. Fleshing them out a bit more may have made the story more enjoyable.
To Flail Against Infinity was a good start to a series. I'm curious to learn what happens next.
Read
December 16, 2023Read for SPSFC.
Presenting (to me) a unique mash-up of sci-fi and cultivation, To Flail Against Infinity provided a worthwhile read that brings its readers into its world with a memorable cast of characters and a fun progressive loop.
Characters: For me, the strength of this book came from a varied and rounded cast. Protagonist Cal, surrounds himself with an enjoyable support system of characters and essentially a ship for a parent and the found family element really worked. Cal himself does suffer somewhat from being the main character of the book (brash, sometimes cannot stop mouthing off), but is balanced by the rest of the case and some trauma early in the book. +
Language: Some nice pulse pounding moments and build up in the writing worked well, with some exciting combat exchanges sprinkled in. Perfectly functional.
Action/Plot: As mentioned above, I felt like the pacing worked well with the overall arc of the story. There was an interesting balance as a book in the genre where I felt like the book assumed I knew about opening qi channels (I didn't), but nothing I couldn't recover from. Probably my largest quibble here, the cycling method of the protagonist is somewhat of a secret method that overlaps with a philosophy summarized in the title of the book. I felt like the juxtaposition of the main character with this discovered ideology was an awkward fit at times. There are a couple moments in the book that feel like they diverted from the voice and character of the rest of the story to explain this thought process that didn't land with me.
World: To me, worldbuilding takes a backseat to the plot and characters, which I support as it seems like the world at-large will be developed further in the series. Most of the world focus in this book centers around the rules of qi and cultivation.
An easy recommend for anyone currently stuck in a Cradle hangover. All in all, I enjoyed the read.
Presenting (to me) a unique mash-up of sci-fi and cultivation, To Flail Against Infinity provided a worthwhile read that brings its readers into its world with a memorable cast of characters and a fun progressive loop.
Characters: For me, the strength of this book came from a varied and rounded cast. Protagonist Cal, surrounds himself with an enjoyable support system of characters and essentially a ship for a parent and the found family element really worked. Cal himself does suffer somewhat from being the main character of the book (brash, sometimes cannot stop mouthing off), but is balanced by the rest of the case and some trauma early in the book. +
Language: Some nice pulse pounding moments and build up in the writing worked well, with some exciting combat exchanges sprinkled in. Perfectly functional.
Action/Plot: As mentioned above, I felt like the pacing worked well with the overall arc of the story. There was an interesting balance as a book in the genre where I felt like the book assumed I knew about opening qi channels (I didn't), but nothing I couldn't recover from. Probably my largest quibble here, the cycling method of the protagonist is somewhat of a secret method that overlaps with a philosophy summarized in the title of the book. I felt like the juxtaposition of the main character with this discovered ideology was an awkward fit at times. There are a couple moments in the book that feel like they diverted from the voice and character of the rest of the story to explain this thought process that didn't land with me.
World: To me, worldbuilding takes a backseat to the plot and characters, which I support as it seems like the world at-large will be developed further in the series. Most of the world focus in this book centers around the rules of qi and cultivation.
An easy recommend for anyone currently stuck in a Cradle hangover. All in all, I enjoyed the read.
August 21, 2023
not a ‘clown show’
This is an excellent blend of Western sensibilities and Eastern cultivation, all with spaceships and computers. The MC is *not* OP and struggles to adapt to Sect life. He has *one* advantage, but it cripples his use of normal cultivation concepts.
There’s a really dark moment near the end. You see it coming, like a slow motion disaster. This doesn’t end with happy, but the MC has a semblance of a path forward.
Heck yeah, I’m buying the sequel.
This is an excellent blend of Western sensibilities and Eastern cultivation, all with spaceships and computers. The MC is *not* OP and struggles to adapt to Sect life. He has *one* advantage, but it cripples his use of normal cultivation concepts.
There’s a really dark moment near the end. You see it coming, like a slow motion disaster. This doesn’t end with happy, but the MC has a semblance of a path forward.
Heck yeah, I’m buying the sequel.
May 7, 2023
well done
Well written - Coming of Age - Space Cultivation. I don’t think I need to say much else. You should read it.
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Narration: NA
Favorite Line: If there was beauty in the eternal, could there not too be beauty in the fleeting?
Well written - Coming of Age - Space Cultivation. I don’t think I need to say much else. You should read it.
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Narration: NA
Favorite Line: If there was beauty in the eternal, could there not too be beauty in the fleeting?
dnf
January 17, 2024Sampled for the first round of SPSFC judging. https://thespsfc.org/how-the-competit... While this book made it to my team's quarter-finalist list, it was not my style (NMS) so I am not going to complete it.
Initial impressions: From a technical aspect, this is one of the best books in my team's slush pile. It's very easy to read, well-crafted, and very polished. The book has a killer first line, too: “The day I died started off as boring as the day before it.”
Plot & Characters: Lucy (the spaceship) is by far my favorite of the characters. I like main character Cal a lot less—however, both of the two are well-developed characters and you can tell they have background history that the author knows, whether or not the reader does. (It might get shared with the reader at some point after I stopped. I'm not sure.)
I didn't really get a good sense of where the plot was going from the portion I read. I followed the story up until a point where Cal was going to school to learn how to cultivate qi, but I don't know what the point of cultivating is.
CW: lots of swearing; some gore and medical content; repeated use of the word "psycho" which was off-putting to me
Overall thoughts: First off, I think that readers who are better suited to the content and style of writing will love this. I personally had issues with the gore—both the initial scene of violence and the later descriptions of bodily secretions—but that won't bother everyone. Additionally, this book does a lot of snarky 4th wall breaking where the main character directs comments to the reader, but for some reason that I can't pinpoint, it wasn't done in a way that I enjoy. Perhaps Cal's sense of humor and mine are too different?
Ultimately, this book is a fast read that, for its target audience, will probably hit a lot of the right notes with character development and attitude. Even readers who aren't fully in-tune with the main character will get a very well crafted story that zips along at a fast pace, with some great one-liners and conversations between characters.
Initial impressions: From a technical aspect, this is one of the best books in my team's slush pile. It's very easy to read, well-crafted, and very polished. The book has a killer first line, too: “The day I died started off as boring as the day before it.”
Plot & Characters: Lucy (the spaceship) is by far my favorite of the characters. I like main character Cal a lot less—however, both of the two are well-developed characters and you can tell they have background history that the author knows, whether or not the reader does. (It might get shared with the reader at some point after I stopped. I'm not sure.)
I didn't really get a good sense of where the plot was going from the portion I read. I followed the story up until a point where Cal was going to school to learn how to cultivate qi, but I don't know what the point of cultivating is.
CW: lots of swearing; some gore and medical content; repeated use of the word "psycho" which was off-putting to me
Overall thoughts: First off, I think that readers who are better suited to the content and style of writing will love this. I personally had issues with the gore—both the initial scene of violence and the later descriptions of bodily secretions—but that won't bother everyone. Additionally, this book does a lot of snarky 4th wall breaking where the main character directs comments to the reader, but for some reason that I can't pinpoint, it wasn't done in a way that I enjoy. Perhaps Cal's sense of humor and mine are too different?
Ultimately, this book is a fast read that, for its target audience, will probably hit a lot of the right notes with character development and attitude. Even readers who aren't fully in-tune with the main character will get a very well crafted story that zips along at a fast pace, with some great one-liners and conversations between characters.
February 27, 2025
Great book!!! 👍🏻
April 11, 2023
4–4.5 rounded up because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope there is more to come. Off to check out the author’s other works.
Deductions mainly because I don’t like antagonist POVs, but I get it.
Deductions mainly because I don’t like antagonist POVs, but I get it.
October 19, 2024
I've read dozens of self published books in this genre, and To Flail Against Infinity is probably the second I've read with good prose. Seriously, J. P. Valentine is way ahead of the game when it comes to this. It flows beautifully, with clever turns of phrase, and also gets philosophical, which is a defining thing in eastern cultivation stories that gets overlooked by their western counterparts.
However, this book has my biggest pet peeve: a smart-mouth character. Cal is completely insufferable, constantly quipping and talking back to people when it doesn't make sense. It's the worse of Marvel dialogue, dialed up to the max, no matter how pretty the prose. It seriously made me consider dropping the book multiple times. I don't know why authors still write characters like that. I don't know how a reader can like a character like that. If your character does not treat things seriously, why should I? I'm not saying there can be no friendly banter anywhere, just that if your life is at risk, it makes no sense to talk back at someone when you're at their mercy.
The side characters (from the friend group) were fine. Xavier was a bit one note, although he has secret (oh gee, I wonder what it is...). Charlotte was initially described as a pragmatic and calculating girl, but some of her actions later put that into question, giving the feel of inconsistency, rather than simply a different side of her personality. Nick is the most interesting of the bunch, and I thought his story arc was the best.
As for the other characters, they were pretty bad. The author decided to pick the wort stereotypes of cultivation novels to have irredeemable one-dimensional assholes, whose sole purpose is to get humiliated by the MC a while later.
The world building was interesting, if quite derivative. The elevator pitch is: cultivation, but sci-fi and in outer space. There are some cool ideas, but apart from being set in another planet and in a high tech society, it's mostly what you already know with the names changed.
I had some minor problems with the plot progression. In my opinion, everything happened a bit too smoothly and too quickly. Cal instantly made friends, despite the hostile environment of the sect. It took only one year to caught up to his peers. Now, I get it, he has a cheat. But that would only explain him catching up in "power", not skill, when they had been training for all their lives. This was also a sour point for me. It trivializes effort, and so makes any accomplishment (even by the MC) feel worthless. Also, the final fight was a stinker. Really underwhelming conclusion.
All in all, To Flail Against Infinity is an average story wrapped up in very pretty writing. There are a number of small pain points, the MC's mouth definitely being the potential deal breaker. As mentioned before, the prose is the standout here, and the setting, though derivative and trope-filled, is fresh enough to be interesting.
However, this book has my biggest pet peeve: a smart-mouth character. Cal is completely insufferable, constantly quipping and talking back to people when it doesn't make sense. It's the worse of Marvel dialogue, dialed up to the max, no matter how pretty the prose. It seriously made me consider dropping the book multiple times. I don't know why authors still write characters like that. I don't know how a reader can like a character like that. If your character does not treat things seriously, why should I? I'm not saying there can be no friendly banter anywhere, just that if your life is at risk, it makes no sense to talk back at someone when you're at their mercy.
The side characters (from the friend group) were fine. Xavier was a bit one note, although he has secret (oh gee, I wonder what it is...). Charlotte was initially described as a pragmatic and calculating girl, but some of her actions later put that into question, giving the feel of inconsistency, rather than simply a different side of her personality. Nick is the most interesting of the bunch, and I thought his story arc was the best.
As for the other characters, they were pretty bad. The author decided to pick the wort stereotypes of cultivation novels to have irredeemable one-dimensional assholes, whose sole purpose is to get humiliated by the MC a while later.
The world building was interesting, if quite derivative. The elevator pitch is: cultivation, but sci-fi and in outer space. There are some cool ideas, but apart from being set in another planet and in a high tech society, it's mostly what you already know with the names changed.
I had some minor problems with the plot progression. In my opinion, everything happened a bit too smoothly and too quickly. Cal instantly made friends, despite the hostile environment of the sect. It took only one year to caught up to his peers. Now, I get it, he has a cheat. But that would only explain him catching up in "power", not skill, when they had been training for all their lives. This was also a sour point for me. It trivializes effort, and so makes any accomplishment (even by the MC) feel worthless. Also, the final fight was a stinker. Really underwhelming conclusion.
All in all, To Flail Against Infinity is an average story wrapped up in very pretty writing. There are a number of small pain points, the MC's mouth definitely being the potential deal breaker. As mentioned before, the prose is the standout here, and the setting, though derivative and trope-filled, is fresh enough to be interesting.
April 26, 2023
Well crafted, well written, well received
I’ve read space magic. I’ve read space opera. I’ve read cultivation. I don’t think I’ve ever read space cultivation. The concept is novel, but just familiar enough that it was easy to understand. Caliban is a delightfully witty and cynical narrator, with his own struggles, motivations and dreams. He is also grasping at the realization that none of them matter. My only point of critique is that plot elements seemed a little…convenient at times. Less living world, more protagonist’s story. When plans failed, there were convenient backups ready to go. Encounters all seemed to have a purpose that didn’t extend beyond their plot-points.
But the story was good enough that I don’t really care. I’ll be eagerly looking out for the next one.
I’ve read space magic. I’ve read space opera. I’ve read cultivation. I don’t think I’ve ever read space cultivation. The concept is novel, but just familiar enough that it was easy to understand. Caliban is a delightfully witty and cynical narrator, with his own struggles, motivations and dreams. He is also grasping at the realization that none of them matter. My only point of critique is that plot elements seemed a little…convenient at times. Less living world, more protagonist’s story. When plans failed, there were convenient backups ready to go. Encounters all seemed to have a purpose that didn’t extend beyond their plot-points.
But the story was good enough that I don’t really care. I’ll be eagerly looking out for the next one.
May 11, 2023
Book one
I enjoyed this book and was rather disappointed when it ended.
It's different from other cultivation books. Instead of an earth bound fantasy setting we get a nice interplanetary civilization. Swords and axes mixed with spacecraft.
The characters are interesting as well and I look forward to book two.
9/10 Read this in two days. Captivating story.
I enjoyed this book and was rather disappointed when it ended.
It's different from other cultivation books. Instead of an earth bound fantasy setting we get a nice interplanetary civilization. Swords and axes mixed with spacecraft.
The characters are interesting as well and I look forward to book two.
9/10 Read this in two days. Captivating story.
September 7, 2024
what a ride! not gonna lie, i almost didn't pick this up. first person pov is not my favourite and i thought cultivation in space was about as far as scraping the bottom of a barrel as you can get for a new concept in progression fantasy. but wow, am i glad to be proven wrong.
finally, the writing is just pretty good and compulsively readable. so many progression fantasy novels are clunky and clumsy and put language on a backburner in service of infodumps and there's just none of that here. if anything, i thought the plentiful odes to the infinite void were surprisingly wonderful.
finally, the writing is just pretty good and compulsively readable. so many progression fantasy novels are clunky and clumsy and put language on a backburner in service of infodumps and there's just none of that here. if anything, i thought the plentiful odes to the infinite void were surprisingly wonderful.
October 31, 2024
its weird that this series isn't recommended more often especially among progression fantasy circles.
I went looking for a new book series to read and made a short list based on tier lists and reviews, any of them looked like they could be incredible but it was hard to pick between them, they all have positive reviews but none had the universal popularity of something like iron prince. I read the first one, disappointed. read the second, disappointed. Just when i started to lose hope, I read this book and fell in love with it. Finished both book 1 and 2 in 2 days.
The Good
Firstly, this series does a lot of things really well. The cast of characters and their interactions are interesting and fun, the setting is really unique (cultivation + space opera-ish), the MCs gimmick is cool, the low level character decisions generally make sense, the high level plot is cool (kind of sci-fi Dune jihad-ish thing going on). Overall its a lot of fun and definitely worth the read. I don't have much more to say about the good, its not at the level of iron prince, cradle or mother of learning but its right behind them. in general i find reviews more useful that talk about negatives than expound about positives so i'll do that now.
The Not As Good
The MC has a little Jason Asano in him If Wei Shi Lindon is a 1 and Jason Asano is a 10 on the Asano scale, Caliban is like a 3. Every once in a while he'll ranomly mouth off to someone where it doesn't make sense. Its not as obnoxious as the real Jason Asano is in He Who Fights with Monsters but its there.
One of the core group (Charlotte) has a bit too much 'i didn't actually exist until the MC arrived' going on. You can chalk it up to lucky timing of the MCs arrival, but it still feels weird. its weird that she's stuck where she is (when the MC arrives to the sect), especially given that she immediately shows what she was capable of in terms of manipulating the randos of the sect for her advantage. Manipulating people into challenging her that she knows she can beat, getting access to sect equiptment she should have....etc .why didn't she do any of that before? The implication is that the MC giving her some of his resources suddenly allows her to do so but that doesn't really feel correct for a number of reasons. a 10-15% increase in resources for a few weeks isn't enough that you'd expect it to flawlessly catapult someone forward that was stuck low on the totem pool for months. She must have been biding her time until the MC arrives which again, looks like 'i didn't exist until the MC arrived'.
The MCs whole reason for being in the sect seems to go out the window pretty quickly. He wants advice and guidance that he can't otherwise get but aside from the 'how to open meridians 101' info he got, he doesn't really get any of those things. One of the elders threatens to kick him out if he doesn't advance fast enough and this hangs over the whole book despite it seemingly...not being a big deal since they seemingly can't do much for him beyond combat instruction.
overall 4/5 stars, read it, its great but not perfect. A lot of other series have similar flaws without the strengths.
I went looking for a new book series to read and made a short list based on tier lists and reviews, any of them looked like they could be incredible but it was hard to pick between them, they all have positive reviews but none had the universal popularity of something like iron prince. I read the first one, disappointed. read the second, disappointed. Just when i started to lose hope, I read this book and fell in love with it. Finished both book 1 and 2 in 2 days.
The Good
Firstly, this series does a lot of things really well. The cast of characters and their interactions are interesting and fun, the setting is really unique (cultivation + space opera-ish), the MCs gimmick is cool, the low level character decisions generally make sense, the high level plot is cool (kind of sci-fi Dune jihad-ish thing going on). Overall its a lot of fun and definitely worth the read. I don't have much more to say about the good, its not at the level of iron prince, cradle or mother of learning but its right behind them. in general i find reviews more useful that talk about negatives than expound about positives so i'll do that now.
The Not As Good
The MC has a little Jason Asano in him If Wei Shi Lindon is a 1 and Jason Asano is a 10 on the Asano scale, Caliban is like a 3. Every once in a while he'll ranomly mouth off to someone where it doesn't make sense. Its not as obnoxious as the real Jason Asano is in He Who Fights with Monsters but its there.
One of the core group (Charlotte) has a bit too much 'i didn't actually exist until the MC arrived' going on. You can chalk it up to lucky timing of the MCs arrival, but it still feels weird. its weird that she's stuck where she is (when the MC arrives to the sect), especially given that she immediately shows what she was capable of in terms of manipulating the randos of the sect for her advantage. Manipulating people into challenging her that she knows she can beat, getting access to sect equiptment she should have....etc .why didn't she do any of that before? The implication is that the MC giving her some of his resources suddenly allows her to do so but that doesn't really feel correct for a number of reasons. a 10-15% increase in resources for a few weeks isn't enough that you'd expect it to flawlessly catapult someone forward that was stuck low on the totem pool for months. She must have been biding her time until the MC arrives which again, looks like 'i didn't exist until the MC arrived'.
The MCs whole reason for being in the sect seems to go out the window pretty quickly. He wants advice and guidance that he can't otherwise get but aside from the 'how to open meridians 101' info he got, he doesn't really get any of those things. One of the elders threatens to kick him out if he doesn't advance fast enough and this hangs over the whole book despite it seemingly...not being a big deal since they seemingly can't do much for him beyond combat instruction.
overall 4/5 stars, read it, its great but not perfect. A lot of other series have similar flaws without the strengths.
July 4, 2024
I'm seriously torn between 3 and 4 stars here. I want to like this, I want this to be excellent, it's got rough edges but there's promise here...
Firstly - issues:
Clearly it takes liberal inspiration from cradle, which is by itself fine but I'll flag it as potentially problematic.
The writing is rough around the edges at times. To be clear, it's nowhere near the level of some royal road books with typos and grammar errors on every page, but the prose could use some polish. Sometimes the fourth wall breaks ("but this is not that kind of story") are a bit much for me.
There's minor clarity issues, I struggle to describe it exactly (ironic) but sometimes it's hard to situate myself in the scene.
Sometimes the author seems to be reaching for philosophical points about life and the nature of being but stops themselves seemingly self-consciously... It's not terrible but a bit odd
Secondly - The good:
It's DIFFERENT. it takes from the expanse and cradle and cultivation in general but the flavor that comes out works for me.
The world seems large and fairly coherent. There's a sprawl to it, class aspects and resentments that seem fairly stark but not completely comical.
I liked the main character, contrary to other reviews he didn't come off like Jason Asano (and i resent that comparison, I'm sorry, that book is objectively not good and I'll die on that hill) - he can't help himself running his mouth but he genuinely knows it's a problem. I sincerely hope this stays around. He's 22, it works.
It isn't a power fantasy (yet, please don't make me eat those words) and it isn't LitRPG or Isekai or any other of the currently fashionable genre benders who somehow just manage to port over all the source genre's pathologies without adding anything of value. That's harsh, but i think I'm fine with it.
Finally:
When I read the first book of cradle, it didn't have it's stride yet, but there were glimpses. From where I stand now, these seem similar.
I sincerely hope I'm not fooling myself, which i might.
But this series, I'm rooting for it. And if it keeps going like this, I'll evangelize the hell out of it to my friends whom i recommended cradle to and who like me can't find anything like it.
Until now.
April 4, 2025
Probably, to me at least, a perfect book.
If you've read the cultivation genre, you've probably noticed a couple of tropes, which, for some reason, authors feel required to continue to use, even if they're over played. What J.P. Valentine does with "To Flail Against Infinity" defies these tropes, in a really pleasing way, while still writing something recognizably within the cultivation genre. Oh, and its really, really well written too.
Probably my favorite part of the book is that its set in space - its novel and leads to some really neat things, like an awakened starship, a concrete reason why cultivators need to live on planets and around other people, and opens the door for the protagonist, Cal, to have some unique abilities that still make sense within the narrative and the world. Oh, and the worldbuilding is honestly really good! Things make sense within the context of this world and the stranglehold cultivators have on the universe naturally leads to a crazy cyberpunk dystopia. You love to see some thoughtful writing!
But what really made this book stick with me is that, unlike many cultivation stories, its well written and (this was kind of shocking, to be honest) edited. So often, dialogue in stories like this feels amateurish and like an alien made of cardboard is talking. Oh and the author uses the word said. Usually, cultivation authors will entirely remove the word said from their vocabulary and write shit like "he greeted," "he smirked," "he questioned." And sometimes this is appropriate! Sometimes using another word that isn't said is perfectly fine, but I promise you do not have to use a special unique word for every single time someone talks. You can just use said.
I guess the final thing I want to say is that, above all, this book is thoughtful. The author has clearly thought about what they want to write and about what kind of story they want to tell, as well as what kind of voice our narrator and main character, Cal, should have. They've even thought about the individual voices of each character and how to make them feel and sound different. At times it can be slow, but its never ponderous - the slowness is just a little break on a long journey to tell a story that feels earned.
Its a good book and you should read it, if you have the time.
If you've read the cultivation genre, you've probably noticed a couple of tropes, which, for some reason, authors feel required to continue to use, even if they're over played. What J.P. Valentine does with "To Flail Against Infinity" defies these tropes, in a really pleasing way, while still writing something recognizably within the cultivation genre. Oh, and its really, really well written too.
Probably my favorite part of the book is that its set in space - its novel and leads to some really neat things, like an awakened starship, a concrete reason why cultivators need to live on planets and around other people, and opens the door for the protagonist, Cal, to have some unique abilities that still make sense within the narrative and the world. Oh, and the worldbuilding is honestly really good! Things make sense within the context of this world and the stranglehold cultivators have on the universe naturally leads to a crazy cyberpunk dystopia. You love to see some thoughtful writing!
But what really made this book stick with me is that, unlike many cultivation stories, its well written and (this was kind of shocking, to be honest) edited. So often, dialogue in stories like this feels amateurish and like an alien made of cardboard is talking. Oh and the author uses the word said. Usually, cultivation authors will entirely remove the word said from their vocabulary and write shit like "he greeted," "he smirked," "he questioned." And sometimes this is appropriate! Sometimes using another word that isn't said is perfectly fine, but I promise you do not have to use a special unique word for every single time someone talks. You can just use said.
I guess the final thing I want to say is that, above all, this book is thoughtful. The author has clearly thought about what they want to write and about what kind of story they want to tell, as well as what kind of voice our narrator and main character, Cal, should have. They've even thought about the individual voices of each character and how to make them feel and sound different. At times it can be slow, but its never ponderous - the slowness is just a little break on a long journey to tell a story that feels earned.
Its a good book and you should read it, if you have the time.
April 19, 2023
This book is perfect for anyone who enjoyed Cradle or Bastion. Much like those books this one is much more of a character focused progression fantasy where the main character starts off at the bottom of the power levels. The author teases the reader with hints of the near godlike powers of the top cultivators, yet the books story line remains grounded and believable. This series was clearly designed to span many books, and the author is in no rush to throw the main character into the galactic spotlight right away.
I loved that the author shows off their unique magic system without info dumping or cramming it into one/two big portions. The cultivation system is complex and after the first book I feel like I know so much about it, but yet only touched the surface of its complexity.
The main characters growth in this book has been the most organic and enjoyable reading experience I have had since I fell in love with Cradle years ago. The author delivers intense spikes of dopamine releasing power progression throughout the book. These spikes are wonderfully contrasted by the more normal jumps in power the main character achieves over long periods of hard work and hard fought revelations. At no point in the book did I feel like the author cheapened the main characters achievements with unbelievable luck or illogical outcomes.
Of course none of this matters if the characters in this book are unlikable or boring. Thankfully I found myself really enjoying all of the characters in the book. I liked that the author gave the reader short looks into the minds of other people, which helped to explain their future actions and added more flavor to the world. The author was not afraid to add conflict and sorrow into their story in a way that humanized the characters, and added an impressive amount of depth.
I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I'm so happy to have found another great series that I can look forward to in the years to come.
I loved that the author shows off their unique magic system without info dumping or cramming it into one/two big portions. The cultivation system is complex and after the first book I feel like I know so much about it, but yet only touched the surface of its complexity.
The main characters growth in this book has been the most organic and enjoyable reading experience I have had since I fell in love with Cradle years ago. The author delivers intense spikes of dopamine releasing power progression throughout the book. These spikes are wonderfully contrasted by the more normal jumps in power the main character achieves over long periods of hard work and hard fought revelations. At no point in the book did I feel like the author cheapened the main characters achievements with unbelievable luck or illogical outcomes.
Of course none of this matters if the characters in this book are unlikable or boring. Thankfully I found myself really enjoying all of the characters in the book. I liked that the author gave the reader short looks into the minds of other people, which helped to explain their future actions and added more flavor to the world. The author was not afraid to add conflict and sorrow into their story in a way that humanized the characters, and added an impressive amount of depth.
I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I'm so happy to have found another great series that I can look forward to in the years to come.
May 9, 2024
Issues abound
First the good. The story elements started out very unique and came on strongly with an excellent series of hooks that pulled me in, despite the extremely strange first-person past tense prose that randomly included large bits of breaking the fourth wall and internal monologue. The editing was excellent, I found zero errors of any kind, and the pacing felt good, at least until the end.
So what messed up the rating? The uniqueness quickly falls to the wayside as the story quickly becomes "just another cultivation" novel with the MC just being a nice guy. The super powerful soulship is always missing in action to prevent fixing all of the most serious threats. The MC suffers from anxiety attacks and PTSD, but doesn't seem to truly regret the death of his brother but does care about the death of Nick. Anddd to top it all off, it went with the trope of leaving enemies and threats alive on a consistent and honestly stupid level. Maybe it makes sense from a story perspective given the MC, but personally I find it distasteful that an MC won't pull the trigger against people who try to kill him and his friends. Sure enough, everytime it comes back to bite him in the butt. Boring, standard, par for the course.
The characters were well done, and each of them felt alive and not 2 dimensional, and the plot had a good premise. Personally I wouldn't read the sequel because the series already feels ruined for me, but I'm sure many people will enjoy it.
3/5 stars. Had a lot of issues I personally didn't like, but also had a ton of redeeming qualities to the point that I believe most people would like the book, even if it's not to my personal tastes. If less focus had been placed on the sect and the politics and corrupt cultivators, I think it would have earned an additional star from me. If the perspective was third person and the fourth wall was repeatedly broken, it would have been a perfect score.
First the good. The story elements started out very unique and came on strongly with an excellent series of hooks that pulled me in, despite the extremely strange first-person past tense prose that randomly included large bits of breaking the fourth wall and internal monologue. The editing was excellent, I found zero errors of any kind, and the pacing felt good, at least until the end.
So what messed up the rating? The uniqueness quickly falls to the wayside as the story quickly becomes "just another cultivation" novel with the MC just being a nice guy. The super powerful soulship is always missing in action to prevent fixing all of the most serious threats. The MC suffers from anxiety attacks and PTSD, but doesn't seem to truly regret the death of his brother but does care about the death of Nick. Anddd to top it all off, it went with the trope of leaving enemies and threats alive on a consistent and honestly stupid level. Maybe it makes sense from a story perspective given the MC, but personally I find it distasteful that an MC won't pull the trigger against people who try to kill him and his friends. Sure enough, everytime it comes back to bite him in the butt. Boring, standard, par for the course.
The characters were well done, and each of them felt alive and not 2 dimensional, and the plot had a good premise. Personally I wouldn't read the sequel because the series already feels ruined for me, but I'm sure many people will enjoy it.
3/5 stars. Had a lot of issues I personally didn't like, but also had a ton of redeeming qualities to the point that I believe most people would like the book, even if it's not to my personal tastes. If less focus had been placed on the sect and the politics and corrupt cultivators, I think it would have earned an additional star from me. If the perspective was third person and the fourth wall was repeatedly broken, it would have been a perfect score.
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