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A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World #1
A Small Town in Southern Illvaria
A young woman must navigate the dangers of a strange new world filled with magic and mystery in this imaginative and highly detailed LitRPG adventure.When Alice Verianna went to sleep, she was just another teen from the Denver suburbs. She definitely didn’t expect to be transported to a magical alternate dimension, inhabited by monsters and presided over by a mysterious System. Here, people resemble RPG characters and everyone has access to their own status screens.Grappling with the mechanics of the elusive System isn’t the only challenge Alice faces. It seems an underground organization known as the Society of Starry Eyes has taken a particular interest in other dimensions. If they find out about Alice, they will stop at nothing to hunt her down and forcibly extract from her the secrets of her world.Now, in addition to pursuing her own scientific endeavors, as well as learning to harness the magic that surrounds her, Alice must determine the Society’s ultimate intention—and how she ended up here in first place. Before it’s too late . . .The first volume of the hit LitRPG adventure series—with almost two million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
545 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2023
608 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
September 21, 2024
I abandoned this months ago at about halfway. I'm afraid that I've forgotten a lot of why so I'll try to sum up. There are two issues that added up until I just couldn't. First, there's a ton of things working with the city and its inhabitants just because the author says so. People don't generally work that way when presented with uncertainty or fear. This came to a head when they chose to mount an expedition to the MCs entry point and I bought none of the stated motivations for it.
The second is actually the bigger issue and it has to do with the whole "science" thing. It's not just the MCs tolerance for tedium, but that the author loads all of that tedium on the reader. And it isn't helping that I'm thinking of a ton of things her "experiments" aren't actually controlling for in the so-called "science" any more than that many things she does control for are silly but turn out to be significant. It's almost like the author is guiding her to the discoveries the natives would miss without having to go through the things someone from our world might actually consider.
It's contrived, useless, and things only work because the author forces it to do so. So kind of like modern scientific studies if all the retractions and embarrassing revelations are anything to go by... Anyway, I stopped and have no desire to go back.
The second is actually the bigger issue and it has to do with the whole "science" thing. It's not just the MCs tolerance for tedium, but that the author loads all of that tedium on the reader. And it isn't helping that I'm thinking of a ton of things her "experiments" aren't actually controlling for in the so-called "science" any more than that many things she does control for are silly but turn out to be significant. It's almost like the author is guiding her to the discoveries the natives would miss without having to go through the things someone from our world might actually consider.
It's contrived, useless, and things only work because the author forces it to do so. So kind of like modern scientific studies if all the retractions and embarrassing revelations are anything to go by... Anyway, I stopped and have no desire to go back.
September 20, 2024
DNF in 15 minutes
I've said it many times. The writer only has so long to hook the reader. Waste that time at your peril.
You need to get the reader curious, fascinated, or in love with a character on page one.
As you've guessed, this book squandered that time describing a barren landscape for WAY too long and not getting on with it. Likewise the MC was presented as someone uninteresting.
So a tedious person in a dull featureless land. Oh did I mention this book is huge? I'm not committing to a phonebook written by someone who's going to jerk me around for 15 minutes on the opening pages. If this is how she opens a book I shudder to think about the slow parts.
The other strikes were:
2. Word repetition. Don't use the same word over and over or twice in a sentence.
3. "Maybe I'm in a coma and this is all a dream". Ugh! That one's a deal breaker. I'll DNF a book just for that.
I'd read other reviews and most agreed that this book is interesting but gets boring, and that it ends with a cliffhanger and most issues unresolved so I went into this with one finger on the Ejector button.
Still... that premise sounded so good that I had to give it a try.
I was going to quit if it got 1 strike, - it got 3 strikes in 15 minutes.
Damn! I wanted this to be better. Oh well, -Moving on.
I've said it many times. The writer only has so long to hook the reader. Waste that time at your peril.
You need to get the reader curious, fascinated, or in love with a character on page one.
As you've guessed, this book squandered that time describing a barren landscape for WAY too long and not getting on with it. Likewise the MC was presented as someone uninteresting.
So a tedious person in a dull featureless land. Oh did I mention this book is huge? I'm not committing to a phonebook written by someone who's going to jerk me around for 15 minutes on the opening pages. If this is how she opens a book I shudder to think about the slow parts.
The other strikes were:
2. Word repetition. Don't use the same word over and over or twice in a sentence.
3. "Maybe I'm in a coma and this is all a dream". Ugh! That one's a deal breaker. I'll DNF a book just for that.
I'd read other reviews and most agreed that this book is interesting but gets boring, and that it ends with a cliffhanger and most issues unresolved so I went into this with one finger on the Ejector button.
Still... that premise sounded so good that I had to give it a try.
I was going to quit if it got 1 strike, - it got 3 strikes in 15 minutes.
Damn! I wanted this to be better. Oh well, -Moving on.
May 18, 2024
Great world building, character development, and magisciency fun!
If you've ever wondered what a book about a nerdy girl who loves to look deeply into everything and find out how things work in a new world she was transported to then you will probably like this one. I found it refreshing to not have a super overpowered isekai MC who is amazing at everything they try. Seeing one who has to struggle even if she has a slight leg up on the world's inhabitants is quite nice and I can't wait to pick up the next one.
If you've ever wondered what a book about a nerdy girl who loves to look deeply into everything and find out how things work in a new world she was transported to then you will probably like this one. I found it refreshing to not have a super overpowered isekai MC who is amazing at everything they try. Seeing one who has to struggle even if she has a slight leg up on the world's inhabitants is quite nice and I can't wait to pick up the next one.
October 27, 2023
long enough to become bored
Twelve chapters in and you still in the forest figuring basic concepts out. A lot of words and not a lot of progress. Could have easily been 400 pages shorter and still made its point.
Twelve chapters in and you still in the forest figuring basic concepts out. A lot of words and not a lot of progress. Could have easily been 400 pages shorter and still made its point.
February 17, 2024
An amazing read of a fleshed out new world.
My very persistent thought was what if Log Horizon s3 was actually interesting? It still wouldn't be as good as this book, but thats what it made me think of. An in depth look at a world similar to ours but also fundamentally different in some fascinating ways. A world of magic and mana and monsters is nothing new, but the depth at which this world is fleshed out and expounded upon is a marvel. I am so looking forward to reading book 2... after I get some sleep. It's much too late, but I had to finish the book, I was just so close to the end!!
Edit: the 2nd book is not out yet, and I dont know what to do with all of my questions and excitement towards this series
My very persistent thought was what if Log Horizon s3 was actually interesting? It still wouldn't be as good as this book, but thats what it made me think of. An in depth look at a world similar to ours but also fundamentally different in some fascinating ways. A world of magic and mana and monsters is nothing new, but the depth at which this world is fleshed out and expounded upon is a marvel. I am so looking forward to reading book 2... after I get some sleep. It's much too late, but I had to finish the book, I was just so close to the end!!
Edit: the 2nd book is not out yet, and I dont know what to do with all of my questions and excitement towards this series
October 21, 2023
it begins to bloom
First, I must admit, I’ve been reading this series for a long time. It actually started out as an online novella. Each week we get a new chapter and it’s far beyond where this book is. However, let me review this book.
This is an excellent start to a slightly different approach to the LITRPG G genre. It is Isekai in nature, and the author leans into that heavily. Here is someone from a different world who understands science, but he’s new to magic. The book takes a scientific approach to examining magic. Now initially, it does introduce you to the world first. And more and more science comes into play later. This book is all about simply discovering the new world. What’s going on how do things operate? What can I apply from where I’m from here and grow and become better. Yes there is action. Yes there is drama but there’s also science. There’s also taking how we approach things scientifically and applying it to magic. That’s what I like most about this book that’s what I am pretty sure people will like about the series if they continue with it.
How good is the book? It’s so good I came back and reread everything from the beginning just to give the author some play first of all, but secondly, to see how the book might’ve changed suddenly from what I originally read also long ago not many changes just enough to iron out a few wrinkles here and there .
Not normally I write a long message to the author with critiques of their book but I don’t have any critiques here. My only message to the author is hurry up and publish the next book in the series people need to get to where we are now. To the readers , I recommend you go check it out online and give the author some play. This is one of the good ones.
First, I must admit, I’ve been reading this series for a long time. It actually started out as an online novella. Each week we get a new chapter and it’s far beyond where this book is. However, let me review this book.
This is an excellent start to a slightly different approach to the LITRPG G genre. It is Isekai in nature, and the author leans into that heavily. Here is someone from a different world who understands science, but he’s new to magic. The book takes a scientific approach to examining magic. Now initially, it does introduce you to the world first. And more and more science comes into play later. This book is all about simply discovering the new world. What’s going on how do things operate? What can I apply from where I’m from here and grow and become better. Yes there is action. Yes there is drama but there’s also science. There’s also taking how we approach things scientifically and applying it to magic. That’s what I like most about this book that’s what I am pretty sure people will like about the series if they continue with it.
How good is the book? It’s so good I came back and reread everything from the beginning just to give the author some play first of all, but secondly, to see how the book might’ve changed suddenly from what I originally read also long ago not many changes just enough to iron out a few wrinkles here and there .
Not normally I write a long message to the author with critiques of their book but I don’t have any critiques here. My only message to the author is hurry up and publish the next book in the series people need to get to where we are now. To the readers , I recommend you go check it out online and give the author some play. This is one of the good ones.
January 10, 2024
If you are a D&D stats nerd, this is the book for YOU!
I personally am not a D&D stats nerd, so there were times that I had to slog through the technicalities and mathematics and such.
But you know what? That's okay! Because the rest of the book is amazingly REAL! Totally different from the run of the norm isekai stories, with some very introspective moments.
For me, I made up a challenge that whenever Alice got to choose her stats and perks and whatnot, I would stop and think about what I would have chosen. Then see what, and best of all why, Alice made her decisions. Most times I lost, and given her reasoning, it was rightly so. (This presumes the point that I would have survived the first week, let alone the first winter by myself as she had! I'd have died during the broken mana baptism! LOL)
But yeah, cool book. Looking forward to reading the next one and seeing where the story leads. Kinda want her to find a cheat code and go all Super Saiyan on some monsters, though. Shortcut to Immortality, baby!
I personally am not a D&D stats nerd, so there were times that I had to slog through the technicalities and mathematics and such.
But you know what? That's okay! Because the rest of the book is amazingly REAL! Totally different from the run of the norm isekai stories, with some very introspective moments.
For me, I made up a challenge that whenever Alice got to choose her stats and perks and whatnot, I would stop and think about what I would have chosen. Then see what, and best of all why, Alice made her decisions. Most times I lost, and given her reasoning, it was rightly so. (This presumes the point that I would have survived the first week, let alone the first winter by myself as she had! I'd have died during the broken mana baptism! LOL)
But yeah, cool book. Looking forward to reading the next one and seeing where the story leads. Kinda want her to find a cheat code and go all Super Saiyan on some monsters, though. Shortcut to Immortality, baby!
October 5, 2023
Pleasantly surprised.
Wasn't sure about this prior to starting. Investigative themes have been explored in other litRPGs and have often failed to live up to their grand idea. Not so with this novel.
The author does a great job describing the thinking, methods, and results in fun and generally fast paced way, to keep the readers invested. The research is then balanced against bouts of excitement and life. The main character is clearly going places and I'm excited to see the next installments.
Wasn't sure about this prior to starting. Investigative themes have been explored in other litRPGs and have often failed to live up to their grand idea. Not so with this novel.
The author does a great job describing the thinking, methods, and results in fun and generally fast paced way, to keep the readers invested. The research is then balanced against bouts of excitement and life. The main character is clearly going places and I'm excited to see the next installments.
September 25, 2023
3.5 stars , this is a hard one , I really liked the beginning but it started to get boring as it kept going. I would continue with it but it is definitely not for everyone. Too
Many questions are not answered and you have to wait for the next book to get some closure. I think the author will keep this going and you may not get answers in the next book either.
Many questions are not answered and you have to wait for the next book to get some closure. I think the author will keep this going and you may not get answers in the next book either.
June 21, 2024
3.5. I'll elaborate later
November 16, 2024
Loved this book, very definitely looking forward to the next one!
February 6, 2024
A Small Town in Southern Illvaria (A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World #1) by acaswell:
A Small Town in Southern Illvaria by acaswell offers readers a charming and imaginative take on the portal fantasy genre, blending elements of science fiction with classic fantasy tropes. While the premise holds promise, the execution falls short in delivering a cohesive and engaging plot.
acaswell's writing style is accessible and engaging, with descriptive prose and witty dialogue that draw readers into the world of Southern Illvaria.
In this first installment, readers follow the journey of the protagonist as they navigate the challenges of adapting to life in a fantastical world while utilizing their scientific knowledge to solve problems and uncover mysteries. While this premise is intriguing, the plot lacks depth and fails to fully capitalize on the potential for exploration and discovery.
The world-building in this novel is minimal, with little attention paid to the underlying mechanics of the fantasy world or the larger setting in which the story takes place.
Compared to its contemporaries in the portal fantasy genre, such as The Magicians by Lev Grossman or A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, A Small Town in Southern Illvaria falls short in terms of world-building and character development. While these works offer immersive worlds and complex characters, acaswell's novel struggles to distinguish itself, relying too heavily on familiar tropes and clichés.
Rating: ⭐ (1/5)
A Small Town in Southern Illvaria, A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World #1 has potential but ultimately falls short in delivering a compelling and cohesive plot. While it may provide some entertainment for casual readers, it ultimately lacks the depth and originality to stand out in a crowded genre.
February 7, 2024
An Excellent LitRPG Novel!
Alice is a fifteen year old girl who finds herself swept away to a frontier area filled with dangerous magic, monsters, and the more mundane challenges of surviving in the wilderness when she is all but naked. Were it not for a magical [System] which aids the humans of this world — blessing her with the [Survivor] Class — and tremendous luck she would likely not have survived her first week lost in the wilds of Ilva's Southern Continent.
Like most LitRPG novels this book has instances of the main character checking her Status Screen and making choices for her future development. The primary plot follows the struggles Alice faces in surviving, first, the wilderness, and then, a foreign civilization. Alice is a strong minded young woman with a scientific outlook and is well versed in the sciences one would expect a high school freshman in Advance Placement Physics courses to know.
The text has a few possible errors: misspelled/misused/misplaced words which would not be noticed by most spell checking utilities, for example; but the error which most detracted from the enjoyment of reading the novel is the continuous conflation and misuse of the words "theory" and "hypothesis." When scientists use these words they have two very different meanings and Alice, having a scientific mind, should not make this consistent error. The characters (and the author) often use the word "theory" when they are actually referring to a "hypothesis." Where Alice's thought and speech are concerned she should not make that type of error. Hopefully Acaswell will re-edit his novel to fix these minor, and not so minor, errors.
Alice is a fifteen year old girl who finds herself swept away to a frontier area filled with dangerous magic, monsters, and the more mundane challenges of surviving in the wilderness when she is all but naked. Were it not for a magical [System] which aids the humans of this world — blessing her with the [Survivor] Class — and tremendous luck she would likely not have survived her first week lost in the wilds of Ilva's Southern Continent.
Like most LitRPG novels this book has instances of the main character checking her Status Screen and making choices for her future development. The primary plot follows the struggles Alice faces in surviving, first, the wilderness, and then, a foreign civilization. Alice is a strong minded young woman with a scientific outlook and is well versed in the sciences one would expect a high school freshman in Advance Placement Physics courses to know.
The text has a few possible errors: misspelled/misused/misplaced words which would not be noticed by most spell checking utilities, for example; but the error which most detracted from the enjoyment of reading the novel is the continuous conflation and misuse of the words "theory" and "hypothesis." When scientists use these words they have two very different meanings and Alice, having a scientific mind, should not make this consistent error. The characters (and the author) often use the word "theory" when they are actually referring to a "hypothesis." Where Alice's thought and speech are concerned she should not make that type of error. Hopefully Acaswell will re-edit his novel to fix these minor, and not so minor, errors.
September 29, 2023
Oooo Boy...
I love me some isekai stories so I picked this one up. It definitely gets a bit dry as it goes on and By The Nine Divines! If you're prone to semantic satiation then you might get a little derpy or irritated by the word "Perk(s)". In all honesty I thought about dropping this book during the beginning of Ch 43 because of the serious repetitive use of that word and after that I couldn't help but notice and focus on it every time the word came up. It definitely leaves you with some cliff hangers by simply not addressing problems that were brought up. Personally I am not going to go after the next installment. Great concept. I was excited about a scientist type person in an isekai, the fact they were so young felt off for the scientist trope but I just assumed it was so we could grow with the character as they increased their knowledge base and applied it to the new world. I dunno. It's not great but it's good however it's not for everyone. That a fair assessment? 3 out of 5 stars.
I love me some isekai stories so I picked this one up. It definitely gets a bit dry as it goes on and By The Nine Divines! If you're prone to semantic satiation then you might get a little derpy or irritated by the word "Perk(s)". In all honesty I thought about dropping this book during the beginning of Ch 43 because of the serious repetitive use of that word and after that I couldn't help but notice and focus on it every time the word came up. It definitely leaves you with some cliff hangers by simply not addressing problems that were brought up. Personally I am not going to go after the next installment. Great concept. I was excited about a scientist type person in an isekai, the fact they were so young felt off for the scientist trope but I just assumed it was so we could grow with the character as they increased their knowledge base and applied it to the new world. I dunno. It's not great but it's good however it's not for everyone. That a fair assessment? 3 out of 5 stars.
December 18, 2023
Teenage science nerd litrpg adventure
A rambling and redundant recounting of teenage science nerd coping with life changes as she adapts to a new world with magic and a system that seems to control or at least heavily influence her new reality.
While a fun perspective and interesting to have a scientific exploration of a litrpg world and system I think it could use some heavy editing. Many things were repeated multiple times in a page or two. This was often the MC working through her thoughts on things. It became redundant and did not add much to the story even though I have no problem thinking of real people who do this.
In a book it becomes tedious and eventually it's difficult to stay interested in the book.
There were also repeated introductions for people and explanations of their behavior or personality.
All of that said it was interesting for me to finish and I'll check out the next book. I hope an editor helps make things a bit more concise.
A rambling and redundant recounting of teenage science nerd coping with life changes as she adapts to a new world with magic and a system that seems to control or at least heavily influence her new reality.
While a fun perspective and interesting to have a scientific exploration of a litrpg world and system I think it could use some heavy editing. Many things were repeated multiple times in a page or two. This was often the MC working through her thoughts on things. It became redundant and did not add much to the story even though I have no problem thinking of real people who do this.
In a book it becomes tedious and eventually it's difficult to stay interested in the book.
There were also repeated introductions for people and explanations of their behavior or personality.
All of that said it was interesting for me to finish and I'll check out the next book. I hope an editor helps make things a bit more concise.
July 1, 2024
It's a slow starter but I enjoyed the book when the main character finally reaches a city.
July 17, 2024
In the middle of this book, I suddenly realized that I'd never actually read any LitRPG before. I'd read manga/manhwa/light novels involving leveling and systems and that sort of thing, but not anything that I think would technically be classified as LitRPG. I get the feeling that this is not your usual sort of book in that category but the plot was right up my alley.
In classic isekai fashion, Alice goes from falling asleep in her bedroom to waking up in a strange place that is almost-but-not-quite Earth. And almost equally startling, there seems to be some sort of System with stats and perks and achievements. Basically, Alice has become an RPG character, though unfortunately a very unprepared one plopped in the middle of nowhere in her pajamas. But as Alice learns to survive in her new world, she also learns more about the System and how it works which leads to even more questions. The people there view the System as a god, but is it even sentient? Why do some things work in her world but not here? And most importantly, how can she go home again?
I was pretty much predisposed to like this book. C'mon, it's about a nerdy girl scientist in a fantasy world! She can do magic! Mostly magic that helps her research more things! And her research item of choice is how the System works! It's a pretty cool idea and something I found very fascinating. Alice has a lot of predisposed ideas about how the system should work and is pretty great at figuring out experiments to test those ideas, even when she doesn't have much of anything to test with. As her experiments get more and more complicated, I really enjoyed everything she discovered about the System - especially the things that threw her for a loop. This was my favorite part of the book and it was exactly what it said on the tin - a budding scientist in a fantasy world!
As for the other parts of the book, well. There's also some pretty decent world building. The structure of how society would work when everyone has access to a status screen and leveling up is handled well (and also interesting!). The book is mainly restricted to the titular small town and its environs so while we only get a broad overview of politics and geography, it worked well enough for me.
Besides Alice, I liked that several of the other major characters were also women. Lady Illa, the town's founder and the mage who basically takes Alice under her wing, is pretty badass, while Cecilia, the town's sole enchanter, is around Alice's age and closer to a friend for her. They did occasionally feel a bit flat to me, though, but Alice also had a very pragmatic view of everything. Surprisingly enough, given the well-written female characters, the author is a man.
And then there's the elephant in the room. This book is long, absolutely, ridiculously long. It blows the pacing to smithereens. The beginning is especially affected to the point where I gave up on the book twice before I finally got hooked enough to finish it.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to not have the main character suddenly become super-OP. Alice has to struggle through a lot upon her arrival and as she makes her way through the new world. But at some point, there's such a thing as just too much struggling. Over a quarter of a book (130+ pages in the Kindle version) goes by before she finally arrives at that small town in the title.
That's not to say that things don't happen before that, but it just goes to show that there's too much of everything. Yes, I want to know what perks she chooses and how they affect her, but does it really matter if she's regenerating 2.5% or 2.7% of her maximum mana per hour? I like that it's slice-of-life but there's so many scenes included that felt like they could've been summarized in a few sentences without affecting the character development. There's also a lot of unnecessary repetition in some of her thinking, where she rehashes some of her previous theories or experiments repeatedly. Yes, Alice, I know this happened like 100 pages ago but I don't need a full page summary of it! I felt like the book ended at a good point with plenty of plot points left to explore in the next book.
Overall, while I enjoyed the essential bits of the novel, I struggled a lot with the length and felt that it didn't do a great job of keeping my interest. While I will likely be picking up the next book (if it's in Kindle Unlimited), it's hard for me to recommend this unless scientist! studying! magic! is also your jam. But if it is... hop into your PJs and maybe grab some crab legs (you'll see why) and start reading this book.
I received this book for free from BookSprout in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
In classic isekai fashion, Alice goes from falling asleep in her bedroom to waking up in a strange place that is almost-but-not-quite Earth. And almost equally startling, there seems to be some sort of System with stats and perks and achievements. Basically, Alice has become an RPG character, though unfortunately a very unprepared one plopped in the middle of nowhere in her pajamas. But as Alice learns to survive in her new world, she also learns more about the System and how it works which leads to even more questions. The people there view the System as a god, but is it even sentient? Why do some things work in her world but not here? And most importantly, how can she go home again?
“I think I might have just accidentally broken one of my really big assumptions about how mana works, and I might need to revise some things.”
“Isn’t that usually grounds for realizing you’re on to something big?”
I was pretty much predisposed to like this book. C'mon, it's about a nerdy girl scientist in a fantasy world! She can do magic! Mostly magic that helps her research more things! And her research item of choice is how the System works! It's a pretty cool idea and something I found very fascinating. Alice has a lot of predisposed ideas about how the system should work and is pretty great at figuring out experiments to test those ideas, even when she doesn't have much of anything to test with. As her experiments get more and more complicated, I really enjoyed everything she discovered about the System - especially the things that threw her for a loop. This was my favorite part of the book and it was exactly what it said on the tin - a budding scientist in a fantasy world!
As for the other parts of the book, well. There's also some pretty decent world building. The structure of how society would work when everyone has access to a status screen and leveling up is handled well (and also interesting!). The book is mainly restricted to the titular small town and its environs so while we only get a broad overview of politics and geography, it worked well enough for me.
Besides Alice, I liked that several of the other major characters were also women. Lady Illa, the town's founder and the mage who basically takes Alice under her wing, is pretty badass, while Cecilia, the town's sole enchanter, is around Alice's age and closer to a friend for her. They did occasionally feel a bit flat to me, though, but Alice also had a very pragmatic view of everything. Surprisingly enough, given the well-written female characters, the author is a man.
And then there's the elephant in the room. This book is long, absolutely, ridiculously long. It blows the pacing to smithereens. The beginning is especially affected to the point where I gave up on the book twice before I finally got hooked enough to finish it.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to not have the main character suddenly become super-OP. Alice has to struggle through a lot upon her arrival and as she makes her way through the new world. But at some point, there's such a thing as just too much struggling. Over a quarter of a book (130+ pages in the Kindle version) goes by before she finally arrives at that small town in the title.
That's not to say that things don't happen before that, but it just goes to show that there's too much of everything. Yes, I want to know what perks she chooses and how they affect her, but does it really matter if she's regenerating 2.5% or 2.7% of her maximum mana per hour? I like that it's slice-of-life but there's so many scenes included that felt like they could've been summarized in a few sentences without affecting the character development. There's also a lot of unnecessary repetition in some of her thinking, where she rehashes some of her previous theories or experiments repeatedly. Yes, Alice, I know this happened like 100 pages ago but I don't need a full page summary of it! I felt like the book ended at a good point with plenty of plot points left to explore in the next book.
Overall, while I enjoyed the essential bits of the novel, I struggled a lot with the length and felt that it didn't do a great job of keeping my interest. While I will likely be picking up the next book (if it's in Kindle Unlimited), it's hard for me to recommend this unless scientist! studying! magic! is also your jam. But if it is... hop into your PJs and maybe grab some crab legs (you'll see why) and start reading this book.
I received this book for free from BookSprout in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
June 25, 2024
Deeply honest moment. If it weren't for the audiobook reader i'd probably not made it deep enough into this book in order to find enjoyment. I'd have been kinda dumb too. It's enjoyable slow, the hook at the start it weak. It's survial in third person which isn't what you want for survial it pulls you out of the visceral nature of survial. The difference between a first person shooter and a third in a horor fps. Just ruins things in way and makes it super dry. But that isn't totally awful. Also, it could have given a talented writer moment in first person could have switch between her panic analytical mind and her real mind in a normal state.
The almost 0 magically to scientist with power isn't in this book. But I loved it so much that it launched me into royal road. Where I wasn't dispointed.
But don't get me wrong it's so highly interesting. as someone who theroy crafts in mmorpgs and ends up doing questlines and just finding out all the side shit that other big guilds and big time players don't. Then having them end up realizing what I'm doing is interesting sometimes later (useless other times) That feeling, that wonder, that discovery of a curious mind is so well capture here. It's everything I love about the fantasy world. Sometimes it's not about making a fantasy world into your world sometimes it's about the fantasy world itself. It's like how in star trek they'd go from world to world and it was so unique. And the key isn't to force that world to be yours it's to take the best of your wolrd and the best of that world to make more of both.
deeply honest gets bogged down at point but what the author is doing most don't do very original.
HYPER enjoyable. full 5 stars = Would I reread this series? Maybe the audiobook version but not rereading via kindle reader.
If you like (recomend)
ascendance of a bookworm
The Apothecary Diaries
Melody of Mana =first 3 books
The almost 0 magically to scientist with power isn't in this book. But I loved it so much that it launched me into royal road. Where I wasn't dispointed.
But don't get me wrong it's so highly interesting. as someone who theroy crafts in mmorpgs and ends up doing questlines and just finding out all the side shit that other big guilds and big time players don't. Then having them end up realizing what I'm doing is interesting sometimes later (useless other times) That feeling, that wonder, that discovery of a curious mind is so well capture here. It's everything I love about the fantasy world. Sometimes it's not about making a fantasy world into your world sometimes it's about the fantasy world itself. It's like how in star trek they'd go from world to world and it was so unique. And the key isn't to force that world to be yours it's to take the best of your wolrd and the best of that world to make more of both.
deeply honest gets bogged down at point but what the author is doing most don't do very original.
HYPER enjoyable. full 5 stars = Would I reread this series? Maybe the audiobook version but not rereading via kindle reader.
If you like (recomend)
ascendance of a bookworm
The Apothecary Diaries
Melody of Mana =first 3 books
December 23, 2025
2.5 stars: ⭐⭐⭐
What interested me about this book was that it is an isekai with a game-like system. I have been reading a lot of manga and manhwa where someone from Earth is transported, reborn, or summoned into another world, usually a fantasy one. This follows that setup with Alice, a 15-year-old girl from Denver.
I did not DNF this, but I came close at around 37%. I kept going, yet I was not really feeling it, and I was forcing myself through the story just to finish. The pacing drags, and Alice tends to overanalyze everything. After a while, it becomes boring to the point where I just wanted her to get on with it. It is nice to understand how things work and why, but it loses its charm when there is too much explanation and not enough wonder or fun.
For a 15-year-old, her thought process also feels strange at times. She immediately worries about It feels a bit off, and while the story tells us she is scientifically minded, her actions do not always support that.
What interested me about this book was that it is an isekai with a game-like system. I have been reading a lot of manga and manhwa where someone from Earth is transported, reborn, or summoned into another world, usually a fantasy one. This follows that setup with Alice, a 15-year-old girl from Denver.
I did not DNF this, but I came close at around 37%. I kept going, yet I was not really feeling it, and I was forcing myself through the story just to finish. The pacing drags, and Alice tends to overanalyze everything. After a while, it becomes boring to the point where I just wanted her to get on with it. It is nice to understand how things work and why, but it loses its charm when there is too much explanation and not enough wonder or fun.
For a 15-year-old, her thought process also feels strange at times. She immediately worries about It feels a bit off, and while the story tells us she is scientifically minded, her actions do not always support that.
September 23, 2024
Budding scientist in a fantasy world writes a check that it can't cash, for one glaringly obvious reason. The MC is a freshman in highschool when she's isekied. She vaguely understands some higher level concepts, as conveyed in middle school science classes, but she is not capable of, nor practiced in thinking/acting like a scientist. Her definition of "science" is poke the shiny object and see what happens. Just about the most "scientific" thing she does in the entire book is eating a berry and waiting an hour to see if it kills her or not, before eating a few lbs of the things.
Would probably be 4 stars if this was a fair review, but setting expectations and failing to deliver is annoying. The book would have been better without the gimmick. Show, don't tell. Etc.
Edit:
Would probably be 4 stars if this was a fair review, but setting expectations and failing to deliver is annoying. The book would have been better without the gimmick. Show, don't tell. Etc.
Edit:
September 24, 2023
very good, character development could be improved
I very much enjoyed reading this book. I loved the thought filled developed system and the way this system is expressed through a scientific minded protagonist. The antagonist forces of this world are also very well balanced. Dangers of the force of monsters and the shitty ways humans kill and destroy and can be worse than monsters or that their situations and societies can be so bad that people are turned to malicious behavior. I loved the character where the MC and her mentor discuss killing destructive people. The only complaint I have with the story is the development of the protagonist. I really thought she was kind of autistic or on the spectrum though the first third of the book. Kind of not that moved by the loss of her old world and relationships in a kind of machine like response. I figured this would be further developed from flashbacks, but that never happened and she was more empathetic than any autistic person should be. And then her maturity was kind of weird. How is this 15 year old average girl so able to cope with this situation? Should have made her full blown autistic or older and orphaned or abandoned by most of her family and without friends. Not well developed main character. Still, I just pretend she’s autistic and enjoy many more enjoyable aspects of the story.
I very much enjoyed reading this book. I loved the thought filled developed system and the way this system is expressed through a scientific minded protagonist. The antagonist forces of this world are also very well balanced. Dangers of the force of monsters and the shitty ways humans kill and destroy and can be worse than monsters or that their situations and societies can be so bad that people are turned to malicious behavior. I loved the character where the MC and her mentor discuss killing destructive people. The only complaint I have with the story is the development of the protagonist. I really thought she was kind of autistic or on the spectrum though the first third of the book. Kind of not that moved by the loss of her old world and relationships in a kind of machine like response. I figured this would be further developed from flashbacks, but that never happened and she was more empathetic than any autistic person should be. And then her maturity was kind of weird. How is this 15 year old average girl so able to cope with this situation? Should have made her full blown autistic or older and orphaned or abandoned by most of her family and without friends. Not well developed main character. Still, I just pretend she’s autistic and enjoy many more enjoyable aspects of the story.
November 21, 2025
A lot of the book is just "scientific" musings on various system and magic stuff.
I think the author thinks this is the MC being "smart" and "scientific"... but it just sounds stupid and pointless. Trying to tie science to magic is such a wasted effort. She never uses the scientific method for testing her hypotheses, she just muses endless crap.
The MC is constantly explaining things, that don't need any explanations. They are plainly obvious, and yet she is explaining away. Ugh.
"Guuuuys i'm so smart guys, this is what 110% magic conversion means guys, it means 10% more mana is converted into kinetic magic. WoW I'm so good at figuring stuff out". No shit, thanks for taking 5 whole pages to explain that.
The book would be better without all the "playing science". The musings aren't interesting, and I find myself skimming through them.
Some of the internal thinking is so braindead. The MC gets a skill that lets her detect all monsters within 200m, and know the exact location it is at, and what magic it has. And she says the skill is "just highly situational", and "pretty useful". That's completely retarded. How the hell is this skill "situational" and only somewhat useful. IT TELLS YOU WHERE THE ENEMIES ARE THROUGH WALLS AND EVERYTHING. OMFG. You would never turn it off, that's how constantly useful it is.
DNF 40%
I think the author thinks this is the MC being "smart" and "scientific"... but it just sounds stupid and pointless. Trying to tie science to magic is such a wasted effort. She never uses the scientific method for testing her hypotheses, she just muses endless crap.
The MC is constantly explaining things, that don't need any explanations. They are plainly obvious, and yet she is explaining away. Ugh.
"Guuuuys i'm so smart guys, this is what 110% magic conversion means guys, it means 10% more mana is converted into kinetic magic. WoW I'm so good at figuring stuff out". No shit, thanks for taking 5 whole pages to explain that.
The book would be better without all the "playing science". The musings aren't interesting, and I find myself skimming through them.
Some of the internal thinking is so braindead. The MC gets a skill that lets her detect all monsters within 200m, and know the exact location it is at, and what magic it has. And she says the skill is "just highly situational", and "pretty useful". That's completely retarded. How the hell is this skill "situational" and only somewhat useful. IT TELLS YOU WHERE THE ENEMIES ARE THROUGH WALLS AND EVERYTHING. OMFG. You would never turn it off, that's how constantly useful it is.
DNF 40%
October 25, 2023
Good but a different speed than usual
I did enjoy this book. A lot. There was no build up to a big competition no Mega battles. Very few Battles at all and yes some had life on the line. But it really went in the point of the book and story. This is more somebody who thinks their way through problems instead of bashing. Slice of life of somebody coming to a new world with magic and trying to apply scientific principles to figure out what's going on. Very detailed on the thought processes involved in the experimentation And a lot of Day today at activity. Is there a point. You can't tell too much other than to learn. Quite the scientific way. MC's not looking to make mega weapons or even go home. She just wants to know why. What and why is the system and magic. The only thing I would take issue with was the Achievement title of "Murderer". Murder, by definition, is an unlawful killing. Self defense is Not unlawful in any universe. The title probably should have been killer However minor semantics aside It was a long and enjoyable read. It is certainly crunchy with stats However they don't get in the way and they are certainly not filler as the book is long enough. I am hoping there is another book in the series and that it is soon so we will see.
I did enjoy this book. A lot. There was no build up to a big competition no Mega battles. Very few Battles at all and yes some had life on the line. But it really went in the point of the book and story. This is more somebody who thinks their way through problems instead of bashing. Slice of life of somebody coming to a new world with magic and trying to apply scientific principles to figure out what's going on. Very detailed on the thought processes involved in the experimentation And a lot of Day today at activity. Is there a point. You can't tell too much other than to learn. Quite the scientific way. MC's not looking to make mega weapons or even go home. She just wants to know why. What and why is the system and magic. The only thing I would take issue with was the Achievement title of "Murderer". Murder, by definition, is an unlawful killing. Self defense is Not unlawful in any universe. The title probably should have been killer However minor semantics aside It was a long and enjoyable read. It is certainly crunchy with stats However they don't get in the way and they are certainly not filler as the book is long enough. I am hoping there is another book in the series and that it is soon so we will see.
July 15, 2024
I'm just not the audience for this book. I like slice of life, but this was just too much! It felt like a lot of filler since Alice tended to follow a pattern of: observe something, form a theory, think about how she wanted to test that theory, think about designing the experiment, design the experiment, start the experiment and then think some more about everything that led up to the experiment and what she expected to happen, finally DO the experiment, think about what happened during the experiment, and then maybe talk with someone else about what happened in the experiment. O_o
I can see that that might accurately describe what happens with scientists, but I got bored! Boooooring!
Also, I think this could have used another pass with an editor. The dialogue was ridiculous, sometimes. It really stuck in my head when Alice said, "I got a perk that OBVIATES the need for blah blah blah."
There were a bunch of repeated words that should have been replaced, like "however" appearing A LOT -- multiple times on a page and even in two sentences in a row.
Anyway, I didn't think this book was super terrible... I just kept falling asleep or skimming to get past the boring parts.
I can see that that might accurately describe what happens with scientists, but I got bored! Boooooring!
Also, I think this could have used another pass with an editor. The dialogue was ridiculous, sometimes. It really stuck in my head when Alice said, "I got a perk that OBVIATES the need for blah blah blah."
There were a bunch of repeated words that should have been replaced, like "however" appearing A LOT -- multiple times on a page and even in two sentences in a row.
Anyway, I didn't think this book was super terrible... I just kept falling asleep or skimming to get past the boring parts.
January 26, 2024
I found this to be completely absorbing, unique and a major stress-reducer. I listened to the Audible narration, which was splendid. The world is vividly imagined in enormous detail, the magic system in particular, and Alice is continually delving into scientific research of the magic system. I read a review that said she barely misses her home...but I would counter that with how perfectly the writer engages the reader in her initial fight for survival, and when the time finally comes for Alice to clearly think and speak of missing her parents and home, it was done so well that I got teary-eyed. I was very pleased there was not constant battle, as is so often the aspect I find tedious in this type of book. In the narrated version, a lovely British voice is used to cover Alice's stats. I didn't mind the detail and repetition as I finally really absorbed it, making the plot more meaningful, plus, all of this took my mind off serious, stressful and sad issues. What a grand book! I adjusted my activities to keep listening. I seriously reduced my music listening, which is a huge complement to the author. Thank you.
February 9, 2025
An interesting idea but for the first half of the book I felt the author got too tied up in explaining ‘Skills’, ‘Abilities’, and ‘Mana’ and seemed to forget about a story. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t one but it definitely played second fiddle.
Then about halfway there was a sudden burst of Binary machine code from the ‘System’ and I thought there might be an interesting change, but this came to nothing and even though the second half was better, it was still bogged down in tedious descriptions and explanations. To make matters worse the author kept pushing the idea of a serious scientific investigation, but I really wasn’t sure about his scientific method and whether his ideas made a lot of sense.
The author also likes to throw in an occasional mysterious character, this would be fine if it led somewhere rather than just trying to make himself appear enigmatic, but after five hundred pages it just became annoying.
Overall this could have been an interesting story, but it definitely needed more pace and much less explanation.
Then about halfway there was a sudden burst of Binary machine code from the ‘System’ and I thought there might be an interesting change, but this came to nothing and even though the second half was better, it was still bogged down in tedious descriptions and explanations. To make matters worse the author kept pushing the idea of a serious scientific investigation, but I really wasn’t sure about his scientific method and whether his ideas made a lot of sense.
The author also likes to throw in an occasional mysterious character, this would be fine if it led somewhere rather than just trying to make himself appear enigmatic, but after five hundred pages it just became annoying.
Overall this could have been an interesting story, but it definitely needed more pace and much less explanation.
September 24, 2024
As an avid Kindle Unlimited user, skip this one
2.5/5
Needs heavy professional editing. Author uses 100 words for what should be said with 10. Information is frequently repeated, rephrased, then repeated again. But more than anything, there is SO MUCH unnecessary exposition. Makes for reading this novel a slog.
All characters have nearly the same personality. Any differences between characters or emotion is done through exposition instead of dialogue or actions.
Author gives no trust to the reader and seems to feel as if every iota of information, no matter the ease of understanding, needs to be spoon fed.
The story is entirely flat. Little action. No discord. No opposition. Zero growth. It’s a series of ‘this happens, then this happens, then this happens, etc.’ until the story simply ends.
Bonus points for a unique story, though. But it needs to be said that adding and adding fluff words always distracts and detracts from a story.
2.5/5
Needs heavy professional editing. Author uses 100 words for what should be said with 10. Information is frequently repeated, rephrased, then repeated again. But more than anything, there is SO MUCH unnecessary exposition. Makes for reading this novel a slog.
All characters have nearly the same personality. Any differences between characters or emotion is done through exposition instead of dialogue or actions.
Author gives no trust to the reader and seems to feel as if every iota of information, no matter the ease of understanding, needs to be spoon fed.
The story is entirely flat. Little action. No discord. No opposition. Zero growth. It’s a series of ‘this happens, then this happens, then this happens, etc.’ until the story simply ends.
Bonus points for a unique story, though. But it needs to be said that adding and adding fluff words always distracts and detracts from a story.
September 26, 2023
I'm torn on how I should rate this book, first off if you are expecting an action adventure or even a magical book then you will probably be disappointed. If you enjoy systems and scientific approaches then you might have a better time.
I can honestly say that very little actually happens in this book, the MC spends nearly the entirety of the book trying to understand the magic and system of the world she finds herself in. There is little to no character descriptions or development and there are only 3-4 characters that get more then a few pages at a time.
Despite all that the book comes in at 27 hours! Yet at the end of the day I listened to the whole story and can't say that I had a bad time with it, I can't remember another book of this length that had so little going on yet I still found myself interested to a certain degree.
I can honestly say that very little actually happens in this book, the MC spends nearly the entirety of the book trying to understand the magic and system of the world she finds herself in. There is little to no character descriptions or development and there are only 3-4 characters that get more then a few pages at a time.
Despite all that the book comes in at 27 hours! Yet at the end of the day I listened to the whole story and can't say that I had a bad time with it, I can't remember another book of this length that had so little going on yet I still found myself interested to a certain degree.
March 13, 2025
I'm going to write a comprehensive review for the first 1.5 books in this series, as that's where I gave up.
This story is almost excellent-- unfortunately, it falls flat. The best way for me to underline why is by comparison to a similar story in a similar genre: Frieren, Beyond Journey's End.
Both stories lean hard into atmosphere, slice-of-life, and the joy of the silent places of the world. Both stories are meticulous, showing small things in incredible detail. Both stories touch on 'how magic works'.
Frieren succeeds, however, because it counterbalances these scenes with FLOURISH and PANACHE. When it gets loud, it gets loud, and colorful, and riotous and wonderful and terrible.
This story fails, because it's all pan and no flash. There are no breathtaking moments of wonder to lend shape and depth to the canvas. I wish there were, it's a good concept.
This story is almost excellent-- unfortunately, it falls flat. The best way for me to underline why is by comparison to a similar story in a similar genre: Frieren, Beyond Journey's End.
Both stories lean hard into atmosphere, slice-of-life, and the joy of the silent places of the world. Both stories are meticulous, showing small things in incredible detail. Both stories touch on 'how magic works'.
Frieren succeeds, however, because it counterbalances these scenes with FLOURISH and PANACHE. When it gets loud, it gets loud, and colorful, and riotous and wonderful and terrible.
This story fails, because it's all pan and no flash. There are no breathtaking moments of wonder to lend shape and depth to the canvas. I wish there were, it's a good concept.
April 8, 2025
This is a really great series. Alice is isakai'd to a new world. Unlike other LitRPG's she seems to be the only person there from Earth, and the only person there from another world. She almost dies. The broken-mana rich environment poisons her and she manages to recover and gets a magic core for spellcasting. Winter sets in and she holes up in a cave and spends her perk points on mere survival. There is a System which gives out classes and abilities, and mana which has some relation to the System, but that relation is unclear. Eventually she finds civilization and friends. She wants to better understand the System (which is considered to be a sort of God here) and Mana, of which there seems to be different types. Her pursuit of this knowledge, coupled with her knowledge of Physics on Earth, takes her in new directions that people in this world haven't explored.
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