Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability Volume 4

Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability #4

by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving

Volume 4 (Chapters 264-494)

Sequel to Lord of Mysteries

Genres: Fantasy, Horror

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

Associated Names:
* 爱潜水的乌贼 (Simplified Chinese) / 愛潛水的烏賊 (Traditional Chinese)
* Ai Qianshui de Wuzei / Cuttlefish That Loves Diving (English)
* อ้ายเชียนสุ่ยเตออูเจ๋ย (Thai)

Reviews

[Ali Haji]

Not as good as the previous volume but great nonetheless.

Suffered from convoluted rituals and many rules being in place. While this is common for this series, maybe it was a tad bit much in this one.

The weakest point of this volume is possibly the sanderlanche, it was barely there, and it spanned only 3-5 chapters, with mediocre events taking place compared to the previous volume.

[Cyndi]

This rating is for the entirety of Volume 4 - Sinner (chapters 495-735).

[Costin Manda]

I said earlier that Circle of Inevitability was half the size of Lord of Mysteries. That was a lie. I only had half of the book. Probably the entire thing is going to be as big if not larger.

It doesn't matter, though. I reached almost the end of Volume 4, where Lumian becomes Fate Appropriator and decided to finally stop. It was a good run, but whatever comes next is unlikely to bring anything new to the table. Let me explain why.

In my previous hopeful reviews I said that "Cuttlefish" was improving his writing style, by making the stakes higher and the emotional impact more meaningful. After all, Lumian is a young man driven by both revenge and hope, marred by his sister's death, marked by two gods amongst which one is evil, having a corrupting influence sealed within him. I was envisioning a very different story arc, complete with half villainous failings, followed by righteous redemptions. Or, why not, going full villain. But that didn't happen.

You see, I already mentioned that these novels feel like someone is telling the story of a manga or anime they have in their head. This series made me remember vividly the Jojo's Adventures series and once it was in my head, I couldn't help see the similarities. They both start with complicated worldbuilding, compelling characters and strict rules, only to devolve into a monster of the episode kind of thing, with consistency being thrown out of the window and the "smart" method for victory becoming more ludicrous as we go alone.

I do appreciate the opportunity to delve into the Asian way of considering life and conflict, though. A stark contrast with American storytelling, the main character doesn't succeed based on luck and the strength of his emotions, but on careful consideration of the situation and preparation in advance. Even the emotional outbursts or violent episodes are actually a facade for the cold calculation beneath. Also the way in which women just can't seem to help being deferential and submissive to their male counterparts, accepting with just a little bit of dismay that they are smarter, more decisive and grow faster than they are.

Lumian becomes a carbon copy of the character of Klein Moretti, only he "smiles warmly" instead of "smirking". There is another lesbian duo of relatively weak helpers who the story occasionally focuses a lot on for no good reason. The rules established in the first series are completely broken by a new system of "boons" from external gods, making anything and everything possible, except catching Lumian off guard or actually causing defeat. Even the connection between eras and the link between the current one and the one people have transmigrated from is different. And being a transmigrator is just a regular thing now, anyone and everyone seems to be one.

But what's worse is that the same psychopathic behavior from the first book, where the end goal is paramount and emotion, physical pain or behavior are secondary, comes back in full force and makes the whole experience feel empty, like you are watching some random guy playing a computer game on low difficulty, always smirking about how smart he is, when the story outcome was already ... inevitable.

Bottom line, I will rate this series 2.5 stars. It's not bad, but it's not good either once the novelty of the point of view wanes. The first one was better and this one feels like a bad carbon copy. Perhaps now I can finally focus on a real book.

[William Moses Jr.]

Wow! Another great volume in this series. This one followed a slightly different flow from the last one, which kept things fresh, especially considering it's something like 1400 pages. It was more of the good stuff. The mystery continues to be intriguing, the revelations breath-taking, the fights intense but thankfully short, while the analysis of those fights clever. I am surprised at how Cuttlefish was able to execute this so well, considering the amount of information and competing perspectives he had to hold in his mind while crafting each fight and revelation. At times, despite reading these volumes continuously, I would momentarily forget an items drawbacks and secondary uses, which were all leveraged in creative ways in fights. Truly, I tip my hat to Cuttlefish, as I absolutely love his commitment to crafting an enjoyable, deep narrative that, in my opinion, respects it's reader's intelligence and ability to pay attention.

Also, just to be clear, I'm utilizing the chapter breakups from this website when it comes to volumes and chapters: https://lordofthemysteries.fandom.com...

[LadySeven]

495-735

Justice chuckled.
"Then allow me to introduce you to our beacon and savior, the great Mr. Fool…"
Her tone held a touch of joy.

My beloved child never lost her whimsy.

"Otherwise? Back then, even two Kings of Angels couldn't clean up the mess. How is our Tarot Club going to handle it—unless Mr. Fool awakens," Madam Magician replied in an amused tone.

All our girlies remain very whimsical.


Subsequently, he informed the Tarot Club and aided the Angel of Time in eliminating most of the Amons in Trier. He also wrested a substantial debt from Amon's parasitic form.
Their relationship? It was one of deep-seated enmity! The sentiment was likely mutual.
Yet now, he was being told that Amon had covertly assisted him?

yes, you don't want me to spoil you even more my dear child.

This one of the most interesting books... April's fool "arc" is nicely done, nothing more to say.

[Dave Martin]

The author can clearly write; just not well. This book was a mess that went on waayyyyy too long. Cuttlefish creates a million plot points and, to his credit he manages to address them all. None are addressed well though. I think he'd be far better off wrapping up plot points throughout the 2k pages instead of waiting until the end making the payoff largely dependent on enjoyment of the end. It also starts the problem LoTM has where we are getting higher sequence stupidity where powers approach the realm of ridiculousness to the point of becoming surreal. I don't want to be so hard on the book, it's not trying to be a classic but just a passion project. The problem is his passion exceeded his talent massively here.

[Matt Rizzo]

Lots of lore drops of other potion pathways’ sequence 0 and more on boom pathways. Also first (confirmed) Yuri couple of the series (we all know Xio and Fors were the first unofficial couple - they were roomates even once they became wealthy demigods). Lumian is more of a mass murdering 🐐

[Jarred]

A buildup volume. The players are set the following volumes might ramp up the story and action.

[Cyprian Szwarc]

Eww, volume 4 of COI is absolutely shit

[salted fish Without Dreams]

Louis berry could never be my goat my glorious king gehrman sparrow

[Parn L.]

First volume that’s comparable to LOTM.

[Kathleen]

V1 Nightmare > V2 Lightseeker > V4 Sinner > V3 Conspirer