I still think this is for the most part AI written. It repeats itself over and over and over again. We get it he was abused his party betrayed him all at the behest of the church but it tells us this something like 15 freaking times.
I skipped all of the sex scenes because in book 1 it says that the MC the male is a teenager and at the leveling rate That he is going it is already been proven that he is leveling way faster than normal so all the girls have got to be full grown adults. Nobody would leave An operation of such scope and breath in a teenage girl's hand so that was no sense at all she's a full grown adult They all are and they're sleeping with the dude it's Got some sick factor to it and the teenage boy is basically written as a porn star.
1/10I swear it's AI ridden. And I think all the 5 star and 4 star reviews are fake. This is my personal opinion I could be wrong I might be wrong but this is how I feel about this.
Remember those really long essays you had to write in primary school? You waited until the last minute to finish it only to realized that you didn’t do enough research to fill it out. To finish it by the deadline you just started saying the same things in different ways to achieve the required word count. That how this book came across. The author kept saying the same things over and over again. It was unnecessary and annoying. At least a third of this book could be dropped without impacting the story in any way. Check out this example. (Spoiler alert!)
This is from one chapter, “ She was healing herself…the healer healing the healer. …a healer healed what needed healing and the floor needed healing and the room needed healing and the party needed a healer.” There was so much repetition like this that I found myself skipping ahead numerous times in the hope of reconnecting with the plot line. There was some decent potential in this story that was woefully underdeveloped in favor whatever that repetition was.
Again, as with the first, this book appears to be largely AI generated and it’s dubious as to how much review the author performed. Like the first, there’s lots of repetition of details which were already established, details which slip and change ever so slightly, repeated phrasing and so on. Not much has changed in that regard.
I think the best way to summarize this book is “but wait, there’s more”. Every issue that’s resolved reveals another issue which is larger and just encompassed the problem which was just solved. The Church taking issue with Reed’s skill? Actually, that’s part of a government conspiracy. Reed’s abuse by the hero’s party and their initial betrayal? Also the same conspiracy. Made it past the hearing for the Church? Well now there’s someone from the Crown who’s been dispatched. Dealt with the Crown enforcer? Well now Reed’s got to deal with assassins and the Seneschal who’s actually been calling the shots the whole time. Ah, finally caught Elara? Well turns out she’s not just a secret mastermind, but an agent of the Seneschal. Over and over. All of these twists seem like they’d be interesting, but on reflection, they feel more like something being added at the moment just to keep the tension there, like the author kept asking “what if” without setting the ground work beforehand.
The story can’t decide on consistent information, so details shift from time to time. Sometimes a character has been adventuring for decades, other times, the same character has only a year of experience, or sometimes they’ve been at the game for a lifetime.
The harem power fantasy continues to do what it does, following pretty much all of the standard tropes but without providing answers for any of the more difficult aspects of having a harem. For example, they are all staying in the same room. Even when they summon someone new, that person just stays in the room with them. They seem to be earning enough to get a new room, but they don’t.
The bigger problems with this one, for me at least, stem around the treatment of the members of the hero’s party. First, there’s Lyssa. She could have been genuinely interesting to explore from a moral perspective. She could have documented the abuse but done nothing because she couldn’t do anything, or because she was afraid, or maybe because she was also being threatened. None of these options materialized. The story wants her to be a villain in the end, so she suddenly is discovered to have been playing both sides of the whole time and as a result Reed uses that as justification for killing her. Unlike when Reed killed Dain during a sanctioned duel where death was a legal and allowed outcome, Reed just murders Lyssa. No consequences, no follow up, nothing. The story is left to justify the reasons for this murder and none of them feel good.
Worse is the treatment for Elara, the former hero’s party mage. Reed forces her into a magically enforced contract which at first is presented as just ensuring that she doesn’t go against Reed’s party or interests, but ultimately functions as enslavement. The justification for this is that “she’s dangerous but more valuable alive than dead”. Good news for Reed though is that all the women he’s sleeping with don’t have any moral qualms about him enslaving a person (regardless of the wrongs that she committed against him). None of them take issue with him forcing Elara to dress in rags and walk barefoot for what’s implied to be days worth of horseback riding.
Meanwhile, the sex scenes continue to be a plague. They are inserted into weird places, are still treated as “emotional release”, and generally just left me feeling gross, especially because they were put in proximity to or framed as rewards for things Reed does and it just makes my skin crawl.
It’s a bummer because I still think there are interesting ideas that could make for a good story, but a lot of this books interesting content is just not worth the stuff in between.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This and book 1 had a lot more depth than I expected, given the title. It's a bunch of broken people finding and supporting each other. That support takes various forms. Some of it is affection/sex, but that's usually the last step.
The women the MC pulls aren't intentional on his part; the System commandeers his skill to summon them, so he's not intentionally building a harem. They are all serious operators and the system is using the party he's forming for its own ends. Those are hinted at, but we'll have to wait for book 3 for a better idea.
I’m enjoying reading this series but I don’t know why? There’s so many little things and details that bother me. Like leveling up he’s killing monsters 10-12 levels higher but not leveling very much. One time he killed a dozen monsters on each floor plus the boss. All who were at least 10 levels higher and he gets nothing. There’s also the fact about the loot. Where is it and where does it go. The party should be rich as hell. But they’re still in a single room with 1 small bed. WTF!!! I’m trying to decide if I want to get the next book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Isekai soft porn harem plot mixed with court drama
DNF at 83%
Criticism and comments
Again idiotic repetitions in the next sentence.
The author still doesn't understand how time works.
How does a church store a soul?
The Church's northeastern regional office was built from stone that was older than the kingdom it sat in." Most stone is VERY old. The opposite would be worth mentioning but still be trivial..#lol#
"She looked like what she was:" astounding. Good to know.
"The souls are not at rest. The souls are aware. Conscious. Trapped. I was aware for 137 years. I knew time was passing." That totally contradicts all revival scenes from book 1!
The intrigue plot is absolutely nonsensical. If they wanted to stall his growth in summoning, they should have just have pet him fight melee as he wanted all along... or give him another prestigious work to keep him busy and occupied..
"finding the scar tissue where a blade had been thirty seconds ago from her perspective" so much for awareness while being stored..
"And then I was in the dark for sixty years." Get your story straight. Just before your only died 30 seconds ago..
They STILL share one room with Mc using the only bed with the sex partner of the day? Get real!
I stopped reading at 91%, the book was just awful.
The author has the same problem with keeping track of their own timeline as book one.
Now we have the problem of complete character personality changes. The original healer that was always apologizing turns out to be a true "green tea girl" where she is willing to do or say anything to survive and in this book it completely backfires and causes her own destruction.
More ridiculous porn that no one needs to read about. Let me sum it up this way: this book for all intents and purposes is written for an age group of 12 year olds; uncomplicated characters who have almost zero development with a system that is only explained at less than surface level. Takes almost zero brain power to be able to read. Every character has basically the same personality, with slight adjustments. And then the author throws in sex scenes that changes the age rating from twelve into twenty one.
I am not even remotely interested in seeing the conclusion of the trilogy.
There are some good ideas here but the continuity and grade school level math errors are far more egregious than in the first book. Whatever AI is popular lately to use as a crutch for writing isn't very good at timelines or simple math and it's beyond lazy for our putative "authors" to seemingly not even proofread their output. I'm seeing this problem in other books/series as well.
Examples: Ch. 6, p.73: MC is level 51. Ch. 7, p 80: "...was called the Forge King. Level 60. Ten levels above me." (nope, try 9 maybe?)
Ch. 7, p.82: MC levels to 52 after the above boss fight. Ch. 8 p.90: "Crystal Warden. Level 62. Twelve levels above me." (lol, now we're off by two levels?)
Ch. 14, p. 180: Five people in the room, one asleep in a chair. Next paragraph: "And the bed had five people in it for the first time." (Facepalm. Also recalling from memory this bed was described previously as too small to reasonably fit 2/3 people.)
P. 253-254 Name count. 4-2=2, not 1.
I was going to skim-read book 3 just to see where the plot goes but maybe I won't. I hate to give legitimacy or profit to people who don't put in any sort of reasonable effort to make their output presentable. I prefer the very human mistakes of poor grammar, awkward sentence structure, wrong synonym choice etc. from authors who are actual people and just need to make a few more editing/proofreading passes or help from a skilled volunteer to get things closer to presentable.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but multiple continuity errors keep it from earning 5 stars.
The MC is still confronting his former party members as he climbs in levels. His goal is to reach and exceed the Church's "Hero" level. In fact, his character level is, to him, his defining value. He constantly mentions his level in reference to the Hero, his progress towards the next one, etc. Which is why the several instances where he compares himself to a creature's level and the math doesn't work, it makes the reader's brain stop for a second. For example, he reaches level 51, so one below the Hero, and then proceeds to mention how a level 60 dungeon creature is 10 levels above him, instead of the 9 levels it actually is. You'd think with as much time as the author has the MC spending mentioning his current level, he wouldn't forget when it came time to compare. There are other types of continuity errors similar in nature that threw me off while reading.
The sex scenes were decent, but shorter than the could have been to build more intensity. One new summons joins the party, and the MC becomes lovers with that one and the previous summons.
I am looking forward to reading book 3, which I've already downloaded.
So I enjoyed this book and binged it with book 1, but there are a LOT of continuity errors. Pull #3 said like 89 years dead, but author keeps saying 60y for some unexplained reason. It was pull #4 that was 60-odd years, not 3rd. Main character saying pull #4 name before showing the system box or asking her name. The fact that there are no dungeon breaks even though these dungeons are so hard MCs party has to beat them, implying that other parties can’t, but miraculously there are no dungeon breaks with the dungeons going conquered for long times … except when the plot requires one.
However, the characters are unique and well written in my opinion, and the plot is good and entertaining enough that the continuity errors or plot holes can’t be forgiven, mostly. I like the pacing and how it’s focused on plot movement, without taking a bunch of time on unnecessary things.
This story starts like many other hero betrayal stories, hero is a dbag, whole party is ok with that, sacrifices mc because screw em. This one starts the formula but throws it into the fire and creates a variation that few dare approach, it truly does embrace the revenge plot and doesn't hesitate to remind the reader that the list will remain till they are all taken care of. I do dislike that for a litrog they don't get more skills and abilities as they level instead its just 1 skill and class that determines what they can do and nothing else; touch bare bones but it is what it is. Tge itemization still makes up for it and the unique tools have been a treat to read about. Here's hoping the 5th pull is just as interesting as the 4th
I really liked the first one. This one, not so much. Action via repetition, including breaking every fight into it's least interesting time and beat minutiae and skipping anything joyful or engaging. Every fight seems to be essentially 'and they knew what to do, so they just won. Not the highest of excitement. Next: Continuity errors, a bunch. Several 'for the first time' moments within a few pages that were the same first. Several times when the author seems to have forgotten how many people are involved in some activities. Also, hyper observant people sleeping through, or waking up briefly when people literal inches away are having sex? Really? The adult content was ok I guess. Disappointing after a solid start. Tom out
Not sure how or why there is so much odd inconsistency, or extraneous verbiage. Then again, reading this review if continuing on that same track would be like reading this second book. May try different book by this author but done with this series, found myself skipping entire passages because of how shallow the content was. Sad to say that, but there it is non the less.
The second novel in the series is as good as the first. Interesting characters, lots of creative dungeon fighting and subterfuge. The only real distraction is the multitude of repetitive phrases and words. The dungeon fights are getting skimmed, not because they are boring, but because they don’t add to my enjoyment of this series.
Run on sentences, repeating sentences, characters suddenly changing genders (the woman who was the clerk at the guild hall is now a man?) it’s a good series but this one reads like it was written and published as soon as the author finished the first draft. Kind of ruins the immersion when it gets so off the cuff and repetitive/jumbled
I kinda knew this would happen, but the second book became too busy and OP. I stopped reading towards the end because I lost interest. The good guy was always going to win and the fights would continue to get bigger. Past a certain point it becomes bland and repetitive.
East Gale has a unique writing style. It was a little off-putting at first. I was wrong and it grew on me. A bit repetitive, but building into a logical precision that becomes a rhythm. A bit like percussion as background music. It starts here. It moves to the next. It moves to the next. It comes home. I'm looking forward to part 3
Good read fast read and suddenly you are at the end waiting for the next book As good as the 1st many twist and each revenge on his tormentors individual, the punishment fits the crime
A good read follow on to the first book in the series. Definitely going haremlit in this volume, if extended sex scenes aren’t for you, you can skip about a third of the book. Like the plot line but the devolving writing is concerning for the series.
This is a continuing story, of revenge. But so much more, of discovering life, after a lifetime of commitment. I star5ed this series out of curiosity, and now I don't wish to put it down.
I wasn't expecting this book to be as satisfying ax a story. The stories unique way of powering up the hero and how he goes about his business left me with a sense of satisfaction.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was fun and engaging. The story and characters were incredibly interesting and entertaining. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. This book and series are definitely worth checking out.
I’m caught in the narrative, then…sex. Which isn’t so bad but overdone(opinion). I’ve read the books preceding this and will tell you the book is well worth reading. Enjoy!
Did not disappoint still good still entertaining still kept me enthralled. Good stuff. Looking forward to reading book 3. I found out there’s only four books a little disappointing but hey sometimes good stuff has to come to an end. Definitely enjoyed it. Looking forward to book 3.
Still a good story , a few small.mistakes and a lot of dull dungeons , I get that the harem is symbolic but it's also a bit tedious , the basic story keep the interest alive.