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Whirlwind #1
Changing Masks
What would a badass and successful fighter think about being transferred into the body of a helpless and powerless child in Urban Tokyo of another world? His entire family is left behind in another universe, and he is now alone with only his bare hands to protect himself.
«We sincerely apologize for what happened. The chances of the wave hitting you were one to three billion. The lives of a few people are not worth an entire world. Forgive us if you can».
This new world is the same, and yet it is completely different. Once someone made another decision and led this world’s history the other road.
Tokyo is an epicenter of clan wars, a dangerous place where you have to watch your step, your back, and what you say. No one can protect a child who was left by its parents long ago.
No way is this going to demoralize the experienced fighter turned a helpless child, who now goes by the name of Shinji. He has his mind, strong beliefs, and will to fight. That hasn’t changed at all. With those traits, however, comes more challenges. Shinji will fight for his deserved place in this strange new world and will show everyone what he is made of. He won't be one of many, he will be The One. His road lays through shadows, his steps are silent, his moves are deadly. As you know, rogues do it in the darkness, rogues do it from behind.
At night, against the backdrop of a Tokyo that delves into shady operations, Shinji is a skillful agent who does possess neither weaknesses nor mercy, yet is a trickster-thief. During the day, Shinji is a defenseless pupil in a school full of heirs of powerful clans, tries to figure out his studies and work at teenage relations. Who knows which one is more difficult! It is a sharp position, one wrong step might cost too much. Revealing himself will be a life costing mistake.
«Changing Masks» is the first book of the sci-fi adventure of «Whirlwind» series by critically-acclaimed author Nicholas Metelsky. This series is the ultimate adventure of a lifetime as the reader gets to watch Shinji start from the bottom and work his way to the top. The world Metelsky has created is full of inconceivable and tricky fights, modern magic, mechas and the fault of human pride. In this explosive mixture of science fiction and human error, our hero has to find and conquer his spot… hiding his true self behind a mask.
«We sincerely apologize for what happened. The chances of the wave hitting you were one to three billion. The lives of a few people are not worth an entire world. Forgive us if you can».
This new world is the same, and yet it is completely different. Once someone made another decision and led this world’s history the other road.
Tokyo is an epicenter of clan wars, a dangerous place where you have to watch your step, your back, and what you say. No one can protect a child who was left by its parents long ago.
No way is this going to demoralize the experienced fighter turned a helpless child, who now goes by the name of Shinji. He has his mind, strong beliefs, and will to fight. That hasn’t changed at all. With those traits, however, comes more challenges. Shinji will fight for his deserved place in this strange new world and will show everyone what he is made of. He won't be one of many, he will be The One. His road lays through shadows, his steps are silent, his moves are deadly. As you know, rogues do it in the darkness, rogues do it from behind.
At night, against the backdrop of a Tokyo that delves into shady operations, Shinji is a skillful agent who does possess neither weaknesses nor mercy, yet is a trickster-thief. During the day, Shinji is a defenseless pupil in a school full of heirs of powerful clans, tries to figure out his studies and work at teenage relations. Who knows which one is more difficult! It is a sharp position, one wrong step might cost too much. Revealing himself will be a life costing mistake.
«Changing Masks» is the first book of the sci-fi adventure of «Whirlwind» series by critically-acclaimed author Nicholas Metelsky. This series is the ultimate adventure of a lifetime as the reader gets to watch Shinji start from the bottom and work his way to the top. The world Metelsky has created is full of inconceivable and tricky fights, modern magic, mechas and the fault of human pride. In this explosive mixture of science fiction and human error, our hero has to find and conquer his spot… hiding his true self behind a mask.
- GenresAmazon
415 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 31, 2018
84 people are currently reading
265 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Metelsky
2 books16 followersWhen I was a child, I had 11 classes at school in the village of Chuchkovo, which, sadly, doesn't exist anymore. I then went into the army and thought I would become a security guard right after.
Humble life experiences, am I right?
My life had been nothing special up until that point. It had been pretty ordinary. But because I read so much as a child, my love for storytelling began to grow. It would never leave me. So, naturally, I started writing down stories. Eventually, I was hired at a bookshop. What a dream! I worked hard and with diligence. Every day I would go to the store at 6 a.m. and leave at 10 p.m.
It ended up taking a toll on me. I couldn't even read or write books. The irony, which, is not lost on me. I had always wanted to push myself and write a full length novel, so I thought, "why not give it a chance?" And I did! I quit the bookshop and started writing "Changing Masks." I love how the series turned out, and I love discussing it with my friends and other peers in Moscow.
Humble life experiences, am I right?
My life had been nothing special up until that point. It had been pretty ordinary. But because I read so much as a child, my love for storytelling began to grow. It would never leave me. So, naturally, I started writing down stories. Eventually, I was hired at a bookshop. What a dream! I worked hard and with diligence. Every day I would go to the store at 6 a.m. and leave at 10 p.m.
It ended up taking a toll on me. I couldn't even read or write books. The irony, which, is not lost on me. I had always wanted to push myself and write a full length novel, so I thought, "why not give it a chance?" And I did! I quit the bookshop and started writing "Changing Masks." I love how the series turned out, and I love discussing it with my friends and other peers in Moscow.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 27, 2018
I love this book.
I love both universes in this book,
Epic riding. I'll probably read this book again. I wish I could read the next book right this very second sleep is a crutch over. Thank you Nicholas for an awesome book
I love both universes in this book,
Epic riding. I'll probably read this book again. I wish I could read the next book right this very second sleep is a crutch over. Thank you Nicholas for an awesome book
September 20, 2018
Alternate world
This book was on my TBR for the month of September and holy moly it was good! Shinji is awesome in his short clinical ways. You may hate Shina as I do but you'll move past it. I really wouldn't ship him with any of these girls. Maybe some kick-ass girl who is a clinical as he is! But you will laugh and love this book!
This book was on my TBR for the month of September and holy moly it was good! Shinji is awesome in his short clinical ways. You may hate Shina as I do but you'll move past it. I really wouldn't ship him with any of these girls. Maybe some kick-ass girl who is a clinical as he is! But you will laugh and love this book!
October 6, 2019
I read Changing Masks in two days. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I love such fantasy novels especially about interworld travelers. At the moment this book has everything I want from fantasy and adventure novels. I'm going to read all books written by Nicholas Metelsky.
It is interesting for me to read about Japan, clans, surviving, fighting and during the reading ask yourself some philosophy questions. What would happen if some historical processes in the world went differently? It is very impressive that the author considers himself a commoner and independently achieves a lot in the midst of aristocrats where all businesses are divided. The author writes vibrantly and dynamically. It's a quality fiction with an original idea.
The plot is exciting. The book is written perfectly. In chapter 1 of the book the inner dialogue of the protagonist seemed unnatural. The first pages were hard to read. I didn't like the translation into English, but this is already a question for the translator, and not for the author. It is interesting to read about Japanese schoolchildren. In the process of reading, the whole world in which the protagonist lives, develops and achieves success is very easy to imagine. But throughout the book I was surprised the patience of the protagonist to his neighbor Shina. I just want to react and fight back instead of Shinji.
Very unusual genre. Good style and smooth narration without twitching the plot. The self-development of the protagonist occurs within the framework of clearly defined opportunities. The colorful atmosphere of Japan, meticulously and lovingly crafted characters. The only negative for me is a lot of Japanese names and surnames. Over time, I begin to get confused. I would like to make tables of clans, so that it will be more understandable for me.
Changing Masks is an original interpretation of the familiar story of interworld travelers. And as a true bookworm, I already read the following Whirlwind books. I get great pleasure. In future I would like to find more treasure-authors like Nicholas Metelsky.
It is interesting for me to read about Japan, clans, surviving, fighting and during the reading ask yourself some philosophy questions. What would happen if some historical processes in the world went differently? It is very impressive that the author considers himself a commoner and independently achieves a lot in the midst of aristocrats where all businesses are divided. The author writes vibrantly and dynamically. It's a quality fiction with an original idea.
The plot is exciting. The book is written perfectly. In chapter 1 of the book the inner dialogue of the protagonist seemed unnatural. The first pages were hard to read. I didn't like the translation into English, but this is already a question for the translator, and not for the author. It is interesting to read about Japanese schoolchildren. In the process of reading, the whole world in which the protagonist lives, develops and achieves success is very easy to imagine. But throughout the book I was surprised the patience of the protagonist to his neighbor Shina. I just want to react and fight back instead of Shinji.
Very unusual genre. Good style and smooth narration without twitching the plot. The self-development of the protagonist occurs within the framework of clearly defined opportunities. The colorful atmosphere of Japan, meticulously and lovingly crafted characters. The only negative for me is a lot of Japanese names and surnames. Over time, I begin to get confused. I would like to make tables of clans, so that it will be more understandable for me.
Changing Masks is an original interpretation of the familiar story of interworld travelers. And as a true bookworm, I already read the following Whirlwind books. I get great pleasure. In future I would like to find more treasure-authors like Nicholas Metelsky.
September 30, 2018
Kindle Unlimited Series - maybe?
I've become leery of translations, especially Russian authors who use Kindle Unlimited releases as teasers and then stick in higher end priced "purchase to read books". It's really annoying when it's the last book in a series (and, to be fair, that's not just foreign authors). I'll probably up my rating if this proves to be a true KU series that doesn't suffer from slow and/or sporadic releases.
Updated: Do beta readers do translated books? I really enjoyed this story, but there were sections where the conversations were hard, if not nearly impossible, to follow. Could be a cultural thing, but that should have been taken into consideration by the author?
😱😱 Spoilers 😱😱
Things were better after I read through a second time, except for the whole patriarch bloodline progeny scenario. Wouldn't it be dependent on the host body DNA? Or did the warlock abilities transfer modify the host DNA? Just don't get how that would make him a patriarch. Progeny genetics would likely be rather unpredictable? Warlock? Bashir? Either, neither, or new combinations? Starting a new line is kind of an incredible understatement? Obviously, it just didn't make sense to me.
I've become leery of translations, especially Russian authors who use Kindle Unlimited releases as teasers and then stick in higher end priced "purchase to read books". It's really annoying when it's the last book in a series (and, to be fair, that's not just foreign authors). I'll probably up my rating if this proves to be a true KU series that doesn't suffer from slow and/or sporadic releases.
Updated: Do beta readers do translated books? I really enjoyed this story, but there were sections where the conversations were hard, if not nearly impossible, to follow. Could be a cultural thing, but that should have been taken into consideration by the author?
😱😱 Spoilers 😱😱
Things were better after I read through a second time, except for the whole patriarch bloodline progeny scenario. Wouldn't it be dependent on the host body DNA? Or did the warlock abilities transfer modify the host DNA? Just don't get how that would make him a patriarch. Progeny genetics would likely be rather unpredictable? Warlock? Bashir? Either, neither, or new combinations? Starting a new line is kind of an incredible understatement? Obviously, it just didn't make sense to me.
September 5, 2018
Really needs an editor, it's pretty much an endless stream of text with too few paragraphs and chapters. I often found myself confused on if character was currently experiencing the events or retelling something that had already happened, might be a quirk of the author not being a native english speaker? Not sure.
With that said the story is pretty much an anime/manga storyline, the protagonist gets body-swapped and needs to start from scratch with building his empire. Quite entertaining at times and I really think it could be decent with proper editing.
As it stands I doubt many people will get through the confusing and hard to follow start of the book.
With that said the story is pretty much an anime/manga storyline, the protagonist gets body-swapped and needs to start from scratch with building his empire. Quite entertaining at times and I really think it could be decent with proper editing.
As it stands I doubt many people will get through the confusing and hard to follow start of the book.
October 17, 2018
Despite the fact that this rambled a bit I liked the story.
I really liked this story but there were too many places with the store where it just rambled on and on and on and did not get to the point. Plus there were too many points with the MC just got rude and obnoxious to such a point that I really wished he had gotten his head slept off by his friend. Now these are the points that I didn’t like about the story but all the rest was just gold! About halfway through the story I convince myself that I wouldn’t read the second book if it came out but now that I finished it I think I would. I just hope the Author learns to trim his story a little bit and not ramble as much.
I really liked this story but there were too many places with the store where it just rambled on and on and on and did not get to the point. Plus there were too many points with the MC just got rude and obnoxious to such a point that I really wished he had gotten his head slept off by his friend. Now these are the points that I didn’t like about the story but all the rest was just gold! About halfway through the story I convince myself that I wouldn’t read the second book if it came out but now that I finished it I think I would. I just hope the Author learns to trim his story a little bit and not ramble as much.
June 18, 2019
For fans of Isekai stories!
Great story, but you can tell A. It was written over a period of time, as some names and conventions change back and forth in the book; and B. It's a translation (although quite well done!), as there are some bits that didn't come through clearly.
All together, a very well written story, I liked the author's style and imagination! Could use one more pass by an English editor, but fans of the Russian (or even Japanese) authors will still find this a top quality story with equal quality inn the translation!
4.5 stars if I could. One more pass from the editor would bump it up to at least 5.5, maybe 6 stars.
Great story, but you can tell A. It was written over a period of time, as some names and conventions change back and forth in the book; and B. It's a translation (although quite well done!), as there are some bits that didn't come through clearly.
All together, a very well written story, I liked the author's style and imagination! Could use one more pass by an English editor, but fans of the Russian (or even Japanese) authors will still find this a top quality story with equal quality inn the translation!
4.5 stars if I could. One more pass from the editor would bump it up to at least 5.5, maybe 6 stars.
September 12, 2018
Messy, this novel is messy. The premise is good but the plot is hard to follow. I read it the end but when I finished it, I was confused about the entire story. A lot of plot points were introduced that did not go anywhere with no resolution at the end. This novel would greatly benefit from an editor.
October 1, 2018
This isn’t an easy read. I personally loved it. In fact I bought it after reading it from kindle unlimited. There is a lot of cultural differences that you just have to go with and some of them don’t really make sense. Seeing the world through the main characters snark is incredibly amusing.
December 30, 2019
Below average
I tried reading thai trite fantasy about a reincarnated guy with absolute knowledge of combat, music, technology who recreates it and uses their power to steam through any challenge with the strongest plot armor
I tried reading thai trite fantasy about a reincarnated guy with absolute knowledge of combat, music, technology who recreates it and uses their power to steam through any challenge with the strongest plot armor
February 7, 2022
Changing masks by Nicholas metelsky starts by a message from something unknown to max our main character who is a high class fighter, and he is suddenly transported into another world which is really similar to his own world now he is stuck in a body of a teenager shinji sakurai who lives alone in a world of clans, royalty, aristocracy and being a commoner he have to do a lot of things to get to the top but shinji or should I say max will get through it. Changing masks is an isekai book with the classical isekai plot. The plot is fascinating it is a bit slow in the first few chapters but after some chapters it starts to develop and the good thing about this book is the mystery in it about the characters, the worlds and I like the main character at first I didn't really like him but as the story went on his character got explained more and the main character is really sarcastic I loved his dialogues and the story was told from his perspective he is strong have brains and flirts a lot but He is good The negative thing was how the author portrayed women's I really hated the way he wrote about the females in this book like every woman was petty and just the way the main character talked about them and like every female was written like she was a spoiled girl and didn't understand anything although in power it was not that much. this book had women who can fight but like she always needed a male with her and just like women can't interfere in man's talk which is wrong At the beginning the first few chapters were really confusing and sometimes it would just not explain things enough and sometimes it would over explain things like it just rambled and rambled the side characters weren't explained properly and it would be confusing like personality wise and it just added a lot of characters suddenly and with all the Japanese names it was really confusing I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars because the plot was good and I liked the things about japan and all the difference in those worlds that was in the book although I didn't like the way the author portrayed women I can't deny the book had an awesome plot I would definitely read the second book I would recommend this to people who like isekai as early stated it has those elements and people who like to see action cause the fighting scenes are wonderful too.
Want to read
October 27, 2018Great story
Started a little slow but kept getting stronger with every chapter. There is just enough side story to add to the plot. Can't wait for the next book.
Started a little slow but kept getting stronger with every chapter. There is just enough side story to add to the plot. Can't wait for the next book.
December 22, 2018
It's a little slow and jumbled in the beginning, but over all I can't wait to read the second book
March 12, 2019
The setting is an alternate world Tokyo run by criminal Clans. The main character, Max, is a traveler from another version of Tokyo taking up residence in a high schooler's body. Filled with gun battles, magic, and political drama, it was an interesting concept that fell short.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews