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The Simulacrum #1-3
The Simulacrum
"Um... Hello, I guess? Is this where I'm supposed to explain what's going on? Well, I would love if someone explained things to me for a change, but whatever, I will give it a try.
So, my name is Leonard Dunning, pleased to make your acquaintance. According to my ID, I'm a fairly average high-schooler, living alone while my parents are somewhere 'overseas', wherever that may be. I'm tall, pretty fit, living in an impeccably clean house, and I attend a scenic high school full of friends, romance and coming-of-age hi-jinks. Sounds neat on paper, right? Too bad I have absolutely no memory of any of this. One day I simply woke up in this weirdly pristine world with a splitting headache and a nasty case of retrograde amnesia that left me a blank slate unable to recognize even my face in the mirror. Worse yet, apparently this whole place is running on fairly clichéd writing conventions and stereotypes, complete with obvious background characters and dense harem protagonists!
So, what would your average guy do in this kind of situation? I have no clue, but as for me, I decided to roll up my sleeves, grab a notepad, observe this weird world and work out what makes it tick. If you are curious about how deep this rabbit hole goes (and trust me, we will need spelunking equipment), you are more than welcome to come along for the ride."
So, my name is Leonard Dunning, pleased to make your acquaintance. According to my ID, I'm a fairly average high-schooler, living alone while my parents are somewhere 'overseas', wherever that may be. I'm tall, pretty fit, living in an impeccably clean house, and I attend a scenic high school full of friends, romance and coming-of-age hi-jinks. Sounds neat on paper, right? Too bad I have absolutely no memory of any of this. One day I simply woke up in this weirdly pristine world with a splitting headache and a nasty case of retrograde amnesia that left me a blank slate unable to recognize even my face in the mirror. Worse yet, apparently this whole place is running on fairly clichéd writing conventions and stereotypes, complete with obvious background characters and dense harem protagonists!
So, what would your average guy do in this kind of situation? I have no clue, but as for me, I decided to roll up my sleeves, grab a notepad, observe this weird world and work out what makes it tick. If you are curious about how deep this rabbit hole goes (and trust me, we will need spelunking equipment), you are more than welcome to come along for the ride."
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 28, 2020
This would easily be a 4-5 star book if the author didn’t decide to muddle the plot by making the protagonist periodically dense. Even then it would be okay if there was some consistency. However, between the uncharacteristically dense mc, the complete deprioritization of the main goal and initial plot, the needless fluff, needless (and very surprising based on past actions) escalation of angsty harem issues, and by making the “fake” plot the main plot the story was destroyed. Maybe 6 full chapters of these 26 had actual plot relevant content. Those chapters were amazing. Making what should be one remarkable book into a subpar multibook series to add sham tension/mystery/??? is just sad. Book 2 is available but I just can’t find the strength to continue reading this train wreck.
I really want to rant. The last chapter, Volume 1 Appendix: Research, should’ve been a main point of the book, not a surprise extra. There was so many interesting things to explore in this setting. There were so many surreal events literally thrown in the face of the protagonist. I’d be happy if he and his assistant just explored their weirdness this entire book. Instead I have nothing but unanswered questions and characters spending their time being willfully ignorant by playing the fool. (Or we have the author hiding away the weirdness until they decide to drop a surprise summary chapter at the end of the book to excuse the lack of this type of content). This wasn’t my rant (I think). I’m just sad that my super cool story ran away forever.
To add to this not-rant, I started book two because I saw there was a resolution to a trivial issue that the author harped on and made complex for no reason. This issue was solved in a very trivial manner... 20ish chapters too late. I would continue reading but I know the author will continue to use willful ignorance as a crutch for other issues (likely including the next steps of the now solved issue). At least I got this stupid late simplistic resolution to a very very minor unanswered question now answered.
I really want to rant. The last chapter, Volume 1 Appendix: Research, should’ve been a main point of the book, not a surprise extra. There was so many interesting things to explore in this setting. There were so many surreal events literally thrown in the face of the protagonist. I’d be happy if he and his assistant just explored their weirdness this entire book. Instead I have nothing but unanswered questions and characters spending their time being willfully ignorant by playing the fool. (Or we have the author hiding away the weirdness until they decide to drop a surprise summary chapter at the end of the book to excuse the lack of this type of content). This wasn’t my rant (I think). I’m just sad that my super cool story ran away forever.
To add to this not-rant, I started book two because I saw there was a resolution to a trivial issue that the author harped on and made complex for no reason. This issue was solved in a very trivial manner... 20ish chapters too late. I would continue reading but I know the author will continue to use willful ignorance as a crutch for other issues (likely including the next steps of the now solved issue). At least I got this stupid late simplistic resolution to a very very minor unanswered question now answered.
Displaying 1 of 1 review