Mana Master

A Mage's Cultivation #1

by Bruce Sentar

In a world where mages and monster grow from cultivating mana. Isaac joins the class of humans known as mages who absorb mana to grow more powerful. To become a mage he must bind a mana beast to himself to access and control mana. But when his mana beast is far more human than he expected; Isaac struggles with the budding relationship between the two of them as he prepares to enter his first dungeon.
Unfortunately for Isaac, he doesn’t have time to ponder the questions of his relationship with Aurora. Because his sleepy town of Locksprings is in for a rude awakening, and he has to decide which side of the war he is going to stand on.

Disclaimer: There are adult situations and harem relationships.

Genres: Fantasy, Harem, Litrpg, Smut, Magic, Romance, Audiobook

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2020

About the author

Born and raised in the agricultural midwest, I moved every year after school even as far as Shanghai before settling down with my wife in Chicago.

I have always enjoyed Wuxia stories and became thrilled when I discovered harem stories spreading to western books. I've written down my day dreams for years as an idle hobby. Inspired by the harem genre I'm finally fleshing them out into full blown novels.

I'm excited to share my stories with you as I turn them into novels and series.

Connect with me on Facebook for updates on my latest books.
https://www.facebook.com/Bruce-Sentar...

Reviews

[William Howe · Rating 2 out of 5]

It kept getting worse

Trying to get everything jammed into one book with every cultivation trope layered on top of harem tropes and dungeon tropes and academy tropes at high speed. Checking boxes as fast as possible to move to the next item on the list. No time to actually develop concepts enough to make the world coherent, just get it all done. Logic is secondary to moving through to the next trope. Logic isn’t even really necessary to world-building, I guess. Just keep slapping down tropes to cover up a lack of understanding of craft.

As an example of failure, while fresh blood could easily be described as ‘crimson’ a wall that has been spattered by blood from years of combat would never achieve that color. It would be a dark brown at best.

Just...awful.

[John #Audible · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yea, its just another Wuxia and YA Warnings.

This falls into the majority of Wuxia / Cultivation books. Everyone is Trash below them and Everyone is power hungry pieces of garbage and the main antagonist are human's beings. Also with this, you have a CW levels of romance, you know when every girl falls in love with the MC within a day or two and loves being princess carried or pulled around by her hand.

Major issues

1 ) 50% of the book being inner monologue.
2 ) Large scale battles terribly described, this dude is a 1st circle mage. He would not be able to handle 3 to 4 people attacking him at once, much less dozens.

That is just another Wuxia / Cultivation.


* This is for everyone, NEVER BELIEVE the Star reviews of Audible books. Owners can refund books on it and with that any bad reviews or good they wrote of it, gets removed. So the curve is adjusted.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 stars

I enjoyed this book. I just wish it was a little more developed. It has both mana and cultivation but each of these were pretty simple in the story. There wasn't enough cultivation in the story for me to call it a cultivation book. The mana aspect was also lacking. Each person that could use mana only had 1 or 2 spells. What was there was good, but there wasn't a lot of detail. I enjoyed all the characters, both the main and the side characters. The harem aspect felt a little off to me. The MC had a girlfriend that left to join a sect. Then the mana beast that bonds with him turns into a beautiful woman and wants to be with him. There was a lot of teasing and discussion about sex but then nothing happened for a while. Then the girl he thinks hates him turns out to really like him. She tells him at the weirdest time. They are trying to escape from certain death and freezing to death and they hide in a pod. She starts playing with his shaft almost immediately after they are locked in. That was kind of an abrupt transition. Then it went from that to, her saying she wanted him to have a harem. Her mom was part of a harem with her dad so that's what she wanted to. Again, the transition was kind of abrupt. They met a new girl at lunch and after a brief discussion she would also be part of the harem? Besides one or two sexual encounters, they all seemed to be poorly timed. Almost all of them happened when they were in danger or just got out of danger. I did enjoy reading the book and I plan on reading the next one when it comes out.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off promising and above average for the genre, but sort of lags during the middle and ends as just an average Xanxia/harem/OP adventure. I docked it 1/2 star for excessive use of the word "smirk" (a true indicator that eyerolls abound), and another 1/2 star for giving everything to the MC without really any struggle. I guess I'll probably read the next one but I'm not looking forward to it.

[Douglas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this book after the third female character declared her undying love for the MC and her willingness to participate in a harem. I am still giving the book 2 stars simply because the author told the part of the story I read relatively well. The story being told, however, is uninspired. Add to that the fact that half the fantasy books being published involve a harem and I couldn't go on.

[Jason W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs work

This was clumsily written. The cultivation system is pretty vague. I’ve seen much better, cohesive systems. Also the character’s actions in a lot of cases just don’t make sense. A lot of the book feels as if the author is just pulling stuff out of his butt. To be clear, this book isn’t terrible, but I’ve read much much better.

[Roberto Flores · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, done. Just done.

So if I wanted to involve myself with a teen drama I would watch the CW. I do not need it in my books. Got a fifth of the way through and was done.

[Dave Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

mildly Interesting kung-fu harem
This book has a lot of sex. sadly there is way more sex than chemistry.
Everything else is fairly standard cultivation or Xianxia. There are some slight variations from your 100% traditional eastern fantasy, but they rarely come into play or have any impact on the story.
This book also has the troubling habit of going from something disturbing right into another sex scene without any kind of palate cleanser.
There are quite a few strange continuity errors like people and objects who disappear and reappear with no explanation. There is a bit where the party leaves the tent set up at the camp site, they leave the camp site -adventures ensue- they never return to the camp site, but have their tent back.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed this book. The characters are intriguing and I liked the supporting characters as well. The world building is interesting and I look forward to seeing what happens in future book's.

[JasperKazai · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this was pretty terrible. It has some neat ideas and premises, but they're all surface level. Nothing feels satisfactorily explained. Very early on Isaac starts to utilize his bloodline, but it's never explained what the hell that even means, nor what it does. It makes him stronger or something? Ok, how? Why? Granted, there are some reveals much later in the story about that, but it takes way too long to get there, and it also ends up leaving you with more questions than answers. Nothing about the magic really makes a whole lot of sense. There's rings, and that basically indicates your overall power level. Alright, fine. But then there's also cultivation, meridians, and god knows what else. Isaac shatters his meridians at one point, and that's a bad thing apparently, and he has to reforge them. Ok? But why? What the hell does any of this mean?!

Every character who isn't the protagonist or an explicit friend of the protagonist/good guy acts like a complete moron. Every single antagonist, from the most minor unnamed ones to the extremely powerful elders of the sects, acts like a petulant child. They all become opposed to Isaac in some way almost immediately, and they resort to violence at the slightest provocation. It's lazy writing to make sure that Isaac is never in the wrong, because the actions of these idiots is always completely indefensible. In one such example, Isaac enters a restaurant, and a character he had a previous altercation with spots him. That character immediately begins approaching Isaac with hostile intent, and the restaurant owner steps in to stop a fight from breaking out on his property. In response to this, that character instead begins attacking the completely innocent restaurant owner, for daring to try and prevent violence from breaking out. It's absolutely moronic, and also boring to read.

Everything comes far too easily to Isaac for any of it to be interesting. He was trained by his father from an early age, so he's already a highly competent fighter from the beginning of the story. He already has multiple women interested in him. The first love interest quite literally brings up the notion that Isaac should form his own harem without even being prompted, because that's a completely normal situation in this world. Can't even have the slightest bit of difficulty or hardship in any regard.

Anyways. That's enough negativity. There are nuggets of good ideas, but the book failed to deliver. I know this author has quite a few series. I'm slightly interested to find out if they're all like this, or if this particular one just happens to not be great.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sentar is one of my favorite authors for this genre. He weaves together a much better plot than some of the others.

It's so difficult getting past the whining and somewhat clueless MC. He's not horrible, but listening to the audiobook just adds to it... The voice actor is great, but some parts are just infuriating.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. New twist on old theme

I love this book. I'm not a fan of cultivation generally but there was a new twist on this 1.As you gain power in cultivation you bind man obese to provide you with manner. This isn't nice twist. In this case it also leads to a Harem for the MC but that is a minor part of the story. Unlike most harem novels this novel has a lot more crunch to it with lots of battles and political intrigue. The author created a workable if slightly vague cultivation system with tiers called rings. Combat is detailed and gritty plus not all battles are extreme. Per usual there is evil afoot and this being the first book the MC, Isaac, is learning new things about the world he thought he knew. I enjoyed the MC 'S adventure and look forward to the next book.

[Paps · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definetly there is room for improvement in this story, as well at the author style. Is a good story but with a good number of holes and incongruity in the story like it has been mentioned by others a good number of the sex scenes (mainly the last one) feel out of place in the story is not only the timing bad but really improper like guetting busy while is their turn to stand guard how some of his sectrets get revealed infront of a person he barely knows for a couple of hours but needed to debate with himself for days to be open with someone he has know for years and pretty much admited that will be ok with whatever he does. It feesl contradictory at least and the relationships developments have been all over the place as well. Hope there is more improvement with this series in the future.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idiotic MC

The book is decently written, with a few significant flaws. The most glaring flaw is how incomprehensibly stupid the MC is. Here's an example:

At one point the MC worries about leaving an obvious trail because bandits might follow it to them. They leave an obvious trail on purpose anyway. Five pages (and a few hours) later the MC is supposed to be on watch. Instead he ignores what he just said about bandits to make out with a girl. Guess who shows up while he's supposed to be watching for danger?

[Age · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good action and world building, terrible characters

Title pretty much says it all. The protagonist isn't very interesting, he has no real flaws to overcome. Some female characters trust him with their lives almost immediately, even though they met a few days ago and he did nothing to warrant such trust.

[Kiba Snowpaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final Rating: 2.90/5.00

Starting score: 2.50
+0.30 for cultivation that connects bodily limits, understanding, and mental discipline.
+0.25 for a world whose ecology, economy, and inequalities grow from mana.
+0.25 for tactical action and useful cooperation between different fighters.
+0.25 for friendship, family attachment, and consequences that develop the supporting cast.
+0.25 for affectionate relationships with distinct personalities and practical care.
+0.15 for explicit intimacy with physical follow-through and attention to individual limits.
+0.30 for connected mysteries and a climax that gives the struggle over power personal stakes.
-0.35 for exceptional luck and accumulated advantages weakening the uncertainty of progression.
-0.20 for repetitive confrontations built around arrogant rivals and public humiliation.
-0.15 for romantic commitments that move faster than their emotional groundwork.
-0.20 for raising questions about freedom within magical bonds without examining them deeply enough.
-0.15 for sexual and comic interruptions that weaken particular moments of danger or distress.
-0.10 for wording and sentence-construction errors.
-0.20 for continuity failures involving relationship milestones and a supporting character's name.
Calculated final score: 2.50 + 1.75 - 1.35 = 2.90/5.00

I enjoyed the dangerous wilderness, the growing affection, and the stubborn refusal to leave people behind. I also grew frustrated with how generously the story clears a path for its hero. This audiobook has enough warmth and savagery to get its claws into me, but its convenient progression and unreliable continuity keep loosening that grip. Isaac's journey works best when survival forces him to understand somebody, trust a companion, or decide what his strength is actually for. It becomes less convincing when another extraordinary advantage arrives to carry him through the next difficulty. The execution leaves too many cracks in the ice for me to call it a strong beginning without reservations.

The world earns attention through the way mana changes ordinary life. Locksprings has food, shops, training grounds, family businesses, and remnants of an older civilization beneath its magical present. Beast meat affects cultivation. Materials become tougher in places saturated with mana. The resources that matter to a mage belong to a different economy from the money ordinary people spend. Even a meal can reveal how far a wealthy disciple's upbringing stands above Isaac's. I like those connections because they make inequality tangible. Power is in somebody's breakfast before it is in their sword. The beasts also belong to this environment: they feed, compete, seek richer territory, and gather around valuable resources. A vast creature's movement can displace smaller dangers into somebody else's path. Mei's small, many-tailed presence adds a different pleasure, bringing curiosity and personality into a world where dangerous creatures can also become companions.

The cultivation system gives me something solid to follow. A bound mana beast supplies energy, meridians determine how that energy moves through the body, and a stronger foundation affects what a mage can eventually withstand. Isaac has to learn that possessing mana and using it effectively are different stages of competence. Aurora's treatment of life mana particularly interests me. Survival includes healing, but it also includes the predator's need to fight and feed. As an ice wolf, I understand that connection immediately. A wolf's teeth belong to life as surely as its warm body curled around another member of the pack. The later cultivation exercises also bring will, temptation, and emotional discipline into the process. Their risks make advancement more interesting than a larger reserve of fuel. I can follow what Isaac is attempting and understand why an apparently simple improvement matters.

Combat has some satisfying practical detail. Weapon reach, exposed flanks, defensive positioning, exhaustion, and the difference between fighting alone and protecting somebody all affect encounters. The first field exercise exposes how little classroom confidence means when several threats move at once. Saving one teammate can leave another exposed. Later fights use distraction, a shield, a healer's breathing room, or the weaknesses of an unfamiliar body to create openings. Michelle's defensive role becomes particularly useful because the group needs somebody who can hold a dangerous position. Isaac's biggest attack initially carries a serious physical price, and superior cultivation remains frightening when the elders intervene. I like feeling the distance between a student who can win a duel and a mage who can turn a battlefield into a disaster. The descriptions sometimes linger over another block or counter when the direction of the exchange is already clear, but there is plenty of actual fighting and decision-making beneath the cultivation talk.

My problem with progression is the accumulation of exceptional help. Isaac's bloodline supplies strength, improves what he attempts, and opens possibilities that other people regard as extraordinary. Loot can supply an abundance of resources, a crisis can deliver access to a rare opportunity, and a lucky gamble can produce another enormous financial advantage. There is a reason within the story for his unusual luck. That explains the mechanism; it does little to preserve uncertainty when valuable solutions keep gathering around him. The bloodline's ability to improve his meridians is especially generous because it reaches into the quality of his foundation itself. The waterfall training demands sustained effort, and his shattered cultivation remains a problem across several scenes. Those struggles repeatedly open another route to greater power, weakening the possibility that a setback might meaningfully restrict his future. I want the climb to leave more than scratches on an exceptionally fortunate wolf.

Isaac gives me reasons to stay with him beyond that climb. He shares valuable resources with his friends instead of using his greater haul to establish superiority over them. He protects people who cannot repay him, worries about families being exposed to retaliation, and takes responsibility for helping wounded companions travel. Those choices matter to me as the Alpha Ice Wolf of the Ice Wolf Clan. The weight of leadership belongs in the effort to bring others home. His willingness to cooperate with somebody who previously opposed him also produces a better result than another permanent feud. At the same time, his protectiveness comes with a controlling streak, and his righteous anger can make his own decisions look unquestionable to him. Steve's warning when he starts antagonizing a shop's representative is useful precisely because Isaac needs somebody to puncture that attitude. I need those moments of reconsideration.

Jonny and Steve help give that friendship substance. Jonny's desire to heal people offers a different ambition from Isaac's hunger to push deeper into the world. Steve's reserve, affinity for animals, and discomfort with danger make him recognizable without needing constant speeches. Their jokes establish familiarity, while the later dungeon material changes the pressure behind those jokes. They have abilities, interests, and costs of their own. The story also remembers that young people leaving to cultivate leave worried parents behind. Jonny's mother fussing over him and Isaac's father expressing care through severe preparation give the departures different emotional textures. I find the father's narrow way of communicating both frustrating and believable: he can prepare his son's body more readily than he can speak openly about the family's pain. The quieter encounters around meals, recovery, and parting give these people somewhere to live emotionally between battles. That is where the warmth of the den becomes convincing.

The hostile sect disciples are much less varied. Too many encounters begin with contempt for a supposed inferior, continue through a threat involving status or a woman, and end with a demonstration of strength. Hank makes this pattern particularly exhausting. There is a difference between a character being hateful and the writing finding another useful thing for his hatred to do. Emera's explanation that arrogance can conceal fear of losing status gives the behavior a social basis, but the next confrontation can still sound like the previous one wearing different robes. Repeated reminders that strength determines treatment add weight after the principle is already established. Recruitment, access to knowledge, and family dependence offer richer forms of pressure. I wanted those mechanisms to drive more of the conflict directly. Grant's changing conduct is valuable because it allows a rivalry to develop into a relationship with consequences beyond the original insult.

Aurora supplies much of the affection that makes this story worth listening to for me. Her wish to experience the world directly is more affecting than another assurance that Isaac is wonderful. She has spent so much time observing that small acts of participation matter: going out, sharing a meal, learning about people, and doing something useful with her own hands. Her explanation of why she enjoys caring for him gives those domestic gestures a specific emotional source. I like that she can be tender and still possess a predatory understanding of survival. Her nonhuman nature should shape how she loves, fears, and reacts, and the story gives it some room to do that. There is also something painful in her distress at being unable to intervene when he is hurt. A powerful companion who has to watch helplessly has an emotional vulnerability that physical strength cannot simply remove. Those moments let me feel the living person behind the beautiful magical presence.

Michelle develops useful substance through cooperation. Her protective spells, stubbornness, willingness to fight beside Isaac, and practical attention to the group give her more to contribute than flirtation. Their changing trust becomes convincing when they have to rely on each other physically. Her family also gives her comfort with a shared relationship an identifiable background. What bothers me is how quickly the explanation of her earlier hostility is allowed to settle the emotional account. An old crush and embarrassment can explain behavior; I still wanted more work between that admission and the new certainty of their attachment. The story does give her an apology, and Isaac bears responsibility for refusing to stop an earlier dangerous fight. Those details are essential to the judgment. My issue is the speed with which the remaining hurt becomes something they can sweep behind them. Their later tenderness and teamwork do more to sell the relationship than the initial explanation of why she treated him that way.

Celina brings a different set of needs and abilities. Her knowledge of poison changes what the group can survive, and her private objective gives her a reason to act that extends beyond becoming attached to Isaac. She makes consequential choices on her own. I also appreciate that a physical limitation on intimacy is met with an offer of a relationship that can develop without immediately crossing that limit. Affection, patience, and inclusion matter there. Michelle and Celina have a connection that helps the group feel like people forming relationships with one another. However, the move from a new acquaintance to emotionally committed inclusion happens very quickly. Attraction and compatibility can appear immediately; trust usually needs more experience behind it. I wanted that transition to have the same attention that the book gives a new cultivation method.

The sexual content is explicit, recurring, and a substantial attraction of the book, especially as the relationships develop. It follows encounters through their physical progression and aftermath, and shared intimacy becomes part of the developing harem. I like harem fiction. I want a good story and good porn, with real work put into both. The attention to individual requests, comfort, pace, and participation earns credit. Celina's limits receive practical consideration, while Michelle and Aurora bring different kinds of initiative into the encounters. Some of the sensual language relies heavily on familiar descriptions of extraordinary beauty, overwhelming pleasure, and Isaac's exceptional body. The more engaging moments give those bodies a personality through teasing, a specific request, or a response to the other person. Domestic affection also helps: food prepared with care and someone being gently washed after an ordeal give the physical closeness an emotional life outside the bedroom.

Placement is where particular scenes lose me. Isaac and Michelle becoming sexually distracted while responsible for watching over exhausted friends is an especially poor decision, and the resulting capture gives it an immediate cost. The consequences make the mistake part of the plot, but the abrupt movement from hard-won survival to that distraction still strains the credibility of their attention. Later, a sexual sequence shares space with a vulnerable, unresponsive person whose condition has only recently devastated someone close to her. That arrangement pulls focus from distress before it has much room to settle. The comic turn after Jonny's brutal public beating creates a similar problem when the conversation jumps to what his new affiliation might mean for his sex life. I can enjoy dirty humor and intense sex while wanting a particular wound to remain emotionally present. These particular scenes need more emotional care.

The darker plot gives the book its strongest pressure. Early recruitment, missing people, unequal access to power, and apparently respectable institutions gradually become parts of a larger threat. Exploitation becomes especially ugly when the people responsible can present it as ordinary practice or necessary progress. That makes my fur bristle because the suffering has a purpose in the story: it gives the desire to protect somebody an enemy more substantial than the next rude disciple. The climax brings the argument close to Isaac's own attachments. Wanting to change the world does not settle what someone is entitled to do to other people. I value the emotional cost of that conflict and the refusal to resolve every divided loyalty neatly. The later action carries weight because escape and resistance now concern people whose freedom has become the central issue.

That emphasis also makes the handling of magical bonds harder to overlook. Isaac repeatedly worries about whether Aurora's devotion is freely chosen or influenced by their connection. It is a serious question, particularly when affection, dependence, and instinct are so closely entangled. Yet his movement past the concern relies heavily on deciding he has been overthinking it and accepting the sincerity of her feelings. Sincerity does not fully answer what freedom she possesses within the bond. I can believe that she loves him and still want the story to explore her ability to refuse, disagree, or define the relationship on her own terms. Later developments do show Isaac recognizing the danger of control, seeking permission, and wanting a better solution. What remains thin is the examination of how protective intentions can shape another person's emotional freedom. A story that makes domination such a serious political issue needs equally searching attention when the power rests in its hero's hands.

The writing needs a firmer editing pass. “I took a deep break” uses the wrong word where the moment calls for a breath. “Steve and I are the two are damage dealers” contains a duplicated grammatical construction that interrupts an otherwise straightforward explanation. These slips leave otherwise simple sentences needing repair. The continuity problems do more damage. Isaac and Aurora exchange declarations of love, then a later scene treats her declaration as a startling admission and makes her uncertain whether he will return it. That repeats an emotional milestone without accounting for the one already established. One of Michelle's mothers is identified as Rachel, then the same place in the family and the same brown-haired description belong to Brenda. Names and remembered commitments are basic anchors. Losing them makes the listener carry repair work that the story should have completed before asking for emotional investment. The tenderness deserves better care than that.

The ending gives the immediate ordeal an outcome while opening a much larger conflict. Its final display of magical scale has the wonder I want from this kind of fantasy, and the need to get people out keeps the spectacle tied to responsibility. My interest survives, but it comes with clear demands: less convenient advancement, more patience with emotional transitions, and reliable memory for what the characters have already said and done. I can feel a real pack forming here. Their care for one another gives the bloodshed something worth defending, and that is why the book stays with me despite its weaknesses. Back in HowlStrom, I would let these travelers warm themselves beside the fire. I would also hand their storyteller the tools to repair the damn roof before the next storm.

[Joe Palffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Completion Level: 100% (read all 6 books back to back)
Story: 3.5/5
Story telling: 2.5/5
Characters: likeable
Character development: adequate
Side character development: minimal
TLDR Conclusion: Recommended for it's full roundedness

Highlights: the amount and the variety of sex, kids (especially XieXie)
Lowlights: rushed story, 15% of the text being irrelevant

Liked:
+ the story
+ the characters
+ the sex scenes and their variety
+ sense of family including kids

Didn't like:
- rushed story
- discontinue too soon/unfinished story
- story telling

-=Overall Assessment=-
This feels like a combination of Martial Peak and Solo Leveling (the dungeon part) that is much too short, but it at least has lots of sex (and not just vanilla sex).

Also judging by the epilogue at the end of the 3rd volume this wasn't planned to be a long series and it suffered for it.

I mean Martial peak was ~6000 chapters (or 65 volumes), but that's exceptional even among Asian cultivation stories, most are between 1000-3000 chapters, so the author couldn't do much with his 100-150.

That meant it was lacking depth, no real adventuring, no exploration, no trading, no special powers, no special skill (like crafting or alchemy), no special artifacts or companions ... OK scratch that last one.

But still 6 volumes is not enough time for proper side character development, as a result some of the women become his wives waaaaaay to fast, like within a day in some cases.

And there's still further heights and higher worlds left on the table, but the author didn't pursue them, so as far as I'm concerned this is a discontinued/cancelled series with a mostly satisfying ending.

Story
6 volumes is not even close enough for a cultivation story, most are at least 5 times longer, but then again they also have more than 15% irrelevant text.

As much as I criticize this story, it has something most cultivation stories lack, and that's tons of sex and a real sense of family including kids.

Every story I've read so far is just way to focused on one or two areas, even romance books don't have this much (and this detailed & varied) sex, and kids are relegated to the epilogue, if they even appear at all. That makes this the most full rounded series I've read so far.

Thankfully the author learned a lot since writing this (like with the Dungeon Diving series) and since it was never planned to be anything grander I was happy it ended.

Characters and their development
Characters are likeable, but except the MC none of them get enough development since the story is so short (for a cultivation story).

Story telling/pacing
While copying other aspects from cultivation stories unfortunately the author also copied it's biggest flaws, that being all the irrelevant text, stuff like:
- repeating what the MC just said
- recaps & reminders
- pointing out the obvious
- speculating
and every other kind of time wasting BS you can think off, which just:
- ruins the pacing
- makes you forget where the conversation left off (which also makes the author forget and sometimes the reply doesn't match the question)
- insults the reader by treating them like a retard
- wastes the readers time
- tests their patience and pisses them off

The author also needs to study the English language a bit more.

Recommendation
Recommended to fans of full bodied stories, harems, smut, and cultivation.

If you wanna read something similar but way longer and more in depth (but far less sex) then I recommend Martial Peak (it also ends the way this story should've ended, with a big war against the dark side).

If you want something 4 times shorter than Martial Peak and/or no harem (or sex), I recommend Library of Heaven's Path.

If you want more dungeony stuff (and no harem or sex) I recommend Solo Leveling.

If you want more dungeony stuff with sex and harems I recommend the Dungeon Diving series.

[Melissa Thurman · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Spoilers*

I want to note that I am currently listening to this series via Audible. The male narrator is excellent. I can do without the female narrator, but she's not hurting the story. The story is what hurts the story. My one star of this review goes to Christian J. Gilliland's performance.

I knew by the cover what to expect. A male author expressing his personal sexual fantasies in the descriptions of every female character and the mana-beasts in the story. Let's see, they're all slim, all huge-breasted, all tight and ever-ready (down there), and they all can deep throat like the best of them. If I ever hear or see the words "painted the back of her throat" one more time....
Plus, almost every sex scene comes at the strangest of times. Stuck in a pod with Michelle, after just fighting for their lives? Perfect time for a handie! Isaac wakes up from a week-long coma? Orgy time! It's bizarre and useless.

The worst part for me is that there is so much to this story that was left to the reader to figure out, and unless a reader is used to this genre, they probably never do. There are tons of talk of bloodlines, cultivations, meridians, etc. and the author never takes the time to explain what any of these things are. They're just there, they are useful to the MC and we're supposed to know why they're useful, or dangerous, or whatever. It's horrid writing, and it seems like the author was more interested in rushing to the next awkwardly placed sex scene to not bother with explaining any of the parts prior.

Now, to the actual story. It's a mess. There's an interesting world of mages, and beasts, and sects, and they all intertwine, often fight, and yet it's not clear why exactly. The main character, Isaac, realizes he has unique powers as a child, because a sexy mana-beast named Aurora, binds herself to him, for reasons that make absolutely no sense. She can tell that he has an ancient bloodline, so she decides that a five-year old is the best person to stick herself to, and once he is of age, she has no problems popping out of him, her huge breasts flopping in the wind, to suck him off and teach him how to keep going, and going, and going. Honestly, it seems like she entwined herself to him just to be able to have orgies with him through the entire series. Otherwise, she really has little to no purpose.

It's also ick that Aurora is a slave of sorts to Isaac. She calls him "Master" and loves doing whatever he pleases, again though, mostly in bed.

But back to the story. Well, I'd like to get back to the story, but it seemed like the author was more intent on building Isaac's harem than he was in building sufficient drama, with a plot point to follow. I'm on the third book and I honestly don't even remember what the plot was in the first book to recall if it was worth writing about. Clearly, it wasn't.

I also found it laughable that in the very beginning of the book we meet Michelle, who despises Isaac. She fights him, and almost kills him. But, as he's recovering, she visits him and pulls a "Wait, I secretly have loved you forever and ever, and now I want to be part of your girl gang. But let's have lots of crazy sex over and over again just for me to prove it." So, they do, and she joins the group as if she belonged there the whole time. So the hate lasts for .2 seconds, and then she's his #1 girl.

I've heard Sentar is a good writer, and a lot of his later books are much better than this series. However, I'll need to take a good long while off before giving them a try. I am fighting with myself to finish the third book in the series, but I think Isaac now has 5 girls in his harem, bones all of them all the time, and the dramatic plot of the story is lost somewhere in the shadows.

If you want to read a book where the author goes out of his way to try to top all the spice awards, then this one's for you. But after the second sexual encounter, you'll be bored out of your mind.

[Basiun · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's bad. Tried but couldn't really finish this trash.

Why is it bad? It's like a badly written xianxia taking place in some far-off post apocalypse future of America. It's also a harem novel with instantaneous relationships without any romance and a painfully written protagonist without any sort of goal who keeps spouting out words that don't match the situation he's in.

It's really badly written.
A "test" to go into a 'dungeon'? (secret realm for xianxia?) = Fuck the dungeon, the actual test seemed to be just killing monsters in a forest.
The protagonist meeting somebody at their home, and somehow ends up deep in some forest under a waterfall within 2 sentences without any explanation? How did they get there? There wasn't even a 'cut' between paragraphs or anything. It's as if 1 moment they're at their home and the next, the protagonist gets his head shoved into a waterfall. Absolutely terrible. Stuff like this happens multiple times in the novel.

I'd give a longer review with some more details as to why to avoid this trash, but I don't want to waste more time writing it.

Summation: It's a terribly written xianxia-esque novel with a harem and sex scenes.

[Gareth Otton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started well, introducing an intriguing world and an interesting main character. However, it never really gets out of first gear. It introduces some interesting concepts but fails to really explore them beyond a surface level. The scenes felt more like someone describing a list of "this thing happened, then this thing happened" rather than telling a story that evokes emotion and pulls the reader in. The characters all had promise when they were first introduced, but soon became exactly what was needed for the main character's story to unfold, rather than that story unfolding naturally.

Basically, I'm saying that this book lacked the depth needed to maintain my interest and when some distractions came along, I soon found my attention wandering. As a result, I didn't finish this book despite being more than two-thirds of the way through. It also felt awkward as the author was forcing all of the elements of his novel to fit his desired plot, rather than working with those elements to tell a more natural story. For these reasons, I can't rate it more than 2 stars.

[Alan K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow start with a good build-up

This was an enjoyable read, the MC is slightly overpowered compared to his contemporaries but underpowered overall. This is a harem story with explicit sex scenes which are more than just cut and paste as some authors I have read seem to use. The MC has an unknown bloodline via his mother that assists him in strength as long as it doesn’t go too far and practically kill him as his body can’t handle the power. Along with cultivation there is magic attack and defence spells which make’s fights more complex and deadly. The MC cares deeply for his girls and has a good sense of honour and honesty which I like. Although he still ends up with an impressive body count of people that seemed unavoidable if less than ideal under the circumstances. A good book overall with a good mix of action, adventure and close fights to the death. I will certainly jump straight off to read the next book.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this off the Saving Supervillains series by the same author, which I quite liked. That was superhero SF, this 'A Mage's Cultivation' series is fantasy of a particular variety I hadn't encountered before. Apparently cultivation refers to a Taoist concept 'by which humans can extend their lifespan and gain supernatural powers through practicing a set of martial and mystical arts involving meditation and the cultivation of Qi'. In this series that has been worked out as a very thin layer of mystical mumbo jumbo about rings and mana beasts, over a core that's basically a fairly standard RPG-based game system with leveling, mana, spells, magical weapons and the like. I definitely appreciate a good fantasy story when I see one, but this one didn't grab me. Too superficial, too much focused on power for power's sake, and then it's also harem lit where every girl in the story throws herself at the main character as soon as she lays eyes on him. All in all too boring and predictable.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sentar usually doesn't disappoint. This was fun, and I can see how a couple of his other series descended from this one. I wonder if it's a translation or Sentar is a big ole weeb for Chinese culture though. I enjoy the polyamory in this one. Most harem books are about a bunch of straight women with one man and that feels a little bit *too* much like wish fulfillment. This feels more balanced and romantic. Cultivation is a fun framework to play in, and the Chinese beasts are always impressive (even if I have to look basically all of them up).

The book opens by drowning you in names. It could be worse but I'm struggling to get this boulder to start rolling down the hill.

At 64% there's a lot of continuity errors piling up, but nothing game-breaking. Just information stuff. But that's a common thing for Sentar. I don't think he takes a lot of notes.

[Christian Brausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cultivation novel with harem elements

This is a great cultivation novel with with good character development. However there are no statistics or point tables, the plot thickens without interruptions. The motivations of the characters and their interactions are flowing naturally and I just wanted to see how the story continues.
The smut is explicit, never vulgar or crude and stays within accepted standards for the genre. It is also enhancing the story, not distracting from it.
After reading a lot of self published books it is worth mentioning that I have not noticed any mistakes in spelling or grammar or plot holes. The quality of the writing is outstanding. Well done Mr Sentar!
I am looking forward to read the book and see how story continues.

[Nealis]

There are only 2 things I really need from a escapists male harem story. 1) interesting action 2) interesting women 3) tolerable MC. This books fails in all 3 aspects.

The martial action is so uninspired and vague leading me to believe the author never been in fight IRL. The women are hot which is easy for any author to pen in, but making them interesting enough to sustain a novel is not the author's strong suit. Finally the MC is the good looking gary sue generic white knight who protects the wahman meanwhile monologuing to himself about much he respects the wahman. Great attitude, but no need to virtue signal in a novel, just follow the cardinal rule showing it instead of talking about it and save the pages.

[Solitaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting take on the whole cultivation story. It isn't going to make you rethink your existence, but it will provide you with several hours of fun-filled reading.

This story has depth, likable characters (and hatable but understandable villains).
There is some tragedy and drama (which while not my personal taste, does serve the story here).

I actually liked the MC, which is a fairly rare thing for harem-style books. In this case, however, the MC walks that tightrope of being kind, honorable, somewhat innocent, and respectful of the women in his life. (This is something that too many harem novels get wrong).

By the end of the story, I was ready to hop right into book #2.

Well done Bruce Sentar, I look forward to checking out your future works.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best harem stories, that I read in awhile. The characters are interesting and well developed. This book, unlike others in the genre, isn't overfilled with unneeded adult scenes. This relationship between the main character and his partners, is romantic, and believable.

I only found two issues with this book. The author seems to have fallen into the common temptation, of adding more and more women to the harem. This is just the first book in the series, and there is already four women in the harem, and another two that will end up joining. Lastly, the relationships sometimes seem to develop too quickly, and easily.

If you are like me, and don't really care about the adult scenes, and prefer to have romance, and a character driven story, you will enjoy this book.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm disheartened to learn that the phrase 'Death by Snu Snu' survived the collapse of civilization and is alive and well 1000 years hence.

In terms of story, this one is pretty good, i'm thoroughly enjoying the plot and the setting, my only complaint is the harem elements which are fairly lackluster and could use better development and pacing.

Also, i listened to the audiobook version of this book, and i have to say, the female voice, though she sounds plenty pretty, really lacks any emotion in her lines. It was so bad that i had to add it in several times in my imagination, just to make it a more enjoyable experience. The male voice is quite good however, although he needs to learn how to pronounce kowtow properly.

[Mr Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great adventure!

I read about 3 books a week, and have done so for about 5 years now. That's over 700 books and I have left reviews for less than 10. This was just amazing from start to finish.

The characters were so genuine and likeable, the sex was tasteful and well written but most importantly wasn't there just for the sake of it like a lot of harem novels.

I feel the power of the mc and his ladies was actually really well balanced considering their upcoming challenges but damn Isaac is a total baddas!

Main plot was brilliant with lots of potential.

A well deserved 5/5. Here us hoping book 2 is out.

[Queen Suga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy moly!!

This was soo good!! Our hero lives in a world of cultivation that forces humans to trap mama beats inside their core to use magic aka cultivate. He’s one of the last to cultivate his core in his age group but he’s a badass fighter non the less. His girlfriend leaves him to join a sect and he continues on his classes to train. But what starts out as a field exercise becomes a battle of life and death against mana beasts, rogue cultivators, canibal sects etc that all descend upon his village. He has has to grow and level up fast if he wants to survive because the weak die!