That was who I was. That was what I was. A tiny snake with great potential. The sole creation of the Great Core.
It was just us, the Great Core and I, tucked away in our little corner of the World Dungeon. Together, we hid from the bad-things and the Coreless of the world outside - safe from the horrors that would consume us.
Until, one day, the Coreless found us. Until they tried to steal away my creator. Until, with no other option, I swallowed the Great Core that had made me.
Only after that did I become what I was always meant to be.
At last, I became the Great Core's Paradox in more than name.
[The Endless Cycle] began.
Thus begins the story of a little snake zealot and his journey to greatness.
This could use a recap at the front. The time spent trying to catch up combined with the weird making convention makes for a shaky start. The overall development was very slow and the ending wrapped up very quickly making for an unsatisfying pace.
I’ve been awaiting the return of paradox for a while now with the first book being one of my favourites of last year. Overall this sequel does not disappoint - paradox is the same loveably delusional snake and his view on the world is still a pleasure to read. Some elements that I had criticism for in the first (not that I had much overall), namely less characterisation for the supporting cast, are addressed. We move around a bit more in perspective and the seekers (or humble acolytes depending on perspective) are given more depth. This author has a talent for strong characterisation with witty turns of phrase and distinct personalities; I found I really cared about the them. The tragic tale of the golem was a great example of that I think - we had very little in the grand scheme from his perspective and he was acting in a villainous role but I still felt for him. Star knocked off though because it does drag for a bit in the middle - started to get to that point where I was just tapping my foot waiting for the next big thing to happen (them getting the core). Still overall I’d really recommend and am looking forward to paradox being reunited with his followers in the next one.
I adored the first book so is it any wonder that I found bk2 to be AwesomeSauce! The books MC is a cute little danger noodle, a snek, Paradox Ouroboros. And I love him. A snek with a humongous amount of confidence in both the Great Core and in hisss own abilities as he interprets the mouth noises the coreless (humans) make. (Boy can he get it wrong.) In my opinion Zendran walks a pretty fine line from telling the snakes POV as he sees it... to keeping the reader informed to whom each of the individuals are in this odd party of adventurers. While winning over each dungeon city for the Great Core! Ohhhh and yeah Peter Berkrot is perfect for the telling of this tale!
I thought the first book was amazing and funny. But the sequel was quite disappointing, I couldn't pay attention to it at all because the story was basically the exakt same as the first book and I found the plot to be subpar at best. The really funny stuff was kind of lame in this one. I was 5 hours away from being done with the book when I just couldn't endure it anymore. DNF and won't continue the series. The characters all felt like they were lacking a real personality and was just there as minions for the snake.
While the further adventures of the Little Guardian are a fast-paced dungeon romp, our heroes fighting against overwhelming odds, this is also a clever metaphor for modern life. Are our decisions our own, or are we unwitting puppets? Replace Paradox, the impossibly cute little snake, with our mobile phones, our social media, our credit cards, and and you start to worry about who controls whom, and who is really in charge. Mind control and puppetry don’t only occur in LitRPG.
Even better than the first one. The save point mechanic works in such a way as to never make the current story seem meaningless. Paradox is adorable in his little zealotry of the Great Core.