Reviews

Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore

emmasnowball's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This is such a fun and lighthearted read! I greatly enjoyed immersing myself in the worldbuilding and lore. This is a campy, feel-good adventure with twists and turns. The plot leans into the absurd and strongly embraces nerd culture. I can understand how this isn't for everyone, but as someone who has spent hundreds of hours in MMOs, I had such a joyful reading experience and would highly recommend.

bibliotheca_draconum's review

adventurous medium-paced

3.5

huetwo's review

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

4.5

stopeats's review

Too goofy

elvenrapier's review

adventurous challenging funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Before starting this book, I had heard it was complex, difficult to understand, and also that punctuation marks were somehow aliens. All of this is at least partly true. It's a demanding book in the sense that it submerges you in the theory and practice of a non-existing branch of linguistics, the power morphemes, and understanding the theory that serves as a foundation for the whole plot requires some imagination. Still, some points are presented through a video game analogy that makes everything more relatable.

It's easy to get lost in the variety of spells the characters use and their combinations, which allow them to even move between different planes of existence. Even so, there are many straightforward action scenes. The ending is satisfying, although a little abrupt. All in all, this was a fun (and very sparkly) trip through the real world, the logosphere, the game world, and beyond.

ktwiles's review

Funny but almost too campy for me during the first third. I'll probably come back to it, but the content didn't match my current reading mood.

purplejumping's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.25

The premise was creative but there were so many invented terms that I lost track of what was going on. The characters weren't compelling enough for me to care about them either. I forced myself to finish the book but I'm not sure if I got anything out of it. 

maestro_cerrotorcido's review

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I went into this extremely excited knowing it involved linguistics and anarchism, but WOW did this book drag! It was insanely long-winded with periods of me questioning, "Was this really necessary to the story?" I think many authors feel longer is better. It came across as a book written to be a movie rather than to be a book. Large amounts of cheese, overly convenient chosen-one story, and it didn't even end up involving that much linguistics.

moholub's review against another edition

3.0

Entertained by the Sparkle Dungeon, music-based world building, but the plot lost me at alien punctuation marks. Everything from there on (so like ¾ of the book) was a downward plot spiral of absurdity. Love a little absurdity in a book, but Moore took it to a next level kind of absurdity where you aren't really sure what is happening anymore. What is trying to destroy earth? How is anyone becoming God? 2 out of 5 for spunky lesbian protagonists and letting Isobel keep that glittersteel jacket, but everything else...meh.

swamp_hag's review

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0