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wetdryvac's review against another edition
5.0
OK, that didn't go as I'd expected, and I enjoyed it a good deal.
meaganpauli's review against another edition
3.75
I really enjoyed the way the loop concept was handled here and Ian's journey through it. I only hope the story remains as engaging when his circumstances change!
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
3.0
Fun little variation on the genre thing. Will continue.
bani's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
kharliah's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the concept of it. Some of the layers were enjoyable and some were a bit of a slog.
Likely won't continue the series.
Likely won't continue the series.
xeni's review against another edition
4.0
I do love a good progression fantasy time loop story. Mother of Learning is the one I'll compare every other time loop story to, for good or for ill, since that one is a masterpiece (flawed, but mostly flawed in ways that the newest editing for trad pub process is polishing to a shiny finish).
Menocht Loop has it's own flaws. Some are similar to MoL - a stilted writing style that does not work very well in English (e.g. referring to ones mother as "Mother" rather than "my Mother" when appropriate) stands out the most - but most are different.
Firstly, the world feels a lot more shallow. We get to explore some of it depending on the loop layer, but mostly in one layer we stay in one place. Ian, the main character, awakens his Death Affinity, which allows him to become a decemancer - a practitioner who can control bones, corpses, dead energy, etc. The story starts with him incredibly powerful already (backstory filled in a bit later), however as this is the only affinity he awakens he's pretty much stuck to traveling around by yanking his own bones around or building a bone construct that can fly. Neither which really allow for vast travel around the known world the way we saw in MoL.
Ian feels more shallow than the characters in other progression fantasy as well. He never wants to learn for the sake of learning. He never wants to explore the world, engage with people around him, or even dive into his own soul. He feels like a puppet pulled through the loops, doing the barest minimum to get through. It's a bit disappointing as a character, since one of my favorite parts of MoL was how Zorian loved to learn and teach himself and level up and get stronger for the sake of knowledge (and potentially saving the world). There's never much threat to Ian since he is so powerful from the beginning of the story.
However, I did really enjoy the fast pace of the book, the plots of the different layers and how he solved the mysteries, and the overall story of why he is in the loop as well. It's a very fast read (if you're not putting the story on pause artificially), and I went immediately to the sequel to see where the story goes next.
Menocht Loop has it's own flaws. Some are similar to MoL - a stilted writing style that does not work very well in English (e.g. referring to ones mother as "Mother" rather than "my Mother" when appropriate) stands out the most - but most are different.
Firstly, the world feels a lot more shallow. We get to explore some of it depending on the loop layer, but mostly in one layer we stay in one place. Ian, the main character, awakens his Death Affinity, which allows him to become a decemancer - a practitioner who can control bones, corpses, dead energy, etc. The story starts with him incredibly powerful already (backstory filled in a bit later), however as this is the only affinity he awakens he's pretty much stuck to traveling around by yanking his own bones around or building a bone construct that can fly. Neither which really allow for vast travel around the known world the way we saw in MoL.
Ian feels more shallow than the characters in other progression fantasy as well. He never wants to learn for the sake of learning. He never wants to explore the world, engage with people around him, or even dive into his own soul. He feels like a puppet pulled through the loops, doing the barest minimum to get through. It's a bit disappointing as a character, since one of my favorite parts of MoL was how Zorian loved to learn and teach himself and level up and get stronger for the sake of knowledge (and potentially saving the world). There's never much threat to Ian since he is so powerful from the beginning of the story.
However, I did really enjoy the fast pace of the book, the plots of the different layers and how he solved the mysteries, and the overall story of why he is in the loop as well. It's a very fast read (if you're not putting the story on pause artificially), and I went immediately to the sequel to see where the story goes next.
forsonny's review against another edition
4.0
This is not a LITRPG or Cultivation book. If you are looking for that type of book, this is not it. That said, if you enjoy that type of book you may enjoy this book. While there is a type of magic in this world, it is not overly used in the book. This is a mystery story.
pyrh's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.75
completion's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic series. I really like the idea of time loops. The story line and world building is well thought out thoroughly planned. I like the power system, it is diverse while still being easy to understand and follow the action. Although I am still confused on what elementalists are and they relate to practitioners as a whole. The characters and likeable and the dialogue seems natural.
I am currently on book 4 (royalroad). The only bad thing I can say (and the reason this isn't rated 5 stars) is the author is horrible at choosing where to end a book. The first book especially ends with absolutely no resolution to any of the plot lines. Everything is cleared up quickly in the first few chapters of the next book but still I dislike it when an author ends a book with a major cliffhanger.
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I just caught up to whats currently on royalroad. I think its about 50% of the way through book five. Book four was pretty slow and not nearly as exciting as the first three books. Book five is back to being fantastic and I will absolutely be reading the rest of it.
At this point I will be at least trying anything the author publishes.
I am currently on book 4 (royalroad). The only bad thing I can say (and the reason this isn't rated 5 stars) is the author is horrible at choosing where to end a book. The first book especially ends with absolutely no resolution to any of the plot lines. Everything is cleared up quickly in the first few chapters of the next book but still I dislike it when an author ends a book with a major cliffhanger.
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I just caught up to whats currently on royalroad. I think its about 50% of the way through book five. Book four was pretty slow and not nearly as exciting as the first three books. Book five is back to being fantastic and I will absolutely be reading the rest of it.
At this point I will be at least trying anything the author publishes.
snappydog's review against another edition
3.0
I like that this one does a couple of things differently from the 'progression fantasy time loop' formula we know and love. For one, it starts with the protagonist already having attained pretty much their maximum power from having been through the loop a bunch of times - I like seeing people levelling up, but it was interesting to start at a different point - and for another, the loop is a little more complex than most.
A few things stood out as a little off to me, mainly things around pacing. (A lot of these web-serials-turned-novels experience something similar, to be fair.) The way the loop turns out to work is interesting but I think perhaps not used to its full potential, such that we only get a short time with most characters before moving on, and the antagonist who ends up being at the climax of this published volume is enormously underwhelming. More detail:
I'll proooobably keep reading further volumes just because it's right up my street genre-wise right now, and I'll be interested to see how things continue to play out. The end of this volume felt as if things could potentially begin to draw to some sort of close, but that's clearly not the case as there are four or five more volumes already.
A few things stood out as a little off to me, mainly things around pacing. (A lot of these web-serials-turned-novels experience something similar, to be fair.) The way the loop turns out to work is interesting but I think perhaps not used to its full potential, such that we only get a short time with most characters before moving on, and the antagonist who ends up being at the climax of this published volume is enormously underwhelming. More detail:
Spoiler
The thing about there being multiple layers to the loop is kind of cool, but Ian only goes through the last... three? layers shown in this volume a single time, which sort of renders the whole concept a bit toothless. And the necromancer is... just a necromancer. No sign that it's anyone more important, so there's no reveal and no personal stakes - it really is as simple as 'there appears to be a necromancer who is bad; oh yes, yes there is, and there he is'.I'll proooobably keep reading further volumes just because it's right up my street genre-wise right now, and I'll be interested to see how things continue to play out. The end of this volume felt as if things could potentially begin to draw to some sort of close, but that's clearly not the case as there are four or five more volumes already.