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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
Now I see what all the hype is about. Really damn interesting and even more thrilling as the story goes on.
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
If Groundhog Day took place during the battle of Hogwarts. The pitch that would make this into a movie/tv-show instantly, and for good reason.
The first 4 chapters are a well-rounded mix of origin story, introduction and action, seamlessly continuing on to chapter 5, when the first time loop starts. A steady progression of the main character as a person, combined with lots of different side characters that are fleshed out just enough to be interesting, keeps up well with the good pacing of the novel. I say good not great, because chapters 19-23 were really slow and actually disrupted the good flow of the story. After that and up until the end, everything kicks into overdrive for a nice yet cliffhanger-y ending going out with a bang and raising even more questions than we've had answers! And these aren't even all of the reasons I think this would be great as a tv-show or a trilogy of movies.
We get a lot of subtle worldbuilding without walls of expositional text; with the reader getting breadcrumbs all throughout the novel about stuff like the culture, politics, magic system, religion and fauna&flora without it ever getting annoying.
Our main character Zorian also goes through a good change of character, slowly but surely and realistically maturing over the course of (technically) a month (actually about four years) into both a better person and a better mage. We don't really have any other main characters, Zorian is clearly the focus here, but some of the side characters are clearly more important to the story than others. These characters include his sister, a classmate named Zach & a creature with the name 'Novelty', while others are only revealed at the end so I'll just stop right here.
To be honest, 4 stars is not enough, but 5 is too much. For now. I'm keeping it at 4 just because want to be able to adjust it to 5 stars if the next arcs are even better. It's THAT good and THAT promising. I already bought the second arc for my Kindle.
The first 4 chapters are a well-rounded mix of origin story, introduction and action, seamlessly continuing on to chapter 5, when the first time loop starts. A steady progression of the main character as a person, combined with lots of different side characters that are fleshed out just enough to be interesting, keeps up well with the good pacing of the novel. I say good not great, because chapters 19-23 were really slow and actually disrupted the good flow of the story. After that and up until the end, everything kicks into overdrive for a nice yet cliffhanger-y ending going out with a bang and raising even more questions than we've had answers! And these aren't even all of the reasons I think this would be great as a tv-show or a trilogy of movies.
We get a lot of subtle worldbuilding without walls of expositional text; with the reader getting breadcrumbs all throughout the novel about stuff like the culture, politics, magic system, religion and fauna&flora without it ever getting annoying.
Our main character Zorian also goes through a good change of character, slowly but surely and realistically maturing over the course of (technically) a month (actually about four years) into both a better person and a better mage. We don't really have any other main characters, Zorian is clearly the focus here, but some of the side characters are clearly more important to the story than others. These characters include his sister, a classmate named Zach & a creature with the name 'Novelty', while others are only revealed at the end so I'll just stop right here.
To be honest, 4 stars is not enough, but 5 is too much. For now. I'm keeping it at 4 just because want to be able to adjust it to 5 stars if the next arcs are even better. It's THAT good and THAT promising. I already bought the second arc for my Kindle.
adventurous
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A time loop, a student who has to improve rapidly to save his world, and a fascinating magic system make Mother of Learning's first book an absolute treat to read.
Yes, it started out as a web serial, but if that's the reason you haven't tried this series and you like progression fantasy and time loops, please don't let this deter you.
This book is pure fun! And so incredibly gripping. I basically devoured it, reading on my phone whenever I possibly could.
No, the prose isn't the best I've ever seen, but it's easily accessible and flows nicely. There isn't a lot of worldbuilding either, most of the plot unfolds in one place, and there is limited scope. And since this story is set in a time loop, the characters don't grow all that much either.
On the other hand, the pacing is incredible. The plot is tight, clever, and the addiction factor high. The stakes are high, and the main character is intelligent and fairly mature.
Recommended to fans of progression fantasy.
Yes, it started out as a web serial, but if that's the reason you haven't tried this series and you like progression fantasy and time loops, please don't let this deter you.
This book is pure fun! And so incredibly gripping. I basically devoured it, reading on my phone whenever I possibly could.
No, the prose isn't the best I've ever seen, but it's easily accessible and flows nicely. There isn't a lot of worldbuilding either, most of the plot unfolds in one place, and there is limited scope. And since this story is set in a time loop, the characters don't grow all that much either.
On the other hand, the pacing is incredible. The plot is tight, clever, and the addiction factor high. The stakes are high, and the main character is intelligent and fairly mature.
Recommended to fans of progression fantasy.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Amazing progression fantasy, really worth the read!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found this story clever, light, internally-consistent, and enjoyable throughout. The story took some twists and a lot of diversions, but rather than bog it down I think they added a lot to it. I really enjoyed the slice-of-life and character growth portions of the story, and it is nice to see a main character's personal development chronicled in such meticulous detail.
For a story where the stakes are at times complete destruction of a world, the stakes frequently felt low. After the midpoint of the story the arc of progress made the hero's ability to conquer all obstacles certain. While it was enjoyable to see how he'd untangle every knot, I would've appreciated having more significant obstacles or mysteries unfolding as the story wrapped up instead of everything consolidating and drawing to a close.
For a story where the stakes are at times complete destruction of a world, the stakes frequently felt low. After the midpoint of the story the arc of progress made the hero's ability to conquer all obstacles certain. While it was enjoyable to see how he'd untangle every knot, I would've appreciated having more significant obstacles or mysteries unfolding as the story wrapped up instead of everything consolidating and drawing to a close.