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A review by recklessheroism
Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaić, nobody103
5.0
This is one of the strongest fantasy series I've ever read.
It has many, many issues. The editing is not terribly good, even when compared to other self-published works. Spelling mistakes, grammar errors, repetition, poor phrasing, and so on are fairly common. The prose itself is wonky and fairly bad at times, though it's not without small gems here and there.
Instead, this series is made great by its set of diverse characters, intriguing plot, elaborate and fascinating magic system, and occasional asides into society and human nature.
The cast of characters is vast, but easily memorable. They are very colorful, with noticeably different mannerisms. Some of them start out as side characters, or are only mentioned passingly, but grow to be pivotal later on in the story.
The bedrock of this series is the growth of the protagonists - both in terms of in-world power and in terms of personality. This applies to the protagonists, but also applies to others, even though in their cases they often lose their memories after every month, which makes such growth temporary and fleeting. Nevertheless, it does take place, and often sheds light on the characters doing the growing.
As I said, characters train and grow in power, and this training constitutes a large part of the book. The difference in power level is staggering and yet believable. Although the main character doesn't start from close to zero, unlike books such as Cradle, he does start from a very mortal level of skill. He's very intelligent but fairly ordinary. And while he ends up being incredibly powerful, he never gets so overpowered that he's essentially unbeatable. He can never stop watching his back and his enemies can surprise him until the very end.
In spite of this staggering growth in skill, the story never runs out of new enemies and challenges to pit the protagonists against. There's always something new to learn, a new enemy to defeat, another exploit to perform, another tricky deal to negotiate (in fact, I felt the most impressive parts of the book were the deals the protagonists managed to negotiate - they were very cleverly done).
The magic system is incredibly consistent and well-executed. There are many different types of magic, each of which has its strengths and weaknesses, and throughout its many pages the book describes each one. It does perpetrate the sin of information dumps sometimes, but they're not too long or too common, so that (unlike in some other works) you never feel like you're reading a fantasy textbook.
A great thing about the magic system and the world in general, is that it shies away from the strange classification tropes that plague this sort of genre. There are no E-class adventurers exploring C-class dungeons, with Lowgold spirits and dark yellow mana cores. Power levels are much more nuanced than that, and not at all linear. This helps maintain a sense of unpredictability and makes the world feel much more organic. There is also no levelling system, no experience points, and so on. Growth happens through learning, not some abstract progression system.
The plot is quite nuanced and cleverly crafted. True, it's not terribly original in concept - a lot of the themes of the book are quite derivative to be honest - but it's incredibly intricate, with lots of actors and moving parts. Most pivotal events don't have just one cause or one person behind them, but are perpetrated by delicate alliances of multiple self-interested parties that have different motives and agendas.
A really interesting aspect of the groundhog day setup is the ability of characters to make mistakes. This is often rather limited, because some kinds of stupid mistakes - especially during heroic escapades - will easily get you killed. But in this setting, getting killed isn't an end to the story, so the protagonists can make all kinds of blunders that make them seem more human and less preternaturally lucky. They don't succeed because they're protagonists, they succeed because they've had lots of practice.
The world-building is quite serious. Some fantasy tropes, such as dungeons full of monsters, are given an in-world explanation that makes quite a bit of sense. It also doesn't shy away from topics such as inflation. Unlike other series, it doesn't overly rely on empty fantasy conventions that don't make sense unless you just tacitly accept them.
In short, event when compared to published works, Mother of Learning is incredibly good and I strongly recommend people should read it if any of the concepts above appeal to them.
It has many, many issues. The editing is not terribly good, even when compared to other self-published works. Spelling mistakes, grammar errors, repetition, poor phrasing, and so on are fairly common. The prose itself is wonky and fairly bad at times, though it's not without small gems here and there.
Instead, this series is made great by its set of diverse characters, intriguing plot, elaborate and fascinating magic system, and occasional asides into society and human nature.
The cast of characters is vast, but easily memorable. They are very colorful, with noticeably different mannerisms. Some of them start out as side characters, or are only mentioned passingly, but grow to be pivotal later on in the story.
The bedrock of this series is the growth of the protagonists - both in terms of in-world power and in terms of personality. This applies to the protagonists, but also applies to others, even though in their cases they often lose their memories after every month, which makes such growth temporary and fleeting. Nevertheless, it does take place, and often sheds light on the characters doing the growing.
As I said, characters train and grow in power, and this training constitutes a large part of the book. The difference in power level is staggering and yet believable. Although the main character doesn't start from close to zero, unlike books such as Cradle, he does start from a very mortal level of skill. He's very intelligent but fairly ordinary. And while he ends up being incredibly powerful, he never gets so overpowered that he's essentially unbeatable. He can never stop watching his back and his enemies can surprise him until the very end.
In spite of this staggering growth in skill, the story never runs out of new enemies and challenges to pit the protagonists against. There's always something new to learn, a new enemy to defeat, another exploit to perform, another tricky deal to negotiate (in fact, I felt the most impressive parts of the book were the deals the protagonists managed to negotiate - they were very cleverly done).
The magic system is incredibly consistent and well-executed. There are many different types of magic, each of which has its strengths and weaknesses, and throughout its many pages the book describes each one. It does perpetrate the sin of information dumps sometimes, but they're not too long or too common, so that (unlike in some other works) you never feel like you're reading a fantasy textbook.
A great thing about the magic system and the world in general, is that it shies away from the strange classification tropes that plague this sort of genre. There are no E-class adventurers exploring C-class dungeons, with Lowgold spirits and dark yellow mana cores. Power levels are much more nuanced than that, and not at all linear. This helps maintain a sense of unpredictability and makes the world feel much more organic. There is also no levelling system, no experience points, and so on. Growth happens through learning, not some abstract progression system.
The plot is quite nuanced and cleverly crafted. True, it's not terribly original in concept - a lot of the themes of the book are quite derivative to be honest - but it's incredibly intricate, with lots of actors and moving parts. Most pivotal events don't have just one cause or one person behind them, but are perpetrated by delicate alliances of multiple self-interested parties that have different motives and agendas.
A really interesting aspect of the groundhog day setup is the ability of characters to make mistakes. This is often rather limited, because some kinds of stupid mistakes - especially during heroic escapades - will easily get you killed. But in this setting, getting killed isn't an end to the story, so the protagonists can make all kinds of blunders that make them seem more human and less preternaturally lucky. They don't succeed because they're protagonists, they succeed because they've had lots of practice.
The world-building is quite serious. Some fantasy tropes, such as dungeons full of monsters, are given an in-world explanation that makes quite a bit of sense. It also doesn't shy away from topics such as inflation. Unlike other series, it doesn't overly rely on empty fantasy conventions that don't make sense unless you just tacitly accept them.
In short, event when compared to published works, Mother of Learning is incredibly good and I strongly recommend people should read it if any of the concepts above appeal to them.