Dear Spellbook

I don't mean this review as anything particularly negative.

I think I may have liked the novel, it's well written and what has been introduced about the worldbuilding and plot seems to be interesting enough. But I simply couldn't read more, it was just too much tedious.

Have you ever met somebody that constantly digress when they talk? Well, this MC is exactly like that, and because the entire novel is based around the concept of him using his spellbook as a diary, nobody is there to stop those digressions. Simple things like "I took a bath and then went to the library" require multiple long paragraphs. Finally, because the MC wasn't able to move on I had to do it, the experience wasn't enjoyable anymore.

Disclaimer: had a brief exchange of messages with the author. We agreed apon my point of view but he also suggested that I should stack some chapters and see how the novel evolves. I'll update my review in the future.

PS: this is why RR reviews are for the most useless and scores are inflated. Fanboys giving 5 stars left and right, and downvoting constructive reviews. You do understand that without proper feedback the authors can't improve themselves?

Now I had previously read the other-older version of this. I had thought there were some hiccups along the way, but it was a pretty decent story. Then the hiatus, and the re-write. I thought oh goodie, lets cut down on the useless monologue parts, slow parts, half thought out parts and make this the best version possible.

Well the first dozen chapters were near identical, titles almost the same. Same long boring monologues that bring the story no further ahead, I had wondered what even changed?

The MC is the POV, and is still the biggest weakness. Feel like theres is major character conflicts going on in the planning department. Recently dead parents, time to grieve? No, time to make jokes frequently. Goes out of his way to help people, but also suspects bad intentions it seems. Extremely paranoid he is trapped with others in a time loop? Proceeds to just bath and read short stories for fun. 

Where is the urgency? Why doesnt he ask others for help? Why does he treat his diary like a human conversation? After learning his situation, why hasnt he taken full advantage of it yet to improve?

TL;DR this is pretty much the same as pre re-write novel. Glaring problems and all.

A solid fantasy piece which follows a sorcerer stuck in a time loop. I think this is a well-written story, with the caveat that it's likely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, even if you're big on fantasy.

Style:

The book is written from the perspective of the main character writing into his spellbook in a fashion somewhat akin to writing a diary. That in and of itself is perfectly good, but due to his personality and how the spellbook interacts with his memory, the writing tends to be very dense.

I believe this was a purposeful choice on the part of the writer, as this is set up to be a slower-paced, more heavily world-built piece, but I do feel like there are limits. Many of the paragraphs in this piece will be true behemoths that I never see in other works, because each is often laden with a host of smaller details and side-thoughts. Expect many sentences to use em-dashes and asides as the character transcribes their somewhat garbled recollection of things.

The paragraph length and the many asides, taken together with the level of detail makes the reading feel a bit like a slog at times.

That being said, save for these quirks, the style is quite good from a technical perspective. Sentence structure is varied enough, the flow, accounting for the density of the work, is good, and we certainly get the level of detail we need to have everything click in our heads. If you're a fan of denser, slower pieces, this may well be an ideal read for you.

Story:

The story starts off with our MC in a party as an adventurer, and we're quickly shoved into the time-loop, right as one would expect. It's hard to gauge too much how well the story progresses, as I haven't learned much yet about the plot. There's someone the MC is searching for, but I've yet to learn why exactly, and most of the plot currently centers around the time-loop element.

Normally, not knowing enough would mean that I should just keep reading, but in this case, it feels like a pacing issue. I got a good ~20-25k words into the story, and I opted to stop because more time is spent building the world and giving us minor details about meals and baths than it is advancing the story. Once again, I believe that's a concious choice on the writer's part, but it feels like it was taken a touch too far here, and I struggle to keep myself invested in the plot at the pace it's delivered.

Aside from pacing, however, it seems quite inventive, with plenty of odd side-quests that appear to be set up for the future, and a wide variety of magic abilities and blessings that should keep things interesting.

Character:

Largely, I think the characters are good. Daulf is probably the most fleshed out of these, and has a very identifiable set of personality traits. To a lesser extent, other characters do as well, such as Roland and his habit of disappearing.

They've yet to be fleshed out much, and this early on, there's not much of an emotional investment in any of them, but I imagine that's something to be built in time. I would say that perhaps we could use a beat or two more of dialogue, as a lot of their character building rests on us being told about how they are rather than us being able to hear their personality shine through in their speech.

The MC is fairly enjoyable, if a touch dry in his humor and bearing. This, however, is fitting for the introverted book-worm type that he's built up to be, although it does mean that he can ocassionaly register as a touch flat emotionally, and we don't get too much in the way of him freaking out or showing heightened emotions.

Grammar:

Largely good. The work has a few typos, comma splices, and misplaced commas, but it's very solid overall. For those who care a lot about grammar, this is not a piece that will turn you off.

Sum:

In sum, I think it's well-written and interesting. I think it ends up being not quite my cup of tea, and I would go one step further to say I think the pacing and density of the work will make many other feel the same.

Ultimately, I would just suggest that you know what you're getting yourself into: If you enjoy binging faster-paced pieces where significant characer power-growth has taken place by chapter 10, then this is likely not the story for you. On the flip side, if you're tired of speedy books which don't offer enough detail and would like to strap yourself in for something denser, you may be in the right place.

Currently at chapter 17: Bearskin

I love it, it's really a great novel and a great read, especially for someone like me who likes time loops and detailed world-building.

But I'm gonna try to try and keep this review as objective as possible, starting with the ever-so-present fact of time loop novels, and that is the slow pace. I'm not joking when saying that, up until now, we have had more flashbacks than the actual present story itself, and that's not something I'm sure anyone would really agree with, especially considering the info-dumpiness of the flashbacks, what with the novel being written as a diary that Tal wrote, and he has a habit of going on weird tangents and/or getting sidetracked.

even simple things are explained in detail, something I enjoy but I'm sure many will find it to be a slog to go through a full 4 paragraphs with each having 3~5 sentences about what the bath looks like.

Of course, it's not all negatives. For example, the grammar. Now, I'm not really the best at judging it, since extensive reading has given me a sort of auto-correct, but I haven't found any mistakes, and the reading isn't interrupted by weird choices of words. So I'm sure you'll probably have no problems with it.

The characters are also interesting, what with the fact that they're not two-dimensional, with our sorcerer MC in a world that hates his kind, a half-elf in hiding, a Blessed Chosen, and a player of a ranger.

Not to mention the extensive work that goes into the world-building, which is again a slog to go through if you don't like these types of novels, but for me, it's a great thing. The interludes give us a clear idea about the world's creation as well as mythology, as well as knowledge of its creators and the struggles they went through.

I really enjoy the idea of being written to as the viewpoint for the series. It's a little slow at the moment, but the characterisation and world building are coming along nicely.  I especially enjoy interesting magic systems and this isn't disappointing so far, with tantalising hints for the future.  The grammar and formatting are great and I really like the occational sketch to give some additional life to the story.

Not bad. I appreciate the diary format, which is an unusual one, albeit challenging. 

The timeloop is fairly well handled.  Tal isn't like a super-genius or internet-weeb who's had to contemplate time loops before, so the pace as which he solves things seems to make sense, but feels good at the same time. 

My main concern is the alternating story bit.  There are actually two distinct stories here: The timeloop story, and the story of Tal becoming an adventurer (which predates the timeloop).  Both are good stories, but intermixing the two doesn't make any sense. Maybe they come together at the end, but for now, it's fairly discombobulated. 

This review is based on the whole of Book 1, being a loyal and faithful companion to Tal—not like that, a comrade in arms—he let me read that book he carrier around everywhere.

This story is not to my typical tastes but I enjoyed it, especially the parts I am in. There is action, but it is not the focus of the tale. Tal is smart and goes often goes down rabbit holes of explanations of magic, and history, which did not surprise me since he is always talking about those things in our travel

The book is written in Tal’s perspective as he recounts his adventures in his spellbook using the magically enhanced memory it grants to give him an accurate account of the events. I have not read a lot of books, Tal taught me to read, but this is definitely a unique take.

I could not give the story a 5, since I do not appear in all the chapters. You are not graced with my majestic presence for some time, and all the while Tal dangles my name before you, making you wonder. The other reason I have story a 4 and not a 5 is that I prefer more action-packed stories with content battle and conflict. This story is more slow-paced, and the conflicts are interspersed with studying and experiments, which I understand some people love but it is not my cup of tea. I think that is the expression, where I come from, we do not drink tea.

The gRammar is good, though I am not a good judge.

The characters in this story are fantastic. In the beginning, Tal writes mostly of Daulf and Trish, who I will admit are admirable warriors, even if their styles of combat differ from my own as much as their personalities do. Roland is fine, he is a valued companion in battle, but not one I wish to share my fire with. Tal seems to have a good understanding of himself as he journals in his book. He may call himself a scholar, or a wizard, or a sorcerer, or a “Theral” but he is a warrior at heart. I will make him a warrior in arms and legs someday if he keeps up his training. He is introspective and can see his faults, which is a key aspect of a true warrior.

I am also in the story, and I am a great warrior whos exploits will be sung for generations to come. I do not brag, I speak only the truth. Don’t take my word for it, take Tal’s.

Overall I give this story 5 stars. I chose not to penalize it for delaying my appearance.

Really enjoyed this book. Its like like mother of learning, but different in many ways. The protaganist is nice, and found myself really enjoy their character and its progression. Likewise, the rationalisation of a lot of decisions throughout the book really made you emphathise with them. I am really excited to see where this goes next. The lore sections sprinkled throughout give the book a lot of contextualisation and make it more interesting.

Love it so far ngl. It's in a diary format and while it takes a little bit to get used to it becomes a rather fun and Unique way to read. The character and premise is wonderful and goes into depth with world building as it goes along, as well as showing rather than telling you information in places, for example in one places it's a mainly a info dump but it's done through a story.