The Jester of Apocalypse [STUBBING SOON]

This story was initially 4.5 stars

the last arc has been a solid 2.5 stars

so thats a 3.5 star rating.

The Good.

The MC is initially well characterised although the character goes through some drastic changes which can be explained by extreme experiences. There is the typical 'crazy mc' development we see but initially it is done quite well here and was a very good read. I didnt even notice he was supposed to be an intelligent bookworm until someone else pointed it out, but hes mostly just a meathead after the change, but it was so fun to read initially that i missed that. The action is also well written and the fight scenes are a good read. The Initial experimentation and discovery was a real hook, leaning about the MC's capabilities and going on a journey of discovery with them made the experimentation and power up scenes a very good read. 

This was a good story and has been that way for the first book,

The Bad

But its becoming quite bad. or 'average' is a more fair term. It's still in the top 50% of things im reading, but im starting to skim chapters and finding it hard to read.

and the main problem is that the MC is now too OP to the point its become boring. 

OPMC? no problem, in that case you make the supporting characters so interesting they make up for the Gary-stu mc (like one punch man, saitama is so op and dull, but the supporting cast are so interesting they enetertain readers and bring out the MC's interesting side through their interactions and make his OP'ness seem cool as all hell). or present foes beyond the MC to provide a challenge/grindstone for meaningful growth of power and/or character development.

The 'Mental instability' of the MC now really takes away from the story. 'Crazy MCs' are almost never written well. They usually are not crazy at all, and just act silly while telling readers how crazy they are, like deapool but without any of the humour or intelligence. Authors tend to neglect the fact that historically & irl crazy people are not enjoying their afflictions, and this tends to lead to poor charactirisation. Authors usually write crazy as just silly nonsensical, or childish characters and use the 'crazy' as a crutch to shoe in story elements as they wish. this story is no different. *edit* Actually the initial event that turns him crazy was well written and that experience was written in a way that showed character developmen and organic change through the affliction/experiences, so initially it was done well, but now not so well.

The only time ive ever seen a crazy op character written well (which is in another story i wont name) is also the only time ive ever seen an author depict how thier condition caused suffering, and the character development that adjusting to the negtive aspects of thier condition led to. Here, the crazy is just silly and forced. It's better off to call it a easily ignorable curse or something. like a spider in your garden you barely even notice.

Another poblem here is the supporting characters have become extremely dull, i cant think of  single one that has been interesting, aside from the mystery of the latest enemies.

The experimentation scenes and power ups were really good at first, and well thought out and explained and there was a sense of real discovery in the beginning.  Now the MC seems pluck new power ups out of thin air, with no logic or reasoning behind it. the abillity he uses to experiment doesnt really make sense either. its all so convinient its as if a god, or, Author-sama is just giving him powers with no real thought as to the logic of how the MC will create these powers. This has made the experimentation scenes kind of dull and uninteresting. the (real world) enemies are extremely well designed and fun to read about, but their impact on the MC is negligeble, im never worried about the concequences of any of these enemies  because i know the MC will discover some ridiculous power with no logic or resoning behind its discovery other than something that makes no sense at all. 

So recently, in like the last 25 chapters, the things that i enjoyed about this story have been watered down significantly  

The first 50 chapters are worth the read so i would still reccomend reading it. If your into action and cultivation you will still enjoy this story so give it a try. 

i would reccomend this although YMMV, but you will get 1 good book before the quality slightly dips for some reason.

Short summary of this short review: FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES JUST MESSING WITH POWER SYSTEMS AND STUFF THIS STORY IS FOR YOU(sorry for caps)

Before I get into this I just want to epress how happy I am this story didn't turn out to become one of the edgy "everyone is evil" *proceeds to murder the entire planet I get that there is an appeal to that kind of story but I'm sooo happy the author let the characters develop at least a bit. Even though he said he's not good at it I feel like during the second volume it really showed that the author tried to improve and managed to do so.

Yeah as the title says this story is just plain fun as of right now, everytime Neave starts experimenting with stuff it feels like you're discovering something new together with him and it makes me giddy with excitement every time, you'd think the power system isn't anything new/amazing since it's literally just a xianxia world but the twist the author put in the formula just makes everything much more exciting, sure, the concept of spirit powers has been done many times but the depth in which the author puts into it and still makes it interesting and gives you the feeling of "which power's he gona find next?" and I cannot stress this any more, it's just plain awesome.

Thus far, the story has followed a young boy, Neave, raised in a cultivator sect, who undergoes a hellish time-loop experience that leaves him very powerful and a little unhinged. However, as suggested by the synopsis, the loop is more prelude than actual story. This makes an early review somewhat difficult.

The time-loop arc is well-executed. Neave undergoes fairly drastic character changes, but they are spread out over a dozen chapters and read as a natural, even inevitable consequence of his circumstances. The action scenes are exciting. While Neave ends up a little crazy, he isn't sociopathic or anything, which is a far too common trope among TR stories.

Only a few chapters have been written outside the loop so far, but they are promising. Various secondary characters have gotten glimmers of backstory and development even these few action-packed chapters, and it seems the author has given some thought to the wider world. Neave is very powerful but not overwhelmingly so, giving opportunities for meaningful conflicts. 

If you enjoyed The Menocht Loop (before the MC fucked off of the mortal plane and the story went to shit), then this story seems to have a similar structure, depth, and high quality of writing. I recommend it if you enjoy any RR cultivation stories, although if you're in it solely for the time-loop then you'll be disappointed.

As I read the first chapter I fell in love with this book, lol, you hardly find good, well written, time loop stories out there but this one has it. The characters have depth and personality which is rare for a cultivation novel,  they are understandable and even relatable in some cases.  The world itself is done just right, you are given information but not too much information, it leaves you with an idea and a need to know more.  Overall, I'm enjoying this and look forward for more exciting and interesting content. 

This is a mess of a fiction and the fault lies in the main character--in a good way. Weird start a five star review, but here we are.

I haven't seen such a good portrayal of insanity in a long time. It gave me the chills and captured something you don't often see characterized as well in other fictions--extreme mental illness is not some random hermit that says weird stuff and peddles cryptic prophecies at the edge of the village. It is uncomfortable and though nature plays a strong role, nurture is where that acerbic edge is honed--you'll find insanity in the delusion, in the overblown narratives created from paltry nothings. Not the theatrics.

Nurture here was a goddamn whetstone. The extreme, thousandfold social isolation and torture made a little goblin of a man trapped in the body of a child. Weirdly enough, it reminded me of the effect of binge-watching true-ish crime shows. The look into the distrubed leaving one disturbed is damn near poetic. But I've waxed far too long into how much I loved that aspect of the writing.

Lets go into some bad: you'll not like this if your standards for editing and most other modern trappings of fantasy fiction are high. I mean, you're on Royal Road, so you expect less-than-perfect anyhows. But, I don't say this as a back-handed compliment--the story is worthwhile. I have hundreds pages in less than a week; it was spectacular and hooked me in.

The problem lies in the lack of a second person's hands on this fiction--an editor. It is to be expected. When you don't have someone else as a litmus, weeds grow in the cracks. Doesn't mean this isn't good enough, just means that it's important to put this in a review lest someone get the wrong idea and then leave a bad rating--a bane to any author as low ratings feel like someone just ripped out your heart, spat on it and then left.

The progression was really cool. It has clear and defined stages and had the main character climbed that power ladder properly, it would've been even more addicting as a Progression Fantasy. But, the skip made internal sense to the world, tickling that little part of the monkey brain that's focused on immediate gratification--numbers go up, that sort of thing. There are no numbers, though. As of the chapter that I've read, I don't remember any RPG elements such as a stat or system screen.

The characters at the sidelines were nice. Nothing that blew me away, but a good deal solid. You'll like this based on the main character, not the sides, essentially. The story is carried by him and revolves around him to the degree that our solar system revolves around the sun--99% of the mass is concentrated in Neave.

I liked this about the story, but if you need a strong supporting cast that stand on their own legs, you'll suffer a tad. They are well-written but they are a means to an end to characterize Neave--all extra POV's mention our little gollum in some way or another.

TLDR: Progression fantasy crack. Good portrayal of insanity. Main character focus. Cool world-building. Fun fights.

Cultivation time loop story. MC is justifiably driven insane by his adventures in a truly hellish timeloop. He starts out a little cracked after the time loop and slowly gets driven even crazier.

Now I don't find the MC likeable which normally isn't a problem but as his behavior becomes more and more unhinged he becomes less and less compelling which is a problem. Unlikable MCs can be compelling although it is surely difficult to make them so. The author attempts it but in my experience falls short.

This is one of these novels where the quality of the writing is a step above what I normally expect from these webnovels, and usually that means it only updates weekly.

This novel somehow is that good with daily updates. 

About the story:

The premise and source of power for the protagonist was really well done. Sometimes it's just one or two chapters in the beginning of these kinds of novels but here the novel spends a lot of time actually establishing the gravity of the situation and why it is that traumatic.

As for the rest, the slight madness results in a protagonist that, in my opinion, is acting really cool but still does unexpected stuff because of his madness.

The story starts at a decent pace and the entire loop section was enjoyable to read, but the raise in power level of the MC when he exits is so ridiculous that the only solution is to just crank the power levels of the opponents he is facing to the point of insanity (especially since the MC is continuing to gain extra power from non-standard sources). Maybe if you like that sort of thing then you'll enjoy it, but it was quickly becoming evident towards the tail end that things were going too quickly for the authour to keep a lid on things.

A lot of character development in a "relatively" short time frame but well fleshed out.

You really feel the insanity building while reading the nether arc.

I think there was a lot of potential to be had in the zithorn sect that wasnt developed and maven development was barebone but It reads as a light novel should.

Another avid reader *chained* to this webnovel. Binged in 2 days.

 With love, and until the next chapter

camper.

I don't generally write reviews, and this won't be much of one - I just wanted to say that I'm disappointed in where this went after the first book. The time loop was very well written in general, and while the parts before and after had issues, it was still in the realm of a good rewrite with an editor fixing it. Unfortunately the second book is one of the largest drops I've seen in a while. With the character by chapter three using memes as jokes, behaving similarly to a social media influencer. There's no explanation given for it, it makes no sense in context, it doesn't follow from his prior behavior.

I suppose all I can say is that if the author maintained the level of writing seen in the time loop section, this would be among the best stories on the site. As is, I can only encourage them to write more such in the future.