The Arcane Emperor

No joke. Aternus, if you're seeing this(please tell me you are), I want you to know that this story singlehandedly inspired me to become a writer. I have the honor of being Aternus' very first patron, back before he even had a patreon setup, because I was obsessed with this story.

The years have passed somewhat since then, and my ability to spot defects in a story has improved, but even so, this story will always hold a special place in my heart. The adventure, the powers, and moreover - the incredible complexity of the protagonist's powers(while never coming across as confusing) - it all wove together to form a beautiful, magical experience.

Thank you so much for sharing this story with the world. It was the very first story I read on RR, and it has played such a pivotal role in shaping who I am as an author today - words are not enough to express my gratitude.

it was a fun read. The concept was very interesting, I enjoyed a lot of the humor and there was almost no grammar mistakes which make some novels an absolute nightmare to read.

Overall. it was a refreshing read the plot probably could be better, but for all its flaws I enjoyed The Arcane Emperor very much and hope to see more in the future!!

This was one of the first stories I read on this site four years ago. I am rereading it now, and it still holds up as one of my favorite. The system is great and shows such unique strength and growth. Definitely #1 story on hiatus I wish would come back and be finished. 

Though it flickers, the flames of hope had not been smothered quite yet. Not fully.

If it may one day return, I will be waiting.

Patiently, for three jittery excitement had long drowned in the rivers of time.

Whether or comes or not, here I stand. Ever returning without expectation.

This is a great read. Chapters are long and enjoyable, as are the MC and supporting cast. 

Really wish the author would pick this up again. Though, it's been three years, now, I doubt it will be. Author also has no other works. Author must have moved on with his life, or worse, he's no longer with us in this life. :(

The story was good for the first 50 chapters. Rainer leveled up, he had a quest, and there was actually a chance that he could have died. Then he finished the quest, got tier 2, and that's where I dropped then story. Unfortunately, the author was releasing longer and longer chapters. Now, that may seem like a good thing, but not if the plot slows to a snail's pace. This mini arch was not good for the novel because Rainer's character development halted. The skeletons, Kara, and Luna were not further developed. With no character development, no major problem to center the plot around, the story stumbled to a halt.

Rainer's abilities even began to feel tedious. He learns all these new spells, but never actually uses them. Every chapter began to boil down to: "He wants something? Oh, let him have it, and if it is a skill, then at max level too. We'll just write it off as the sleep learning skill."

So with no character development, each chapter made me wonder, why is it in the novel? Is it simply to force the plot? A chapter should exist because the plot needs it to exist. Chapter 55, for example, could easily have been reduced to a time skip, where Rainer's new skills are just listed. Then, we could have a shorter, more focused chapter on whatever the heck Rainer actually wants from the Faeries

This was probably what caused me to stay on this platform. I was reading chapter after chapter again and again, loving each moment of it. I've likely read this through and through a whole five times in the last two years. 

It's on a class of its own. Real legacy stuff. Might not stand up to the new giants, but is special in its own way. Nice magic system, enough experimentation to satiate a horse, and more than just a diverse range of spells. Void is still my favourite.

And the characters are nice as well. With so many of them, you'd think that the story would fall to the curse of shallow personalities. But it doesn't. I can believe that these people are people, that they have goals and desires of their own. If that doesn't tell you enough, I don't know what does.

I have read up to chapter 64 at this point (over 1000 pages).

This story reads like the first draft of a typical litrpg novel, which is fine, considering that the story is a first draft. However, this does mean that errors are abundant. They don't seriously impede readability, thankfully, however they are noticeable (and I usually don't even notice minor errors). I have no idea how so many reviewers say the grammar is *impeccable* (though grammar/flow does improve over time).

Nevertheless, the story is engaging and the cast of characters interesting. The romance is okay, with no truly explicit scenes (everything implied/hinted at). The main storyline involves Rainer, MC, coming into his own as a magic-user in a litrpg world. He's immensely OP, and we get to follow him as he continues to become even more OP and surrounds himself with increasingly more OP friends. It mixes in humor with serious topics/scenes as it goes along, and the story so far hints that Rainer and crew will have innumerable adventures ahead of them. I'm excited to read more and see just how far all of them go.

Despite its shortcomings, considering the fact that Arcane Emperor is not a professionally edited/drafted work, it sits solidly at 4.5 stars.

tl;dr enjoyability = 100%, grammar/flow/polish = 70%; worth reading!

Edit: the author got a host of proofreaders to edit the work. While some stuff falls through the cracks, grammar from chapter 70 on is very good; I've revised my rating to be 5 stars overall.

1. Style - good visuals of magic and other fantasy elements. Not a complete waste of a "game system" with an explanation that is passable. As a backdrop to main character it does just fine... or it would've if the main character was different.

2. Grammar - competent, occasional typos are rare and not disturb9ng the reading flow. Sentence structure is not great though. Fine, but not great. For a web novel is just fine.

3. Story - it is a power trip. OP powers, fast power up, very impressed locals. Power trips rely heavily on the main character and cannot survive on the story. So this score is a function of the next (and final) one.

4. Character - Rainer. The Main Character. The reason this story sucks. 

He, as a person, disgusts me. He has no morals. He pretends to have them, but he has none. And not in an interesting way but in a way a spoiled modern brat that never considered or was faced with a hard moral choice in his entire life can be immoral. Where morality just never formed.

Spoilers ahead.

He murders his travel companions he traveled with for days because if they live they may increase the danger to a girl he lusts after.
He murders non-hostile people for personal gain and justifies it by saying they would've attacked him later.
He considers committing genocide because his adopted pet fairy was hurt in the past by other fairies.
He shortens a person's lifespan by a matter of years because of a racist remark towards his girlfriend.
He proposes a deal with fairies that want to take away his pet fairy while intending to just kill them all and take his payment for free justifying it by "they will do the same anyway so I better strike first". Completely ignoring the fact that if they bring the promised item that would mean they intend to honour their side of the deal.
He "refuses to live constrained by the laws of society" and he seeks Absolute Power to gain Absolute Freedom to not be constrained by those laws.

And despite all that a girl that can feel souls states in her inner monologue that he is "a good person".
He is not a good person. He is a very bad person that is declared by the author to be a good person

I can be interested in reading about a villain's path to power. I can even root for him, if he is honest about what and why of his actions. Or I can enjoy expecting his actions catching up to him.

But Rainer is declared by the author to be a good person that just can be ruthless in protecting his loved ones. That does not work with the way he discards any pretense at morality the moment it becomes convenient or advantageous to him.

Morality is something you have to suffer for. Suffer the consequence for sparing a potential threat that have not harmed or attempted to harm you or yours yet. Suffer from guilt of doing what had to be done. Suffer loss or fear of loss as consequences of your actions. And in return you get other people putting their trust in you and letting you intomtheir hearts.

Laws of society is the price of being a part of it. To stand above them is to place yourself above society. It is to place greater worth onto yourself than any other. The ones who cannot afford to do so but do it anyway are called criminals. The ones who can afford to do so are called tyrants.

But the greates sin of Rainer is the sin that is unforgivable for a main character of a power trip. He is weak. He is a powerful mage and grows more powerful at an unfair pace but he is weak as a person. He has no convictions. He has no ambition. He is weak in character and so trying to insert myself into the mold that he is left me with a slimy feeling of being a formless slug.

Unlike in most stories where the protagonist ends up in another world he did so thanks to his own power and not a plot device summoning that just happens for no reason other than to allow the plot to take plce. Even if it was not intentional it opens up a lot of potentional directions this story can take from there that would not be possible with the cookie cutter plot devices.

The MC has the perfect mindset for a great story of magic study and adventure, he doesnt lack determination in pursuit of his goal and the most important : he does have a goal.

With a good balance of righteousness and ruthlessness the MC is not overly cruel or softhearted and makes the right choices to survive in a ruthless world while coming out on top in a conflict. He is neither the hero nor the demon lord but has his own designs on what to do with the world he ended up traveling to.

His companions are a rare mix of individuals that promise a lot of trouble due to their background , perfect for keeping the action running wherever he goes. Their personalities are authentic and diverse enough to make even casual conversations entertaining and their interaction doesn't get dull or repetitive.

Overall its an interesting story that hooked me since the first chapter and hasn't let me down ever since. The only reason I'm giving  4.5 stars to the story score and not 5 is because his ability to learn in his sleep is on one hand unique but on the other hand quite lazy and overpowered. His goal is the mastery of magic and all he has to do for that is sleep.

Edit after chapter 25: changed score to 5 , MC doesnt get the easy way out of training for the more difficult spells anymore and gets off his lazy behind to actually train.