CKJ5

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Godclads, and it does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.

Godclads is a progression fantasy with sci-fi elements to it. At first glance, it even feels to have lit-RPG bits to it. The main character seems to be a ghoul named Avo. In the prologue, we get to see many flashbacks of his life while he is resurrecting. 

I have always been keen on flashbacks, but I did find these particular flashbacks to be choppy and hard to follow. Combined with the resurrection boot screen, it was a bit of a chore to follow what was happening.

The story is told in the third-person perspective. Grammatically it is well put together. It is another reason the style of the prologue was so disjointed. The grammar was so good that I didn’t expect to be lost as much as I was.

Overall:

The prologue did make me wonder what was going to happen next. But I also felt I had to work too much to get through a prologue with little payoff. So I am unsure if the work tempted me enough to continue reading. The author seems to be on top of their editing. For the most part, everything is well written, so the quality is there.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Empire of the Night, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.

Let me start by saying according to the tags, Empire of the Night is an adult harem story with sexual content. I did not encounter such content in the first chapter I am reviewing, but I want people to know that they will find such content in the later chapters.

The story starts from the POV of Lisril, a cat person who is in charge of caring for Doctor Alex Hagen. While not a fan of this particular genre, I can appreciate the dialogue between Lisril and Alex. The author has an excellent feel for their relationship and how they behave with one another. 

The story is written in the third-person perspective, and the first chapter is grammatically solid. Outside of a few missing commas, hyphens, and prepositions, which are probably only typos and not errors, the author shows they have a great grasp of grammar. 

Now for the things I didn’t like about the first chapter. Despite it being punctuated correctly, it severely lacked descriptions. I had no idea where the characters were or what was around them. It was as if they were floating in a white corridor. Furthermore, I had zero clue about the state of the world or where they were located. There was a mention of a queen early in the chapter, but it was not explained or addressed again.

Lastly, the chapter doesn’t raise questions or introduce us to the main story or the characters' goals. The only crisis is Lisril worrying about her man, who oddly seems to be just doing his job, so I had trouble understanding why she was stressing him working.

Overall:

This type of story is out of my comfort zone, so I might not be familiar with the beats of a story like this, but I felt it rambled a bit without giving enough info about the world, goals, or future conflicts. It didn’t raise any questions, and Alex was very unlikable. But it is well put together and might be what people who read this genre want in their setup.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: 8 the Infinite, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.

The story opens up with a character returning after failing their assignment. It felt like the character could be the MC of the story, but that, unfortunately, is not necessarily clear. 

The author does a good job of not info-dumping to world-build, and from the first chapter, I got Mad Max vibes from the world, but perhaps a sentence or two of world-building wouldn’t hurt to ensure the setting of the world is clear.

The story is written in first-person, making it feel personal, but with PoV shifts, it is difficult to know who is the main character. I am of the mind that first-person is better suited for a singular PoV. 

One small thing that bothered me about the chapter was there was a lot of inner monologuing in the opening chapter, and despite that, I learned very little about the world or the character we first encountered.

Grammatically the chapter needs some work, especially with commas, capitalization, and tenses. From what I gathered, the author is aware they have some issues and has been working to fix them. Judging by some of the comments, it looks like the author already made strides in that area before I reviewed it.

Overall:

I thought the opening chapter raised questions and introduced what seems to be the main plot. I believe it would serve the story much better to clean up the errors and make the setting easier to understand. I was interested in what the first character encountered and the dynamics of the world as a whole, but it does need some polish.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Starry Rose, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.

Wow, there is a lot to like about the first chapter. First, let me say I love the setup of the story. The hijinks of an adventure guild are a fun premise full of promise and flexibility. 

Opening in the middle of an assignment gone wrong worked well for me as a reader. The author(s) showed some of their magic in action and did it without info-dumping about it.

From my brief impression of the characters in chapter one, they seemed more than one-dimensional and did not exist only to move the plot forward. 

Overall:

I am a sucker for a large cast and multiple PoV stories. This story looks to be just that. The first chapter gives a great glimpse into what to expect from the story going forward. The author(s) did not introduce the main plot in the first chapter but did show enough to keep me interested and make me want to find out what the main story is going to be.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Surviving the Arcanum [slow-burn progression portal fantasy], and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.

The setup of the story looks to be interesting. The prologue establishes the MC’s connection to gaming and gives us a glimpse of who she is. I am unsure if the chapter needed to be labeled a prologue, but that is just a nitpick.

I especially liked the imagery the author created early on and was drawn into the world. I found myself wanting to see more of it. The battles also were crisp and easy to follow. Something that I feel is a huge plus, especially as a first impression.

Overall:

I enjoyed the opening, the setup, and the game world. (I assume that is the world the MC will end up in, but I don’t know.) I wish the chapter ended with a question or something more powerful to make me want to invest in the story more, but with the strong start, I would have continued reading to see where the story went. Hats off to the author for that.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: The Dark Element, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Also, upon the author’s request, I am supposed to be overly critical of their work. Okay, now that's out of the way, let's start the review.

The entire prologue felt floaty, for lack of a better word. The author introduces some decent ideas but doesn’t stay on them long enough to take root. I can understand this is probably what the author was going for, but I don’t know if I can suggest starting a story in such a manner unless you have an established following already. 

The author does have some decent imagery at times, but things jump around and don’t focus enough on setting the scene. There is also an overabundance of weird details that don’t seem to matter to anything. 

Grammatically, the prologue could use some polish and tweaks. There are quite a few syntax errors, including, but not limited to, missing commas, hyphens, misspelled or misused words, and clunky or wordy sentences.

Overall:
The prologue has some promise but doesn’t introduce us enough to the world or the MC. It tries to sell us on a higher concept but falls short of that goal. That is not to say it was not entertaining, but if I decided to keep reading based on the first thing I read from the works, I would file it away as something that didn’t grab and hold my attention. If I had to put my finger on why I would say it was mostly from lack of a connection to the MC or the world. 

Story 5/5: Requiem for Honour is a collection of action, adventure short stories that are unrelated outside of relation to honor. It has elements that I am a sucker for, military, fantasy, sci-fi, and gods. I was completely drawn in by the concept.

Style 4.5/5: the style of the stories flowed well, I never felt lost in the descriptions, and everything was easy to understand. I will say that the characters tended to mutter or mumble so much that it became more and more noticeable as I read. But that complaint aside, I felt the author did a great job painting scenes and making things easy to read.

Grammar 4.5/5: nothing that overly broke the story. I would suggest looking over dialogue quotation grammar a bit closer during the edits.

Characters 5/5: Characters are fun and easy to get to know. During my short time with them, I felt that they acted realistically and according to their nature.

Overall 5/5: just a fun, action-filled romp that leaves you wondering what the next adventure will be. Again, all the elements I am interested in were there for me, and the author nailed it. So, if military fantasy or sci-fi is your thing, I suggest giving it a read.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Bob’s Book, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's of the way, let’s get into it.

Pros:
The author doesn’t waste any time introducing us to the main plot. They very quickly get the MC’s story rolling and raises some questions that, as a reader, I would want to be answered. 

Cons:
The situation that Bob is in is a realistic one and one that hits close to home, but I am unsure if I care about Bob because I never felt any attachment to him before he was gifted the ability to plot by a siren. I understand the author wanted to get the story started, but I felt like I didn’t know Bob well enough to want to root for him or even care about him.

Grammatically, the first chapter could use some more polish. Mostly basic niggling grammatical errors that could be buffed out with a few editing passes.

Overall:
The first chapter gets us into the story quickly but fails to make us connect with the MC. I think if the author could figure out a way to make the readers connect with Bob, they would have a solid start to their story.

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Devour City, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's of the way, let’s get into it.

Pros:
The author does a great job of opening their story with this chapter. They drop us into their world, don’t info-dump a bunch of lore, establishes a solid narrative, and gives us questions we want to be answered. Bravo. 

Cons:
I only have two real complaints about the first chapter. The first is, at times, the conversation felt cluttered. It may have something to do with the formatting, but it also may have something to do with my second complaint, which is after the first chapter, I still have no idea how any of the characters look. I don’t need the MC going down a checklist telling me every aspect of their classmates in the first chapter. But a few more details would have helped establish a stronger connection to the characters, as well as help to create a clearer picture when characters speak.

Grammatically, the first chapter is solid, but another pass-over could make it better.

Overall:
The first chapter does what you would want a first chapter to do. It got me to read the second chapter before writing my review.  

I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: Waiting to Die [Modern Day LitRPG], and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's of the way, let’s get into it.

Pros:
I could appreciate what the author was trying to do with this first chapter. The opening does bring up questions that a reader might feel reading further for answers would be worth their time.

Cons:
The problem is while the author raises intriguing questions, I could not find a way to care about the answers because we get to know the MC via internal monologue and flashbacks. I don’t know the MC or the world enough to care about them lamenting about therapy or whatever.

Also, grammatically the chapter needs quite a bit of work to get it up to snuff.

Overall:
The first chapter had some good ideas and concepts but lacked execution. I would suggest a few more passes of edits, at the very least, to make the reading experience smoother.