No Longer Allowed In Another World, Vol. 1 by Hiroshi Noda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Muahahahaha this happened to be funnier than I thought it would be. I'm reminded of Dazai from Bungo Stray Dogs, but distilled down to the true essence.

Weak, eternally suicidal, and always looking for a double suicide--in the Isekai.

And yes, all the women are idiots for falling for him. But then, isn't that also reality?

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ONE PIECE 114 by Eiichiro Oda
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rocks and God's Valley.

Seriously hard hitting story here. And not just because of the Domi Reversi, but for the fact that powerful entities can just treat coveted countries like play things and hunt the regular people like sport.

And the fact that this is art imitating life is not lost on me. Or on anyone.

Beautiful backstory. But painful.

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The Grinding by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If the cover doesn't give it all away, then I ought to confirm that, yes, there is a LOT of big monster action in this book. All made up of people. Tons and tons of people. In fact, if you want a great grindy and bloody horror novel, this does it well.

But that's not ALL it is. In fact, it being a love story for the ages is ALMOST as good as the wickedly funny reveal that explains ALL of what this is.

I couldn't stop chortling. But no reveals. Just know it's pretty damn great.

(And I do need to remind ya'll this is an early novel by the same guy who brought us Dungeon Crawler Carl.)

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ONE PIECE 113 by Eiichiro Oda
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really dark turn here. All the happiness of the previous volume just got flipped in a moment.

But if that wasn't bad enough, we get some great dark history with Loki's story... and Rocks. I still can't get over how Rocks is Blackbeard's dad. I can't wait till I see God Valley. :)



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Awaken Online: Crucible by Travis Bagwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow.

This one blew me away. I'll just say ignore the somewhat slow beginning because after it revs up, it just doesn't stop until the very end. Massive changes, great LitRPG callouts, additions, subversions, and plot/character inclusions.

But better than that, it's hella smart, emotional, and one GREAT heist with so many pieces.

That's kinda weird to say about some kid that has become the greatest undead boss/enemy of an enormous online world, right? But it's true. And it's super easy to root for him now. He's made so many great friends, and did it the hard way. With honesty.

That's probably the biggest crucible of all. You know, second to the enormous freaking undead stronghold. One or the other. :)

I honestly couldn't stop grinning through a GREAT deal of this novel. That should say everything.

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Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What this book does well: a lived-in dystopian future where the seas have risen and agro-industry behaves like mobsters.

What it excels at, if you want it: sisterly drama masquerading in part as a thriller, an adventure, which often veers into boring dystopia, bean hating, and relationship angst.

Which is fine. If you want boring dystopia, that is. The future is very much what we already live in, including near-company-towns, debt, extortion, and corruption. There's some action, but honestly, I lost a lot of interest at the end of part 1 with the loss of my favorite character.

Alas. It's on me tho. I honestly loved the author's harder SF. This one just wasn't quite for me.

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First Mage on the Moon by Cameron Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have two things I want to make very clear:

This was a very moving and satisfying tale of achievement and grit and intelligence.

It also has one of most disagreeable openings I've ever read.

Now, to be doubly clear, I loved this book. It had a ton of great realism, hate for the gritty reality of war, and sheer, unbridled optimistic enthusiasm for a dream of something more even in the face of VERY little support or understanding or even a realistic outlook of surviving the great endeavor.

Indeed, it reads like the fantasy version of America's own space program at its very inception, only much more grueling and not sponsored by even a fraction of the people's good will. Indeed, it was a grand deception all done for the sake of truly fleeting glory--and it makes the novel feel like a book of true heroism in the face of insurmountable odds, but doubly so.

I loved it.

I rather HATED the opening, though. It really put the grimdark on the END of the novel before we even got a glimmer of hope or joy. Yikes. But damn. By the time I got a third in, I had to stay up all night reading it and it brought me a lot of joy. What a mess of contradictions, no? But maybe that's just me.

The best part of this book is the intelligence and idealism spitting in the face of so much horror. If you need that in your life, I totally recommend this book.

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