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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Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't know what I was thinking when I picked this up except that I was always a fan of Jessica Jones and I thought, "Why not?"

I DIDN'T realize this was written by a super-hot new mystery writer who's flying high in sales. Until just now. After reading it.

Well, mystery solved why I enjoyed the pacing and the plotwork so much, right? The superhero aspects are downplayed, which is the best part of JJ anyway, and it was pretty damn thrilling to discover just how odd and strange the story turned out to be.

I had a great time. I think I might take on the other upcoming marvel novel mysteries if they're anything as good as this.

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Judicator Jane 7: A LitRPG Adventure by Brian Rouleau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is almost a pitch-perfect example of a concept taken much farther than it ought to have been taken.

I was sucked right in, tho. Indeed, I couldn't put it down for the life of me. I needed to have the full breakdown, the full conclusion, the total blast-out of Legendary classes. There was nothing in this or any LitRPG world that could have prevented me from sitting it out.

But this? I simultaneously want to think it's an utterly RIGHT ending for Pogg and I also want to think it's a total cop-out.

Fair enough. Considering all that has come before. The humor IS there. So is the serious aspect. It's perfectly in line with the premise. Blind justice and all. Without leading with actual blindness, mind you. That would be a step too far.

But honestly? The whole luck and justice thing MAY have gotten too muddled at this point. Each weakens the other unless the whole concept we need to rely on is the System itself. And if that's the case, then it's all suspect. Times ten.

I'll continue with #8 because it answers THAT particular question, but this one, for all I was actually glued to it, kinda left a bad taste in my mouth.


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ソードアート・オンライン 20: ムーン・クレイドル [Sōdo āto onrain 20: Mūn Kureidoru] by Reki Kawahara
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one reads as one huge side-story, honestly. One that gives Tiese and Ronie a lot more page time, but a weirdly one-note one when it comes to Kirito. I think their comments about his language could have gone over fine once or twice, but it feels like it was constantly happening here. And there really wasn't any kind of growth. For anyone.

That being said, we get to see more of the Underworld and that was fine as far as it goes.

The plot, tho? Well, it feels rather skipable. It was probably my least favorite story in all of the light novels. Alas.

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