The Path of Ascension 7 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Concluding the Forge, I have to admit I rather enjoyed the live-another-life sequences. Good benefits, but poor Liz. The near free-for-all at the end was particularly harrowing and fun.

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The Path of Ascension 6 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The more challenge, the more reward. A special area that chews up pre-15's at an amazing rate, with real deaths on the line.

It's great training. A forge. And better yet, lots of variety and rewards the further you go.

And instead of keeping it as one very long arc, it's obviously going to be cut up into two books. Yay... ish.

I think the best part is the Seasons section, but I honestly had a pretty good time with all of it.

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The Path of Ascension 5 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love a good tournament and extended contest with young stars. I especially love it when our young heroes have to voluntarily self-limit their skills, pretending to be other contestants, using all new ranges.

And still dominate. :)

Fun, fun stuff. All the action is rank 10 here, but that's nothing, since it's all fair.

Some great new characters, too.

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Worm by Wildbow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There's practically nothing I can say in a review that would do this work justice.

For one, it's only one review for a work that spans 1.7 million words. Serialized, finished in 2011, I'm frankly flabbergasted it was never given a more serious treatment, complete with many, many volumes for sale in all the major bookstores. It absolutely deserves it. It's frankly a rather monumental work of imagination.

But what is it? It's a superhero/supervillain tale on par with a super long-running comic of the independent vein. It's grimdark, it's super grounded, it's multidimensional, mind-bending, epic and scary in scale and emotionally wrenching.

If I was to to put it in its proper place, I'd be comparing it directly to the Invincible comic that came out at roughly the same time. If I was to compare it to later works that got very popular later, I'd point to some of the best parts of My Hero Academia and The Boys. Specifically the deep dive into the villains, the grey ground, how crappy heroes can be.

But here's the real deal. This work has so many arcs it might as well be a FULL IP all by itself on the SAME level of Spiderman or Superman. And the end is... frankly mind-blowing. Amazing.


Again, there's no way to encapsulate the feelings I have for Skitter/Weaver as a character. She's very complicated. And in my heart, she's a real hero. Even if she went full-out nuts. I'm a real fan.

And I'm actually very afraid that this work will be forgotten or slip through the cracks. It really shouldn't be. It should have a heroes seat. Hopefully something more than the one Skitter/Weaver sits on.


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Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First, I'll just nitpick a few things. Terms and sayings that have been said ad nauseam in previous King novels. Shitting in one hand, etc, was perhaps slightly overdone. Same for a few other old sayings that may get pulled off if we're being a stickler for correct time periods, but personally, if they should have come back in a book like this, I would have preferred new ones from those periods instead of just these glorious returns from already published works in the same series.

That's pretty much all I have to say about this that is bad.

As for what is good?

MUAHAHAHAHAHAH let me tell you the ways. This is not just a novel that goes full circle to the Talisman, one of my favorite early King novels and one that really turned me onto Straub in the first place, but it fully strengthens and deepens all three novels completely. I loved the second much more than the Shining's sequel, for example.

But more than any of that, this novel is a pitch-perfect companion, perhaps a coda, or definitely a different pitch to the Dark Tower series. The whole shades upon shades aspect was brilliant. As was the shadows of words and worlds and people. Roland and company didn't show up, but Mid World absolutely did. In spades and spades.

Chef's kiss.

And as for the red heads? I'm one, but I'm neither a teenager nor someone who fakes it by dying my hair in blood, so I guess I've saved myself from being a nasty red-headed stepchild and servant of Discordia. Thankee sai. Mauahahahaha

Who is this book for?

Any fan of King's wide universe and especially of the Beams, the Dark Tower, and the Wheel. Period.

It is a great capstone, if you will, and a beautiful tribute to Straub's investment. (Will be missed. 2022.)



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The Path of Ascension 4 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely a slower book, but that's fine. A few side quests, a lot of it surrounding crafting and a bit of magical-science work, and even a consolidation sequence where he goes back to where he began.

A lot of actual time passes, but as readers, we see it fly right by. Which is fine. Real progression happens. And we get a little depth in the universe. But now, I do kinda hope we have a big plot coming up. (War.)

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The Path of Ascension 3 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one firmly stuck us in only one tier and no kind of direct essence gathering, but all for the grand purpose of a worldwide mock war. No deaths allowed, but damn, everyone is allowed to try. The more you contribute the war, the more you can get out of the war chest.

It sounds like a great training exercise in a powerhouse universe, of course, but people will be people. Nothing ever goes smoothly. Fun stuff, seeing everyone actually improve their real skills and use their real brains to accomplish all their goals.

I consider this a very successful veering off the path. :)

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