This series has things it does well, and things it does poorly. The lead is entertaining, and his way of thinking seems pretty easy to follow, you can generally say he's being smart without being omniscient like a lot of 'smart' characters are written. Still, he's kind of a hypocrite, and often a jerk even when it has no benefit. A big problem with this is actually the other characters. None of them can keep up, even slightly, both in power and in character development. Liam eventually marries, but there is no ceremony, and barely any lines spoken between these formerly important characters because they are now just things that Liam has won. It all happens off screen. Still, the writing is fine. I could do with less of the rapey shit, though it's not as common as some trash on this site. I would say this is just one level above junk food. Not great, not phenom. Good when you're on lunch break though.

Ahh, yes that makes much more sense. Thanks.

Yeah... it just kinda feels like the mc is going through the motions. This has the side effect of making it feel like the author is going through the motions too. Eventually some new characters get introduced, but they are all either obvious plot devices or they die before they can do anything. They are so forgettable and worthless that they seem to only exist to hammer home a point that already was made dozens of times over. That point being "Shang has to sacrifice literally everything to have a shot at being the strongest." But like... they've been talking about that for hundreds of chapters now. Recent chapters (spoilers) see Shang getting mad about a guy making a minor mistake, and Shang malds so hard he officially gets the "Young Master" title. This is supposed to be read as a way to show that he's so powerful that they bend the knee even if he is unreasonable, but it just reads as middle-school syndrome cringe. Not to mention, it also directly counters his whole thing about sacrificing everything since he obviously hasn't given up on stroking his ego. Eventually you have to wonder what the point of it all is. Shang is such an unfathomably boring person at this point in the story. He's so boring that the story is also boring, he doesn't explore, he doesn't interact in any meaningful way with anyone. He doesn't even have any tangible antagonists unless you count time. Every other antagonist either dies immediately, is hypothetical, or is the God who almost never does anything. Shang just sits around training while the author infodumps, and then timeskips. I don't understand why I'm still reading. I think it's just the disbelief in how little the story has in common now with the start. Believable dialogue and characterization was the strongest point of the early chapters, and then the author killed every character and made Shang a nothing-burger power-fantasy. Perhaps, this is all a metaphor for grief. The author has intentionally made you care for and appreciate the characters from early on. Then, as Shang's trauma changes him the story itself fades from it's vibrancy into a monotone blur as a parallel to how trauma can make the world seem empty. Then, no other character is able to be relatable or interesting in any degree to show how even though the world moves on, your ability to enjoy it is restricted by the apathy brought about by loss as you can't help but to compare what you have to what you had. In conclusion. Fell off lmao.

I came to check the reviews literally just to see if Gloriana would get killed or otherwise removed from the story quickly so Ves would quit being a sniveling loser. Apparently she isn't a one-off joke character? The author actually wants THAT to be his female lead? God how embarrassing. I could kinda taste it from the way the author kept bringing up Ves "needing" a girlfriend that it was going to be hamfisted. I was hoping it would be like ripping off a bandaid, not slow roasting a pile of feces. Idk why writers can't stick to what they are good at. Action writers can't write romance, it basically always comes off as tacky and fake, but they insist on ticking that box anyways even if it sucks. In this case though... can you even call it romance? It's just blatant manipulation and abuse. Maybe this is a cry for help from the author, honestly the work is so incongruent with reality that I wouldn't be surprised if they've experienced relationships like this and think that's "normal." What a shame, but I'm better than sunk cost. Dropped.

Never given a five in all categories before. This story is just really exceptional. Shadow Slave has a bit of an odd title, I saw it and was put off on reading it for a long time thinking it would be either uncomfortably edgy or uncomfortably horny. It's neither, the real meaning in the title is more nuanced. Sunless is bound to his ability. One sentence, one question from another person could literally, permanently, enslave him. In a sense though he is already a slave, forced to hide himself from the world. Forced to lie and restructure every potential friendship he can make. Never allowing anyone in, for fear of what they could do to him. This is not played off simply either though, he could just be an eternal loner, but Sunless finds himself trying again and again and again to form bonds between those around him. On the topic of setting, it would be very easy to use a standard "fantasy" setting for the story. Shadow Slave says "nah that's cringe" and instantly drops the mc in one of the most entertaining and horrifying locales I've seen put to writing. The Forgotten Shore is this locale. Perilous, unforgiving, and endlessly intriguing, the lore and history of The Forgotten Shore are both profoundly rich. I found myself loving the grim, deadly nature of the setting so fascinating that I began wishing they would put off escaping so that we could continue learning it's secrets. The Chained Isles are also very interesting, but the nature of the story makes it feel as though the stakes have lowered some. Instead of death being around every corner, the ability to leave the dream makes it feel much safer. Of course, this is only because the threat has become more distant, not less dangerous, but the tone is still affected. This is probably the only thing I can really complain about, this and, perhaps Neph's choice at the end of The Forgotten Shore. The reliance on fate and predestiny as a story tool has always annoyed me, though even this is subverted in this novel by making fate a tangible thing. A person of sufficient power can interrupt, or potentially ignore fate, which seems like a good goal for a man whose greatest goal is to be truly free.

Author really likes the word harrowing it seems.

Completed review: The Legendary Mechanic is very broad, with characters and concepts that try to drive home the fact that the MC and his story is just one piece of an ever evolving galaxy. There is a very clearly defined power system in place from the beginning, and the MC puts a lot of effort into rigging the scales the whole time. There is no 'power of friendship' wins here, there's a lot of intentional misdirection and misinformation that the MC uses to ensure they don't get into fights they can't win. As for the story itself, it works, but it can feel a bit disconnected from arc to arc at times. Some characters that are central antagonists or key allies will simply get outscaled faster than their story can progress, meaning their plot threads do not conclude in a satisfying way, or at all in a few glaring cases. At the same time, this is somewhat how real life is. Sometimes the plots of men simply never amount to anything. Sometimes things change, and life does not always wrap up neatly. Still, it stings to see key characters just, evaporate without any notice. [Aroshia was one of my favorites... at least she gets a mention at the very end, even if she didn't speak, or appear at all for hundreds of chapters.] All together, it's not extraordinarily deep, but it's still fun.

You know, we never actually saw his personal esper ability. He only ever fought as the Tree God. I wonder what it was that made him the strongest king.

I mean, I guess it can be argued that the author's intention is that one can be magically pure and still have a toxic and unhealthy physique. I think more likely that it's because of the mana appearing in the outside world that he's able to cleanse "minor impurities" using mana. Otherwise even pesticides could ruin the physique, which would be kinda silly.

There are a lot of characters that just don't show up anymore. The information form guy is irrelevant now because Han has access to the main body of Destiny's Child. Chen Xing is irrelevant now that they split into two bodies. Aroshia is irrelevant because she was never actually powerful, just unique and connected to Risda, who also is no longer relevant now that the virtual savior mission is complete. Kinda sad that so many cool characters just fizzle away due to Han becoming too powerful for them to matter.

Where even is Aroshia at this point?

I kinda thought EsGod was like, a eunuch or something. But since he himself was unsure...

Feels weird for him to be so far from his wife all the time. How long has it been since they were even in a room together?

Gotta have the nationalist blah so the government leaves the story alone.

Thank god he knows how to eat something other than nutrient pouches.

I'm kinda surprised he still went back. What's even there for him? More people for him to mingle with until he inevitably kills everyone he knew from the earlier chapters? Is he intentionally going back to create an excuse to sever his ties permanently? I don't really understand. Nobody can teach him, goods can be obtained anywhere, his old allies would despise what he turned into and wouldn't be able to offer anything. Plus he has to create abomination attacks to gain power, so he's actively plaguing the people he used to show some care for. Kinda seems like he's just doing it to do it, because it was the goal of the old him.

Yeah... Shang's not even trying anymore. Risk =! minor inconvenience. He could have killed her if he made a slipup in slinking off. He didn't even bother to try though, and that difference is the world. Since he decided his goal is more important than anything, he has effectively stated that HE is more important than everything. Which is just... I mean it's already getting bland since there is no moral considerations anymore. Before, Shang was on the edge of his own morality, and being there made each choice interesting. Now it feels like his character arc is over even though his story isn't. He chose power over his own freedom, even if he completes his goal to overpower the god, it will always be a shallow victory. There are no more important decisions to be made because the choice to sacrifice everything was the only choice that will ever really matter again. The writing quality is still great, but I'm skeptical if this can really pull me back in since the story itself has intentionally gone perpendicular to what attracted me initially.

Hasn't it already been months at this point? Wouldn't an untrained non-super just be braindead after that much torture?

Is it? I get the exploration phase but, you're telling me these people have nothing better to do than to watch construction? I mean, if you say so.