A couple days ago, a friend of mine kept nagging me to visit him, to binge watch a new anime we discovered, "it looked cool". I went full of expectations and, as you might've guessed, it was the 1st season based on this LN. I've informed him I've already watched it, since it aired a full year ago. And then he started: "well, isn't it amazing? How is it going? What happens next? Kinda wish to read the source material? How do you think it will end?" And so on, and so on, and so on. And because that made me remember the books, I got the idea to review it (whats on at least, the series is not yet finished). And yes, I'll ff this link to my friend. Two birds, one stone, eh? ;)
Always spoiler free ofc. Sometimes people want to watch something, even if they hear it is bad.
From the start: I'll not recommend it. The author gives me vibes of RR Martin. Yes, the premise is nice. The way the story starts is amazing. But thats it. The rest is sht. Too much talk, the story drags on, just to keep publishing and keep making a quick buck. He has no idea where to go next (storywise) and keeps talking nonsense. If you take out the unnecessary stuff, the books would be half (if not less) of the current length. This is not in the books, its all made up, but something like this: "I was afraid it might rain. Sure, there were no clouds now, but you can never know. The weather is a fickle thing. But even if it starts raining, I have my umbrella with me, so I guess I'll be ok. But enough crazy thoughts. I need to pay attention." Yes, made-up, but the books are full of this kind of storytelling. Or he thinks (monologues) something and in the next paragraph, the person he's with, confirms it by saying it out loud. Every page has at least 2-3 of these stupid, unneeded monologues. Ok, maybe the first volumes are better, with fewer of these, but starting with... I don't remember... volume 5? the writing gets really bad.
Anyway, here it goes. Like I said: the idea is nice. It really makes you think "Wow, interesting. I really wanna know more about this universe". The world-building is decent. You understand where the stuff happens, why, how far apart the other locations are etc. I also like the stuff about their "powers" and the system. Like I said, decent enough. You're thinking it will get more fleshed out later, for sure. No that much will though. Don't get me wrong, the author tries to, but the result is meh. As a bonus, in the later volumes the author starts introducing new elements (ok, its not new, we get a "definition"), but he forgets what happened in the 1st(?) volume. Something that would've made out protagonist ask himself some questions. More so if he got some super nice gifts because of it. But the story is not finished, maybe the author will bring that up. Maybe... And I'm not saying is all bad. There are a lot of instances where the author goes to great lengths describing some monsters, or backstory, or stuff. Thats what makes is evident. He really knows his stuff and he lets us be part of a wonderful world. But only in short dosages. And sometimes mixed-in with water.
But lets move on. The characters. Based on the first volumes, you will go "wow". You get a good idea of how the characters are and what they think. It makes you wanna know more about it, to care about what happens to them. But unfortunately, thats it. In the later volumes it gets even worse and the author is blind to it. Not a spoiler per se, but something happens in the 9-th or the 10th volume. The party get to a village. Stuff happens. And then Rentt, our main protagonist, thinks (its not the exact quote) "well, if needed be we could've killed all the villagers, but that would attract more problems. It is definitely not worth the effort". Wait, what?? Dude, my man! I know that you're trying to show us his internal struggle, the fact that he's thinking about stuff, but reading between the lines gives us a whole different vibe. I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact words and context, but I remember that I was pretty shocked at the time. The idea is: don't expect consistency or character development. What you know about the characters, based on their actions, in the first 2-3 volumes, will change drastically as the story goes on. I remember increasingly going "what? why are you thinking that? wtf?" or "since when is Rentt this dumb?". The characters forget they have certain skills or abilities that would help them to easily solve issues. Aka, plot hole. Thats also when I started to realize the story is becoming slow-paced and getting more filler.
Like I said, bad. Yes, it starts decent enough, makes you care, but after a while, all you read about (over60%) is just copy/paste monologue of what an adventurer is and what that implies. Also, that usually happens right in a middle of a fight or when the characters were talking about something. Yes, pause, paste, continue. If you're lucky, the monologue or the narrative might be something world-building, but most of the times it is not. So the story drags on, arcs spanning over 2-3 volumes for something that should've been done in one volume. That is for arcs that HAVE a finish line. Because you might also happen on a half a plot, dropped half-way, the author starting a new one and forgetting about it. Terrible, terrible pace. Remember that the story starts with him as a Bronze-class adventurer. Try guessing in what volume he becomes a Silver-class? Maybe I know, maybe I don't. I wont spoil it. But apparently every upgrade is supposed to be harder and harder. His dream is Mithril-class. That means we will get more than 60 volumes. Yeeeeeey.........
Here's my two cents. The author got 2-5 years to prepare his first volume. Thats normal. The story got traction, a publisher sought him out. The 2nd volume on the way. Good. The public loved his books. That meant he had a stable income. So he started to mix it with water, to keep it going as long as he could. He always hoped to get an anime adaptation. You can see it from the way his "bonus side stories" are structured. Perfect for mini OVAs. I don't have anything against it. He can write however he wants. As long as he keeps the story going at a decent pace. And thats a no.
You wanna give it a go? Sure thing. The first 2-4 (?) volumes are nice. Story, characters, world-building. After that, it gets meh. I would advice on giving up when you feel it is getting too much. You might think you can power through but it won't get better. Pause reading until you hear the series ended. But at this speed, I don't think it will, not even in 10 years. I know, I know. People will say it is slow-paced and thats ok. Let me ask you this: is it show-paced if no pacing is involved? Staying is one place means you're not moving, aka no pacing. More slow-paced and it would start going backwards. (Yes, I really had to do this joke).
Again, it starts ok but the story gets slow-paced, full of exposition dump, some character assassination, plot holes and other nonsensical stuff. Lots of filler. Try watching the anime, if it gets more seasons (it might be better).
I don't know how many chapters I've read, I assumed 6-7 per volume. Sorry, but I won't open those books again, not even to check it. I'm giving this a 4. For the idea. For the way the story started. Also, good stuff with the powers system. And thats it. Nothing else is good. Maybe if someone poured over the text and deleted all the unnecesary stuff, it might level up (see what I did there?) to a 7 easily. But sadly, the way it is now, nope.
Have a lovely day.