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PaperclipPerfector  8d ago (text post)   3075 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 19, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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What did you think? I'm worried about the possibility of things going off the rails a bit.

Okay, so I finished it yesterday and I see what you're talking about. The cliffhanger ending was frustrating to me, as they usually are. Like, ending the book at a pause in the major battle scene? Really?! But worse than that, it was getting obvious by the 2/3-3/4 mark of the book that there was nowhere near enough book left to resolve the vast majority of the new plot threads, let alone get back to some of the old ones, so yeah, as a standalone book, it's not so good, at least not in the sense that it's all buildup with no climax or resolution. Of course, the entire genre and pretty much most web serials can be guilty of this even when converted into a book, but still, a climax and conclusion to at least some of the plot seems to me to be a feature of the better written ones.

November 19th isn't too long to wait, so at least there's that.

Structural but non-content spoilers, might do something though since I read on a chapter not book basis and I'm not 100% sure where you are:

Basically I'm still enjoying it up to the most recent patreon break, but it sounds like he wants to wrap things up soon which felt somewhat abrupt and retroactively makes me a tad bit miffed about the seemingly side adventure. Still some interesting ideas though! I do wonder if he got bored with 12MB after he started his new work and decided to move on.

It sounds like you spotted some of what made me raise an eyebrow tho.

Ah, yeah, I tend to buy the books as they come out and not read the serials online. I'll get a little more specific then. The book ends right in the middle of the big battle with Keith and Drakonis on one side and To'Avalis, To'Sefit, and To'Orda on the other. In the final scene of the book, Drakonis drags himself back after killing the drake and decides to square off against To'Orda. Frustrating. Also, I agree that the series feels like it's off the rails, especially if he wants to end it soon, though it seems to me that it was at least heading off the rails in earlier books. Shame, too, I feel like 12MB has a rich and colorful world to explore, but as is often the case in these things, the series suffers from a case of making the MC too OP too quick to keep up the level of dramatic tension that the earlier books, particularly the first one, were able to have.

Ah, earlier than I thought - don't worry more good shit is coming.

Doh, I'm actually only a few chapters in, but it's certainly an odd beginning. I'll reply here in detail later this week when I've finished it!

Don't worry I'm still loving it! This book just went in a very different (literal) direction.

Still a cheap date over here so no worries on my end even though the whole opening with the ravens thing definitely gave me the feeling that this book would be different!

ETA: I'll be interested to see if expies of either Huginn or myself exist in the book...

Personally I thought what you are talking about works fine, my concern is just pacing issues. The ideas are explored with the usual higher degree of competence than I would expect from random web author.

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