What Else Are You Reading/Watching/Listening to Right Now?
Vainqueur the Dragon
Okay, so this book is wild. Imagine Smaug from The Hobbit suddenly getting access to RPG mechanics and deciding to become an “adventurer” (mostly to get more gold and attention). That’s Vainqueur Knightsbane: ancient, arrogant, and way too into titles and loot.
The story is basically him bullying a human named Victor into being his sidekick/“minion,” and the two of them stumbling through quests, dungeons, and clueless adventurer guilds. It’s packed with jokes, satire, and tons of fantasy trope mockery.
The humor carries the whole thing , Vainqueur is completely ridiculous, and his poor human servant Victor has to deal with all his nonsense. The story doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and that’s the point.
If you want a fun, low-stress read with dragons, memes, and system comedy, this is a blast. I binged it way faster than I expected. Would recommend to anyone who wants to laugh at a dragon learning how XP works and all his shenanigans.
I'm reuniting with my love for the musician James Bay, rn.
I really liked his singing, and wished I could have gone to his concert in 2018, thinking I would have liked to do so and talking to my sister about potential concerts to go to, when at a Shawn Mendes Illuminate concert (the most beautiful concert i went to) in 2017.
I love Hold Back the River, and Let it Go. I love his hat he wears. I also love the gorgeous beautiful rendition that Robert Paul Hegenbarth sings for Hold Back the River.
This song I can relate to right now and am listening to:
Legend of Kairos
Just wrapped up the series and really enjoyed it. It’s Greek mythology mixed with a light LitRPG system: old gods are gone, mortals can level up, and some are fighting for a spot among the New Gods, in a world where Olympians were bought down by the humans, and led to the rise of New Gods who stole powers from old ones.
Kairos starts out as a straightforward, stubborn sort of guy: not the loudest personality, but steady and practical. He’s more of a survivor than a glory-hound, the kind who’d rather think his way around a problem than charge in. That said, he’s not perfect; in the early parts he leans heavily on his crew, especially his first mate, and sometimes feels like he’s reacting to events more than driving them. Over time, though, he grows into a stronger leader, taking bigger risks and making calls that change the tide of the story.
The world-building is great, the pacing is fast, and the mix of sea battles, giants, and backstabbing people, shifting alliances and a touch of patriotism keeps things moving. The RPG elements are light and never get in the way of the action.
Verdict: A solid, bingeable read if you like Greek myths, high-seas adventure, and a main character who grows into his role rather than starting out as the all-powerful hero.
Arcane Ascension
Corin Cadence is one of my favourite main characters in all of fantasy. He is, as I image many of us think, how we would approach being a person in a magical world. Analytically. Carefully. Exploitively.
So here’s the plot - you get powers (attunements) ostensibly from the goddess, via blessings you receive in the spires. Corin’s brother goes missing in a spire, and Corin, when he is of age, goes in. Both to find his brother, but also to get his own power. He doesn’t find his brother, he does find Keras (who has two series dedicated to him, they are great, go and read them), and gets the Enchantment attunement.
Not what his father wants, but one that suits Corin, and allows us as readers into the nitty-gritty of rules that underpin the magic system. Super hard magic, here. And I live for it.
Corin and the supporting characters all feel genuine, with genuine relationships. The plot slowly grows wider and wider as events escalate, but always at a manageable pace, such that I didn’t get confused. It continues to expand in later books as well, with the students even leaving their home nation briefly.
Progression feels earned, magic items get created, and, the thing I love most of all, problems (contrived in a teaching dungeon or not), have realistic but innovative solutions engineering by Corin and his friends.
Magic problem solving, as it turns out, is what I love in a book, and this has it in spades.
