From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

The Sword of Kaigen

M.L. Wang

Start date: June 1, 2024

Finish date: June 30, 2024

Discussion: The Sword of Kaigen

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The Sword of Kaigen

TSoK: Taking an overambitious mess over polished and boring?
By Jan · 9 posts · 81 views

last updated Jul 01, 2024 05:49AM

TSoK: Coldplay, Tropes and Chapter 27 [Spoilers]
By Jan · 9 posts · 63 views

last updated Jun 26, 2024 09:38AM

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What Members Thought

Feb 16, 2025 Silvana rated it really liked it

Shelves: stand-alones, fyeahfantasy, kindle-google, 2025-fantasy, freebies

I thoroughly enjoyed the action parts and the magic system, even tho it was rather derivative (reminded me too much of ATLA). The biggest flaw would be how the MC forgave her jerk of a husband wayyy too easily. Plus there are some of the long-winded info dump in the earlier chapters which could be better written. Wonder if there will be a sequel since clearly the story is not over yet.

10 likes · Like · see review

Oct 11, 2024 Tensy (bookdoyen) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

A beautifully rendered Asian inspired martial arts fantasy novel with well developed characters and elemental magical elements.

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 25, 2024 Amy rated it liked it

Shelves: 1-audiobook, 1-irl, r-fantasy, 1-ku, season-winter-fantasy, season-winter, 2024aty-completed

This doesn't know if it wants to be a love story, two love stories, a coming of age story, a superhero story, two coming of age stories, a war story, a culture clash story, a mature character growth story, an adventure story, or a political thriller. I'd suggest pick 3 max.

Climax is halfway through. You think this is going to lead to something, because you don't know that at the time, but the second half is all denouement. I nearly DNF'd after the climax, because for a while nothing happened tha This doesn't know if it wants to be a love story, two love stories, a coming of age story, a superhero story, two coming of age stories, a war story, a culture clash story, a mature character growth story, an adventure story, or a political thriller. I'd suggest pick 3 max.

Climax is halfway through. You think this is going to lead to something, because you don't know that at the time, but the second half is all denouement. I nearly DNF'd after the climax, because for a while nothing happened that seemed much related to the climax. So it was like, here's a giant exciting battle scene! And then a bunch of muddling around. And after a while some stuff related to the battle happens, and then the last third of the book is more denouement.

Loved the beginning, loved the battle. Misaki is a pretty well drawn character. I'm always down for characters who are parents or 30+ or 40+ or 50+ or more. I liked the character growth shown by several characters, though in a book this long, that growth felt really paltry, like there could have been a lot more depth to them.

I listened to the audiobook and I think the narration threw me off. It's narrated by a man, even though 99% of the book POVs are a woman and her 14 year old son. I don't know why they didn't go with a female narrator. While the male narrator did a decent job, I found that he often didn't hit the right beats in a sentence. I discovered this when I decided to imagine the words on the page while I listened, and I realized what he was narrating would have had stronger impact if he hit the right words, the ones that were clearly ones the character meant to emphasize to make a point. It would have been two stars, but because the narration detracted from the experience, I'm making it three stars.

Liked the world, and how there's this village that sticks mostly to maintaining a magical medieval-era fighting style, but you quickly learn that the world has airplanes and electronics and even a sort of internet. I thought the political aspects and conflict were downplayed and should have been more prominent. I didn't mind the contrast of modern tech and ancient fighting styles.

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