Here are mini reviews for some of the works I've been reading recently on Royal Road.

Book covers

Demon World Boba Shop by R.C. Joshua

Blurb

A relaxing slice-of-life story mixing boba, demons, and friendships in a new world. After a hard life cut short, Arthur is given another chance at happiness in a demon world. So he makes the most of it by brewing tea, building friendships, and living the strange, calm life that he never knew he needed. Amidst a beautiful water elemental, a 400-pound infernal demon, and a mother-son sparrow-demon duo, Arthur is finally finding out what life’s really about.

Review

For someone who enjoys slice-of-life, it is hard not to check out this series immediately after looking at the cover and the blurb.

After the set-up in the first few chapters, Arthur gets his class almost accidentally. He was promised a nice world and that's what he got. He still had his own drive to succeed and that led to almost frenetic pacing for a slice-of-life story.

The side characters are very important in such settings and the variety presented here was done well. The plot was mostly focused around Arthur's everyday life and I wish we had some frequent interlude scenes from other characters.

I'm enjoying the second volume a lot more, especially because the levelling up takes a back seat.

The Consequences of Meeting a Dragon by Rynn the Tired

Blurb

Sixteen-year-old Thenio Iterune has a simple plan for his life: Work hard. Do well in school. Become a qualified wizard. Earn a good living. And maybe even make his parents proud of him someday. Unfortunately, the plan isn't going too well....

Thenio's magic power is becoming increasingly difficult to control, which leads to a series of accidents that are about to cost him his hard-earned spot at the Kafron Royal Academy of Magic. And things don't get any better when he finally discovers the source of his problems: He has an extremely rare and unstable magic affinity. And it's going to do more than just get him expelled. It's probably going to get him killed.

Enter Iggy, a tiny black dragon who loves chasing birds and has a remarkable nose for magic. He takes an immediate liking to the scent of Thenio's unique magic and convinces his wizard partner, Ariom, to help find a way to stabilize it.

Review

Who doesn't want to be friendly with a cute and energetic pet-sized dragon? Especially when that dragon convinces his wizard partner to help you out with a life-threatening magical condition?

We get a glimpse of Thenio's troubled childhood in the starting few chapters. The moment Iggy makes an appearance, I knew this series was going to fit my reading tastes very well. And that kept getting better as many more interesting characters got introduced as the plot plodded along.

Despite the epic scale and escalating threats, many of the chapters had a comfortable slice-of-life feel. I especially enjoyed getting to know about the partnership with magical creatures and the length to which the wizards would go to take care of their varied needs. Also, Ariom's way of teaching was something I wish everybody got.

Ember of Invention by Dexel

Blurb

Lindle is determined to be as unlike his father as possible. Unfortunately, being a half-giant is hard to ignore, and the system seems determined to force him to take a giant-exclusive class. Seizing what very well be his last chance before his path is determined in three months, Lindle takes a job guiding an adventuring party out of his snowy village and into the sunless tundra. Down in the dungeon, he finds his chance, but no one's ever heard of an Artificer class before. Fortunately, Lindle loves to craft, setting the spark to reignite a destiny long since buried under the snows of his frozen world.

Review

I enjoy crafting stories in a progression fantasy setting and this one has started well. The main character's name being Lindle and built somewhat like Lindon from Cradle had me chuckling and took me a while to get past the comparisons.

The story taking place in the polar region with snow everywhere and moonlit days was a pleasant change from the usual fare. Lindle as a character shines with his drive to get a crafting-based class despite his circumstances. The adventure party being good natured was another pleasant surprise. There's a bit of mystery as well that enhanced my interest in the story.

An Otherworldly Scholar by Archivist_Elra

Blurb

Rob's luck couldn't get worse, or so he thought. When a simple two-hour assignment for the law firm he works for turns into a journey to a dangerous new world, Rob is forced to choose between his thirst for adventure or standing up for what he knows is right, even if that means getting on the wrong side of the local lord.

Review

It's rare to have a teacher as the main character instead of as a mentor. Of course, in this case, the teacher wasn't that different from the usual isekai protagonist in terms of being clueless in a new world. Still, this webserial did scratch that itch and I hope more fantasy authors would consider teacher/mentor as the main character (or at least let the mentor stay until the end and survive).

The isekai setup was interesting and more importantly, there wasn't a long and boring introduction tutorial. The pacing was good to start with and there was a nice mix of action, adventure, mystery and slice-of-life. I especially enjoyed the scenes set in the orphanage and the many comical moments (which includes some of the sassy System comments).

I wish some of the kids (and other side characters) had gotten a few POV chapters. Robert's onscreen teaching sessions were few and far apart, could've had more depth. The shift from protecting the orphanage to having to deal with world-level danger was a bit jarring - the hints were there from the very start, but I wish the responsibility hadn't been dumped on Robert.

Overall, the worldbuilding was good, romance was nice, characters were great and some of the twists were amazing!

Archmage from Another World: Gaining Administrator Access by Etheric

Blurb

Transported into a world where just about anybody can receive the prestigious title of Mage, Morgana is equally baffled and outraged. She spent the better part of twenty-two years holed up in alcoves, poring over spell formulae and memorizing the forty-three Primary Astolian Paradigms, all for the opportunity to study at the Ivory Institute and gain access to those primordial, inscrutable powers. And here, they're dropped into people's laps? Ridiculous.

Morgana doesn't know how she's arrived here, why everyone is so bone-headedly ignorant to the fundamentals of magic, and especially what this strange 'System' is, coddling even 'archmages' with the simplest of spell constructions, but she's going to find out.

Review

Enjoyed reading the story so far. Especially that there are no looming world-level threats (so far at least). Isekai from a fantasy world instead of Earth is a welcome change from the usual tropes.

Having different POV works well for this story. A small group of adventurers coming together to build their career isn't anything new - which is where having good characters shines. Plus, the main character having a scholarly inclination helps create a bit of mystery regarding the System as well as getting to learn about the magical principles in more detail.

The action scenes so far have been short or just described after the fact, which contributes to a more lighthearted feeling. And there's a cute cat - hope he gets a lot more screen time!

Overall, a good start to the series and I'm looking forward to the guild growing in strength with the characters having a good time!

Underkeeper by Hankthemoose

Blurb

Bernt might have graduated from the Mage Academy, but not everyone has the money or the connections to launch any kind of lucrative or prestigious career as a mage. Now, a few years later, Bernt finds himself working for City Maintenance as an Underkeeper among the other rejects of Halfbridge's magery. But hey, it's a stable job, and that's what counts. With the help of his unlicensed and unregistered soul-devouring demonic familiar, he'll save enough to launch his career as an adventurer - just as soon as he can afford some proper gear.

Review

Not many stories start with somebody who has recently completed the magical academy part. A decently competent such graduate who wishes to be an adventurer but can't yet is a pretty easy underdog story to root for. And if he has an adorable ugly-cute familiar and competent supervisors? Sets up an intriguing story, especially when an unexpected attack leads to a series of escalating danger.

Brent wanting to do power up all on his own makes him blind to a few things. It's part of the character growth arc, but it is slow and leads to some frustrating events. Luckily, the dangerous events lead Brent to people who'd help him even if he's stubborn. And there are mysteries brewing up.

While some of the events went much darker than I'm comfortable with, overall I enjoyed the series so far and looking forward to Brent's journey (along with his familiar).