Immortal Swordslinger (Immortal Swordslinger, #1) By Dante King
Young man portalled in a wuxia chinese world to become a swordslinger with help of a wood magic elf, a dragon spirit sword and some friends in a fire guild.
Nice entertainment - like an old martial arts movie. 314 Great read
Not what I was expecting but turned out even better than I could have wanted. Didn’t know what to expect with this one but have to say that it was a great story that pulled me right in from the start. Looking forward to the next one. 314 So the Main Character calls Political Science and Philosophy top degrees, and then says that makes him an academic expert. Those are Liberal Art degrees first which means by definition they are Free arts, which are arts that you require little to no professional, technical, or vocational knowledge. I also don't get how Anthropology fits in with either of those degrees. 314 Dante King’s portal fantasy features Ethan, a modern-day special op. When he visits a Himalayan temple, he is thrown into a layered world of elves, orcs, and martial skill. We learn about this new world through Ethan’s modern-day, first person, snarky voice, which many readers will find relatable. It has harem elements, though sex scenes aren’t awkward Fifty Shades-esque, or hawt Blade and Rose style. 314 Scratches the Wuxia itch
Really enjoyed reading this. It follows the basic plot of a Wuxia novel, but unlike them, the main character is smart, and kind. Not the wooden, emotionless, power mad sociopaths you normally see as Wuxia protagonists. 314
Delightful
A fantasy adventure oriental in design, and rich in story, yet nicely paced and edited for easy consumption. The bones of a shonen style story may be underneath it all, but there’s a lot of meat here to go past being “just” that kind of story. It’s good, fun, full of magic and adventure, sensuous without going overboard, and has a plot that could lead many places. Great fun. Recommended. 314 Too much telling. Characters and plot don't make any sense. 314 This book wasn't bad per se, but it wasn't good, either.
It showed clear and dire need of an editor. The author would apparently forget what characters had (or didn't have) in their hands, whether weapons were sheathed or not, and so on. Certain information was dumped redundantly no more than a dozen pages apart. Homophone and near-homophone errors abounded.
But let's say you don't care about any of that stuff. Let's say you just want to know about the story. Well....
The good: it's a rollicking action-adventure tale with a likable protagonist and a hissable antagonist. And it's got a setting that... well... on the one hand, hey, props for not setting it in pseudo-medieval Europe, dude. On the other? I understand that it's a fantasy world, but you probably shouldn't mix Chinese genres, names, and inspirations with Japanese terms for weapons. I know, I know, the East China Sea looks awfully narrow from a light year or two away... but here on Earth? Better not to mix your chocolate and peanut butter without a damn good reason.
... and then there's the sex.
I have nothing against multiamory / polyphilia. There have been times in my life when I had more than one romantic partner at the same time. So that didn't bother me.
What did? The fact that the protagonist, and by extension, the author, seems to have learned everything he knows about sex from watching pornography. The sex scenes are needlessly detailed, don't show a realistic understanding of women's arousal modes, and have the protagonist contributing little more than push-ups to the encounters. Two-pump chump, ahoy!
So. Yeah. Not a bad book, but not a good one, either. And I doubt I'll read anything else from this author. 314 I think this could have been compressed somewhat, but at the end of the day I have no big gripes. Not top of the genre, and not as strong a story as a lot of other books I've given a 4 to, this is really a 3.5.
Not a lot else to say; there's a bit of level-grinding and a LOT of cultivation, so if you like that sort of thing this might be worth your time. 314 A interesting new wuxia series.
The story is pretty good and the characters are decent for a first book in a series. The characters are varied with a decent beginning to fleshing them out. The cultivation aspect of the plot is well handled with a lot of room to grow and the beginning of a decent concept for growth. The world building was ok but still needed some fleshing out. I enjoyed it a lot but I wanted more depth in the MC and the love interests I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from this author. 314
Ethan didn’t believe in magical swords until one transported him to a fantasy world.
A world with monsters, martial arts guilds, and elemental powers beyond imagining.
In fact, it’s almost like he died and went to heaven. If heaven contained rivals bent on killing him, elf tutors who want to bed him, and a feisty spearmaiden with something to prove.
Contains harem elements.
Immortal Swordslinger (Immortal Swordslinger, #1)