Interesting background and characters.

However, the plot focus is suffocating.

Through the story, the author build plot-lines for their challenge.

... more>> It makes the story realistic but the issue is that the author seems to have an obsession with making his MC go through challenge after challenge. Unveiling new hard modes the moment the MC thought he completed the normal mode.

It's fine for one plot-line, or one arc, but the author ab*se this. There's nothing else in the story. No relief period after a victory, the MC is always at death's door, with his fate in his opponent's hands and it's tiresome.

This is why, reading the story is suffocating. It's a complete focus on challenges where the MC must beat opponents who are stronger or have leverage on him.

The only emotions we see in the story are those experienced by the characters who are fighting, struggling, being plotted against or plotting against others.

It's a bit sad that the author didn't spend more time on something between the scheming, struggles and battles.

Because the world building is really superb (though I wouldn't want to visit that cruel, blood stained world) and the author really manage to get me immersed in the story.

On the characters side, it's well described. They are fleshed out and appear to have motives for their actions and goals.

However, the only minus I would take is that they all seem to be made from the same mould. Even if taking two characters who are opposite in their personality, they still appear to see the world with the same lens and have the same worries (thinking of you blond cop, Jines, Gilbert...).

In my mind, to get 5 stars, the story would have required for the MC to have more easy moments in between challenges. Where he's taking things easy, where he shows what he likes, to show a hopeful view of his future.

Despite his cheery appearance, the MC almost always project anxiousness, fear and pessimism. Either in his thoughts or the direction the author make him go for the plot.

I'll stop reading here. This is too suffocating for me. <<less

Are you a

masochist and a shotacon? Well this is the perfect novel for you.

Pro

• • Almost all situations are solved by the mc's strategy, plannings, and a little bit of luck.
    • • This novel is full of scheming which adds to our MC.

• • Super complex world that starts out mysterious and interesting before giving you the explanations later when you actually care about it. Instead of other Chinese novels where they shove all the exposition in the most boring fashion on chapter 1.

• • Every character as some sort of story making them more complex, interesting, and memorable when they are actually some sort of focus

Cons

• • Story likes to jump around in perspectives making it super confusing as 10 more characters are mentioned and you have no idea who they are. Nothing is really explained, we only understand as much as the MC.
    • Even in perspectives you do know, side characters, there is still alot of jumping around. When a large event happens and there are multiple things happening, instead of finishing one scene before going to the next, the author likes to jump around left, right, down, and everywhere else. It breaks the flow of each scene and situation.
  • The author likes to omit information making the story even more confusing. When the information is finally revealed near the end of a section or chapter, it's more annoying than the impact it creates. I hate this way of story telling because it ruins the pacing. Not that this novel had good pacing anyways.

• • OPEN UP FBI
    • • There is no break, no downtime. Everything happens, just like every other Chinese novels, except on a 7 year old boy

• • I'm like 100+ chapters in and the amount of time that past is like around a month. The pacing is disgusting.
    • The conversations beat around the bush too much. They always delay the final conclusion of the argument and scheming too. Everything is extremely extended and sometimes by several chapters.
    • There is alot of exposition about the world. They show it after you get into the story so you're more interested, but it takes up so much time. These expositions can range several chapters and what happened in the story was just the group traveling or something.
    • Something that would've taken a paragraph to explain and do, takes up to several chapters sometimes. It can take so freaking long that as a reader, I've figured out the entire plan before the characters even finished their introductions. So much Business Jargon it's terrible. Nobody wants to read that stuff.

• • MC gets stronger, but it doesn't matter because he is 7 years old and he powers cannot be known by others too widely. He is never able to defend himself.
  • There are any too many "stunned" expressions. It get unrealistic fast.

Conclusion

I need to take a break from this novel. I don't find torturing a little boy pleasing.

The chapters definitely aren't fillers. The world-building is well-thought-out. The power system and setting seem different from other novels, and the side characters get really fleshed out, with their own backstories and motivations.

The MC is just the right balance. He's smart, clever enough to infer things and motivations based only on details. At the same time, he cares about and tries to protect the children in his group (he's 7-8 years old physically), but he's not the selfless, s*upid kind of MC. He's trying to make the best of his... more>> situation with calculated decisions, but he still has a heart.

He's not a wimp. He can take beatings but he has a back-up plan. He's not OP yet either. In the first 14 chapters, he already meets plenty of people who could kill him in a heartbeat.

The first few chapters do have dark violence and a bit of gore, but there are hints of comedy afterward, so there's a chance the tone might lighten up after the action-packed buildup finishes.

Overall, it seems like a promising novel without the braindead, obvious plotlines other novels have. Don't mind the 1-star ratings. Give it a try first~! <<less

Ok, I don't usually write reviews because I am a very lazy person; however, this story is a gem, and you all who are skimming through here should know that you should read this. I don't listen to rap, but my brother does, and he forces me to listen sometimes, so let me make this comparison: this story is lyrical rap and most of the stuff you have read - I am sure, like me- is mumble rap. In other words, this piece of work is a 5-star restaurant while... more>> we are accustomed to eating junk food at McDonald's or your near junk food joint.

I see that one of the things that many people are whining about is the pace of the story. Well, just like Mao Ni's Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices) the author takes his (?) time in world-building and character-building, and that is not something wrong but good. The story starts with THALES, our MC, who has reincarnated and is having flashes of memories from his past life, sometimes at inopportune moments. We see him going from a beggar to being recognized as the only offspring left of the current king. We are dealing with a smart MC here, and a complicated power dynamic in a feudal society, which can be a disenchantment for some.

The author takes his times building his secondary characters which some people seem not to like. However, the author does it for a purpose, because we, the reader, need to know what drives this "villains." There is face slapping and the MC has a "cheat"

Spoiler

he is a Mystic one of the most powerful people in this verse

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, but he has yet to nurture it, so he is fighting now more with his brain than brawn. I am in ch 62, the latest released by this date, and I am waiting for more. You all will regret it if you don't read this. This is not only entertaining like all the junk food we read (Gourmet of Another World, The Daily Life of an Immortal King, Otherworldly Evil Monarch, etc., .), but it also makes you think and be like "WTH, this is so freaking smart, " or something. The point to all this is, give the story a chance. There will not be takebacks. At least get to ch 62, we are I am now.

Finally, the chapters are long and the release consistent, so yeah! <<less

Only read this if you're a masochist. I like the storyline but the chapters are far too frustrating to read. It's like 70% filler. Entire chapters are devoted to pep talks before a fight. Every small tremble or thought is described in excruciating detail. Unrealistically, twenty thoughts go through the character's mind in the second it takes for a punch. There are useless and meaningless flashbacks everywhere. And everybody goes to extremes to hide the main mysteries. I ended up skimming most of the chapters and still had trouble weeding... more>> out all of the useless filler. It's like the author buried a great story under a pile of garbage. <<less

Starting with why people dislike it, also me sometimes dislike it for this reason.. the slow and fully detailed display of information. Oh God. It really does make me sleep or go read something else sometimes...

But please believe me, IT IS f*ckING WORTH IT !

Why ? The plots that you can figure out because the author gives you some tips, the *BRAIN* working, the NOT USUALLY SUPERFICIOUS CHARACTERS, yes people here really have brains and feelings, things are done for reasons, and has feelings to back it up O.O OMG... more>> IT CANT BE ! R-REALLY ?

it's incredible how many times you think, omg why again, when will it ends, why our beloved MC can't have some PEACE (#leavemealone), even so, it's exciting how he play with his cards, how good ours villains is, how our young MC do his show time, yes hes not OP.

SORRY, SINCE I DONT KNOW HOW TO USE THE SPOILER THING I WILL BE DOING THE OLD WAY, PARDON ME

*SPOILERS**SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*

Until now, the 270 chapters I had read, our MC Thales Jadestar, still has 7 years old, and only one/two months had been passed since he lefts Constalations for his diplomatic trips to Eckstein the Northland's, but SO MUCH THING HAPPENED, he learned more about MYSTIC, even has contact with one of them, even has already... Okay won't tell you what because its really cool to read be yourself, and I promise that you won't find out, only when it happens you will know that it's was about that that I was talking about.. he got more mature, blablabla.. the good way of MC development, the good way I say, because he's not the only one that evolves, every character in this novels is SUPERB and could be the MC.. real talk there. No jokes.

If you can endure some, or too much information you MUST READ IT!

there is others platform that has already updated farted then what I read, and it just hadn't uploaded it in here, in case you r looking for more chapters.. <<less

SUMMARY

Decent read, isekai + dark fantasy + political intrigue (aka Game of Thrones).

Identical to several sci-fi/fantasy opera novels out there, so if you've read a lot of those before, this is kinda boring. Basically a poorer version of "Release that Witch".

Good world building. But gets bogged down with pedantic details/filler with slow plot progression. It does show the impressive translation quality though.

MC being an intellectual transmigrator/child is pointless and ruined the story. Note that Vol 1 is Chapter 1-17, Vol 2 is 18-66, Vol 3 is 67-82. Chapters are LONG.

PREMISE

PhD level MC gets transported to a dark fantasy world. While struggling to survive in the harsh environment with his prior knowledge, he learns of his true heritage and must find new meaning/responsibility with his gained position.

CHARACTERS

MC was an academic in his previous life (unclear if he died). His past life memories are vague, but enables him to approach problems with maturity and calmness. That said, despite his previous life memories + 4 yrs of street smarts, he is sometimes emotionally immature which can be quite frustrating. Side characters are well developed with their own backgrounds/motivations. Everyone has different layers of morality.

COMMENTS

(1) A carbon copy of most sci-fi/fantasy opera in the 90s, nothing original

Lookup "Star of the Guardians" by Margaret Weis (Dragonlance fame), "Star Wars", etc. The plot development is identical, from a constantly struggling lost prince to all the side characters that he meets and recruits. But I guess it's reasonable to expect some plagiarism from a Chinese author.

(2) Detailed world building, with some mistakes

Kudos to the author for at least being able to flesh out detailed environments, political factions, character builds. Very similar to "Overlord", you can tell author must've been an AD&D fan too.

Some parts of the world building/lore don't make sense though.

(3) Frustrating inconsistency of the MC

Commentators have pointed this out. MC is a mature PhD level person (likely philosophy/sociology).

He's a PhD (on average 30+) who isekai'd into a child's body (3 yrs old, currently 7 yrs old), demonstrated years of street smarts and emotional control, so he's at least mentally 37 yrs old, but suffers from several bouts of whininess and immaturity when confronted with occasional unexpected situations. This is not supposed to be a coming-of-age story since MC is old.

In other novels ("Mushoku Tensei"), being a child has a unique advantage of jump starting their learning process, power-up, etc. In this novel there is ZERO purpose to being a child.

All of his theoretical knowledge is also pathetically applied. MC launches into pedantic exposition of various modern day theorems on inconsequential problems. There's no significant advantage or purpose of being a transmigrator. Utterly s*upid, ruins most of the initial premise of the story.

(4) The repeated, pointless references to modern-day philosophy

There are multiple quotes of modern-day philosophy/sociology (Kant, Durkheim, etc). These quotes usually come to the MC in the form of memories.

It gets old really quickly and has no plot bearing since MC doesn't capitalize on the knowledge. Author is just making up the word count, or attempting to sound sophisticated/sesquipedalian.

(5) Pedantic writing and nonsense exposition

-- A ridiculous amount of detail explaining and summarizing things that have no consequence, way beyond typical Chinese webnovel filler.

Does it matter if there were 223 casualties, 514 house burned down?? Is this a statistical report? Or do we need the MC constantly "organizing his thoughts" by summarizing what happened in the last 6 chapters (or even previous lengthy paragraph) ? This nonsense constantly distracts from the plot.

-- It's also REALLY annoying to write sentences in parenthesis for a fictional novel, especially when it's a random 3rd person injecting a DIFFERENT viewpoint. Poor sentence structure, wondering if they went to writing school for this.

-- Nonsensical fillers of characters talking to each other with no resolution

(6) Mired in useless plot lines

Mentioned by other commenters, author tries to be too clever and introduces many inconsequential plot lines/factions/characters without prior introduction. That style of writing has rightfully disappeared in recent popular media because it's pointlessly confusing, especially for a web novel with serialized chapter releases. If you were following this chapter-by-chapter instead of binge reading, you would be hard pressed to remember what happened.

Well written and intriguing plotline. The world building is well thought out, the narrative is meticulous and detailed and the storyboard is well planned. A mix of fantasy, magic, medieval with more focus on court politics, military bureaucracy and conspiracies. Kinda gave me the vibes of Game of Thrones.

However its not without the flaws. The pacing is excruciatingly slow, hundred chapters down the road and the plot only progressed slightly.

Too much redundancy to the plot and exposition in the writing, this contributes to the snail's pacing and also more often... more>> then not it causes the story to be complicated and winding. There's a difference between complicated and complex, the latter defines a good read. I feel the author is trying too hard to impress that it backfires. *Edit* I still stand by this statement. So many political maneuvers just to come to a stalemate. Basically feels like the narrative circled back to square one. I know its intentional but it makes it feel like actions taken by the characters were essentially pointless. To be honest I'm not sure its a good or bad thing. Somehow the global politics in the novel is a mirror of our real world, where every superpower just want to maintain the status quo and sphere of influence. Yes, some things do change hands but it still ends in a precarious balance.

The story switches perspective too often, literally every chapter is from a pov of a different character, it breaks the flow of the story and can be confusing. *Edit* After further reading, I get why it's necessary. Otherwise readers will be totally left in the dark and utterly confused, ironically. It also helps connect different subplots together and show how actions of each character cause cascading ripples in the storyline, very well done. Varied and colorful characters totally different and unique from each other, even minor pawns get heavy character development. Each of them have their own motivations and agenda (there is no good or bad guy) which eventually all tie in to the main plot, their actions, the cause and effect that follows. They feel more alive and real compared to other novels. A few have criticized the protagonist but personally I feel that he is written to be grounded in reality. Everyone goes through tons of setbacks in life. Everyone matures at different rates thus have different levels of maturity when tackling obstacles in life. We get outplayed by others. Defeat will spiral us into despair and frustration with the occasional temper tantrums. Very few come out as winners (hell, probably no one in the reviews here is a multi-millionaire or billionaire). Our protagonist is naturally NOT one of the winners and like most of us, have to keep struggling.

Despite the political focus, there's an underlying main plot involving the supernatural, fantasy elements and involving diety level beings. This is what I'm also excited about but author suppresses them though he heavily hints that this is gonna be the main focus of the story. For now the protagonist is merely playing the game of mortals that is spectated (or probably puppeteer'ed) by higher beings. The powers and abilities in the novel has a certain mystery and profundity to them, likely linked to the higher beings and the order of the world. It's not a clear cut matter of raising levels or breakthrough the realms.

As for battles, there are few and far between, sadly, but they are pretty well written. When a battle happens, author goes all out and it has a lot of significance to the storyline (not just merely for the sake of war) but you'll need to connect the dots or wait for future chapters to understand its importance.

I'd say plenty of readers expecting battle focus plot or overpowered protagonist will be disappointed in this novel. The wars are a struggle and it is not only about crossing swords. In a way, sword and shield can win battles but the true essence of war is a battle of words and wits.

This novel is more for the intellectual reader rather than one who is just looking for a fix for the mainstream. It has a lot of foreshadowing where the agenda is unclear early on, you'll really need to read further in to actually understand what's happening hence why I edit my review from 2 years ago (200+ chapters ago) and gave it a more favorable rating. Sadly, raw releases are pretty slow. <<less

There are rarely detailed novels like this, usually Chinese novels full of rotating narratives. I like the writing style like this in almost every conversation has the purpose of being heard. MC is a transmigrator who doesn't have any cheats and he doesn't always just rely on himself in every face of a problem, like in other Chinese novels, the self-contained and cold MC is really boring.

Togetherness, trust and friendship become points that cover their weaknesses. At least that's the beginning of the story, for the development of the... more>> story I don't know, but because I like the beginning of the story I gave five stars for a while. <<less

Best Chinese novel I have read so far (Yes, even better than Death Sutra.. IMO) and I have been reading Chinese novels for three years now. What really sets this novel apart from the usual CN novels are the characters, you can remember all of them (Well... most anyway), and even if the characters show up for only a chapter or two, they still make an impression on you.

The Structure of the novel is unique too..... if you have observed, while reading most novels we (readers) tend to know more... more>> about the plot than the MC but not in this novel, here the reader journeys along with the MC and learns about the plot and it's unveiled through the interactions between the various characters including MC as opposed to in a prosaic manner (info dumps!).

Next good thing about the novel are the twists and turns! There are a lots of them, they keep u hooked......I mean really hooked!

Combat is also really good but build-up to the combat is fantastic....... they give the necessary intensity to the fight scenes...... kinda like the Japanese anime-lvl intensity...... where the characters r not only fighting physically but also for their ideologies.....

Above are some unique aspects of the novel which sets it apart from the rest of CN novels.... having said that the novel has some draw backs too...... like sometimes it drags a lot and things are exaggerated but these are some minor issues in an otherwise fantastic novel! <<less

The best novel I have read by far and so note that I have read more than a couple hundreds over the years. Dont listen to the reviews above since these people only want character's that are like npc's. I recommend this novel who truly likes reading a master piece from plot to character development, superpower, the highs and the low

This novel has quickly become one of my favourite. The MC isn't just handed things he has to struggle fight for his right to survive. Ignore Ra3ie1 review because his review has nothing to do with the novel, and I wish there was dislike button because his review is for a totally different novel.

TLDR: Great novel, but can be a bit difficult to read due to the amount of politics/schemes/different powers involved (think of it like Game of Thrones). This is also a slow novel and MC is not OP at all, in fact he is pretty weak (he slowly gets stronger but still weak compared to literally every single important person in the novel)

One thing this novel really nails down is the struggle of the MC. We see him struggle all the way from surviving on the streets as a beggar... more>> up to surviving as a prince with multiple assassination attempts from all kinds of people/kingdoms. We see the MC grow up and learn to scheme better as the story starts off as a kid and being weak and having to scheme (literally every single person is stronger than the MC at the beginning). We see the MC lose in schemes and pay the price as he does not understand the whole picture of the kingdom he is part of and all the complicated things that the public does not know of. I loved this part of the novel as it makes sense in how the MC becomes smarter and able to handle himself in schemes against other lords.

However, I will say one thing - the MC never catches a break or if he does, its a time skip. I wish we had some room to take a break, have MC do something which doesn't involve him almost dying, instead, we are constantly in action/politics/schemes and fearing for MC's safety. There are a ton of well-done twists and certain times, you really fear for the MC's life where it feels like everyone is against him.

The power is handled well, people have reasons for being strong and there is still a lot of mystery about the MC's powers and how they originated in the world and its fun learning more about them and the other super powerful people that have them. People have different powers and are used well.

Something else I enjoyed about this novel would be the side characters, there are entire chapters without MC involved and they have their own thought processes and reasons behind their actions. There are no arrogant young masters and people put on a facade like real life, what we read in the novel is mostly from MC's perspective and that's not always accurate (this is where we get a lot of great twists from and its handled quite well by the author).

Overall great novel with amazing schemes and twists, great use of power and nice side characters to bring the novel together. It is very political and schemes heavy instead of more action/fights so if you don't like that, you may not like this novel. <<less

I read the above reviews and seriously the words don't do justice to the novel, I read it cos I wanted to read stuff like way of choices, this is similar to that just that the MC is the prince of a kingdom and is not as well read as the protagonist of way of choices.

The book is sooo good it you see there is a time skip of 6 years only after like 300 or so chapters each arc is lengthy like you expect it to end at a... more>> place but that's not even the the end of the beginning

MC is smart but his opponents are even smarter, that's the beauty the way MC manages around people stronger and smarter than him,

Spoiler spoiler spoiler

As soon as the MC turns from a child beggar to prince he is kidnapped, in a day that just makes you curse the author but that's the actual beauty the MC finds himself in situations that would make a person give up like tens of times and converts them to his strength

The author is a genius, the plot is great

The protagonist is a mystic hated by the world, ps mystics don't die but MC can be killed as he has not completely become a mystic

The plotlines, the face slaps

Damn the face slaps ar elike absolute choice without any system or cheats

This a book with a very strong mc

Not the tr*sh that kill people to gain power and respect but the

The truly strong who strive to accomplish their goal inspire of their weakness

Let me introduce you

"Hello, I am thales jadestar, I don't need to become king to make your life miserable "

Thale jadestar, the mystic prince

As of chapter 480

So concluding the reviews ar unfair, the chapters are very long, but this is no tr*sh

Ps (to another review)

The bloody year, yes riots famine invasions assassination that left only the prince's father as the only blood of jadestar occurred in a single year, you say it's not possible read the BOOK before you say that

Even at 480 the bloody year mystery is not known fully

From the chapter 250 or so all plots are relate to the bloody year, they are all a result of the bloody year or a cause of bloody year

The bloody year is very important to the MC and the book <<less

It's strange to read a webnovel like this which is on a whole other level from regular webnovels, and see nitpicky reviewers whose complaints I can hardly understand.

This novel is of such high quality that it could pass off as regular literature if printed as a book and placed in a library.

The characters feel human and they have an appropiate amount of depth. Not to mention the depth of the worldbuilding, character interactions, schemes, politics, etc. All of it is phenomenal.

The fantasy world itself is engaging. I can't help but... more>> think to myself at night about the plot of this novel after catching up to the translation. I'm left wondering what the true, hidden history of the world is and the Mystics. I ponder upon the political and cultural subjects brought on by the novel. I think about how the protagonist seemingly turned it all around in those incredibly dire situations that seemed to be completely hopeless. Yet ironically I wonder if the protagonist actually had any true agency at all or if his decisions in said circumstances actually meant what I thought they did...

I became completely addicted to this novel in the month it took me to catch up. Yet it wasn't just to pass the time or mindlessly consume something familiar, but to actively engage in and immerse myself in the unique world depicted by the author.

I hope the english translation continues and I get to see the author's ending to this story some day.

If you want to read a mature story on NU, read this one. The 4.0 rating overall rating is criminal. Out of the other hundreds of novels I've read on this site, this is a masterpiece. <<less

This is a very interesting novel to rate and categorize. It's actually a little difficult to do so because of its context: being a CN webnovel (and the fact that this review will be posted on the site it is). Before I start discussing other things, I will simply give the following recommendation for those who are potentially interested in reading the novel:

Extremely long and occasionally frustrating but very well worth the development for careful and patient readers.

Face-slappers and young master trouncers, please look elsewhere. If your favorite novel is Renegade Immortal or Martial God Asura, you will NOT enjoy this book.

I'll talk a little more about the other context below.

... more>>

Spoiler

Novel Updates (NU) is an intersection for various readers with various tastes, and its scoring distribution is very reflective of that fact. Loyal fans of shoujo BL novels will usually rate BL novels extremely highly (sometimes regardless of the actual quality of the text) and thus these novels have an artificially inflated score, making the aggregate score completely worthless in discerning whether a book is worth a read or not.

On the other hand, this novel and others in the same vein suffer from the opposite issue. Because of the superficial themes and tags of the story (transmigrator, weak-to-strong, and so on and so forth), the target demographic is all mixed up. Casual readers or those looking for a power trip will have their moods soured and those looking for a more mature read will likely pass upon looking at the tags. This results in the mixed rating we see now (3.9-4.0/5.0).

In this respect, Kingdom's Bloodline (KB) is like a reversed Reverend Insanity (RI). It is similarly much more mature and fleshed out as compared to other CN webnovels, but it lacks the cult classic status that RI has. In fact, I think the quality of writing between the two novels are comparable, and KB's may even be better. They both suffer from the fact that we can only experience a translated product and the issues of webnovel serialization, but KB's seem more acute because of chapter length and author prose.

Just as RI has spotty writing and occasional translation issues, KB is like gold covered by dirt. If you're willing to bear with it, it should be worthwhile.

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Despite its many flaws, if we're comparing this book to 99.9% of the webnovels counterparts on this site, then its on a completely different league.

The quality of the character writing, world building and plot development is on the level of masterpieces the game of thrones or dune series.

A lot of characters could even be the main character of their own novels with how well they're written

... more>>

Spoiler

Like King Chapmans journey to breaking the old system and creating a new one, King Nuven mission to secure his dynasty, the charismatic optimist knigh kohen battling against the reality of the world, the Knight Zakriel journey to becoming the strongest knight

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What I like about this novel is that these antagonists and support characters arnt one dimensional. Unlike other novels where the antagonist are like video game bosses where they're killed and never come back, in this novel the main character wins the battle but he's yet to win the war. Battles are won when one party achieves their objective at the expenses of the other or the antagonist is forced to compromise to minimise their loses. Both the support male characters and female characters actually have depth, the support male characters arnt there just to make the main character look good and the female characters arnt there to be members of the main characters harem. They act like real characters with their own personality and ambitions.

Even after the death of characters, their actions have a long term effect, the impact influences the main character environment and decisions long after their deaths. The danger of the battles isn't determined by how high their rank is in the power system but by how well they've organised and distributed their manpower and resources to suit their interests.

Spoiler

Ultimate however it's still has its flaws, mainly the atrocities pacing, its like it's jumping from 1, 1.1, 1.2 then suddenly jumps to 1100. Some world building aspects are undeeded and drags out the arc for too long and some side characters don't need to have so much depth that it wastes two chapters on. Like there's too many characters that we'd want a suitable ending for but we don't want the story to drag on for 3000 chapters.

Overall despite its flaws its one of the best novels in this site comparable to Lord of Mysteries, Reverend Insanity and the grandmaster strategist.

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Kingdom's Bloodline is a good novel with an annoying story; I enjoyed it reluctantly.

Pros:

1. The main character is well written, and comes across as genuinely intelligent throughout the story, which is fairly rare in these sorts of novels.
2. Side characters and especially antagonists are all given plausible motivations and histories which complement their actions in the story.
3. The magic/mystic subplot is one of my favourite in recent novels. I would definitely read a separate novel completely about a character becoming a mystic or wizard.

Cons:

1. The real conflict in the story generally comes up as some kind of debate between the main character and his various enemies - which is generally entertaining - but the author immediately sours it afterwards by making sure that none of his actions were of any real consequence, and then immediately introduces another conflict. The pacing is truly abysmal - without any resolution there isn't ever a real climax and the whole plot feels unrewarding.
2. The main character is constantly demonstrated to be significantly more competent than his supposed allies, but then denied any form of agency when they refuse to give him any information about the situations he is dragged into, wasting all of his efforts.
3. The character never becomes strong - the "weak to strong label" is misplaced. His many layers of plot armour are just contrivances to delay any real progress. At this point I've given up on expecting him to become a mystic - maybe he'll make it by chapter 1500.
4. I'm still not totally sure it isn't the fault of the translation, but the ages, dates, and time progression given are totally nonsensical. In particular there were a couple of times where characters would remark upon experiencing events 100 years ago, or talking about things that happen as few as 12 years ago as though they happened in some previous era (that one comes up a lot). I recommend disregarding them entirely.

Overall it's difficult to recommend - maybe if the author edited half of the content out it would be closer to 5 stars.

I quite liked the opening of the book. A very disadvantaged person slowly trying to grind his way to a normal life. This then moves on to him having minimal agency by being swept up in others actions. We learn more about a complex world that could be interesting.

Then the already slow pacing becomes glacial. Time wise in the story we hit climax after climax of plot lines set up by others and impacting the MC. Yet it still feels so slow. Constant shifts of viewpoints, expanding cast and making... more>> sure to hide things so they can be talked about another 10 times (minimum). A side character fight can easily take 5 chapters to resolve, while you are waiting on the main plot to move forward.

Before I dropped the novel I constantly found myself skipping entire pages of text. They simply didn't matter. The amount of filler that crept into the novel made Wheel of Time feel fast-paced with good connection of the current content and the overall plot.

Finally the worst part, the characters outside the main character. There is 1 or maybe 2 other characters I care about. Sadly the screen time will go to another 10 ones that neither we nor the MC care about. In the same glacial pace as everything else. <<less

Probably the best novel or even story in general that I read in recent years. As other reviews point out though, it does have a lot of weak points though because with this novel, the author truly set out on a grand undertaking of making a great story but fails at making it enjoyable read.

When reading this novel, it takes a long time before I could appreciate it's greatness, but even then I will curse it flaws. For example MC... I could write an essay about how I didn't like... more>> MC from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 457.

This is a morally grey, realistic world, which has complex side characters that with their own individual motives, plot endless schemes whose each reveal brings a major plot-twist. But MC continues to be this one selfless existence whose only goal is to be a good guy and bring the world peace. For the most of the story, MC is usually a spectator watching things unfold. But whenever he makes any decision on his part, it's always for the sake of others.

This novel has a lot of great side characters, a lot. And if I had to make my top 30 favourite characters of this novel. MC would still not make the list. <<less