Considering that he is an AI that has a human body, he's a bit overly emotional later on, quite irrational in several places. The other big criticism I have is that he has no challenges, he is way better than everyone else and doesn't face anything that can really cause him problems.

The wizard society is another annoyance. There are two kinds of wizard novel, ones which are cultivation based and ones that are knowledge based. Cultivation based ones justify being bloodthirsty due to a lack of resources. This has a... more>> knowledge based wizard society but every aspect of it is based on a cultivation style one. This creates countless contradictions. <<less

An amazing read. This isn't a slice of life story, but when Adam isn't exploring, the lengthy exposition of what he's doing is definitely SoL. I enjoy reading science blurbs too although the info dump can get a little bit overwhelming sometimes. I won't recommend this to those who like action-packed fast-paced stories though. But, if you want a slow fusion fantasy, give this a try. Just to set expectations, the protagonist is a sentient A.I. And he may exhibit human-like qualities, but at his core, he is an A.I..

Better than I expected, but it lacks... humanity?

The MC is a bit too robotic for me to get emotionally invested in the story. Since he doesn't really have any emotional entanglements (minus the occasional strange reaction), his experiences aren't very meaningful. Other stories have MCs who are trying to rescue their friends, avenge their families, gain immortality, etc. Along the way, they meet and interact with all kinds of interesting characters. By contrast, we just get to observe the MC observing other people and occasionally (usually unintentionally) pissing people off.

The... more>> universe is also quite s*upid. There's a particular trope I hate. These CN mage stories always wax poetic about the cold, calculating rationality of mages, but they're prone to bizarre emotional outbursts and everything they do is (in contrast to the claims) incredibly s*upid and counter-productive.

We lost a war and we need to replenish our numbers with new mages... I know! Let's round up a bunch of kids with talent and let 95% of them die in a bullsh*t trial! Sure, the trial is only tangentially related to their potential, and getting attacked by a load of monsters means that even the more talented ones will probably get eaten, but who cares whether this actually makes any sense? We're so smart and rational!

Another gripe is the edge factor -- stories like this (Age of Adepts, Netheril's Glory, etc.) go too far trying to show off how cruel or downright evil the MC and other mages are and don't stop to consider whether it's the least bit believable. <<less

Average writing, red till chapter 195 and it feels like a waste of time, MC has zero interess besides magic, no clear goals like pursuit of immortality, being the strongest or something else. Far from Warlock of Magus World and Throne of Magic Arcana, even Soul of Negary has more humane interactions, with a clear goal of becoming god at any price; the moments where MC is ruthless, merciless and uses everyone and everything seem within reason because of a clearly set goal.

On the other hand, Mage Adam writing looks... more>> forced, interactions seem strange or simply not believable. Even face slapping is not enjoyable. Writer himself had another 2 works both sacked at 80 chapters and in last one he said that he is not suitable for writing.

If you have the patience continue maybe it becomes better latter on <<less

Pretty similar to all the other mage world novels. An evil protagonist who only cares for himself in a world where lives mean nothing. MC is pretty boring though. He was supposed to have gained human emotion when he became human, but he still acts entirely like a computer. No interest in anything besides researching magic. He might change in the future but I lost interest. I don't really mind evil characters when they have their overall goals. Sacrifices are expected in a survival of the fittest world, but the... more>> MC kills people for the most trivial reasons. Like wanting to test how humans react to the death of a friend. Figuring out how civilized the world is by killing people. Just dumb stuff he could learn by asking around. <<less

(Edit at the end.)

Chapter 157 Review:

TL;DR: An incredible story in numerous regards that is an actual difficult read due to the translator.

... more>> (By the way, I disagree with almost all of the criticism presented by other reviewers. All other issues aside from the translator are negligible, and I would recommend at least checking it out.)

I'll start with the critique since there is only one.

There was initially a team translating/editing this book until about chapter 100 and it was fantastic to read, a solidly above-average translation. However, it then got dropped by that team and picked up by a new translator.

His translation style is, for lack of a better word, immature. He heavily overuses basic adverbs like "super", "really", and "totally." It snags my eye every time and it happens easily a dozen times every chapter. It lowers the writing quality of the entire book for me, despite the great author. This isn't even mentioning some of the other extremely unprofessional words he overuses such as "thing", "stuff", "chill", and "awesome."

It literally turns the book from a gritty dark fantasy to a comedy similar to Invisible Dragon. In fact, the similarities are so startling that I believe that the translator is actually a child.

Below is a quote from the novel, by a several thousand year old, refined mage:

"Priscilla said, "Okay, I get the lab thing, but why the doppelganger stuff? That's for super advanced mages[...]"

Now, onto the numerous list of positives.

First of all, I love the main character. He is cold, calm, and rational when he needs to be, and not overly static when he doesn't. He still has human attachments that he builds and maintains in peacetime, allowing for there to be rather good character interactions despite the premise. He is stated to be extremely smart, and this is also shown throughout the entire novel. None of his decision making seems to be forced by the author, and he consistently makes good and intelligent choices in his situations.

The main character is definitely one of my favorite parts of this novel, there is nothing I would change about him.

Second of all, the power system. The power system in this novel is that strength is directly linked to knowledge. Knowledge makes you stronger, not just because of applications of it, but also because the world grants strength for new discoveries.

The reason this is such a positive to me is that it pushes the main character to research and become a learned and well-rounded powerhouse. The explanations from the author about the main characters discoveries fit in the setting and are one of the best areas of this novel for me.

Third of all, the potential. This is a story where interdimensional travel exists, allowing the main character to travel to different worlds and planes and see unique cultures. This is my favorite plotline of all time and allows the story to remain "new" even after hundreds or thousands of chapters.

Together with the power system I adore, this novel will certainly be fantastic.

Finally, the plot itself. At no point in this novel did it feel stale. There is constantly something going on and something exciting to look forward to. There are no arcs which slow the story progression and it is constantly a fun and engaging read.

I LOVE everything about this novel, and I am STILL dropping it. That is how aggravating the translation is to me. I physically can't read another "super fast" without losing my mind and rating this novel 1 star.

However, I would HIGHLY recommend reading the first 100 chapters and see if you can stick around when the new translator takes over. If you can survive his translation, I'm sure you'll love the rest of the novel.

Chapter 216 Review:

I couldn't let go of this novel despite the translation and thank god I didn't. Translation rapidly improved after the chapter I left my review. It was initially happening a dozen times a chapter, then quickly went down to one, and now it hasn't happened in more than 20 chapters.

Given that the singular flaw of this novel has been remedied, this has become an obvious 5 star novel for me. I highly recommend it! <<less

Combines elements of Warlock of Magus World (world style) and Throne of Magic Arcana (level up method), so if you like the two you might like this one.

MC spends a lot of the later narrative invading other worlds (from scratch). These other worlds have varying themes.

It showed some promise, the author did make the concept that MC being an AI interesting, albeit the cliche elements like noble bad, arrogant young master, heartless superior, beautiful young noble lady crushes on MC, etc are still there and nothing really new or innovative. It's still interesting enough, though the story telling is not very strong.

A little bit too coldblooded and brutal but still a masterpiece.

I saw comment about how sometime he is too emotional but I dont really mind that. First, it happen very rarely. Second, I consider even the best ai or program will still have bugs or glitches not to mention when they have a humon body plus an emotion node.

If I have to point out a flaw in it then it would be how frequent MC encounter foolish and impulsive enemies despite they live in an environment require intelligence, coolheaded and... more>> cruelty. <<less