I’m excited to read more from this author. For a first book, this is amazing.
The vibes and world building feel like a more adult version of avatar the last airbender. For context, I love and have watched a.t.l.a as well as the legend of kora more than I’d be comfortable to admit in person. The character development is incredible. And honestly, it feels to the detriment of the book. This feels like 1.25 of a story. There’s far too much set up and ground work laid to feel good about leaving it there. If this was book 1 of a series, or even a prequel to a series, I would feel much happier with the ending than I do.
I hope M.L.Wang will read all the fan fiction for sword of Kaigen and eventually decide to write the next book… I would still read this book again. I do feel the narrator could have been better chosen.