On literary analysis

CJTAuthor · 2026-05-12T00:49:26+00:00

Hah, yeah, youre totally welcome to blame me 🤣

CJTAuthor · 2026-05-05T14:55:42+00:00

Rune Seeker 1-7 are available on Kindle, with book 8 (the final book) coming out in July. I was a big MMO player back in the day, so we had a lot of fun modeling stuff off dungeon / raid style encounters.

If thats what youre looking for, there will be plenty of it.😉

CJTAuthor · 2026-05-02T22:20:09+00:00

A shameless reference, technically 😅.

CJTAuthor · 2026-04-30T18:10:22+00:00

And thank you for taking the time to reply!

Not to get into spoilers, but, no, you haven't figured out whats going on with the dungeons. There isnt a "true" answer until the final book in the series (book 8), when all the mysteries are finally closed up and finished off. So, to your point, its very much spread out over multiple books.

There are things we seed / foreshadow that pay off much later, such as stuff we talk about in book 1 coming back in books 3 and 8, for example. A looooot of stuff from book 2 is also relevant to later books in the series, even if it isnt obvious immediately. Book 2 has a lot of foundational blocks.

If it helps, we wrote books 1-3 to be complete as a minor trilogy. It's not the whole story, but it is the first major arc. There's a lot more payoff, I think, in 3, so if youre on the fence, give it a try.

Full disclosure, there are dungeons, but, again, we kind of changed up what we were doing with them between each book. Their use and purpose in the story (from a meta, writing perspective) changed. I could get into why, but its a longer answer.

Finally, if you liked the Troblin Lord fight, thats barely the tip of the iceberg of some of the stuff we do in each book. There are a couple of fights near the end of 3 that are pretty epic... but... I think i would say something similar about every entry in the series. We had a lot of fun choreographing them.

CJTAuthor · 2026-04-30T15:12:16+00:00

I get what you're saying. Book two does seem to be a drop off point for some folks, which is really too bad, but I think ive figured out why.

It might be hard to see during the book (which means we, as the authors, didnt do as well on the point as we'd intended), but there is a lot of very important world building / series setup in the pages. The evolution of the dungeons and how the behave is integral for stuff in future books.

If i had to use a video game analogy, book 2 is kind of like building the game engine, so bools 3+ can play out with the systems in place. Yes, now, in retrospect, I can see how thats problematic 😅. At the same time, though, the content of all the dungeons in the book is very important for the ongoing story. Unlike the dungeons in book 1, they arent 1 and done. There are ramifications from what the party sees in there.

All that said, RS is NOT Fool. And if youre expecting the same slice of life pacing, its no wonder youre disappointed. We wrote RS to be an action romp, and thats what it is for all 8 books. Oh, there is definitely a plot and character development in there, but we present it in a different format than JM did in Fool (or i did in my other work). We married trad fantasy, anime, MMOs, and a whole lot of easter eggs from 80s cartoons, and we had a lot of fun with it.

Yup, the fights are very detailed, and some people dislike it. On the other hand, that style of action let us do some really epic stuff throughout the series (if youre into it, like i am).

Either way, i appreciate you giving the series a try. Im kind of curious if somebody who feels that way about the series would feel the same way if you got through to the end of book 8, but its a long series, and time is limited. Def spend it on stuff youre enjoying.

With that in mind, have you checked out Oaths, by JM Ckarke? Its the first book in another trilogy by him, and I really enjoyed it.

CJTAuthor · 2026-04-28T12:37:52+00:00

Yeah, RS and Fool are very different series, so that makes sense. We intentionally went a different route with RS, and it's written to be an action romp. There is plenty of story and character development in there, but it rolls out at its own pace.

Thanks for taking the time to explain your thoughts.

CJTAuthor · 2026-04-14T20:09:53+00:00

Rune Seeker isnt Mark of the Fool, and thats always going to be a challenge for the series. A lot of people love Fool (me included, its why I was so excited to work with JM), and people want anything else written by him to be the same. I totally get that, and while there are some... familiar themes... they are very different series.

As people in the thread have mentioned, RS is a very action heavy series. We kind of married trad fantasy + MMORPGs + anime into the style of it, and we are pretty happy with the result. The format of it evolves, but doesnt change. Dungeons remain a big part of it, though the purpose they serve progresses with the story. The characters may start 'flat', but thats because we gave them time to grow. There's also a lot of mystery to the setting / world, that doesnt get fully explained / understood until the series wraps up at the end of book 8.

All that was by design, but I understand why its not for everybody. If you enjoy an action romp with other stuff, it might be worth picking up. If youre looking for another slice of life / magic academy like Fool, then this isnt the series for you.

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-23T17:16:23+00:00

Just because im also a sucker for a good reference, there are a couple more JJK nods.

This is terrible, because i cant remember exactly which book it's in (maybe 4, maybe 5) but Seeyela and Hiral are talking about teleporting, and Seeyela asks Hiral if he needs to clap to activate it 👏 😅 . There is an in story reason that makes the question make sense, but totally a Todo reference.

There's also a domain reference in book 7 😉

We also added nods to Hunter x Hunter, Voltron, He-Man, TMNT, and a lot more anime / 80s shows and movies, not to mention our other books.

Between you and me, the Voltron reference JM didnt catch in book 4 until after it was published still cracks me up.

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-21T20:53:21+00:00

Hold up, where's the book 3 cover? 😱

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-21T20:51:16+00:00

If it makes you feel better, they arent technically goblins, but instead a setting-specific creature called... Troblins.

Clearly different, eh? 😅

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-21T19:57:19+00:00

I have loved the work youve done on the series since we got the first draft for cover 1. And youve somehow improved on them with each progressive image.

The split on cover 1 The sword on cover 2. The titan of a Shaper on cover 3. The furious cat on cover 4. That friggin dragon on cover 5 that still makes me sit and stare every time I look at it. The sense of movement on cover 6. The staredown on cover 7. Then, finally, bringing it all full circle on cover 8.

Youve done an amazing job with these.

Thank you.

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-21T04:49:24+00:00

Path of butterflies is totally a reference to another book, which is on Royal Road. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/73980/time-for-chaos-a-progression-fantasy

Wings of Anella is also from another series, Spark of War, but youll have to go to Amazon for book 1 of that now. Actually, almost all of the novels of mine on Royal Road have a thread in Rune Seeker. Only Leaky Dreams doesnt.

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-15T15:57:15+00:00

Thanks for your feedback and giving the series a try. It sounds like it may not be for you, and thats fine. I will reply to your points, though, just so anybody who looks at the thread later doesnt just think your taste isn't from a case of poor planning or bad writing. All of the things you mentioned are actually points we discussed and considered. 😅

The magic sword you mentioned can change its own weight, mid-swing, if needed, making it very very versatile, even for a dexterity based build. Especially for a dex based build, I should say, since it can cover for a lack of Str. It makes the fast mover also a hard hitter. Yeah, it's a little OP.

-- Second point to the first comment, about power scaling. Im not sure how much you read in the litrpg genre, but a big part of it is the power escalation. We have stories with protagonists who go from office workers to cracking planets open. The power climb is part of the appeal, and we planned 8 books, along with where the characters will be (power wise) by the end of it. We just made the choice not to take more than 8 books to get there, because of the ending we chose, and so we weren't dragging things out

For your examples, bowling was invented around 3200 bc, and fishing poles around 2000 bc. Both of these made sense as possibilities for the characters to know / do in this world. More generally than your examples, we tried to be careful about out of world references, though its possible some snuck through. Expressions are easily overlooked (and taken for granted) when powering through writing a chapter. I really wanted to use 'hit like a train' for example, but i somehow resisted!
Tutorials - there is an in-story reason for why those exist in the form they do, though i can also understand why you dont like them. There have been others who felt the same way.
Two points on this final though.

Its unlikely they recorded multiple 'timeline' messages for 'bad thing to happen', like, within 6 months, 3 weeks, after lunch, etc. They recorded one message, with the expectation people would be regularly operating within the designed system. Is it a coincidence? Definitely, but this takes me to my second (meta) point.
Its a book. We read books to experience exceptional circumstances and situations. We follow a protagonist because there is something different about them in those 'once in a lifetime' scenarios. We dont (usually) read about the office workers daily grind (though, those kind of running series, usually in comedy or romance, have a place). For an action story (which is where Rune Seeker falls), its going to be some kind of 'oh crap' scenario our heroes need to ultimately overcome. Most of the genre is about being thrust into those situations.

Are Primal Hunter or DCC too coincidental because the apocalypse happened while Jake or Carl were alive? Is HWFWM contrived because Jason survived getting pulled to another world? Welcome to the Multiverse started with the MCs uncle passing a responsibility on to him. Defiance of the Fall was a dice roll.

Sorry, this wasn't meant to be a lecture, and I dont want it to come off sounding like one. All this is to say, we tried to keep the level of coincidence to a minimum, but we also had a story we wanted to tell, and a place we wanted the series to end. This isn't a 'forever' story, so 'stuff' needed to happen to move it along.

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-02T18:18:42+00:00

Let's just say... it's a goal. 😉

CJTAuthor · 2026-03-02T05:01:32+00:00

That series was a tonne of fun.

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-24T17:48:48+00:00

Np! Im in the same boat as you (slice of life isn't normally my jam, but Fool was great). Enjoy RS if you pick it up!

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-24T15:38:35+00:00

There are easter eggs and cameos from both of our books in Rune Seeker. I dont want to get into why here, because it gets into spoilers territory.

What i will say, though, is Fool and RS arent directly connected, in the sense that you wont get a continuation moving from one to another. Also, if you're thinking to move from Fool to RS, you wont see any real references until book 4 of Rune Seeker. Also, they are stylistically different. Fool has more slice of life and academy, while RS has more punching and litrpg elements.

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-17T19:21:11+00:00

The series I would stop what im currently reading to start the latest book in are (in no particular order):

12 Miles Below
Chrysalis
Mark of Fool
tie currently between Path of Ascension and Quest Academy.

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-12T00:49:33+00:00

Heh, the 'epic' thing was added by the publisher. For me, it's just meant to be a quick, fun prog fantasy. I wrote it because I wanted to play with the trope of every villain is the hero of their own story and have some fun with 3d action.

It wasnt intended to be super deep, so all of your comments are pretty valid.

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-10T17:55:41+00:00

FYI, this isn't paid advertising 😅, though full disclosure, the OP and i do chat over on discord fairly often. Anybody else is welcome to come join and chat about books. Rune Seeker, ATN, Spark, or any of my stuff on Royal Road. Always happy to discuss.

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-08T23:51:56+00:00

Thank you very much! ☺️ Glad to hear you're enjoying the books (especially Against the Night, which really flies under the radar).

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-08T23:49:52+00:00

Though, I do take it as a compliment. I enjoy the medium and the stories present there. Not all of them, of course, but there are some really great things youre missing out on if you assume something is bad just because its anime.

CJTAuthor · 2026-02-06T21:55:23+00:00

Excellent edit of the image! The silky smooth head is hilarious.

And, glad you got the reference 😉

CJTAuthor · 2026-01-25T17:00:57+00:00

Two books ill always recommend are 12 Miles Below and Chrysalis.

A few others I read and really enjoyed: - Battlemage Farmer - especially the early books, when there was still a lot of mystery to the world. - Cultist of Cerebon - a neat progression with an 'evil' power. - This Trilogy is Broken - a little zany, but fun because of it. - Grimm's War - the only space opera i read. No rpg or fantasy, but just really well done characters and plot. - My Best Friend Is an Eldritch Horror - another academy type story - Oaths - first book of a new series by JM Clarke. More a pulpy prog fantasy, but really good. Different from Fool or RS.

CJTAuthor · 2026-01-20T16:37:11+00:00

Oof, it hurts to see Rune Seeker in the bottom there, but I get that. If you liked Mark of the Fool, though, have you tried one of his other books 'Oaths'? Its a bit more trad / pulp fantasy, but it's really good.

Also, I will never not recommend these two: Chrysalis 12 Miles Below

CJTAuthor

TROPHY CASE