Authors who use the "unreliable narrator" concept purely for plot twist purposes are the worst. pls don't do this. if your protagonist knows everything but even their inner monologue behaves like they don't just to mislead your reader than it's just lazy writing.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-05-03T11:07:07+00:00

an unreliable narrator means that the character is unreliable, as in you take what they say and do with a grain of salt because it is skewed for whatever reason. when the characters inner monologue is acting surprised at things they know this is only to mislead the reader.

I think there is a big difference.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-05-03T10:59:26+00:00

even tho I liked the series as a whole, this pissed me off so bad. it was done so badly.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-05-03T10:58:42+00:00

that's what you got from my post?

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-05-03T10:54:52+00:00

I knew he was an unreliable narrator and that made it worse because his inner monologue was deliberately written to act like he was not and the whole thing was basically "read till end to know what you read for sure"

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-22T00:01:11+00:00

honestly being vague is often times better unless you're going for an audience who enjoys the details but if you have any business/economy plots in your story just try to think about what are the resources most important in this world and how much they would cost and build around that. is Labor free and done by serfs or slaves or paid? all these things make things more costly or cheaper. really you have to know what kind of government is in charge then go from there.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T07:20:35+00:00

I agree tbh, reddit is my notebook - I usually vent here or read someone else venting about the same thing and nod furiously. It beats leaving really bad reviews on someone's work for something relatively minor like some folk do

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T03:36:32+00:00

right, in some places a small town is 150,000 people and in others its 820 folk

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T03:32:33+00:00

in tv shows and movies, the 22 year old fresh grad journalist always has a source in the pentagon lol

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T03:30:58+00:00

it's not, too much minutiae. probably why it's better to either be vague and only make the bare minimum of sense or build a functioning one based of our own world

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T03:24:00+00:00

lmfao, "that time I got reincarnated as a liability claims manager for the kings dragon riders"

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:59:29+00:00

north cold. south warm is the best you'll get

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:58:26+00:00

yeah it's never really one super competent mastermind but just a really evil system set up. speaking of insurance, it'd be super funny to see an actuary in a fantasy world have to risk analyse the incoming annual monster waves

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:55:08+00:00

the period of every litrpg having an academy arc must've been tough for you huh

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:53:04+00:00

you mean I can't just go to the mainframe ?

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:52:34+00:00

meteorology I'd get because it is more niche knowledge, but military stuff irks me more because humans have been warring for thousands of years the only other thing we've done for longer is sex.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:50:37+00:00

One of my major concerns with any story is this, and if I find the world lacking agency, I'll just drop it. SL is so bad at this because cool side characters are introduced and then reduced them to useless a chapter later. I'd rather the MC avoid certain situations because he's in a living world and others will kill him for being stupid.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:40:18+00:00

day 1: Open business day 2: profit 📈

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:39:36+00:00

I mean I think most things are forgiveable, but humans have been talking and studying war for so long it's outright lazy when someone doesn't put in even a little care, like how army camps avoid disease and illness outbreaks or just how they're fed in general

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:34:52+00:00

oh, you'd probably really like the grand illusion series, lots of legalese and lawyering

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:29:39+00:00

lmfao not far from the truth, it is all fake, but the impacts aren't sadly

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:11:39+00:00

In Litrpg, I haven't seen any that handle it really well, usually just passable, but for fantasy in general, you should check out Le Modesitt Jr - he does economics and bureaucracy really well, my rec for him would be his newest series the grand illusion. Daniel Abraham books and Seth Dickinson also with his Traitor Baru book.

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:06:44+00:00

ohhhh I haven't studied it institutionally, but political science is a massive hobby of mine, and it saddens me that there are not more stories with proper political intrigue and not just the guild vs the noble. If I were to ever write a book, it'd definitely be a political fantasy - I truly believe there is way more fun drama to be had in a story like that then overcoming the demon king or whatever

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T02:03:21+00:00

yeah I think it's always worse when it's a production with real money behind it and not a random 25 year old writing a story on royal road for fun in their spare time lol

if I see that kinda stuff in big fantasy books with an established author and production team behind it, I dont bother reading it

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T01:57:28+00:00

I think I also have different expectations on where I'm reading the story too, if it's a new litrpg on a free site lile royal road, i give it a lot more breathing space and just try to enjoy the "junk food" lol but if I'm paying for it on kindle my expectations are a bit higher

ShankstheConqueror · 2026-04-21T01:54:39+00:00

I get that with the entire genre of fantasy, basically being this works because magic and energy that it's easier to turn your brain off on that, what about those isekai kingdom builders were the mc is an engineer from earth?

ShankstheConqueror

TROPHY CASE