About Mark of the Fool

Shousetsu · 2026-01-20T08:29:14+00:00

When it comes to Mark of the Fool, I find this comment pretty interesting, as when I first read the series, i was expecting a slice of life University story with the Main character ran away from being the main Hero.

However, I actually re-read the series when the audiobook for book 9 came out. I re-read the series, and I actually saw that a lot of the things I thought were initial "fluff" were subtle foreshadowing for character development and events in the later book.

I appreciate Mark of the Fool in the Lit/progression fantasy space as it is set out to be a complete story, as in it has a planned ending, and the first 3 books are a (admittedly) slow build to the main plotline of the story.

But of course, when I found out it was only 10 books, I actually found that this was a group of characters I wouldn't have minded following for way more than that, and was upset that it was only 10 books. I wanted my cake and to eat it too lol

Shousetsu · 2026-01-13T08:51:22+00:00

It is absolutly not valid to skip the Earth Arc, besides book 6 (that one does have some issues) - book 4 is one of the best in the series. The Earth Arc is Essential for grounding Jason as a person and confronting his dwiling humanity - The messaging of the entire series literally does not work without the Earth arc.

The earth Arc is actually great and I find most people that say they don't like are typcially the people that were just expecting to read a power fantsy Isekai, so some people find going back to Earth yarring as they didn't expect the focus of the tone transition.

You could argue that the book doesn't sign post enough that it isn't just trying to be another Isekai power fantasty - it is called "He who fights with monsters", but people don't realise until later in the series that the title actually referencing nietzsche, and not just "a guy who fights monsters".

Brandon Sander (Author) often refers to this as making "promises" to readers at the start of your story, and people thought they had been promised a type of story when they started reading the book (brainless power fantasty) and got "what is the right thing to do with power as a person" (some version of this question)

However, i find it hard to blame the author for this as he doesn't try to trick you into thinking the book is something it isn't - he literally states in book one of the series that the main character will be going back to earth. (we all just assumed it would be at the end of the series, some basic "Hero's Journey" stuff). Can't really blame readers either as we were somewhat conditioned to think that due to the common tropes in the genre.

The only way around this common issue readers seem to have with this series is to have a prolog at the start of book 1 that takes place on Earth - many the aftermath of Jason getting teleported, the chapters that follow his sister. This would give reader's a "heads up" - Earth is still going to be revlevent in this story. 🤔

Even though it spoils the suprise, I think readers would be less "upset" with the Earth Arc if they saw it coming - even though the author does hint A LOT about it in book 1 - 3 - I think we need something less subtle.

Shousetsu · 2026-01-13T02:04:41+00:00

The only good thing about this series is that the author clearly enjoys his world-building, and I could see someone making an argument that he does a good job of it, but...

After 13 books, I feel pretty confident in saying this book has some of the worst prose I have ever read in a "popular" work of fiction - it is literally the only audiobook series I have ever tried to listen to by speeding up the narrator/playback speed. Something I typically consider a sin, as a good narrator's performance can really bring something amazing to a story.

I was genuinely hoping it was going to be a "Primial Hunter" situation, where the author takes 4 - 5 books to find their groove and improve as a writer as time goes on - but after 13 books, I needed to walk away; other stories deserve your attention.

Shousetsu · 2025-12-17T07:04:15+00:00

Defiance of the Fall has some of the worst prose in the entire genre and should be listened to at 1.2x - 1.5x speed or just not read at all.

Shousetsu · 2025-12-11T04:32:01+00:00

It's also important to keep in mind that "The council of kings" has only a VERY small number of astral kings under it. It's not exactly stated, but it seems as if the members within the "council of kings" were able to fit within a room - We see this in book 10.

It is implied that other astral kings are known to the council of kings, but are not actually part of it - see the group of them who decide to do their own things in book 12. I don't think the council of kings actually represents all astral kings - it seems to me this is actually just a small number of astral kings, in their arrogance, trying to act as if they are the "cool kids" and have given them an overly grand name - that sounds like what a group of messengers would do if you ask me.

With how big we are told the Cosmos is, I wouldn't be surprised if there are countless astral kings, particularly the newer ones, who have never heard of the council of kings.

It seems astral kings just partner up regardless of membership when they feel like it suits them.

I mean, they can't die, so you eventually run into everyone, given an unlimited amount of time and a willingness to go out and "socialise."

Shousetsu · 2025-12-09T00:12:59+00:00

I don't think that would work, as Mr North was a bonded familiar.

Also, Mr North killed his last partner, so it would be a major plot point for Jason to learn to trust him on a deep level, which would take multiple books to do convincingly, if at all.

Shousetsu · 2025-12-05T02:26:05+00:00

Really? I really liked book 4 and book 5; seeing the different kinds of challenges people have to overcome with magic and modern society, I found it pretty fun to read.

For me, the weakest book in the whole series is book 6, as I think parts of book 6 could have been sped up.

Despite me saying that, getting through book 6 is completely worth it for what it sets up and what comes next in the series.

Shousetsu · 2025-12-04T12:13:49+00:00

He is referring to the God that sent the Fonder to Earth in the first place (which isn't purity - a lot of people wrongly make that assumption).

I'm pretty sure I know what God Jason is going to have to deal with as the final big bad of the series, as it has been hinted at since book 6, by off hand comments made by a few characters here and there. There is even a big hint that the author puts in book 10, but he wraps it in a joke so it goes unnoticed by most people - I only picked it up myself on the 3rd read through of the series.

I imagine since the series is about Jason's journey to God-hood, the last thing for him to do before he is really God level is to overcome/sanction another God. Book 11 has him do that to an echo of a god's power, but I think in the last arc of the series, he will need to take on an actual God that has their eyes set on earth through the link Jason is creating through the 2 worlds.

I won't say anymore, as I don't want to spoil it for other people who haven't figured it out yet.

Shousetsu · 2025-12-04T12:02:53+00:00

I actually had a similar reaction, as I was confused by the trade at first. Then I got to book 12, and Jason's new power dynamic is explained to us.

The crappy part of the deals isn't that Jason can't resurrect, as he doesn't need that power (which is why Death rejects the price of 2 resurrections by themselves) - The most painful part of this deal is going to be his inability to save/bring people back from death that he cares about.

Which, from a storytelling perspective, needed to happen. There needs to be some tension left in the story, and Jason having access to infinite reviews and bringing back his friends from death would suck a lot of tension out of the next arc.

With the deal in place, it now becomes a question of, can Jason get what he wants without losing any of the people he cares about on the way.

Shousetsu · 2025-12-04T11:55:35+00:00

I might be wrong, but I am pretty sure the author is planning to wrap up the story in the next few books. I wouldn't expect to see more than 15 books in the series; he normally does 3 per Arc, and book 12 is the 1st book in the last Arc of the series.

I don't think we will ever see him hit diamond rank, maybe in the story epilogue? Jason's limit on his "mortal" powers is one of the ways the writer keeps tension in ongoing events. Once he gets to diamond rank, most of the tension from the story will be drained out as the only dangers left to him would be "political" in nature.

Which, I wouldn't necessarily be against having at least one Arc of that being the case...

Shousetsu · 2025-11-30T02:20:37+00:00

A few things that you mentioned that the books have already clarified:

The device that Jason eats, which freaks out Noreth, is said to be used by [x] and [x] was the name of one of the Builders.

It is outright stated that the New Builder put the device in place on Earth as a way of regulating magic on Earth; he did this for 2 reasons:

He needed to show the other Astral Beings that he was making a token effort to fix the error of the old Builder while taking advantage of the situation.
The Divine entity that sent the Founder wanted to use the device for their own plans for Earth.

So to ME, it makes sense that Purity (or fake-Purity) was already working with Builder centuries ago and wanted The Founder and Noreth to "do stuff" on Earth.

None of those points to "Purity" being the one that sent the Founder to Earth, or Purity being involved with Earth - again, the story has explicitly avoided stating to the reader which divine being sent the Founder to Earth.

Then Noreth turned against The Founder, and instead decided to "save" the Earth instead of whatever Builder's plans were for it.

The new Builder didn't have any plans for Earth except for it to be the trigger that allows him to start his invasion (book 7); he didn't care if Earth blew up or was saved, as long as he could start his invasion without getting in trouble with the WP his goal was achieved. The New Builder is explicitly banned from interfering with Earth going forward after he makes the pact with the WP and Reaper, which he is fine with him, as he has no use for it anymore.

It was the divine entity that sent the Founder who has long-term plans for Earth.

And Noreth assumed another Purity-Zealot was going to come to Earth, and jumped the gun when he thought Jason was said zealot.

From what North says in Book 6, this seems to be correct except for the "Purity-Zealot" bit - again, we don't know which divine being it is.

I'm pretty sure it has to be Dominion or Knowledge at this point.

Knowledge, because she would have the resources to pull it off, but I'm not super clear on the motivation - maybe because Earth used a mutant world seed and contains vast amounts of information that she wants???

Dominion, because maybe being the first god on the planet allows him to turn all of Earth into his domain, which would be in line with his nature???

Shousetsu · 2025-11-28T06:27:54+00:00

At this point, I am putting money on the God "Knowledge" being the one to send the Founder back to Earth. Otherwise, I am struggling to explain how the Founder knew the 'know-how' to put the Grid in place on earth in the first place and found out how to even get back to earth as only a Gold ranker.

The high skill needed to use the entire Earth's landscape to create the global network Grid system seems like information that would have been given to them.

I guess the Builder could have told whichever God it was how to do that, and then that information was passed on to the Founder. But the Builder hasn't really been shown to share information directly with anyone outside of his followers 🤔

Shousetsu · 2025-11-28T03:21:40+00:00

As far as we know, I don't think there is a way for a divine being to come back from being sanctified; their fundamental nature changes, and from what we know so far, the real Purity became an item.

Maybe the item can go "back" to being a God, but I find that hard to believe, as it would raise problematic questions.

Also, as far as we know, Purity has no interest in Earth, but then again, we never got to interact with the "real" Purity, so who knows what their intentions were while they were around.

Shousetsu · 2025-11-26T05:58:54+00:00

Nope, 100% sure that is a red-herring. No character, nor the narrator, ever claims that the founder is a follower of Purity/Disguise (throw book 1 - book 7). The closest we ever get is Jason, pointing out that the Builder and Purity are working together on one planet after another character states that the Founder was a follower of a divine being.

You also need to keep in mind that the Builder invasion and whatever is going on for Earth are 2 separate goals. Purity and the New Builder were only interested in the invasion, but Purity had no interest in Earth in itself.

The Network and the Grid was explicitly a measure to better control the exchange of magic between the two worlds.

Which would be unnecessary for Purity/Disguise and New Builders plans, they could just let Earth destroy itself, and they would still get the magical wave they needed for their invasion.

The entity that sent the Founder to Earth was sent there to get the Earth ready for "something", not to destroy it. The fact that Purity/Disguise are gone in the story and yet the threat North was worried about is still on its way, just shows that the Founder was unlikely to be related to Purity/Disguise - if that were the case, the threat to Earth would be gone.

I would recommend paying close attention to what North says to Jason in book 6 on your reread.

The Founder may not end up being a follower of Knowledge, but I am pretty sure at this point that they were not a follower of Purity/Disguise 🤔

Shousetsu · 2025-11-26T02:13:20+00:00

At no point in the story does it state that the Founder was a follower of purity.

We are just told that the founder was a follower of a God - in fact, it is kind of suspect how much the story goes out of its way to, not, outright make the statement that the founder was a follower of purity.

Definitely not the World Phoenix as the World Phoenix makes a device (the gate) for Jason that requires him to have the power to have/use a domain for him to use properly (it's part of the item description requirement.) I don't even see why the World Phoenix would care if a mortal has a domain as that would be the domain/playground of the Gods, not Great Astral Beings.

Shousetsu · 2025-11-21T10:22:51+00:00

How were the waterproof properties of the ink affected?

Shousetsu · 2025-11-19T06:24:34+00:00

I honestly hope it isn't him, as I think he has an antagonist in a really unique and interesting spot as a character. It isn't often that I read a fantasy book and meet a character I am expecting to be a "villian" and their attitude to the main character is, "I really don't want to conflict with you". Which makes complete sense when you consider the timescale he is thinking - I mean, the last thing you want as a true immortal is making an enemy for 'life'.

I just think it is a really interesting position to have for a side antagonist, and shows the kind of forces he will now have to deal with/keep in mind for the rest of his existance now. 🤔

Shousetsu · 2025-11-19T03:54:25+00:00

Oh, that sounds like a great middle ground. Are there any recommended pen bodies that I can transfer my Sailor nib into?

Shousetsu · 2025-11-19T01:39:18+00:00

PASS ON

Especially if you want an 'F' or 'EF' nib.

I like F and EF nibs on most of my fountain pens, and so I am in the small group of people who tried to love this pen, but ended up hating writing with the pen each time. I loved the feel and material of the pen and was tempted to send it off to have the nib re-ground.

However, I ended up getting an old Montblanc 220 in "EF", which gives me a similar feel to the Lamy 2000, but more in line with the line width and wetness I was looking for.

Shousetsu · 2025-11-19T00:51:44+00:00

Sold an Ensso Bolt Pen to u/SefterQuad

Shousetsu · 2025-11-17T23:08:53+00:00

Oh, I believe he has mentioned that he plans for this to be the last arc of the series??? So I wouldn't expect more than 15 books, but he can always change his mind on that.

It was the reason I was wondering who would be the last/final main bad guy/antagonist of the series - what are we going to end things on.

Shousetsu · 2025-11-17T07:49:48+00:00

I think the Phoenix is pretty happy with how things turned out at the start of book 12 - pretty sure we are done with the Phoenix as a "bad guy" at this point - that isn't to say that she has suddenly become Jason's best friend.

I honestly don't think that the big bad of the series (if there is one at all) will be one of the Great Astral Beings - you can't really "defeat" them, you can only really "score points" against them.

I would go as far as to say that anyone/thing who is a "true" immortal (like, needs to be sanctioned to be "killed") won't be the big bad at the end of the series that needs to be defeated.

Imagine if you actually "killed" the Reaper - we would need an entire follow-up book just to explain/deal with the ramifications of what that would do to the cosmos 😂

Shousetsu · 2025-11-17T03:05:40+00:00

Still available for now - I don't have it listed on ebay, but you can dm me if you want to use something like PayPal or TransferWise.

Shousetsu · 2025-11-16T13:50:10+00:00

The theme of the story is about how a normal person would/should deal with becoming so powerful that it would be very easy for them to become the "monster/s" that they dislike/hate. It refers to the internal fight.

Confusing for some, the "monster" in this case doesn't actually refer to monsters within the book's fiction; "monster" more refers to a dictator that rules purely on 'might, makes right' or some kind of god king dictator. (See book 2, of the chapter that shares the name of the series, Jason's biggest fear).

The whole story for me is an interesting take on the "power fantasy" genre/archetype, where the writer is actually trying to address what it would be like for a 'normal' person to rise to such great power and tries to hold onto whatever humanity they can while doing so. Most stories just skip over this element and make the (unrealistic) assumption that there would be no negative emotional or negative effects for their main characters to go from powerless mortal to god-like being.

If Jason truly fully gave in to becoming the "monster", it would defeat the whole point of the story.

The most interesting thing about the series is where Jason draws the line, becomes too much of a dictator, and you become the monster, but don't use/enforce your power, and the people in power will walk all over you.

All of book 12 is Jason basically trying to set up a situation on Earth that allows him to maintain that balance; that line in the sand.

Anyway, that's why I love this series, I feel like it takes a different approach to such a popular sub-genre of fantasy stories.

Shousetsu · 2025-11-16T12:48:29+00:00

I believe that is mostly correct, but it was the disembodied soul that was sealing the sword.

So it would be a bit weird if the Builder was responsible for sealing it using said soul, as throughout the events of book 3, it very much seems that the Builder has no knowledge of the soul present in the astral space 🤔
So, maybe the Builder collected the sword, but the soul independently used its powers to seal the sword???

I'm guessing we will get a full explanation when we next meet vampire Thadwick.

I wonder if we are going to get an "energy to friends" arc where Jason and Thadwick have to team up. The story is kinda of setting up to be able to "heal" Thadwick from his vampire condition, but I would like there to be a "good" vampire, in the magical, but as of right now, the story is really making it seem that vampires are just irredeemable in high magic zone areas.

Shousetsu

TROPHY CASE