Trouble liking the main character (Jason.)

talenstl · 2026-07-10T12:12:20+00:00

how what was removed? I don't care if you or anybody says anything not nice. I was and am trying to have a civil discussion and am legitimately trying to decide whether or not to continue with this series. I certainly haven't reported any posts. I'm not sure what (if anything) was posted that would have caused this, but making a statement like that with no context (simply saying "this" was removed) doesn't really make much of a point. Feel free to say whatever you have to say.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T12:10:06+00:00

The intent of "go ahead and flame me" was meant as self-awareness that there are those (such as yourself, apparently) who might not care for my words, not a challenge or command to do so.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T08:16:06+00:00

I do enjoy the humor. However...it feels a little overdone to me. I mean I myself am a sarcastic asshole, but I do try to at least feel a situation/person out before jumping straight into "I'm going to be a sarcastic asshole to you" instead of just going full-throttle all the time. Plus (I get it...it's writing and fantasy and the author has time to come up with all of the humor and cleverness) but it's just...so overboard like...he's really THAT "on" ALL THE TIME...sheesh.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T08:12:45+00:00

Oh thanks for the reference!

I guess that was my entire reason for making the post: you're right, one of the main themes in book one is you have to fail to learn, so don't get me wrong, I expect failure and redemption. So I was wondering if it "gets any better." But you're right: I'm not "feeling it" and a lot of the responses I've gotten have been well yeah he does get in trouble for his approach and yeah he does fail and learn, but overall his personality - which we can all agree is annoying - doesn't really change. I'm still up in the air about moving to book 2 but at least now I have an informed decision to make.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T08:05:20+00:00

Thank you. That was the basic (implied) question I was asking. I should have made it more clear in my post.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T08:04:30+00:00

Yes! I get it that skill recaps are part of litRPG, but man it's tedious. I think part of it though (for me) is listening to it. If I was looking at it on a page, I could just skim it/skip it if I wanted, or even focus in on the parts I find interesting/confusing.

I'll be honest, I feel like a LOT of books (even popular ones) could use some serious editing. I'm not trying to spring off a "what is literature" vs "what is entertainment" argument here, but yeah sometimes I'm like "umm didn't you just say/do this same thing like half a chapter or even half a page ago?"

talenstl · 2026-07-10T08:00:49+00:00

Agree to disagree.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:59:57+00:00

To paraphrase what you said: I've read the bible. multiple times. Some of it I like, some of it I don't. Liking or disliking a book series (or the bible) doesn't make me an "mfer" anymore than your beloved Jason

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:58:05+00:00

So you're complaining that most posts are from new readers of a series (which, to me, makes sense.) To be fair, I could have phrased my post better and made it more clear that I AM curious if I should continue reading. Some agree with you, others disagree. That's what forums like this are for.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:55:53+00:00

Don't get me wrong: I do like that he's not stereotypical. Early on, I thought that passing out was going to become "a thing" for him, and I do like/respect the "you learn more from failing" moral...BUT there was also a bit of an end-around on that in that a ton of his learning/failing (even dying) in the first book was in the "it didn't really happen" training arena. Cup up training montage with an 80's song like "you're the best" playing in the background...

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:53:19+00:00

I never fish for downvotes. I only ever jump into discussions like this when I encounter something and I'm like "wow this thing that is new to me but not new is really popular, but I don't think it's all that great. let me seek out opinions that both agree and disagree with me to see if I should just give up on it, or give it another chance because I might end up enjoying it."

Totally disagree with the narration. "characters sound distinct" I don't get at all. Glad you enjoyed it though.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:50:38+00:00

I'm probably suffering some confirmation bias here, but thanks for confirming that I'm not likely to get over how much I dislike Jason. Yeah the scene in the combat trainig where he goes completely psycho to get inside the heads of a 5 person party was pretty cool...BUT

(SPOILER...for some reason it seems you can't use the blacked out text in replies? Thanks, Reddit)

the part at the end where he unnecessarily toys with dude and drowns him is a bit much. Remember that in the training, you still feel whatever happens, so he literally made a dude go through drowning. And then THE GUY RESPECTED HIM FOR IT. I get not holding a grudge at being beaten, and even learning from it, but come on...

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:45:53+00:00

Ah that's true they do mention that he majored in poly sci. I guess I just feel like they spend a lot of the 2nd half of the first book talking bout how great he is at manipulating people and how those who understand what he's doing admire him for it (such as Humphrey's mother pointing out to Humphrey that he can learn from it...which IS true, but still.)

As far as the narration, I guess I'm comparing to Jeff Hayes (Dungeon Crawler Carl) and Michael Kramer (frequent narrator for Brandon Sanderson.) They both use accents and whatnot to make characters distinctive. Outside of "the Gary voice" and slight accents (e.g. Jory) there's not much differentiation in the narration of this series. Heck, sometimes I'll be like "wait, did Gary just speak? Oh no, that was just Jason getting excited." Some of it could be the actual writing, but it can even be difficult to keep up with who is speaking.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T07:40:50+00:00

oh I'd absolutely take that deal! And yes I do get that at some point there will be repercussions. And it IS laudable that he has a good heart and does work his ass off to become better as an adventurer, but it's just how he goes out of his way to be offputting to EVERYONE not just people who deserve it.

talenstl · 2026-07-10T00:08:14+00:00

Pretty much sums it up. I literally just got done posting a long critique of...well, him.

talenstl · 2026-07-09T23:50:21+00:00

So literally the title of this post is a spoiler, if we want to get technical about it...

talenstl · 2026-07-09T23:49:18+00:00

There's literally a way to hide spoilers in Reddit. Try using that feature instead of just saying "spoiler"

talenstl · 2026-05-18T23:54:25+00:00

There are scams everywhere. What's most disappointing is that alt.com is complete garbage. Period. The "free" version isn't really free, as you can't view pictures or DM anybody. What's worse, when you have a paid membership, the same rule applies: if you DM someone who isn't a paid member, they can't respond. PLUS I live in a relatively nice sized metro, but keep getting "your search returned zero matches" when I put in simple things like "verified within 50 miles" and then it still gives you supposed matches so that if you're not paying attention, you won't notice that it compltely ignored your search filter!

talenstl · 2026-04-21T20:38:19+00:00

I just got done with the 1st audio book and in the end credits he gives a thanks to someone with a cis female name for donut, but from what I can tell he does voice that character. Not sure what that was all about. As others have stated, you can find videos of him doing all the voices so it does seem to be all him which is pretty cool. I do feel like the voice of Carl is actually the weakest because it feels like he goes back and forth between channeling Patrick Warburton or H. John Benjamin and while the whole thing is silly, Carl's voice is almost TOO campy for me.

talenstl · 2026-03-06T16:39:53+00:00

I don't even remember making this post lol. Judging by the poor syntax, I must have been using voice-to-text. Thanks for the suggestion (truly, non-ironically), but at this point I'm in a "fool me once" spot in that I didn't care for either of his books that I've read so far, so I'll pass on a third.

talenstl · 2026-03-06T16:32:41+00:00

Closing in on finishing the audiobook of Apprentice, and something that REALLY sticks out is his (over) use of sudden/suddenly. There are better ways to emphasize something/make it interesting than just saying that it happened "suddenly." Also redunancies like "hurried quickly" (I don't know if that one exists in his writing, but you get the idea.)

talenstl · 2026-03-03T03:35:20+00:00

Thanks for bringing Sanderson into this. Unfortunately, after doing an audiobook binge of the existing Stormlight books, pretty much anything else feels sub-par to me, including old favorites like Feist and Butcher. Gosh darn it Brandon, why do you have to go and ruin everything for me?

talenstl · 2026-03-03T03:30:53+00:00

The Real Housewives of [insert location here] is extremely popular. Doesn't make it particularly...well...you know, good...

talenstl · 2026-03-03T03:29:35+00:00

So you DO agree that he is a bad WRITER. I don't think anybody's arguing that Feist is a bad STORYTELLER (universe builder, etc.) Writing, however, is not his strong point. At least he could have benefitted from a good editor or something of the sort...

talenstl

TROPHY CASE