Aug 15, 2021
And here I go, binging the entirety of SoK in two sittings. Here's my general thoughts as I was reading through it. Keep in mind, this is the perspective of a person who is mainly used to light novels, so my focus will be a bit different than the others.
SoK is lush with worldbuilding and rich, colorful dialogue between the characters. It has the sort of grit and realism that one could really get into, with story beats that flow from one point to the next in little arcs. I can see why you decided to the separate them into non-continguous arcs, with each one focusing on little bits of the characters in dramatic fashion. Powers that are introduced little by little, and characters that are fleshed out under different viewpoints. The strongest places are when you really dig into the philosophy, bringing a great sense of immersion combined with witty dialogue.
Especially with Kai, where you see the reveal of her powers, and then how to mess her up, those arcs were captivating towards building interest in her. You really try to build different facets of her character and others, giving each one of them their moments in the spotlight.
However, the execution has little faults to note of. At times, the dialogue gets a bit too heavy handed, and I find myself a little lost whenever characters get into a shouting match. At this point, the dialogues become a bit too much like a script, given to actors to say the key lines, but needing to improvise what actions and body language that is missing contextually. For me, I find it a bit like talking in a vacuum. Then happen a bit randomly at times, making the writing feel uneven and a bit raw.
The change of perspectives is also a bit rocky at times. Especially with the beginning of the second arc, where it jumps to Trish, it took nearly an entire chapter for me to realize that happened. Part of it was the time jump backwards, and that I couldn't form a distinct difference between the two yet. It wasn't until the two first met that I could start seeing those two voices as their own. I also noticed that you waited to put dates on the last chapter of each arc, making it a bit confusing when a reader approaches it a chapter at a time. It may be best to move that to the prologue, as I didn't expect the jump backwards in time after the first arc. Overall, there are occasions where the perspectives need a bit more clarity since it's all in first person.
And buried under this rich experience that plays out is one other fault that I find. The plot is a bit predictable and somewhat straightforward. From how the scenes are executed in each arc, it was rather obvious to me what would happen at the end of each. Kai's intentions are a bit too telegraphed, taking away the mystery of what she would do. The only place that drew an element of surprise for me was really her initial power reveal at the end of the first arc. The kiss with Trish was unexpected too, and it felt a bit odd, like it had been added there without any warning. I had hoped for some follow up to that but didn't see any.
However, the execution and the immersion of these straightforward scenes are what makes SoK an enjoyable read overall. One can easily grasp what is going on. The themes hit like how they should. And I found each of the arcs, save the 3rd one, to be interesting snippets of 'cases' that the characters are involved in. One qualm I do have is how the overarching plot of the arcs makes the volume feel a bit incomplete. Particularly with the last two arcs, they feel a bit tacted on, compared to the first two, which have clearly defined, strong themes to them. It just leaves me wanted for some kind of climax that doesn't really hit, since I got more of a sense in that for the first two arcs.
Anyways, I'll leave it at that. Good job on this!
