Cutting Edge - A Progression LitRPG [Book One Completed]

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2023

Author

Monus

• Chapter Three - Burnt Veggies
  Jun 7, 2022
• Chapter Two – Attempted cooking, failed
  Jun 6, 2022
• Chapter One - Scrambling
  Jun 4, 2022
• Chapter Zero - The Pillar of Issar
  Jun 3, 2022
• Prologue
  May 7, 2023

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• Soul_Sub_FemRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I would definitly reccomend the book. Starting off the story is a bit disorienting, mainly the action, but it gets better the more you read. The first few chapters might get a rewrite so that might not be a problem much longer.
  you need to read at least till the dungeon before you decide to drop it.
  Slow, taxing start, but every extra chapter is more intriguing, and the character's thinking is quite well thought out (not a physcopath). The understanding of the world's laws is very limited, so you want to read more to understand more. The thought process of the mc, and the limited knowledge of the world, makes it an adventure for the reader.
• DahanicRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  So, I'm a couple of chapters in so far and a lot of the issues described in earlier comments seems to have been worked out with the rewrites.
  It's an enjoyable romp so far: good dose of comedy and pleasant to read.
  Considering that the author came back to fix it up also speaks to some good commitment to quality from the author.
  I recommend this one to check out wholeheartedly.
• TelRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Alright up front chapter 1-13 are not great.
  A serious ough start.
  There is some absurd depth to the lore here that the first thirteen chapters really don't present well. Lots of facts, plots, and logic are just jumbled mess.
  Plus side from chapter fourteen on the story finally finds it's feet and the narrative properly starts shaking itself out and pulling free of the mess.
  A fairly standard fantasy setting with a system, The monsters include the dreaded monster squirrel, Drop Pigs (No relation to Drop Bears), and a suprise or two I'm not going to mention.
  The battles are pretty good in my opinion. Not to long, and creative enough to be fun to read.
  The worldbuilding is maybe still a bit rough on the big picture, but the slice of life around Kent the MC develops really well past Chapter 13. To be fair once you get past the early chapters enough clues have been dropped if you couldn't pick it apart befor to figure out what the author was going for early on. It's a big plot arc.
  Magic is not the most original but is presented well. Also a few options are really tempting for the sheer OP late game abuse potential, The sort of magic skills people grab in games to utterly break encounters they are a hard counter for.
  Overall I would say it is a very good read, but it isn't a casual read, or a easy read for plot. If you want the plot you are going to have to pay attention and think more than a little bit about what is being said.
• Natasha Velkirk (Zach or Zach)Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Because its the lowest, Grammar first. So, I would say this novel has one major problem: The spelling is clearly unedited, or inadaquetly edited. It is rather common for there to be more than one error per chapter, though the actual severity of these errors isn't terrible, it is undeniably very common. But, the rest of the novel seems so good, I almost want to start going through and editing the whole thing myself. If only I weren't so lazy....
  Style: Not spectacular, but it suits the story well enough. No complaints from me.
  Story: This is where it  starts to get good. The story is well crafted, with a surprisingly organic feel, and the patience to make the MC's strength feel earned. It also properly impacts others, and I can only hope it continues to maintain this level of consistency.
  Character: Finally, the best part of the novel. In all seriousness, the characterization is absolutely PHENOMENAL. I have never read a story with such dense and concise characterization in such a short amount of story time, without a single inconsistency. Those aren't neccesarily bad, but when you manage to get as much out of the characters as you do in such a short time, it is an achievement worthy of immense praise.
  Overall: This story has the definite possibility of becoming a true masterpiece. I've read all of The Primal Hunter, BTDEM, Salvos, OVDT, Vainquer, Never Die Twice, REND, and so many other stories on this site. If it can maintain the momentum, I believe this story may one day surpass those, my favorite stories in the world.
  You can do it Author. You can do it, and I hope to god that you will.
  Because that, would be something truly, truly, special.
  Good Luck, and remember: Above all else, QUALITY FIRST!
• AxalionRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  I'm enjoying this story a lot so far. It's clear that a lot of thought went into "The System" for this world, and having the perspective of someone born and raised in it, yet forced outside of it's standard rules is interesting. I enjoy Kent's perspective and personality, and I'm excited to see him interact with more of the world and other characters. I look forward to seeing where fhe author takes us!
• Evelyn AdelbergRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  This contest entry was a bit hard for me to get into because of its confusing narrative voice, weirdly/unconventionally formatted stat tables, and the sheer number of characters being introduced in the first few paragraphs.
  HOWEVER the author has said in their notes that there’s been a lot of editing done, so all this critics only applies to the fiction as it was submitted to the community contest.
  story
  style
  grammar
  characters
  4
  3
  4
  3,5
• BadsheepsRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 3.5

  Great world! Huge magic/level system.
  This is the book im most excited for every day!
  I feel that the author has taken on too much is this story. It progresses very well in the beginning, then it branches off very quickly in many different directions. I hope the author does not lose focus on the main character and his development.
  There are other viewpoints that have poped up and muddled up the story. Along with the pace changing between a crawl and a leap here and there.
  But the world is amazing, along with the backstory. I would like the backstory to be presented a little different.
  The main characters will to live and ruthlessness, is perfect.
  I would like to see more of the single or (vs) skill descriptions in txt boxs while the main character ponders them. It is hard to remember their difference's. Also it would be nice to see the updates the his status after changes. The level ups and new skills are all synergetic but are glossed over. I want to see the gains! Feel his power growing!
  I feel this story is lacking an easy out for the author to describe the mechanics of the world. Like an underling that can be taught of the world, so that the reader does not get obivous info dumps. With out an easy out like the underling it causes the flow of the story to be jaring.
  But thats just it, this story is great! Keep up the good work!
• naralianRoyal Road

  ★★★ 3.0

  A fairly standard example of the genre, readable and well-written enough in non-litrpg terms. The story is a simple but classic YA archetype, villager arbitrarily run out of town for being too special of a snowflake, gains great power while wandering the wilderness, nothing wrong with formula when the narrative is just the base to show off the world building.
  The problem is that world building, which everything else in the novel is minimized to make room for, is... kinda weak.
  There are flashes of fun brilliance here and there, like the woods primary danger being an extradimensional infestation of cosmically spawned tranquilizer squirrels, but like many litrpg novels our main view into the mechanics and society of this world is a system with RPG stats and that part is just... useless. It's just a giant pile of numbers, many of which are useless, redundant, or aggressively meaningless. There's not even a hint of the one useful purpose of a stat system in there, to tell us what traits are valued by this world's magic system over others.
  Worse, the central conflict between the MC is entirely in terms of him being a special superpowered snowflake whose system is mechanically unique in some way... but this means nothing because we never get so much as a hint of how "Normal" systems work in the first place, and what differences are ostensibly pointed out are unclear to the point of being anti-explanations deliberately muddying the waters.
  If that seems like a lot of complaining for a story I'm rating 3/5 (aka slightly above average overall), that's because the story is otherwise reasonably well-composed, and even the litrpg spam would serve some purpose if the author just discarded literally every part of it but the skill trees, and explained how skills combined into classes... ever, so we knew what the character is babbling about.
  It'd also be a shorter story... like 50% shorter. That's a plus, not a minus, since all the litrpg in this story is the author throwing the ha
• SodiumBicarbonateRoyal Road

  ★★★ 3.0

  I like what I am seeing so far, in terms of plot, but it's really hard to dig into the world when some of the grammar just doesn't make any sense. However, this seems relatively new so I feel it can always be fixed on an editing pass. Similarly, (i dont know if this really falls into grammar or style), The structure is a little bit wonky which also breaks some of the immersion of the story. These issues leave me confused and reluctant to read thoroughly, so I can't leave an accurate review of the plot. The premise has a nice twist though. My advice would to try and establish your writing voice more. Try reading aloud what you write and that will allow you to catch most of the glaring issues. Once you reach further in the story look back and revise on the first chapters to bring them up to the quality at the end. I really look forward to see what you will do next!
• dcarmsRoyal Road

  ★★ 2.0

  The story needs serious proofreading and editing. The main character is also frustrating and kind of an idiot, and a lot of the choices he makes don't make any sense. The plot is generic. There's nothing original going on here, and it's got some of the worst writing (from a technical perspective) that I've seen in a while.