Soul Blaze [Progressive fantasy | No LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A man who has never loved or been loved discovers that he is dead and reborn.

A new body, a new life.

More importantly, a new world.

A world with magic, wondrous creatures, and extraordinary adventures.

Also, with curses, monsters, and terrible evil.

Tao is not content to wait until he grows up to go out and explore this world. He decides to learn magic and other supernatural abilities in secret still being a baby. He wants the strength to protect his new family.

But power has a price.

Decisions have consequences.

The boy's rapid growth attracts an evil force that threatens not only him but also the family and the whole village. Without revealing his origins, Tao must find a way to protect those he holds dear and deal with the threats lurking in the shadows.

Yet, this is just the beginning.Tao will not be allowed to enjoy the innocence and freedom of a child. Nor the mundane life of an adult. For better or worse, a blaze of his soul will bring changes even in the designs of Fate Makers...

What can be expected from this story?

Detailed world-building, including history, geography, politics, and power systems.

Slow development from childhood to adulthood. No major time skipping. More slice of life at the beginning.

Characters struggle with both external enemies and their own weaknesses and mistakes.

Growth, not only physically and in power, but also mentally (hopefully).

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: imeru

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 377
Views: 119,373

Reviews

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Community Reviews(9)

NarraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Very good isekai reincarnation story. It's a slow burn starting from baby stage and goes year by year with no time skips. The progress is slow, but interesting. MC isn't born OP and has to work for power. He uses modern knowledge in things like anatomy and chemestry to improve his understanding of magic.
This isn't merely slice of life in fantasy world however as there is an overarching plot and events are happening in background that threaten peace in the region. And due to these events MC is forced to grow in order to protect that which he loves and cares for. Though it's pretty slice-of-life-ish for the most part, so don't expect lots of action and quick progress.
The start of the story was a bit rough grammatically when it first started, but author improves over time and latest chapters are very good and an improvement in every aspect even beside grammar. Release schedule lately is a bit slow, but OP always delivers, I don't think anyone should worry about story being dropped.
Side characters are interesting and not one dimensional and occasionally have a POV centered around them that shows us things that we couldn't see through MC's eyes due to his youth.
The world feels realistic and lived in. Author is creative in worldbuilding and even when using traditional worldbuilding elements he brings an unique spin to them.
Overall a big recommend.
Daydreaming scribeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This isn't a fair review.
This story is just perfectly up my alley. I love the reborn as a baby that has to slowly figure out the world they're in trope. This one really takes its time, and I'm here for every second of it. I'm not really a big fan of magic trying to fit into our world's understanding of physics, but that's just personal preference.
The looming threat, paired with the slow progression on the power scale, is gold. I'm really looking forward to the inevitable clash. It does a great job of making me anxious every time the dad leaves home; the world just feels dangerous.
I guess my only actual criticism is that I'd have liked to see the MC develop emotionally and begin to trust members of his family a little more.
Also, the author needs to quit their day job and write faster so I have more chapters to read.
KeywielderRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far I’ve enjoyed the story quite a bit, looking forward to when he can get out of the village and explore the wider world. Hope he becomes a recognized mage. The world building is slow but forming well. We only have a small glimpse of the world but already are somewhat aware of multiple powerful factions that I’d like to see delved deeper into. I think the style of the story flows well and the pacing works well. The characters are relatable, no perfect but make their decisions on actual reasons and not just oh this plot point needs to happen. Some characters motives are uncertain but we do keep getting a window into why they’re doing what they’re doing and growth along the way whether good or bad. Haven’t seen any major grammatical errors and the sentence structure is easy to read. I also think the paragraph are spaced out into digestible portions. The only criticism I have is I think the tower arc lasted too long but that’s just a personal opinion, it’s a slow burn story so not surprising but just don’t like getting pulled away from the main character for so long at the beginning. Still overall think it’s a great story and looking forward to see the magic start scaling!
VieskazRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't know if it would be better to add a mystery tab, because I get the impression that most of the intrigue of the story is around the hidden enemy.
The first 11 chapters are basically slice of life, reborn in diffrent world and learning powers standard isekai. The MC's only difficulty is how to learn magic in secret. This contrasts strongly with the danger and suspense that follow.
Style. The story is written in the third person and balances between inner thought and action. The author sometimes tries to convey exposition in dialogue, which makes it easier to read. Sound effects appear regularly, which I find funny and more suited to comics than written books. I like that sometimes important thoughts and sentences are highlighted in separate paragraphs. And that there are not many long paragraphs in general.
Grammar. There were quite a few grammatical errors at the beginning, especially with pronouns, but the author seems to have improved. Although it was usually clear which person was being referred to, it was distracting. The mistakes seem to have been corrected and I don't see them anymore in the last chapters either.
Story. It's hard to say where exactly the story is going. At the beginning, the impression was that the MC would slowly learn the OP's powers and go on adventures. Well, the author's promises in the synopsis came true and now the MC, still in childs body, must figure out how to defeat a hidden, supernatural enemy. The fact that this opponent has not once appeared directly, while at the same time showing his slyness and ability to manipulate the people around the MC is interesting and does not really allow to predict what will happen next. I like the intrigue, although it is difficult to say yet whether it will be maintained in the future. Other aspects of the story, such as the gaining abilities and the development of MC relationships with family, are not boring but not as interesting as the conflict with this enemy.
Characters. So far, the ch
TussunamiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really enjoy reading the author's book. The writing style is also up to my enjoyment.
The most important aspect for me is, I can relate to characters. I can understand what's happening over there. Normally, when the immersive part of the story is up to par, then, most of the time, logic, human errors, human feelings, and behaviors become dull in writing. But, until now, it is not like that for Soul Blaze.
Being able to write humans is one thing, having compound control over the story is another thing. So, congrats to the Author for writing/having us read such a nice novel.
Tarrying_soulRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As it is just my personal taste I didn't deduct any stars from my review. One of the best things about an isekai is exploring the new and exciting world through MC's eyes.
While the exploring part is amazing, I think agency is a important thing for isekai lovers. The start was awesome the plot progression is not nice in my opinion. A 14-year-old mc facing ongoing problems(chap 27) is one thing but a two-year-old...
In my opinion, the charm of an isekai is the fresh start(optimising your build) and of course the exploring the new world. I didn't read the latest chaps yet but a time skip should be considered by the author(Ik what's written the synopsis).
It's just that isekai and lacking agency don't mesh well together.
cursedclarkeRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Imagine Mushoku Tensei, now imagine no flashforwarding. We good, let's get into it. This novel begins with an arresting premise: a man who dies unloved and unremarked is reborn in another world, with the full memory and judgment of adulthood trapped in the helpless body of an infant. It is an inversion of the standard isekai or rebirth story, where the protagonist is dropped fully capable into a fantasy world. Here, the helplessness of early childhood is not glossed over but made the central problem. That choice is the novel’s greatest strength. It creates opportunities for irony, vulnerability, and intimacy that are absent in more conventional takes.
The first few chapters successfully draw attention to Tao’s emotional core. His previous life was defined by isolation, a distant family, and a lonely death. To wake in a new life and immediately feel the warmth of a mother’s body, her heartbeat, and her constant affection is a revelation. His conflicted feelings about breastfeeding, his jealousy of his parents’ intimacy, and his recognition that his mother’s love is both genuine and not exclusive to him, all build a portrait of a man who finally encounters closeness but struggles to process it. This is the most human and compelling part of the book. It elevates Tao from a standard reincarnated protagonist into someone with depth and damage.
The world around Tao is sketched with care but weighed down by excess. The village, its hunters, the healer, and the youth trials feel convincing. Sofra’s small trade in medicines and the communal life of the village are credible details that make the world tangible. The magic system is tactile as well, with light, heat, ice, and healing all described through sensation and consequence. Unfortunately, the execution becomes bogged down in repetition. Entire chapters are consumed by Tao whispering spell words, exhausting himself, recovering, and repeating the process. The language often slips into clinical exposition, with long passag
AzureWhaleRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
The author takes common tropes and makes them interesting with good pacing and story-telling. Some of the descriptions seem overly-long, but not enough to be tedious. Their magic system is interesting as well.
There are fairly frequent, minor grammatical problems, but, given that English is not their first language, I must applaud the author for doing as well as they have! Overall this is an interesting story.
StillnessRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
I’d like to give a helpful critique of this story, but none of it’s bad really, just dull. Which is harder to help with. What I’ve read so far has mostly all been slow burn, slice of life world building through the eyes of a baby. Maybe that’s your jam.
One problem is that the pacing is too slow for me. I yet waiting for the story to hook me and it never does. Another is the lack of character agency to advance to story, a peril of baby stories in general. Lastly, I don’t care about the characters. I expect this is due to the emotional distance between the MC and others.