Sooo yeah, I took like a short break from reading light novels because I just wasn't feeling 'it' anymore, y'know. And during my break I started watching some decent shows like 'Mr Robot' and 'Breaking Bad' and, y'know I just feel so refreshed. It got me thinking, light novels are entertaining right? But then so are these shows, yet they somehow keep my interest even though, compared to light novels that have such wide and expansive ideas, y'know like becoming gods among men or struggling in apocalyptic worlds, or some fluff shit were they fall madly in love for no reason or becoming demons that commit evil acts. Y'know that kinda shit. I mean try and compare that to a story of an old man making meth or a lonely ass guy hacking shit. And y'know me and my two year old brain were like wtf how is this possible. That's when it hit me, it's because I actually give a give a shit about the story. The shows don't just tell us the backstory of the MC in like the third scene and then to tell us sympathise with them even though we just met. The shows don't just repeat the same shit again and again like 'our mc didn't feel anything because of the apple he ate this morning' and then a paragraph later it will be like 'our mc didn't feel anything because of the apple he ate this morning' like bitch please, I read that shit already don't act like I've got alzheimer's. Y'know that leads me to my main problem, the shitty side characters. They lose all personality when they meet our mc, the author would be hyping that shit up and make the character all mysterious and shit, then when they meet the mc it all goes to shit, I mean in the beginning they keep their quirkness but after getting to know the mc they just become a slave that always agrees with the mc. If it's a women... don't get me started, the fucking balls on the authors to women disposable harem members. Every time a pretty women is introduced the mc always has to subconsciously make the women fall in love with them. I swear everytime I read that a women is introduced I get an automatic brain wave telling me that she will be added to the harem before I even get to know anything about her. It's like the authors have never talked to a woman before, someone doesn't just meet a total stranger then a month later be ready to commit suicide out of love for that person. And it's not like they will actually succeed, do ya wanna know why? It's because no one fucking dies. The Mc needs some tradegy to progress the plot but it never fucking happens. The side characters in these shows are interesting, from Breaking bad ya got Hank, Skyler and Gustava, from Mr Robot ya got Krista, Dominque, Darlene, Gideon, Leon and don't forget my man Vera (fucking white rose and Phillip are amazing). These people are developed and made better everytime you see them, you don't want to skip there scenes unlike the dull characters from light novels. And another thing, how the fuck do they make something with such an interesting premise suck ass and be boring as hell. Ok sorry, I still read and enjoy light novels so don't banish me forever, these are just my thoughts, it's like midnight here so I've just been typing shit that comes to mind and also why I'm a bit illiterate. And yeah this might just be because some sewage level novels I read, that my opinion is warped. Oh and yeah, anyone got good recommendations?
I think you need to stop reading light novel harem/isekai and cultivation novel for a while, those two literally sap your soul out from joy of reading if you read them too often. Read literature like Shogun , War and Peace for a change or play lit rpg like Saber of infinity/gun of infinity etc
If you want deep characters try Wandering Inn on rrl, but be prepared to laugh and cry many, many times. Also it is fantasy with litrpg elements, they are part of the world but they really dont play the main role in this beautifull piece of work
It's pretty natural to get sick of one genera and switch for a while. Every type of story you used to love becomes like nails on a blackboard when you've read a hundred like it. Any overused ripped off template is great if it's the first of that type you've read. I look forward to your rant against lame over-hyped TV shows in six months.
Good stories are driven by conflict, not adversity. Conflict arises from characters who have different goals/purposes. Adversities do not have a goal, they are impersonal obstacles (like a system of rules or a natural disaster). Adversity only serves to show the scope of the main character's powers. But powers do not gain meaning until they are relevant to a conflict between characters. The better constructed the characters, the better the conflict. A well-constructed character can and should have multiple conflicts with the protagonist, and not always in the same arena (physical, emotional, rational, etc). But think of the audience. An immature reading audience only cares about feeling a power trip, which is why they prefer protagonists to overcome adversities (like levelling up in a system / cultivation) rather than engaging in conflict. And any conflict with characters are reduced to one-dimensional once-off usage to show power, rather than drive drama.
Can confirm, I went to webnovels because tropes/themes in the genres I liked in physical novels became like nails on chalkboard. But I think the point @ACTS1966 is making is that webnovels are often very poorly constructed, and it is frustrating.
Everybody like new stuff. If you eat pizza for every meal, everyday for several months, even boiled veggies with salt taste revolutionary. Portion your intake, diverse your palate and reduce junk food. Thats how i've been able to continue reading emperor's domination until today. If you don't know, ED is a repetitive novel where everything centers around the MC who is at the apex from the start and side characters are just for prepping up the MC. Its the ultimate junk food. And i love it. Read something like the lord of mysteries or gourmet of another world. If your pain threshold is moderate, the sage who transcended samsara.
Interesting problem there. I'm a bit worried about recommending "Ascendance of a Bookworm" simply because only 4 volumes have been currently translated. But translations are ongoing with JNC at about 2 months per volume, so it should be OK. The MC undergoes some nice character development. There's no harem. The MC does make mistakes, and works around them. Also, on the plus side, you can get a glimpse into the story by watching the anime on crunchyroll. But be warned, the story starts off slowly and based upon my reading of the WN via MTL, doesn't really pick up speed until around the middle of the 5th LN. And after that, I fully expect to enjoy each LN that comes out every two months or so until it finally finishes sometime in 2024. Take note. Even though I've read the WN, I still fully intent on reading the light novels as each is officially translated. And I rarely reread novels unless they're extremely good.
For me, there's also part of it where I'm investing money by actually paying, so I squeeze every last drop I can out of the story. With free web serials there's no real loss when you dump a story that doesn't produce instant gratification. I guess the biggest example would be when i bought a peter f hamilton book, I think it was the neutronium alchemist? I could google it or look at my bookshelf, but it's too far away... the first third of the book was mostly a giant chore as the story and characters were set up, so I forced myself to keep reading and eventually it got really, really good. But, if I never paid for it there's no way I would have slogged through that absolute chore of an introduction. It also helps that published stories tend to have professional editors, artists, directors, script writers and so on, and many of them know how to produce an engaging story. Sure there are some absolute shite professional books and shows, though, but the point remains.
Also, the preference of translator. Not all have good taste. Usually what you get translated is what they like in the first place. You just enter the fray and hope you find gold instead of rusted metal.
movie or tv series got a freaking budget to pay freaking real pro script writers, freaking pro, camera team, freaking pro management so that rhey can freaking earn double.what they invested. . . and novels are just meh, and hell they are caled Light, and hell. . . also your just tired to use your.imagination compared to visuals where they can put a freaking 10 pages of description in a 30sec scene. . .