Trickster: The Apostle of Loki

LV 13

Antenz

Hi everyone, author here! Updating my own review of Trickster as the story has progressed quite a lot since I wrote the first one. First of all, I think this story is really good, but it does not follow the traditional formula of stories on webnovel. This is not a story about someone becoming super strong and conquering the world, this is a story about people and their interactions with each other. Naturally, you will still get to see the MC getting strong as all heck, but that is not the primary focus. Secondly, due to how I write, and how I like to plan my outline and draft my chapters, the update schedule is all over the place. Although I could portion out the chapters, I dislike that concept a lot. I much more enjoy releasing small 'arcs' of the story rapidly, as to then return to the drawing board and work on the outline and drafts again. What this means is that there will be periods of time without updates, but there will also be periods where I will mass release a ton of chapters in a short period of time. If you do enjoy my work, please do check out my other work as well. As always, to the ones supporting me by reading my story, commenting and sending me power stones, I appreciate you a lot, and it makes writing this story so much more exciting knowing that I am sharing it with other people. Cheerios!

LV 13

IamMountTai

LONG CRITICAL REVIEW; easy binge Read 119 (Up to date as of review) I want to say its a hidden gem (tho I think it's somewhat lacking for me to give it that), but in the first place this SHOULDN'T be a hidden gem and something that is popular. I will go bash on it later along this review. Anyways, the story is decent, but quite slow. The novel starts in an academy and the author takes a lot of time of giving various povs to develop the characters of the novel. There aren't many twists or anything that comes to obstacle the protagonist. It's a very smooth for the most part and the academy was all slice of life. Initially it seems that there is 2 protagonists but that changes in the latest chapters. The main protagonist a beta, insecure, anti-social, so it's not for everyone, but I think the author did pretty well to make him likable. I really liked how he turned out compared to other stories which have a loser like protagonist they want to make grow but they aren't really likable besides through their shallow traits and so readers won't stick around. But there is huge development for this protagonist so you don't have to worry about him staying like that. I really enjoyed the comedy and I definitely think the author has talent for it. The misunderstandings were great if you like that genre. I laughed quite a lot during the slice of life. Yes, the slice of life ends at one point. That's the part when the story gets extremely serious and shi* hits the fan. When that happens all those fun, funny slice of life moments really hit you because you had gotten attached to the cast: why did things have to end up like this? It turns into all sorrow, pain, and tragedy. The author's English is quite good for webnovel standards. The quality of chapters also doesn't fall at all and its constant along with the amount of chapter updates. The world building is surprisingly underwhelming with its supposed amount of big things happening in the background and looming big plot, but fortunately the characters are driving the story well. Should you give it a go? Definitely reckon you should give it a try. Keep in mind it is quite slow, so you will have to wait for the payoff. Hopefully the comedy and characters are able to keep you readers interested. It's not a heavy read, but its slow and slice of life despite the whole demons vs the race alliance ( tho it is very apparent there is much more than that with gods playing at work). ------------------------------------------- Critical Bashing for the Author. Usually, when I write reviews I put points of improvement scattered but here I really need to set things straight for advice. Simply put, it's not getting the attention it deserves. It's actually really sad because you should get much more. I really do enjoy it, so don't take this as me trying to attack you (even tho i do be bashing u). 1. CHANGE YOUR SYNOPSIS- The current synopsis really doesn't tell me anything about the book. It's cryptic and it's like you want the readers to come find out if they want to understand it. However, the truth is, most people want to know what they are getting into. (That's the point of a synopsis). Trying to be secretive doesn't work. I had no idea your book was about 2 transmigrated people getting chosen by gods and then sent into a world similar to a game they've played. JUST MERELY ADDING THIS TO YOUR SYNOPSIS, SO MUCH MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE ATTRACTED. ITS A POPULAR GENRE OF STORY EVEN IF ITS CLICHE. Then you just spice it with whatever! I've seen this novel back when u first released it, but it didn't catch my attention AT ALL. I only just randomly took a shot today by MERE CHANCE, only to be extremely surprised. 2. Change you cover image. As one person I saw mention, they suggest changing it to make it more attractive. I also agree. You don't necessarily have to make it click bait, but its an option. You really need something much more that stands out. At the end of the day, a cover is a cover, so it will be your story content that determines if they stay, but everything is dull right now. It's to the point that I would personally make a new synopsis and cover image for you. --------------------------------------------- Other than those 2 big reasons, some reasons of why your novel isn't as popular as it should be would be... how slow your story is. I mentioned in the above, but it was a complete smooth- sailing slice of life. The protagonist barely faced any problems. Obstacles, twists and such were minimal and that may bore the reader. Fortunately, you had comedy to compensate it, but a slice of life was really contrary to what a reader would expect coming into the novel. You could still show characters having a good time, enjoying the moment, but you could make it more interesting to pressure the protagonist even tho it may be contrary to what you wished to establish. Alternatively, you could cut down the amount of development and povs for other characters, but that naturally would make the pay off when that big event occurs to hit less. Imo, the slice of life was far too slow, for most readers ( I really enjoyed it tho). The people who stuck around got their patience paid off and now are suffering cliffhanger city, but I'm sure there are far more people who left unfortunately. It's a shame. In your future novels, you should keep this in mind. Another reason would be your beta-like protagonist that a lot of people dislike. But fortunately, I didn't really see people hating on him but that may be because they were comments from diligent readers. As I had mentioned, I thought he was unique and I like him. Your story in the early parts also kind of wanders and there isn't a firm sense of direction. While I do acknowledge that its linked to the internal issues of the MC and its much complex than that, I think it's quite needed. Goals/want is what drives the character and merely getting stronger is meh. It could've been gotten away if executed well, but it wasn't interesting enough. Fortunately, there's lots of character development at play and that kept the story at interest. I think a more overarching plot at play would've helped immensely with your novel. In the current chapters there also appears to be a very big leap in pacing. So I have some concerns with that. As a result, Ezral, who seems pretty important for the plot, ended up becoming a really rushed character which is very contrary to all the build up and care you put in with the rest of the cast. ---------------------- I end up reviews with shipping. After all I only read harems/romances. Well firstly in terms of romance of how you have handled it so far, I'm quite happy. Cruel in fact I could add, but its decent so I'm happy. You did some really nice scenes with the mc and the princess. Although I feel that it was a bit rushed as you approached the event that shattered everything. I'm a fan of harems, but not in the sense of multiple wives, but many romantic interests and 1 winner. Hopefully and I hope to Theia it is. I suppose for now the main ship would be Sarah and MC after all that's developed. That said, if you really wanna twist with us more I really do think you should be mindful of other characters. I think Bitc* Bella and Adriana are really worth considering. Each of them would be very interesting. Bella being a bitc* but ironically she completely changes into someone that would take on the world for the mc. I can see her doing that. And If I were you, author, I just might do that even tho I may pi** off 70% of the readers lol. But the pay off would just be amazing. Watching her mature from bitc* to a really awesome best girl. After that big event, she has changed herself and I really like the fact that her and Adriana seem to have doubts about what had occurred. Tho its still unclear in regards to Bella. You know what, screw Sarah (tho I like her a lot). Their relationship is what you say- 'What we could've been'. I ship BellaxMC all the readers can fight me. Tsunderes ftw! Adriana and the mc? It's the classic fire and water. 'Enemies to lovers'. Being a diplomatic elf, she is naturally super important so I suppose it would be easy to set events for her in contrast to Bella. We never got too much on her besides her being sneaky and bully so its hard for me to say my opinion on her. Ezral?- Well she kinda just appears as well as her relationship with the mc. Thus, I much prefer the other characters. Sophie?- LET'S NOT BE THAT CRUEL SHALL WE? Don't do that to Arthur! No seriously, the relationship between Sophie and the Mc is pretty special so I wish for it to remain that way. Stop bullying her tho and let her see the mc already! Might be the longest review I've done. Although I did a lot of bashing, I will say I really enjoyed the story so please keep up the good work. Don't push yourself to put out extra chapters. We are getting spoiled!! Keep the quality! 5/5 stars- tho I'm lenient.

LV 4

Ashborn1609

this is one of my favorite novel right now.even if it's a little slow paced i like the world building and each character has its own personality . i personally like the personality of the mc and i feel he will soon go though some character development. the best things about this novel is its COMEDY, the PLOT and the FREQUENCY OF UPDATES. the author can write 4 chapters a day . i still dont know how he can write so much without decreasing the quality thank you for this great novel and i hope that you'll continue the good work. I'll recommend this novel to my friends. You should participate in the WSA too

LV 14

THE_mine_play

First this is a great book I love the Mc and the character development is insane it just I want to see more unique powers except the Mc everyone else power sucks I mean 5 star Manuel and all you get is pyromancer and the edgy guy first of all I love him he actually made me laugh I just hope to see more than him I mean I was really hyped when I saw he is gonna battle then he just summon a bunch of hands from the ground and start complaining on how that was his strongest spell

LV 15

Austin_B_1332

I've enjoyed the story so far. I haven't read far enough to give an accurate review but I do love the power system. James' manual is interesting and I'm excited to see how his power develops. I just have a couple questions about the school itself. Why are the class sizes so small? Is there a reason for that?

LV 4

VoidUzumaki

An absolutely great novel, there are basically no spelling/grammar/wording errors, I can remember maybe 5 in nearly 200 chapters. The characters themselves are all rather complex and there are barely any true 'mob' characters, though the amount of characters that are actually important is somewhat high, they are still a manageable amount and are all given character, not always completely unique, but that is natural as humans have character traits in common as well. There is no typical 'forced plot' like someone the MC is avoiding being in the same city by chance, if something like that happens then it is for a valid reason and not a random event, most of the time, the author has to introduce new characters somehow after all. The worldbuilding itself is quite good as well, it is going quite slowly, partly probably because the novel is progressing relatively slowly, but it is happening and done quite well. And while the story is progressing slowly one isn't getting bored of it(or at least I didn't get bored anyway). I would definitely recommend you to at least give it a try if you like the general premise of such stories, of course.

LV 14

rawthentic

this novel is deffinetly a gem. while the premise is certainly not new and the world background is not fully explored, the amazing writing quality, how alive the characters feel and their interactions makes me want to keep reading on. i cant help but keep giggling at the interactions between the main characters and am excited to see how the MC will find unique ways to get stronger evolve further as a person.

LV 1

goldkage

Teg dark??!! ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

LV 2

Bobdrillan

Its only the second light novel i've ever read. However if this kind of level is standard, then I have the feeling that light novel are gonna become part of my life.

LV 15

JailGoo

Truly a really engaging story with very well developed charcters. This story has been a really enjoyable read that is really unique in how it has really focused on the emotional and character development side of the story rather than just on plot. I really appeciate that the author has not put a price on any of the chapters and it’s clear that they are writing this story because they are passionate about it. If you have a method of donation that takes less of a cut, I would totally be open to donate to you! (Unless you do actually want us to donate through gifts in WN) From all the web novels I have read so far, this story is one of my favourites in that I really enjoy how much personality all the characters have and I like that this story is willing on focusing on the emotional challenges and developments of all the characters. For example, many other novels gloss over how it might feel to actually kill someone or sentient being or only mention it for a few paragraphs but I like that this story actually shows James’ development for better or for worse in a manner that feels realistic and human like. Another aspect that I really enjoy about this novel is the very frequent perspective changes that occur. I think this really helps flesh out each of the characters and continue developing the background in addition to making it feel like every character is living out their own lives while the story continues progressing. Trickster’s Apostle really utilizes writing through different perspectives more than any other web novel I have read and I find it very enjoyable. To the author, thank you for also having artwork made which wasn’t something you needed to do but I appreciate that you put the effort to do so anyways. To potential readers, while it is not something I am expecting from the author, it should be noted that the release schedule of this novel is pretty loose and not very consistent. Of course there is no point in rushing an author to release anything, I think you should just keep that in mind. Now to discuss areas that could be further improved: While I feel that the characters are very well developed, the background does not. While areas are mentioned and I have a general understanding of how this world is set up, I feel that there is still more room to develop the actual world and how it is like. Outside of the school and some specific locations, many areas of the world have each only really been described in a few paragraphs. At the same time, unlike other novels I don’t feel like this lack of detail is particularly detrimental to the story because the plot/events we are focusing on aren’t very reliant on it? (Even I don’t fully understand why I don’t find this to be that big of an issue for this story in particular) In general, I think this story is really engaging and unique in its focus on the characters which I find really enjoyable. I look forward to following this story and I think I will edit this review with any feedback I would have as the story continues. This is one of my favourite web novels and I really want to see how it will develop!

LV 14

HOV215

I am on chapter 78 but so far I am liking what I am seeing and not only is this one of the very few webnovel novels that is clear with grammar and story telling its free so to give thanks to this beautiful author I am giving him a very good review as he is sacrificing a contract and this novel definitely deserves it to

LV 14

B0mba

Okay first off, this novel is amazing. I love the way the plot has developed and everything. Second, there is animated video called the court jester animated by Alpas[The 7th end] and it's scarily similar to this in the story it tells, and its really cool.

LV 4

A1den

All I can say is that this book is so amazing, astonishing, astounding, surprising, bewildering, stunning staggering, shocking, startling, stupefying, breathtaking, perplexing, and awe-inspiring.

LV 15

Mr_Babbles

superb writing, fantastic grammar and amazing characters with in-depth personality they do Loki based character don right, the story is overall very enjoyable to read and it's just a hoot and a holler, the only problem with this novel is that there isn't enough of it and I need more, I would pay full price for this if it was pay to read

LV 12

Couch_Potato_2848

this is a real review, no I don't know the author and just trying to hype things up. this is an actually great story it's non of that generic Chinese bs basic dumb Mc and background character stuff. this is one that is well written and unique. this is my first time giving a review so as one reader to another, it's pretty good👍.

LV 4

CONCUSSIONARMY

This novel is so good. although the pacing is a bit slow in the Beginning, the comedy is solid and the characters feel 3 dimensional. not to mention the point its currently at (~chapter 95) the twist hits like a truck and has you not wanting to stop reading

LV 15

Greekfirefly

So far im really enjoying the story. The world the author has build ahs caught my interest and so have the characters. I’m personally a fan of the multiple points of view given to us as it helps me undestand the thoughts and attitudes of the characters. I’m looking forward to how this novel turns out.