Becoming the Dark Lord by Mark Evenhart (aturato)

temu shadowslave copy made with ai

Daoist Inkdrunkwanderer's review — Becoming the Dark Lord

Ok so this is one of those novels where the worldbuilding does most of the heavy lifting......and thankfully, the worldbuilding is excellent.

The premise is strong, the progression system is well thought out, and the larger mysteries surrounding the world are genuinely compelling. The dual progression between system growth and personal study feels natural, the political powers make sense, and the overall structure of the setting feels far more coherent than most LitRPGs.

Well the story is undeniably slow-paced. There are multiple ongoing plot threads, extensive worldbuilding, frequent perspective shifts, and a constant stream of mysteries being introduced. For some readers this will be a strength. For others, it will occasionally feel like the author is taking the scenic route.

My biggest issue lies with the characters.
Luke is a difficult protagonist to love. He's not badly written, but he often falls into the familiar "oblivious anime protagonist" archetype. Relationships, emotions, and obvious signals tend to fly straight over his head. While the story occasionally pokes fun at this trait, it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

The supporting cast is equally divisive. Many characters feel heavily built around recognizable tropes rather than existing as fully realized people. A large portion of the cast seems to orbit around Luke, which can make certain interactions feel repetitive. Ironically, some of the most entertaining companions are the ones who say the least.

Another thing readers should be prepared for: cliffhangers.
This story absolutely loves them.
Major revelations, skill choices, discoveries, confrontations....many chapters end right before the payoff. It clearly works as a serialization strategy and has likely contributed greatly to the story's success, but whether you'll enjoy it depends entirely on your tolerance for being baited into reading "just one more chapter."

Despite all these complaints, I kept reading.
That is probably the strongest praise I can give.
The world is fascinating. The progression feels earned. The mysteries are engaging. The author constantly introduces questions that make you want to keep turning pages.

If you're looking for deep character studies, you may find yourself frustrated. If you're looking for an expansive LitRPG world filled with secrets, progression, politics, and long-term mysteries, this is one of the better examples on Royal Road.

It's not the characters that kept me reading. It's everything else.

— Daoist Inkdrunkwanderer
A flawed cast can be endured.
A fascinating world cannot be ignored.

Bro this novel haunted me on RR so much. Like I don't know how many money author splashed on advert but I saw ads of this novel on RR for at least 2-3 months. If you check it's review on site recent ones are all about how deceiving this is to what was in advert.

i guess he would turn her into a living person... unless the author is into that *thing*

No va a ganar un premio nobel pero está bien. Voy en el cap 27 y me resulta interesante. Nada del otro mundo, el protagonista parece muy plano y todo avanza como si fuese el elegido de los cielos pero me gustan las historias de fantasía y magia así que por ahora lo estoy tolerando. Si la cosa no empeora demasiado seguiré. Si mejora avisaré por aquí para los interesados

Ahora estoy en el cap 37 y estoy es duro. Me gusta la premisa de que sea una clase de asesino pero la redacción parece hecha con IA. Es demasiado rimbombante y repetitiva. Una pena pero es probable que la abandone dentro de poco

Power fantasy slop, 4 chapters in my Dao Heart already collapsed, if not for my strong foundation I would've long regressed in cultivation.

I've lost count of how many similar works I've seen, and they all had the same lazy formula; it's amazing.

I can smell poison from a distance.

I'm on chapter 34, and so far it's been good.