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Starstruck. Thats the first word that comes to mind after reading this story. It's a story in a genre where big names like Randidly and The New World dominate the game. Recently, i reviewed another story similar to this one, Skyclad. Esper is more similar to it than any other story in the genre.

And it's something great. I won't say it's the newest, most unique idea i've seen, although it certainly does have those elements, but what got me the most is how well thought-out it was. Extremely so.



Story:

Esper seems to follow a formula set by other stories like it. Earth recieves/is undergoing a trial to recieve a System. A certain person is indited into the System, and recieves a powerful Class. However, Esper then veers off into unfamilar territory by setting some hard limits. Instead of throwing the MC into another world for say, a month, where they will gain lotsa powah str8 up, it sets the limit for years. And doesn't timeskip.

It has an excellent portrayal of the usual Administrator type figure, and best of all, makes the protagonist aware of what is going on, and has deep, indepth thoughts and analysis on their situtaion. Gone are sociopathic characters who strive to kill everything in the quest for powah str8 up. Instead, the story chooses to focus on actual, meaningful details and questions. And honestly, i liked it that way.

It didn't revert to tropes.

It made the MC actually think about and reflect his actions.

It made sense.

And most importantly, it was interesting.

It makes the MC actually question the morality of what he is doing, examine hisnown shortcomings and failures. And it doesn't brush them off two seconds later. Instead it actually has opinions on thay sort of thing.

I found that one particular paragraph could be applied to, well, any MC from this sort of story. You'll know when you get to it.



Style:

Hmmmm, this one threads the line of good and slightly annoying, to be brutally honest. I love the author's wording, prose and vocabulary. The dry humor and excellent flow made it very readable and easy to follow, if at times deliciously complex.

What gave me pause, however, is that sometimes, particuarly in late chapters, i was faced with walls of text.

Now, these aren't page filling screens in any right, but still noticeable. It could be.much more digestable if broken up into a bit more....palateable sections.



Grammar:

Top notch. Impeccable wording, a single spelling mistake in 150 pages, and an extensive, but not too difficult vocabulary make this great.

I have no further criticism on this subject, only approval for a job well done.



Characters:

As of right now, a cast of three. Well, two and one passing encounter. Still, the cast manages to be good even with such low numbers. Dan is a complex individual. No, he doesn't have an uber tragic backstory. He's a man, while disabled for most of his life, is still soldiering on. Extensive experience in a subject isn't quickly used to fast forward make OP decision, but instead details his thought process, a fascinating thing in its own right.

He is likeable, to say the least. Competent, but without a handy dandy, right as candy solution to every single thing he faces. Instead, he focuses on preperarion and awareness, as well as careful thinking. He recognizes his own flaws and weaknesses, and works to cover them. Most of all, he's proactive, something i quite like in a character.

Sam was a welcome break from the usual all-knowing administrator, giving us, again, a fairly likable, if brutally honest character. Ray too, has been a good character, though i will abstain from going indepth as i've only seen him for a few chapters. Suffive to say, that, once again, he was a refreshing take on its own type of character/trope.



Conclusion:

Esper takes a story we've seen before, and makes something both new, thoughtful and great from it. One of the highest points of the story are the action scenes, which are phenomally well thought out and reasoned.

If you feel like you need something to give your brain a whirl, give it a go.

Just don't expect a twelve year old's self insert power fantasy. Expect quality.