T*ash of the Count’s Family Chapter 321 Discussion

First of all, as someone who has read a lot of reviews for this novel, I would like to encourage new readers to dive in, start reading and come back to read the reviews if you find that you want to drop the novel. Reviews kind of function like spoilers to some extent, they can really influence your decision in reading the novel or not, if you read a negative or a positive review. Hence I would like you to first give it a try if you are interested in the novel before coming here.

I love this story. I agree with plenty of reviews and reviewers who have shared their opinion on the novel, both the good and the bad there are all true about this novel. I feel the reviews here would be a great way for the author to understand what he did well and what he could improve on. I want to contribute by clearly pointing out ideas that I thought were not clear in the reviews here, and areas where the author or this story can improve.

I feel the author is good at maximising his strengths, which in a sense becomes his weakness. They are bad at actual storytelling and tend to avoid it often as it would reduce the quality of their work. As said by a few reviews, there's less actual world-building and lore but more bits and pieces that we discover here and there through the characters, monologues or explanations.

Since one of the main gimmicks the author has (which is one of his strengths) is the misunderstanding surrounding Cale, there are just fewer moments of actual character development, and most of them are firming beliefs, overcoming hardship to get stronger, etc. This in itself isn't necessarily bad but and there are other examples between other character relations (the children, Ron's developing perception of Cale, etc.), you get the point it would be much more satisfactory if they slowly bonded together resolving these misunderstandings eventually (my opinion) or something else to make the character development truly shine in this novel and the author to improve.

Finally, another of the author's gimmicks is the fact that Cale has meta-knowledge about the world he is in. This is obviously not complete and won't be consistent with his butterfly effects, but the fact that the author explains what happens in the initial stages of the story as the story progresses can prove to be a hindering obstacle to worldbuilding which is evident in later chapters. Didn't find this to be a major obstacle in stopping people from reading as the author's strengths which other reviews have clearly described are able to keep people engaged and enjoy their story, but something that is helpful to create a strong otherworldly sense or foundation for the story so that people can read for more than just enjoying the characters and their adventures.

Spoiler

For example, I would love it if the author goes into more detail regarding the previous mythical power holders or Cale's own world. Maybe through like a side chapter of a POV from an ancient power holder, or a past story by Haben-gramps, maybe a random quote for a few chapters developing a perception regarding how the ancient world looked, etc. Do you get the point? (I have not completed the novel yet but I assume the author does write regarding these points in later chapters to tie up loose points and provide an overall conclusion.)

[collapse] The author has created a wonderful and enjoyable story that I would love to see him improve and flesh it out!