Free the Darkness (King's Dark Tidings)
by Kel Kade

This is a book about an overpowered protagonist. I will first say that it reminds me of Skyrim, with the amount of sneaking about, bandit slaughtering, and literal Thieves Guilds.

The narrator goes into deep detail about the adventuring process, so it’s definitely a fun time if you want to be absorbed into the action. It’s a lot less fun when the dress of a noblewoman is being described.

I did not care for the love triangle fiasco that emerged. It mirrors the same dynamic as Japanese harem isekai stories. I skimmed those parts, but perhaps someone with a more romantic side would enjoy them.

The side characters were decent enough. I found the father of the noble daughter very irritating, as his reasons for rejecting his daughter’s choice of husband were not explained, and it seemed like the author was intentionally dangling this plot point to make me buy the next book.

The names and terminology were unique enough to resemble a fantasy world, and it’s an endearing popcorn read of a socially awkward protagonist who was raised in isolation for 19 years before setting out on an adventure.

Fun Stats

Word Count: 168118
Average Readability (US Grade Level): 8.13
Percent dialogue: 23.28%