Entropic Summons

hi there, Magicite! after reading through the novel on honeyfeed (couldn't use wattpad because of me changing internet providers and the new one apparently blocking wattpad out. huh.) i have to say that, in short, it's awesome, unique and, generally, something that i've never read before - it was engaging, interesting and thought-provoking from start to finish, and although the cliffhanger ending left me a bit dissapointed, i was still satisfied with the novel after completing it!)

now for a more thorough review - i'll go over some major points that i have for it after making a brief analysis: the whole premise of a kingdom desperately lingering onto it's monarchical foundation, deciding to hold on to the past instead of moving on to democracy and launching a desperate attempt to conquer a nearby nation is amazing - when it is revealed that Ignis was, in fact, corrupted by the literal manifestation of one of the laws of the universe, that being the malignant archetype, that makes the whole point with Ignis being the last monarchy a bit redundant (i personally think that actually seeing a struggling monarchy state in a world full of democracy would be a great social and political idea to explore, but, oh well) but adds another great point and is also true to life - when facing a situation like the king of Ignis had at hand many people would turn to ruinous powers in exchange for a chance at returning their kingdom to the former glory, but such an opportunity often comes at a terrible price, just like the one we saw the king face - there was no chance that he could stand against the archetype, sadly... the novel's constant analysis of the dialogue and the happenings is also a very unique point that i've never seen in a book before, well, not in a third-person narrated one, definitely, and if some first-person books give an thorough analysis of things from the character's perspective they, as i've said, give it from a character's perspective, often twisting the things we would see as unnatural or weird into something of a mundane occurance, but in A Snowed Abode/Entropic Summons the narrator is on the same page as the readers are, which makes the novel a lot more interesting to read and simultaneosly analyse - the constant commentary also gives some room for pondering, especially concerning philosophical questions...

now that we've done with the major points which were considerably neutral i'll go on to the good details and things i've found in the novel, and there's a lot of them, fortunately!) the novel (and the game, by an extension) revel in absurdity and trying to find any explanation for the strange occurances in the world is futile - it's better to just accept Locus in all of its cryptic, unfathomable glory. objects suddenly having the ability to communicate in strange ways, bipedal rhinoceros beetles that speak in incoherent messages and then dissapear into thin air - this is what makes the world of "Entropic Summons" so unique! next, a point from the previous paragraph that i've thought about a bit and decided to move from just an analytic detail that i wanted to talk about to the pros of the novel: the narrator has its own character (somewhat) that criticizes the main cast's decisions and generally resonates with the reactions that the readers would have while also adding a lot to the novel's uniqueness - instead of just telling the story from a neutral point or in a first-person perspective the whole novel reads like an actual person narrating the whole story to you, perplexing about the different themes in it and giving his thoughts on the manner, which is great! next, the "twos" are an incredibly unique alien species - their affinity for the letter "w" (which, coincidentally or intentionally, looks like two conjoined v's) is a very unique trait and their existance as one individual with two identical bodies working in tandem is very weird but also as much as awesome. the novel's antagonists being the literal laws of the universe capable of reshaping reality as they see fit is awesome - instead of some standart demons, beastmen or whatever mundane threat rpgs put against the party we have a reality-ending, absurd and philisophical concept as the story's villain!

now that we're done with the pros, i'll list of some cons/problems that i have with the novel, but since gamejolt has a restriction on how many symbols a single comment can have i'll have to continue my ramblings in the next comment, if you don't mind...

hi there, magicite! just wanted to ask - does the novel that you've linked in the game's description serve as supplementary material for the game or is the game entirely based on the novel\the other way around? i like reading more than playing, so, if the novel contains the game's plot or serves for the players to better understand the in-game shenanigans and get more invested with the characters and the plot then i'll gladly read it!)