Review for Westerners

This story has a lot of good points and a few issues that can be put down to writing style, when it comes down to it.

The protagonist - setting aside the beginnings - is a native fantasy protagonist who is still a child (and a dying one) when the story begins. Due to a mistake by the goddess who was supposed to bless his mother, she died before she could raise him to adulthood, and the goddess made another mistake when she allowed the abuse and abandonment that led to his death.

The protagonist wanted nothing more than to die, but that was denied him by all the gods, who gave him power beyond anyone's wildest dreams and two excellent teachers, while forcing him to stay alive.

Emotionally, the beginning of this story is extremely impactful. If you have a thing for tragic main characters, Lance is a near-perfect example of the type when it comes to his beginnings.

Later in the story, Lance's attitude and that of the other natives of this particular fantasy world becomes an issue. In this, the writer reminds me of Modesitt, who often indirectly expounds on the folly of man in his stories and the stubborn unwillingness to see reality. Lance's logical and pure-hearted view on the world is often contrasted against the stubborn unwillingness to bend on the part of the adult denizens of the world, most likely deliberately. That is, in fact, the primary attraction of the story so far (currently at 173).

The only real problem I have with this story is that the author loves to use machine-gun talk from both Lance and some of the other characters. I can accept that that is the author's style, but it is a bit problematic how often he resorts to it. At the same time, a lot of Lance's character is put forth in those machine-gun monologues of his, so I have to accept it as an inevitable part of reading this author's stories.