Crossing Serpent's Way: Trials of the Endless Planes Book 1 Review
7/25/20233 min read
This is a review of the new Litrpg Crossing the Serpents Way by RJ Shoke
If you are looking for a Litrpg/Cultivation book that doesn't waste a lot of time and get's straight to the "overpowered hero" part of the story, then Crossing the Serpents Way is your cup of tea. This hero is not your soft, let me express my feelings type. He's all about kicking ass and taking names. There is no weak strong cycle here, it's strong to stronger. It's a bit shallow for sure, and the side characters are as thin as cardboard, but the action is top notch. So if that appeals to you let's get into discussing the general plot along with the pros and cons.
General Plot:
This story generally falls into the post-apocalyptic earth system subniche. It starts towards the end of earth's "Crucible" period, which was basically a trail to weed out the weak and let only the strong survive to move onto what's called the Endless Planes. The main hero Kaito is the strongest of all humans that still survive. The book wastes little time in showing how Kaito is a bad ass and powerhouse as he annihilates a few of the other powerful humans that have come to hunt him down at the end of the trail period. There is a bit of self reflection by Kaito and some minor backstory here and there about him throughout the book, but it's not really deep. Mostly we just focus on Kaito kicking butt as he transitions into the next realm called the Serpent's Way and attempts to grow stronger. Once in Serpent's way, Kaito discovers that although he is still super powerful compared to other humans, he's not the big fish anymore, and must get powerful in this realm before he can move up to the higher planes. He spends the majority of the book in Serpents Way conquering dungeons, taking on the hardest challenges, and gaining rare and unique titles. He also goes to war a bit with the main guild leaders that forced the Crucible upon earth, as well as faces the final guardian of the Serpent's Way that leads to the next realm.
Pros:
1 - Lots of action. This story is almost a continuous beatdown of enemies. Lots of dungeon fights, training, and destroying. It's pretty fun.
2 - Focus on main character. The author sticks with Kaito and his power growth.
3 - Interesting mechanics. The author's use of the mana cores, abilities, titles and skills are easy to grasp. The ability to forge and swap out abilities is a great way to keep things from becoming stale as the main character can continually change his fighting style and effects.
Cons:
1 - Fairly shallow. There's not a lot going on depth wise. This is not a story with much emotional intensity or deep relationships. It's pretty much at the opposite spectrum of something like He Who Fights with Monsters in that regard. It's not completely without feelings, but it does seem a bit too simplistic.
2 - No struggle. There is little of anything that really challenges Kaito. Although we are fans of overpowered hero's, it can get a bit too predictable and almost boring at times at how easily he steamrolls his enemies. Yes, he does get defeated a few times, but the manner in which he recovers is just so "yeah whatever" the stakes just don't really feel high at any time.
Overall:
Even if it is a bit shallow, we really found Crossing Serpent's Way to be a fun read. Overpowered hero's are just so satisfying sometimes. The world building is decent, and the multiple realms concept provides for good ideas for the future. The mechanics with the ability to swap out powers is also a great way to keep the combat from going stale. We would definitely recommend the book if you are a fan of lots of action.