The Zombie Knight by George M. Frost

The story is difficult to read at first because the main character has crippling social anxiety and it is expressed in dialog and writing. As such it is uncomfortable to read. The same way it would be uncomfortable to say.

There is growth and the readability skyrockets. The story is excellent about being as clever as possible with power usage and always trying to break the game like an intelligent and motivated person would try to do.

The story doesn't shy away from getting super dark. And nit just blood and gore dark. There are some personal relationships and profoundly bleak, harsh things that just make you wince. It's powerful.

The best part of the story is that even though the main character constantly levels up and gets bigger things on his plate, and an expanded scope of projects/quests, it is always done in a way that is engaging. Because the character is making choices that feel unique to them, and the outcome matters to them, I care about political-economic things that would bore me to tear otherwise. As it stands I ended up spending ages personally looking into how banks work, the chemistry of boron, and details of castle architecture.

Amazing story, great fights, constant movement, good character development, and the scope of the world/magic is constantly growing.

Zombie Knight may start small, but don't let that fool you. It begins with Hector, a boy who committed suicide, being resurrected to help a grim reaper (who is actually pretty funny) save people from dying. Setting: The setting balloons in size, but it does it slowly enough that the reader isn't startled out of the story. The author makes it seem like the world is similar to our own at first to build familiarity, but the world is actually quite different and fascinating in its own right. Character Development: The author does a very good job developing the main characters' relationship, which is loads of fun to read. There are only a few side characters that get developed, though. Plot: The plot is a superhero story plot. Hector gains powers and uses them to protect the innocents and stop the bad guys. Quality of Prose: Grammar and spelling are generally quite good. The sentences are not always structured for easy comprehension, but the quality of the prose is not detrimental to the story.

Zombie Knight may start small, but don't let that fool you. It begins with Hector, a boy who committed suicide, being resurrected to help a grim reaper (who is actually pretty funny) save people from dying. Setting: The setting balloons in size, but it does it slowly enough that the reader isn't startled out of the story. The author makes it seem like the world is similar to our own at first to build familiarity, but the world is actually quite different and fascinating in its own right. Character Development: The author does a very good job developing the main characters' relationship, which is loads of fun to read. There are only a few side characters that get developed, though. Plot: The plot is a superhero story plot. Hector gains powers and uses them to protect the innocents and stop the bad guys. Quality of Prose: Grammar and spelling are generally quite good. The sentences are not always structured for easy comprehension, but the quality of the prose is not detrimental to the story.