[Story] The Master of Names

Title: The Master of Names
Author: Karingano
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Tags: GameLit, LitRPG, Magic, Male Lead, School Life
Audience: – (contains Profanity)
Main Lead: Male
Status: Ongoing
AVB Assessment Score: PDE 1 CDD 2 SWB 2 || TQ 2 SV 2 || Overall: 9
Number of Chapters: 24
Chapter Length: Medium
Reading Level: High
Date of First Release: June 7, 2020
Date of Last Update: February 18, 2021
AVB Reviewed? No
Available on Platform(s): Royal Road
Number of Views: 9369
Number of Reviews: 6
Synopsis:
The modern world of magic has moved on. Magic of old no longer allowed in the new age. Deemed too barbaric for the contemporary world, magic skills and formulae have taken the country of Idraver by storm and with their arrival, heralding in a new age of magic.
Decades later, a young man named Keldon, born without the ability to use skills, begins to experience strange dreams, and with them came the return of an ancient magic. Given an impossible task, what do his newfound powers mean?
Or is their return merely a signal for the beginning of the final end. 

Review(s)

Daniel Newwyn: The Master of Names by Kiringano is a fun Action – Adventure fiction that incorporate elements of LitRPG in different skills and a magic system. Keldon, a man without magic, encountered the Devoid (although only in his dream), but it was only a hell of a start at least. Wished it wasn’t a dream and the story picked up on that though. 
I think the dialogues and characters are the strongest parts of this book. I’m really captivated by the quirkiness of the young woman on the horse in Chapter 3 as she told Keldon he’s sniffed too many fumes. Keldon is quite your typical ordinary MC, but we all expect him to grow and to come to love him as the book progresses.
The story is dialogue-heavy in many parts, but it doesn’t mean that there was a lack of description. I’m particularly impressed by the description of the Hissing in Chapter 4, as well as the addicts in Chapter 5. As we read on, we start to see more magic; some of which might be not that far off from normal human abilities, but some have real magical proportions like healing, toughness, and weapon enhancement.
All in all, The Master of Names is surely worth your time. I recommend you at least give the fiction a try. I wish the author good luck with their future endeavors.

Minex: Note: This will be a fairly short review to not spoil any content
Style Score (4.5/5): An interesting writing style that is currently diologue heavy but does not lack in clear-cut descriptions with interesting conversations and likeable secondaries. Fight scenes are easy to understand and environements are evocative.  
Story Score (4/5): I enjoyed what has been currently released in this series! The magic system is an interesting concept that has major implications on the story which is a nice deviation from the ususal ‘magic-systems as secondary’ concept. Environements are inventive and interesting. However, the story starts off a bit slow but does ramp up in terms of how satisying interactions and chapters are as it progresses.
Grammar Score (3/5): Slight amount of spelling, grammar and spacing issues that can easily be cleaned up for pleaseantness. Cleaning up these errors would make the story much more professional.   
Character Score (4/5): My main criticism is that Keldon might be a little plain as far as MCs go although I suspect we will be getting greater insight into him in the following chapters (currently at chapter 13). Despite this, I find secondary characters very quirky, likeable and charming, even more so than Keldon. I am interested to see how Keldon is built up over the course of the story!
Final Score: 4/5
Overall I would encourage everyone to give this work a shot and keep an open mind as the story progresses. I am itnerested to see what the author has planned for Keldon and his compatriots as more chapters are released! 

acdaae: Overall: Master of Names tells the story of a young man in a world where skill orbs are used to create everyday magic. When we first meet Keldon, he and his team are involved in the dangerous job of scavenging for the resources needed to create skill orbs. Keldon has to balance his work-life all while struggling to make sense of peculiar dreams and learning how to control his illegal magical powers.
Style: The author employs a third person limited style that leans heavily towards a cinematic POV. Often, our MC will walk out of a scene and the narration will linger for a moment on the side characters. This technique is nice, since it allows the readers to pick up on bits of foreshadowing and irony that the MC doesn’t know. The author uses nice setting descriptions. My only complaint is that the background characters sometimes feel like a faceless mob, but this improved as the story went on. The narration is mostly dialogue-driven, which keeps the scene moving along at a good pace. My only gripe is that the dialogue for some characters uses too many accent flourishes (erry’body, ‘er, ‘cha etc.). These just aren’t my cup of tea unless used very sparingly as I find them distracting, but some readers may enjoy them. 
Grammar: The grammar is fine and doesn’t impede the story. The author has been editing and updating so I’m sure it will continue to improve in time. There are a few moments when descriptions and character movements are unclear due to the grammar errors. But overall, it’s easy enough to read.
Story: This is a character-driven story which I love. The plot develops slowly and is interspersed with many opportunities for characters to chat and get to know each other. There is also an interesting magic system that is well incorporated into the world, characters, and overall plot. The story is a bit of a slow-burn, and it takes until chapter 6 to discover the MC’s main goal and launch him on his journey.
Character: Our MC’s major conflict is his inability to use the skill orbs that everyone else relies on. I found the Keldon’s optimism and work ethic very endearing. I do wish Keldon’s ultimate goal was hinted at a little earlier on. There is a cast of well-developed side characters. I was worried at the beginning that background characters weren’t fleshed out enough, but this improved once the first plot point kicked off. 
Give it a read!

Story Post Last Updated: February 20, 2021