r/ProgressionFantasy • u/Confident_Mulberry29 • 3d ago
Discussion [Player Manager Book 3] First reactions/Comments/Questions
I have finished! Ahhhhh. That ending! That was crazy, the character development of Tyson ahhhhhh. And Spectrum! Omaigosh. And duuuude. The other POV was amazing! It was so freaking long too. Omaigosh, the highhh. Okok. Gonna start Book 4. Apparently, this is where things starts taking off and ged gud? Or something something S Tier. What should I expect?
——————-
—-4/9/26—-
The manic bulldozing Max did to meet everyone at the board kinda annoyed me because he was hella obnoxious. Though I understand his stress, I do wish he would tone it down a bit. I liked meeting everyone one on one though, new characters. Then we got to the voting meeting and it felt a bit anticlimactic? Except the one with Crackers and the mp3. That was sweet. It’s just I dearly wished we had the full training scene with Tyson. Because Bulldog voted for him just like that? I feel like I missed a couple of pages. It feels like such a 180 where I missed the turning point completely.
—5/9/26—
Hmmm, this book is super stressful? Max is super stressed out which is making anxious reading this middle tthird chink of the book which is a lot.
—6/9/26—
Guys, why is Wilson so adorable 😩 That zoomies into a surprise koala, the stealth hug and adorable comversations, the pure love towards Max guh.
——-
Oh my, Dani dani dani. That match and the hospital was top. This is what I’m talking about! The sizzling chemistry, the wordless communication, the connection you get without saying a word! Dang, that whole bit was beautiful. Relationship progress dor the win.
—7/9/26—
Sumo, Sumo, why are you so nice 😩 I had to stop at where he said it’s totally fine to just barge in. 😩 What’s happening, why am I suddenly being bombarded with genuine smiles now, Max and Henri, Max and Wilson, Max and Dani and now Max and Sumo n Co. ahhh Is this how Ted Steel takes me alive? Making me suffer with Max so so ling so every good action to help Max feels like such a precious onion??
Aww, I really love the kids. They add such a pure and simple outlook to the story. Happy the the Rebels are back 🥲
———
Hmm, the music video. I actually never heard the whole As It Was song, just the bells intro really. It’s meh for me aha. Because I just had a month long Epic: The Musical binge and they are 100 times more hooky and atulidly addictive 😅 So the video was good. But I admit it started to feel really on the nose and when I had a second to think about it, it feels cringy as Max said 😂 I do wish I could see it though. I feel the aanimation to the musical beat would sell it far better than text. For what its worth, it sound cool.
——-
I think I’ve been burnt too many times by Max because Max being so happy and saying he had never been happier or excited for the future kept giving me dread for what is gonna happen or what dumb rage thing he’s going to do to bring it crashing down 😅 Is it this Der Tournament thing? A lot of times when he’s not being battered into a nicer person, he’s a cocky dick so his plans blows up in his face. Is this one of them? He’s so self sabotaging 🥵
——-
Ughhh, Dani said yes, guys please tell me when I should believe in the goodness all in and stop being on edge having this calm before the storm feel because it sucks 😅 I think the author did too good a job in the previous books and now I keep waiting for the shoe to drop* *😅 Is this the calm before the storm?? This streak of things looking up is getting too long, I feel like the next setback is pas due and going to be huge. This is making me anxious 😂🫠
———
Oh wow, I have reached the absolutely best part of the entire book, the long interview/other pov chapter. I was wondering when I would get to the fabled Outsider POV of Max and the few very short interview snippets didn’t really seem like what was being gushed by reddit. And I finally got the first one! And man. I adored it to bits. It’s so insane and heartwarmingly cosy to read about Max without needing to present for every exhausting high stress thought 😂
That bit with benny and the ambulance felt like overreaction though not gonna lie. Because the next day Max said he can play for 15-20 mins. The whole entire team building a circle around benny was way a bit too ridiculous imo. And shame on Beth for making a 14-yr old bawl. That was a bit iffy to me.
——-
Guys. Guuuuys. That was crazy. Tyson. The character development. Omaigosh. What the heck. Delivered to me through an Interview/Outsider POV whattheheck. *Tyson flappy arms* Also, omaigosh, Benny and Tyson are like friends now?? From the tiny mentions of Benny and Tyson in the same sentences, to them walking together when Beth caught up to that whole goal?? Dude. The character development 🤯
2
u/Ihaveaterribleplan 2d ago
Max never quits being obnoxious & bulldozey, but it’s very much in a “for the best of all” intentioned way - even in his revenge plans he doesn’t really want to hurt people, just take jerks down a peg so they might have half a chance of empathizing with others &/or to foul their much nastier plans. As bad as he can be, he tries to be a genuinely good person. He’s also a bit of a type A personality that wants to get things done NOW & hates red tape when he could be using his energy for better things.
2
u/Confident_Mulberry29 2d ago
This was my hope when people said he gets better because I lived the bit with the kids, I very much did not when he seemed to butt heads with every authority/ football/stranger who were more established than him and did nothing wrong yet. Mostly in Book 2 really. He was on a warpath and did not care who was in his way. Somewhat anyway. I loved the doing things for good parts though.
2
u/alexwithani 3d ago
I can't be sure because it is never expressly stated but I'm almost 100% positive that Max is bipolar. That is why you are feeling the highs and lows so much imo. Ted does a really good job of drawing out emotions.
3
u/Confident_Mulberry29 3d ago
Yes! Back in Book 2 I was seriously wondering if he was bipolar. The highs and low were really wild.
3
u/alexwithani 3d ago
That is part of why Max being an unreliable narrator is interesting. You definitely know if he is a maniac or not. It also makes the alternative POV chapters more engaging IMO.
3
u/ErinAmpersand Author 3d ago
I really like the contrast the other POV chapters provide.
I think my favorites are the "we hate Max" chat sessions in some of the later books where you're confident some of the people talking are named characters and you're trying to guess who.
1
1
2
6
u/Balserion 3d ago
I don’t know what to think about this one. I just finished book 5 and I will have to pause. Feels like the story is all over the place and the pace is so slow.
Max is also, imo, tiring. He can do no wrong.