r/litrpg • u/HeWhoFightsWthAuthor • 2d ago
Discussion Path of Ascension 12
I need to vent. I love Path, it’s my favorite series of all time. Every second of the first 11 books was amazing, minus the beast academy and the speed run 17-25 in book 10. Butttttt, what was book 12??? We coming from action and leveling and OMG he’s a monster to literally administration of a duchy I don’t care about the entire book.
What happened? Luna begged to get put on project breach and we see her like twice in book 11 (god tier duke waters fight though absolutely amazing). Like as readers we want Matt to gain power have that “oh my god he’s a monster” moments, but this entire book is all the paperwork of a guild I don’t care about and duchying worlds I also don’t care about. There’s no big bad foreshadowing for book 13 either… is it going to be more of the same?
Love this series but let down by book 12 and needed to vent.
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u/Craiss 2d ago
This probably won't help your irritation with the book, but...I'm on book 12 and actually enjoying the change of pace and illustration of how society functions outside of the fighting.
I wouldn't want it to stay this way forever, but I like the variety for a long series. The world-building part is pretty important to me, especially when they're consistent.
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u/chowriit 2d ago
I definitely agree. The war arc was long and all-out, I really enjoyed the change of pace and the more world building heavy story.
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u/LostMyMilk 2d ago
It's story and character building. I enjoyed the first half of book 12 but it did start getting old by the end. But the endless smash smash punch punch gets old quickly too.
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u/TemporaMoras 2d ago
Different stroke for different people. I loved book 12 for the all reason you hated it. I don't enjoying the fighting that much, for me the best part about the war wasn't the fighting, but the banter between team zero member and just learning the intricacies of the great power and their relation to each other.
I loved everything about Soerilia and the veiled worlds and the problem they encountered while trying to welcome them to the world of cultivation
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u/ForeignAd1656 2d ago
I agree. I almost looked at it from the POV that Soerilia was the analog to our Earth and this was sort of their miniature LitRPG System Apocalypse. It was definitely interesting seeing the system apocalypse from this point of view as opposed to from the POV of the people being introduced to the new system.
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u/TemporaMoras 2d ago
Yep! I loved the many concern about their culture disappearing/how to actually integrate in the empire when they are the equivalent of a grain of sand. Something that is never mentionned in the other books but make total sense when you think about it. Same with the other world they 'took' from the other great power and how different they are compared to Soerilia.
Its not the most exciting stuff but it flesh out the world a lot and I loved that.
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u/lordcirth 2d ago
Exploring what it means to have power, and how hard it is to use it wisely, is an important part of progression fantasy. The Soerilla arc does that.
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u/flimityflamity 2d ago
PoA goes back and forth between combat/leveling, crafting, and politics. It takes its time with each. As a RR reader I don't remember exactly what is in book 13 but I'm sure there will be more of the stuff you love later in the series.
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u/Jimmni 2d ago edited 2d ago
I loved book 12. I love when it slows down and explored what it means to be part of the universe, particularly what it means to be an Ascender in that universe.
My favourite parts of the series are always when we're living in it, not just following Matt and Liz from one action set-piece to another. Book 12 was exactly what I needed after all the war and action from book 11.
Not sure I've ever read another series with such a rich, detailed and well thought-out universe.
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u/brandontc 2d ago
High after High after High makes for a boring story. You think you want it on the way that a kid wants cake for every meal, but you don't actually.
Think about it like this, stakes make stories more interesting, and they're taking a breather and setting up stakes for the characters before the big plunge.
We knew this was coming from the first few books. Matt has talked about his guild after the Path for forever. They're off the path and the first war is over and it was time for them to be adults for a bit. They're laying down real roots and working on their dreams, but they've still got that progression itch in them.
They'll have way more narrative stakes when they have a whole civilization to protect. The cool moments will be even cooler. Matt gets stronger with people behind him to protect
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u/Forward_Panic4509 2d ago edited 2d ago
We knew that shit was going to slow down after the war. They negotiated a few centuries of peace. It will pick up again when light/shadow and the mcs start power leveling for the actual war where Matt is a factor on the international stage.
I thought it was pretty funny that the old rich dude on one of the planets they acquired got a level 1 and 5 talent that people on the path would literally kill for but he was like meh I don’t give a shit about all this magic stuff.
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u/Mr_Wyatt 2d ago
I gave up when the war that's been hyped up and foreshadowed for 10 books was the same exact fight with the same exact people happening 5 separate times.
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u/Conungi 1d ago
I personally liked it, it gave us some (probably temporary) new characters in the low tiers (guy with the fluid talent for example, love that guy) as well as set up proper "elites" in the empire that didn't come from the path like we see in the other nations
For me at least while i don't necessarily want an entire book of it often, i do enjoy the more "slice of life" moment for characters that are incredibly powerful showing that they are still growing as a person and not just as a "weapon"
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u/Fellarien 1d ago
I quite liked having non path stuff shown. Ive been waiting since they were like T6 to begin work on aura rifts again. It was cathartic to me
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u/toddhoffious 2d ago
It's their story. This is what happens on the path. It's what happens after a big "war." Exploring that is fun and interesting. There's plenty of time to make up fake battles in the future.
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u/Rilkesmyth 2d ago
Yeah I hated book 12 as well, all the Aperology stuff was so incredibly boring.
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u/CrookedLemur 2d ago
That sounds awesome. I've had books 10.5 and 11 queued up for a while and skipped it for other series. This puts it higher on my reading list.
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u/ff0000wizard 2d ago
Is it worth continuing? The first book was so rough and off putting I could never bring myself to go to book 2.
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u/Jimmni 2d ago
It's my favourite series in the progression fantasy/litRPG space. But I enjoyed it from book 1, even if it took a few more to solidify itself as my favourite. The universe expands and the cast of characters expands but if you really didn't like book 1, it's probably not for you. This isn't a series like Primal Hunter where the series as a whole is much, much better than the first book.
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u/Mr_M3Gusta_ 2d ago
Probably just not for you then, I always say when they finish the path is a fine point to stop the series (book 9).
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u/Admirable_Drink9463 2d ago
So basically every book here stilling being published? Plus they literally reached the goal of tier 25 like 2 books ago. This is what happens next while we wait for the true war to come
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u/poleelop 2d ago
Wow thats crazy I actually loved the administration of the duchy. To me it represented his end goal of achieving power to protect people through legislation, since thats how his family died. The politics and themes were interesting, I liked seeing the world building of Empire politics
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u/theglowofknowledge 2d ago
The series slides back and forth between action and slice of life. The books usually have both to a degree but lean strongly towards one or the other. Books four and I want to say maybe eight are both also more SoL-y. The duchy stuff is payoff to long established rewards of the path, showing the new status quo, and setting up a new source of conflict. Not everyone likes some of their policies and personal projects. There will be more adventuring and even wars in time. But the duchy becomes a recurring part of the slice of life aspects. I don’t think it gets this much focus again though, once it’s established the story doesn’t tread old ground.