Shadow Slave

No joke, this is one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Not just web novels, stories period. Shadow Slave has it all: amazing pacing, great characters, unforgettable moments. I wish I could experience it for the first time again. Sunny will stay with me forever.

The way this story balances action, mystery, and strategy is insane. Everything connects. The lore is deep without ever being boring. And Sunny’s tactical mind? Chef’s kiss. Seriously, I don’t know how the author kept this level of quality for so long. Peak fiction. 🙌

This novel goes HARD. Like, the tension never lets up. Every arc had me at the edge of my seat. Sunny is such a complex character - he's not your typical hero, and I LOVE that. The setting is dark, dangerous, and weirdly beautiful. 10/10.

Sunny is a poor orphan who awakens as an Awakened, only to receive a curse instead of a blessing. Cynical, smart, and driven by survival, he fights to rise in a brutal world full of monsters and hidden secrets.🤣🤣🤣

This is the best work of fiction I've read so far. Cheers to those who don't read it, because you're missing out on an epic story. First-rate fiction! I tell you.

Quite good. Shadow Slave is an intricately woven story which continues to impress and go up my rankings. While personally not on the level of RI or LOTM, I can see how it is for some people. The first few arcs were some of the best I've read, though there were some things I'd like to point out.

For one, while the story explores dark and scary topics, it also has a crude juvenile humor and across the book, Sunny (mc) is almost constantly infatuated with any woman he sees and the author makes sure to shove this in your face every 10 or so chapters despite being a grown man.

Secondly, even when it does cover the more scary or dark topics, its very brief--almist as if the author doesn't want to go too far into what he originally planned. This one is one of the worst for me, as it could've been so much more.

For third, Nightmare Creatures (a form of dystopian-sometimes humanoid-beasts with thousands+ of variety) and their details are almost always cut short, even for those which last over the point of 50+ chapters, you only learn of their rank and brief appearance (sometimes not even that). This unfortunate shortcoming also applies for the strongest of these creatures, despite them being heavily emphasized on having intelligence and sentience, we almost always see them as mindless beasts attacking whoever and whatever they see. Some hold territory, but thats the limit of personality for almost all Nightmare Creatures.

Finally, the character development, while meaningful and spread across many characters, often feels shoe horned and improvised into the story to drive the narrative with no clear change prior, lacking a distinguisable change to character prior to it being 'announced' that the character changed. Side characters(apart from sunnys friends and allies) also aren't often fleshed out or even seen prior to the chapters they're defeated or killed.

Although I've bashed on some shortcomings, I enjoy the story despite those and find myself intriguied by the interesting approach by the author on both publishing (high weekly ch. count) and take on dark-adventure fantasy. Overall I believe that setting and dynamics is where this book shines most. It' a good read, and a great starter story into ln's/wn's. Would reccomend regardless of experience as a reader.

Rating: 3.5/5

This novel was very good and had a lot of potential. Honestly, right now it does not deserve this rating. It deserves less. But I am giving it a 3.5 out of respect for what it once was.

(I will try to write this with minimal spoilers.)

The novel up to the Third Nightmare (around chapter 1600 and beyond) was undeniably good, despite some pacing issues and inconsistencies. The Central Antarctica and Second Nightmare arcs were great. The Second Nightmare was incredibly immersive. You could really feel it with the character. Antarctica was the peak of Shadow Slave for me. Sunny's character development was perfect. I loved that brave, scared but heroic Sunny. I enjoyed the fight scenes, the mystery, the terror of the nightmare creatures. I was genuinely excited for Sunny's future.

I will not talk much about the Forgotten Shore (Volumes 1 and 2) because it is already widely discussed and there is not much to add from my side.

Overall, until Volume 7, the novel was solid. Definitely not the best, but a strong 4 out of 5. However, after the Third Nightmare...

It was horrible. All that buildup only for nothing. At first, it is confusing and even frustrating, but you are still curious to see how the author will handle it. Sunny finally reaches a level where he could start influencing the world. You get excited. You expect politics, development, change. It is a shame that G3 never explored this properly, especially in Volumes 3 and 5, which would have been perfect for it. But no. After the dramatic end of the Third Nightmare, G3 just throws a time skip. He completely skips over a chance for a discovery or growth arc for Sunny. In my opinion, that was awful.

After the time skip, we get a completely different Sunny, and that is expected after four years. But the worst part is that we do not feel the weight of those four years on him. The writing tries, but it does not land. It feels shallow. The emotional impact simply is not there.

Then the pacing shoots forward. War is coming. You get excited again. Maybe we will finally see politics, strategies, alliances, Sunny’s influence, the return of other characters. But no. Everything is rushed. Sunny reunites with Nephis quickly. Cassie shows up, but honestly, she could be removed from the story and nothing would change.

Sunny and Nephis’s relationship is raw, rushed, and emotionless. It feels artificial.

Cassie is always described as intelligent and manipulative, but G3 clearly does not know how to write such a character. She relies completely on her powers and nothing more.

The war arc is bad. The politics are shallow. The consequences of war on normal people are barely touched on. The strategy scenes are boring and obvious. The Song sisters have unbearable dialogue, like repeating how green the grass is. Nothing meaningful is said.

Rain’s point of view was supposed to show us the war from the perspective of the common soldier, to give us the horror of battle. But it does not deliver. It is just vague descriptions about how dark the camp is. There is no emotional weight, no impactful deaths, no trauma, no growth. Rain and Tamar are both annoying and useless. Tamar’s personality is generic, her power is boring, and she adds nothing to the story.

Then finally, the Sovereigns are revealed. You would expect terrifying antagonists, full of presence and pressure, but no. They are underwhelming and resolved way too easily.

There is no strong new character introduced after the Third Nightmare. The nightmare creatures become repetitive and lack originality. Nephis loses all depth. She no longer has the fire she once had.

Sunny turns into a simp. He already was one, but now it is unbearable.

Effie becomes a boring pervert. Honestly, she should have died several volumes ago to give Sunny some emotional weight, or at least have less screen time.

Jet keeps repeating the same monologues and dialogues. She does not evolve.

Kai, my poor Kai. They stripped away all his character development.

Cassie just does not die. She is annoying, and her role could be removed entirely.

And my poor Mordret. What G3 did to him broke my heart. They ruined one of the best antagonists in the series.

I could say more, but I am lazy.

The war ends in the most dull and unsatisfying way possible.

This story desperately needs a powerful antagonist with real impact.

In the end, do not go in with high expectations. It is a good novel to relax with or casually follow, but not something that will transform you.

Honestly, even The Beginning After The End has more emotional weight than Shadow Slave.

And please do not expect anything on the level of Reverend Insanity or Lord of the Mysteries. Shadow Slave lacks the worldbuilding, character development, and narrative ambition those stories have.

Anyway, I skipped over a lot of points out of laziness. But if you still decide to read it, good luck and happy reading.

 one of the best webnovels I've ever read, it's just amazing, in terms of world-building and lore, it's just fantastic overall.Over my course of reading novels for years I have to say this is by far one of if not the best novel I've ever read. The plot, background, and characters are original following NO cliches, they are utterly amazing and brings a new concept to magic and powers. The character in no way feel one dimensional and all feel like living, breathing characters. The main character is relatable but at the same time not as we are not in his situation. The MC has a brain and uses it yet actually has emotions even though at first he seems kind of cruel which was pretty cool also. MC is not OP but also not weak and uses his intelligence to defeat his obstacles including the greatest one, his flaw. Flaws an amazing system the author made to show some kind of downside of getting powers besides the obvious risk of death in a nightmare. At first I was unconvinced by the flaws importance to the novel and felt something were forced for about... 1 chapter. The chapter after I immediately realized the importance of the flaw and how satisfying it was to see him shape what he says in a way that doesnt break the rules of his flaw. Him outsmarting others even while under a flaw is the most satisfying thing ever. Personally, I abhore any romance in novels, mainly because its a reminder of my loneliness and it is usually forced or stupid, however even though they havent yet, there are moments, and I will genuinely stab my eyes out if the MC and Changing Star don't hook up, perfect webnovel couple. The grammar is impeccable, not sure about updating stability because I just read it all in one go. Background is detailed without being too much exposition, and is ORIGINAL and actually very interesting. Especially the authors way of utilizing prophecies which I cant go to far into because of spoiling. But the prophecy seemed well though out, had me wishing for a explanation, and honestly cant complain. All in all this novel is the one true gem of webnovel and should make all the other trash bow down and delete itself. I am now going to donate power stones every day. Please give this novel a chance, while its a little slow at first, after a few chapters it will not dissapoint. Especially the comedy, its actually funny. Author, never give up on this novel or I will hunt you down and make you continue writing. This feels like it has been written by a famous author

This novel is a rarely seen masterpiece. For hardcore readers like me, the character development and psychological expressions are excellent, and the plot has a heart-touching feel. I'm now on chapter 1016 and my glasses cracked when I read the last episode because it made my blood boil Recommended reading for all ages. (*つ▽`)っ

i am reposting my old review. yall crazy to report a comment for giving their opinions.

I like it a lot! The plot, the characters, it's funny and overall a lot better than the other novels I've read. I'm not saying there's bad novels, just that I prefer this one. This novel is quite exciting. High hopes for it. Keep up the good work!

Edit: Cassie sucks prove me wrong

Edit 2: ofc this novel isn't perfect, but I still quite like it. Like others have said, this is imperfect and can get boring at times. The author is probably getting tired of pushing out so many chapter, I understand.

INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT WHERE???? GET A LIFE YALL