Today's review is The Devil’s Tears by Anonymous Buttfart. Before reading it, I was very excited to read this novel. The Devil’s Tears is a novel based around a young boy named Sebastian Heller who has just arrived in the capital with his younger brother and sister. The reason he has come to the capital is that he is taking part in the annual Magic Knight Candidate Examination. The Magic Knight Candidate Examination is a challenge that many candidates from all over the land are taking apart of to join the magic knight guild. The Devil’s Tears is an engaging story that is fun to read.

The first issue I noticed in this story was the lack of substantial descriptions. This story is appealing, but the shortage of descriptors anchored the story, stopping it from being better. The descriptions Anon used were one-worded, not bringing any mystical elements to the novel. A story should always have a component that can explain a feeling or an object with complex words. As I have said many times before, descriptions are one of the most important aspects of a novel. If they have no substance to them, then a story does not seem as significant. Anon does not need to illustrate each sentence, but it is still necessary that well-worded descriptions are there.

One thing I loved about this story was the plot. I was very interested in the mystical land which Anon created. A commonly used type of fiction is medieval fantasy, which is a deeply loved genre by both authors and filmmakers. It brings together historical fiction and fantasy, both very well-loved writing styles. The story which Anon is creating is perfectly fit for a medieval fantasy novel. I was interested in the prologue, and I am excited to see what relation it has to the story. I enjoyed how nicely the plot fit into the novel, and I am excited to see what else there is to it.

Another issue I noticed with this novel is a lack of research. When I was reading this story, I thought to myself, this would probably never happen, or this is incorrect. When reading a novel, no reader wants to correct an author or realize that the author didn't research a subject. While an author doesn't have to understand everything, it is still necessary for an author to research subjects that they do not understand. If an author does not research for their novel, it will sound inaccurate to the people who understand that subject. There are many examples of where Anon could have improved his story with research. Things that an author writes about a subject they do not know will not affect every reader, but it will bother the people who understand these subjects. Without research, any novel will sound illogical or incorrect, no matter how amazing the story is.

Another thing that Anon did was with the characters' speech. He made his characters sound like an actual person, not a cardboard cutout of one. I have seen many authors make their characters sound artificial, make them sound like they are just a character out of a kid's movie. Characters who sound artificial can make a novel or character much less enjoyable. Poor dialogue does not always affect the reader, but it can make the story much more appealing. The language in this novel worked well, but I would prefer it if modern terms would not be used as much in this story since it takes the magic and the age away from the novel. Otherwise, Anon did very well in writing the speech.

The most problematic issue I found was with the character Sebastian. He is a Mary Sue (Gary Sue). A Mary Sue is a generic name for a character who is supposedly perfect. When authors realize that they have created such a persona, they try to give them a flaw to make them seem less of a Mary Sue, even though it does not work. Sabastian is a very powerful character, but his supposed weakness is that he smiles when he is frustrated. At one point, Sebastian gives his luggage to a soldier, and Anon makes this soldier unable to carry such a bag, making Sabastian sound incredibly strong. Perfect characters make a novel seem less believable and not as enjoyable. A Mary Sue is a very negative output for a story. When a reader is looking at a character, they want to sympathize with their persona, if the character is perfect, then they cannot connect with them. While this is very cliché statement, nobody is perfect, if a character of a novel is, they seem fictitious.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this story and am curious to see what is next for Sebastian and his siblings. I hope to see Anon taking my criticism and developing on his story, I see a lot of potential in this novel, and I hope Anon decides to improve. Other than the few issues I mentioned before, The Devil’s Tears is a very entertaining story.

Link in the descriptions!

P.S. Found a nice quote today.

“There’s something about a woman with a loud mind that sits in silence, smiling knowing she can crush you with the truth.”

- R.G. Moon