Praise

Part metafictional odyssey, part AI fever dream, and part teacher’s lament, this darkly luminous debut asks what happens when the act of creation fights to stay alive. Readers who crave the intellectual layering of Neal Stephenson, the moral tension of Good Omens, and the self-aware wit of The Matrix will find something wholly new here: a story that codes, questions, and bleeds all at once.

An incredibly well-crafted literary story about a literary LitRPG attempting to be good literature--or at least, entertaining, engaging literature. Which may be a contradiction.

I would give it 6 stars for style if I was allowed to. When I read the original Conan story, the Phoenix on the Sword by Robert E. Howard, I was awed by the author's use of poetry and opening quotes to set the scenes. This story turns that up to 11, with quotes, poems, code snippets, and style galore.