I just finished Tower of Somnus book 1, and I definitely enjoyed it enough to want to read the second book.
Prose
Overall I feel it was very nicely written, well above average. Couple things I found a little grating were the sometimes stiff and stuffy language of the aliens. This could be explained by translation, but for me it was detrimental to my immersion. The other thing I found distracting was the inorganic pronoun discussion; this is something I see a lot of authors trying to do and it just feels awkward to me. I have no issue with using they for a character but shining such a bright light on it just doesn’t feel believable to me for how the characters would actually act; it feels like the author speaking through the characters to force their own agenda.
Plot
I think the plot is excellent, especially the awake-life part. The dreamscape story starts nicely but does begin to feel a little empty for me by the end; I’m hoping it picks back up in the second book. I do love the idea of playing the game in your sleep and gaining powers that way.
Characters
Overall, I like the characters. Kat is great, and I find her believable. Xander is very interesting and I want to hear more about him. My only gripe would be with Arnold. The idea of her love blindness being enough to overlook such glaring character flaws is a little unbelievable to me. I wish her long-time best friend and love interest felt like he had a little more depth. He could be unlikable without being completely deplorable.
Setting
I think the author did a good job with the world. It feels interesting and is a great place for the story to take place. My only complaint is that it all feels a bit cynical, which is just not my preference.
Magic / Skill System
Nothing super special going on here so far. It’s just interesting enough to keep things going and doesn’t bother me, but I would say it’s definitely being carried by the plot and character. Nothing wrong with that. Being able to use the powers in the real world also really helps to make them interesting.
Polish
think this could have benefited from more editing work. Especially of note are some strange dialogue formatting that constantly confuses me as to who is speaking.
TLDR
I recommend this for the plot and the characters as well as the creative use of the dreamscape to have 2 plots going simultaneously. I’d like to see a little more interest in the magic system and the story in the dreamscape has been feeling a little low stakes.
