The False Ascendant: The Menocht Loop, Book 2

The MC throughout this book gives no sign of being gay, lol. Yuri (The Prince from Book 1) says 1 thing in chapter 25. 1 comment, lol I can't. Could you imagine reading 25/37 chapters of a book and giving it 1 star because A side character is gay? Not the Ivan; IT WAS A SIDE CHARACTER.Not only that, we were told Yuri was GAY in BOOK 1. Why did they think he doesn't enter the bathhouse???? There were only 2 possibilities: A) He's gay or B) He's trans or actualy a girl (which was unlikely since the country didn't seem sexist, but this is a trope). I guess Y 123 isn't the best at reading things, lol.So far, MC has shown no sign of being gay. He goes on a date with a girl in Book 1, and kisses a women in chapter 31 of this book.He's either straight (or hopefully bisexual so that Yuri's one-sided love isn't hopeless, lol)Anyway, Origonally I was going to wait a but before starting this book as the 4th book isn't out yet, but when Y 123 told be that the MC was into guys I had to grab this right away, I just had to know if the MC was going to end up with Yuri or if they were adding a new character. But believe me, in this book there are NO signs of the MC being interested in boys. I hope our crazzy Y 123 is on to something though and something happens in book 3. Perhaps, GASP Hand handholding might occur? pft.Anyway, I enjoyed this book. I like how book 1 was the loops, and for book 2 he's out of the loop. It allows for a little bit more comedy. Gala was my fav chapter even though MC kisses the couger.Great book. I like the characters and the world building.I also think it had a great ending, I liked it a lot. I love it when books end in an "end" note kind of way, and both this book and the last book succeeded in that. I will definitely pick up the next book, but I'm going to resist it for a little bit to try getting a little closer to the September release date for book 4. I'll probably only last till Tuesday though :p

This was a solid world-building filler book. It felt a bit quiet, but seemed like it was setting up a lot of future plot points. It was an enjoyable read.

Enjoyed this one almost as much as the first. Interesting magic system and good world building. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

After the last book left us hanging as the Loop ended, I was curious how this one would start. I have to say I was a little surprised, but not disappointed in how the first few chapters went. Throughout the book we get to see Ian coming to grips with his power in the real world, and trying to figure out how he will interact with people now. It’s also interesting to see him get a lesson on power and politics, and how he can’t really escape from certain things now. There were also some interesting lore introductions which will have a definite impact on book 3, that should be very exciting to see born out. The dash of a bit of potential romance or attraction was a nice touch, and the ending was definitely a touching moment.

Very good book. Things finally start to make a bit more sense tying in with the previous book. Really good book

It was really cool to get to see what actually happened after Ian exited the loop. It was intriguing to see his relationship with the Crowned Prime develop and neat to get to see more of what Ian was able to do with his talents.Unfortunately, just as we are getting into the good stuff, we get dribbles of revelation that a magical practitioner who becomes too powerful becomes an "ascendant," a process that does significance damage to the world around them. Worse, we find out that Ian, being completely self-taught, doesn't know what he needs to in order to survive, much less contain the process and protect those he loves. Worst of all, Ian is contacted by what appears to be a powerful, potentially malevolent being which informs him that: 1) The Infinity Loop was doing really harm, beyond the harm done to Ian. 2) The being wants to make a deal. 3) The being shows Ian how his ascension will go if nothing changes. 4) in exchange for helping the being try to kill another powerful being, this being will grant Ian a fighting chance...What hope is there if Ian refuses? But making a deal with the devil never ends well, no matter how well intentioned.There is enough of a sense of foreboding that things could go downhill fast in the next book. Or, the author might pull off a miracle, keeping Ian squarely as a good guy while somehow managing to save the world... I guess we'll have to wait and see.

First, this is an adequate follow up to Menocht Loop. I liked it.But.The MC didn’t progress. He polished a few skills, but he didn’t really change. The one change that happened didn’t impact the narrative hardly at all, and within a chapter or two it was like it didn’t happen.Also, the world didn’t get developed as much as the map at the beginning seemed to indicate it would. Countries were mentioned and other powerful people showed up, but we were left with substantially the same questions as before. Now that he *is* out of the loop there could have been an ‘under the hood’ moment examining the hows and whys.I am still interested in book 3. It’s a fascinating ‘system’. But I hope the next book has a few more answers.PS I don’t think “sordid” was the right word for the person/moment. ‘Stolid’ seems a better fit.

A thoroughly entertaining book, good character development and decent battles with just enough detail to not be a slog. There is a bit of an 'MC is the center of the world' juxtaposition that is a little jarring, but works well with his OP powers, while adding a tournament to add some grounding to those powers. I found it fun to read, and look forward to the next one!

This book was good and I was surprised how quick and well done the whole tournament was done.While we spend a quite bit of time with Ian dealing with the ramifications of the infinity loop experiment and his concerns of actually harming people by the end of the book, Ian gets his act together and decides to pursue power at earnest for the sake of safety of his family and the world.The real world is a crazy place and I believe the loop is more dangerous than we thought back in book 1

What can i say if your reading this go buy the first book and enjoy a different take on the normal zero to hero story, this book has more twists and turns revelations fights etc and leaves you wanting to read book three straight away grrrrr.

I found the first book in the series interesting but not fantastic … the second lost the interesting and it just dragged!!Not worth the time … unless edited down to an actual plot!