Lodestar Review

So, Lodestar review- on time and everything.

The setting is unique and interesting, with the world of the story existing on the inside of a sphere rather than the outside, with a mysterious glowing Core at the center of it, the source of the world's day night cycle and.. no spoilers, sorry. Go read the quest if you want to find out.

The tone of the story is, broadly, one of swashbuckling adventure, with a plucky gang of three pirates- the smoothtalking, silver tongued, womanizing captain Ramza (picrel), the coolheaded, surprisingly well informed possessor of most of the party's brain cells Val, and the friendly, terrifyingly brawny amnesiac, Gigas going on a quest to seek glory, honor, riches, and the coveted title of Pirate King.

The quest's two biggest highlights are the adventure and the character dynamics- the three main characters (the perspective may swap at the beginning of any thread) have excellent chemistry together, and you really do believe them as friends. Their actions, dialogue, and strengths as people are convincingly different from each other, and you never really feel like the journey would be possible without any of them. Plus, the banter between the three, when it does happen, is usually quite well done. The thrill of exploration- high seas magic pirate adventures, thrilling swordfights, and the captain talking the crew out of the many messes they find themselves in, is always fun (though the tone is such that you very rarely feel like things could seriously go belly up even in the most dire situations)

If this review sounds a bit like Slicequest, it's because those two stories share similar strengths as fun, very entertaining action romps, but Lodestar is more like a shonen action series, while Slicequest's tone is more like a wild, borderline psychedelic western cartoon- which is to say, Lodestar is marginally more sane with a much greater emphasis on things like worldbuilding and long term continuity.

As for flaws- some of the infodumps, when they happen, can get a little.. excessive. It is occasionally handled well, but often it's a bit difficult to pay attention. Also, speaking of length, sometimes the paragraphs get a bit long- not a huge issue, but it does make the experience a bit more obtuse, especially in something as whimsical and energetic as Lodestar.

That being said, those are minor quibbles. If you like pirates, magic, and adventure, there really is no reason why you shouldn't read this quest.