Prodigies: Heaven's Laws, Book 1

This book took me awhile to get into. By the time the MC left his small farm to go take on the world (bout 100 pages in), the book had me hooked and just got better and better. What an ending as well! Superb. Can't wait for book 2.

A truly great beginning. This is the first cultivation novel I've read that I think could make the great bestsellers lists. It has a beautifully imagined backdrop that combines cultivation, battle, and even a little alternative sci-fi. I love love love where this is going. And I'll be right there the whole way.

I loved this book. It had the whole cultivation aspect without just being samesey over and over. I also loved the depth and history that each character had.

Apollos Thorne has struck an excellent balance between the cliches and tropes of the Wuxia/Xanxia genre and more western cultivation stories. He avoided the 'cripple protagonist' trope, which is always a plus, and he also avoided the 'true genius' protagonist, which is also a huge plus. I say this because the former is usually an experience of long hours of constant frustration, whereas the other usually ends up ignoring emotional issues for exaggerated battles and lots of fast powerups.I really hope that the author avoids the 'cripple the protagonist to make him grow more' trope in future entries, since I basically drop every Xanxia/Wuxia that uses that one the second it comes up. The sheer rage I end up feeling when all the hard work a protagonist I like has done to build himself up is ruined in an instant is usually enough to make me never read anything from that writer again.Now, back to this book in particular. I say there are western aspects because Chao's compassion and that of his mother are something you usually won't see in main characters of a Xanxia/Wuxia story except in a very muted way. Chao is essentially a 'good' person. While many cultivation protagonists are just and/or honorable or moral people, they are rarely 'good' at heart. Rather, they hold to their principles while still being as cold in the end as most other cultivators.Another aspect I liked about this book is that they moderated the 'protagonist gets stepped on' part that inevitably pops up in every cultivation story, western or eastern. Yes, it is necessary for adversity to shape the protagonists of these stories, because that is part of the cultivator's path defined by the genre as a whole, but a lot of writers of this genre seem to take a perverse glee in making them get stepped on to an extreme level and constantly encounter petty and vindictive dicks with higher cultivation who somehow end up with a reason to hate them.That the protagonist's sect is more wholesome than a lot of sects I've seen in this genre also shows western influence, as most xanxia/wuxia stories like to make sects as poisonous and cruel as possible, perhaps to make the trials the main characters suffer feel more intense.In general, I never thought, even for a moment, about putting this down once I started it, which is a promising start to what I hope will be a moderately long series, lol.

Very well written book. I hope the author writes more. Right up there with 1000 Li and Cradle. Can't wait for a sequel.

Well written, good story, gritty at times. Spoilers below:The female MC gets raped in this series and normally that would be a hard pass for me but the author handled a really difficult subject well. Rape happens, and we shouldn't bury our heads in the sand, but call it out for the evil act it is. The author did not sexualize, or use the rape part of the story as an excuse to do anything other than condemn the act. It was not described in detail at all, or graphic in it's depiction. Instead it focused on the female MC coming to terms with what happened, her struggles, and the male MC's frustration and feeling helpless in comforting her.What I didn't like about this book was the male MC being a pushover and all the feminist role-reversal that's so common nowadays. The female characters are all written to neuter the male characters at every turn, and it makes the romance feel fake and unbelievable(and honestly a little insulting). It wasn't so over-the-top that it killed the story, but it took a lot of the enjoyment out of the book for me.

The best cultivation novel I have read. The main characters are fully fleshed out and the action is separated enough to be completely realistic in that the protagonists aren’t going from one dangerous event after another in what would seem like every other day in their world. The sect they’re apart of actually looks after is disciples and the main characters have an actual support system in family and friends that help them along. No sect bully that makes they’re life a living hell trope and even though there is betrayal the powers that be actually take care of it once it comes to light.This book actually brings common decency from most of its characters that a majority of cultivation novels completely lack. There is competition but not a lot of cruelty from the majority of citizens in the world. And where there is cruelty there is actually more than than just the protagonists that actually care and to something to put an end to it.It’s truly refreshing that the author didn’t ascribe to nearly every cultivation trope that practically every other novel of its kind that I’ve read so far.ALSO THERE IS A VERY WELL WRITTEN LOVING RELATIONSHIP THAT IS COMPLETELY BELIEVABLE AND ACTUALLY GROWS TO FULL FRUITION IN THE FIRST BOOK!!!!! OH MY GOD FINALLY SOMEONE DECIDED THAT THEY Don’t HAVE TO STRING ALONG A FORMING UNION OVER 5+ BOOKS OR MORE. It can be done in one and give you the FEELS to boot. TRULY REFRESHING to read after reading other authors books doing the same thing over and over. Thank you sir and I cannot wait till the next book

I really enjoyed this book for multiple reasons. It feels like I got what could have been two books withough the phasing feeling off or losing interest. I can't wait to read the sequel !

As the title says - this is a good story, well-told (as with the rest of this author's portfolio) but does need editing. Some grammatical errors and some sentences that make no sense spoil the experience.As with so many of this genre, it owes a lot to the Crucible series, but I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. I'm also not sure how I feel about the virginity = power part being gender biased, but that's an argument for each reader, I think.

What more do you want cultivation a good story a strong female and male character dont be put off as i was at first read of the desription, i gave this book a chance after all the badly edited chinese versions that could be great storys and it did not disapoint, awesomeness its a proper page turner it kept me up till four in the mourning its not a short book so if you want a long read then this is the book for you.P.s please do a follow up book soon .

I like Apollos Thorne's other books so I'm coming from a very sympathetic point of view. Saying that if you like books with levelling and pseudo eastern contexts plus strong world building and engaging heroes then this night be the book for you. In common with his other books its long and pleasingly doesn't end on a cliff hanger. It's enjoyable without being demanding and I'll definitely look out for the next one, although i'd like him to finish off the underworld books before starting anything new.

I was only expecting an easy read that i didn’t really need to pay attention to, but damn did i het sucked into this book!There’s a a great storyline, well built world and the characters are fun and interesting!The author doesn’t smack you in the face with how the cultivation works at the start, but seeds it in as and when it’s important, and even then it’s kept short and sweet.I loved this book, and i’m very excited for future entries!

The story is not complex but it is very enjoyable. There's quite a lot of detail re their cultivation practices and training. Fair amount of fights closely described. Moral dilemmas. Two sections I found quite sad, and many quite funny moments between the two lead characters.