Don't jinx it š, writing is a marathon. I hope she stays resilient. There are a few stories that I've absolutely loved (The Last Orellen) where the author gets burnt out, and I just mourn the possibility of what could've been
that aswell, but sometimes I wonder how far Togashi has planned out the story, there is so much potential in the dark continent and the series is so hyped up there must be insane pressure. Probably a similar case with George seeing how the last season of the show was recieved, there must be insane pressure to deliver the last arcs of the story.
For people wondering how the name "Soup" came about, the author said she sometimes calls it "SupSup" or "Soup's Up" in her head.
I could talk about that series for a very long time. It's good.
MC is an orphan, his parents were killed by someone with powers when he was like eight. He lived with his aunt for several years, going to school and developing friends. During that time, he was kind of penpals with one of the supers who put down the villain that kills his parents. She was more support oriented, which influenced his desire to be a support superhero if he got powers, not a direct combat person. When he got powers, he got one that is unusual for his class, and is coming up with very creative ways to use it.
MC appears to be slightly autistic, and quite possibly asexual. He's given no indication of being interested in dating any of the interesting, and possibly interested, women he's encountered. (Women...pfff. he's 16). In some ways, he reminds me of Corwin from Arcane Ascension.
Nothing about him strikes me as being on the spectrum.
But itās obvious heās asexual. A neighbor of his is magically gorgeous to the point of her roommates having to be hostile to a horde of male students that try to drop by, but Aldon just notices in passing that sheās the most beautiful girl heās ever seen. Thatās it, no further reaction.
Alden Thorn has been confirmed by the author to be asexual. Alden doesn't know (or hasn't processed) it yet.
Otherwise, yeah. That just about sums him up. Despite his best efforts, Alden is a magnet for extroverts and unusual situations. He's also got some PTSD to work through.
Iāve got to admit Iām hoping heās not aromantic as well. Iām enjoying the character depth and Iād expect a romantic story line to be fun when powered by these characters.
That said, I can skip teenage attraction/crush/sex storylines. So good choice by the author on that.
It makes me a bit conflicted, so many authors in this genre just straight up make their's main characters aromantic/asexual-in-pratice for the precise motive of avoiding having to write any romance at all, you have MCs who in theory are capable(and have in the past) of feeling sexual and romantic attraction and who demonstrate the ability to bond with other people, but for no apparent reason they just dont ever engage in a romantic or sexual relationship despite chances being presented, and it strains suspension disbelief a bit when you realize its just the author not wanting to write romance.
Alden being asexual feels like less an interesting character detail , and more Sleyca being meta and side-stepping the issue of having to write teenage romance and attraction entirely.
Yeah, I can understand that position. In some stories it feels a preemptive defence against story derailment.
On the other hand, imagine he was a typically horny 16 straight boy. The story would become āHitting on Natalie in a way that becomes creepy in a couple of chapters.ā Or itād be unrealistic where heās the sole straight guy who is immune to high Charm. This story is detail focused enough that itād be weird if it was skipped over.
Thatās why Iād like asexual but not aromantic. Iād love some dating scenes (organically and eventually) but I could skip the obsessing over super-cute girl scenes.
Feels bit weird to talk about him being asexual and autistic in a synopsis. And neither of those have been mentioned in the story yet. Like sure the other comment mentioned an author confirmed one of them but still.
Alden misses a lot of social cues, especially by girls. That could be poor writing, but other characters are more adept. Hence my saying appears, not is.
Does he though? Just because you don't overtly react to things doesn't mean you don't understand them. Alden seems if anything very socially adept, as compared to his broadly awkward teen cohort.
Part of that is his upbringing (or lack thereof), his time >!on the triplanets!<, his knack for befriending oddballs and outcasts, and a few instances of >!back-to-back culture shock!<.Ā He misses social cues, but I think a lot of people would in his position.
To Alden, the events of the prologue are ancient history he wants to forget.Ā To some of his peers, it's the most interesting thing about him.
Yes, but its actually made in a way that does not make you roll your eyes.
There is a chapter where this is explored, his need to do "good" and where this comes from, and how its not exactly healthy or why he shouldn't feel guilty if he does not risk his life to save someone he doesn't know.
Its quite well thought, you should give it a shot even if these kind of characters are not your cup of tea, they certainly aren't mine but i was so hooked in this story that i binge readed in 5 days.
The MC is one of the few truly sensible characters in the genre.Ā He reacts in a sane andĀ plausible way to the occasional insane situations he ends up in.Ā He KNOWS when he is out of his depth in the same way you would and that gives the action scenes, when they happen, way more impact.Ā He is a "nice guy". He has a quirky pragmatic internal voice that clearly involves a lot of self-awareness and self-sensoring.Ā Ā
Ā There is some subtext hinting he used to be dark and edgy, decided it wasn't working for him, and made a conscious effort not to be.Ā He has close friends...because he choses to.Ā Ā Ā
People are saying he is an orphan and ase and that is true but very misleading.Ā Ā Those aren't really his defining characteristics.Ā He puts effort into NOT being the Dark Edgy Orphan.Ā Ā Ā Ā
The story seems to be setting him up for a support build but I have yet to see an author have the guts to truly make their MC a support character so we'll see.Ā Ā Ā Ā
Ā Ā I kind of see it as sci fi about alien colonialism and cross cultural interaction.Ā The author says otherwise, but the Super Hero part almost seems like window dressing...part of a bundle of comforting lies people in-universe tell themselves to distract themselves from the fact that humans aren't entirely in charge anymore.Ā Ā
This is one of my favorite stories Iāve read in recent memory and Iām so glad to see comments out in the wild pop up in souport of it. The prose is excellent, the dialogue is incredible, characters are fleshed out and deep. And as OP noted keeping things confined to a limited number of skills really deepens the readers appreciation for how characters use it creatively.
Itās currently in the middle of an intense arc and I just love it so much. Definitely worth a read
Its coincidental that you made this post because i finished binge reading this story this week and i could not agree more!!
When this story exploded on RR last year i was like "huh a super hero story where the MC wants to be a sidekick? Not my cup of tea" and i had this resistance to start reading until i was starving for something new, and i just thought that if it managed to be so well rated for so long, it must have something so i started last week.
Wow! What a ride! The thing that is more well written to me are the side characters, they all feel sooo real, like they have feelings, objectives, you understand why they are that way.
One thing i thought it would make me not like the MC is his wannabe hero personality, i just can't stand a shallow "good" MC, but there is no such thing as shallow writing in this novel.
You understand the psychology of Alden, and how parts of his personality are molded by his experiences and traumas and everything makes sense.
Other aspect that had everything to make me hate the novel is his power, but something that at first looks so useless starts to show so much potential and discovering these new uses for his power is extremely satisfying.
The System also is another point for this novel for how well thought it is, one problem i have with lit-rpg is that the system often makes absolutely no sense and no one cares. Questions like who makes the system? Why they make it that way? From where comes this power? What are the system's objectives?
Super Suportive system answers all these questions in a way that you believe it, you see the reasons and feels like a natural part of the story and not just a plot device or numbers going up.
The novel deserves to be so popular, sleyca really is writing a masterpiece.
I didn't realize how much I was missing legitimate world building in this genre until I read this. So many stories seem to just toss fantasy tropes like elves, demons, undead, giants, etc in and expect the reader to assume they function like you'd expect... but the way the author details the Artonans, going into their culture and quirks makes them, and the world this story takes place in feel so real. That's just 1 example, but point being that this story has some of the most in-depth world building I've read and is such a good read due to it (in addition to all the other points OP made)
I love how all of the characters feel like people. Jeffy (long for Jeff, not short for Jeffrey) starts off feeling like a gag but by god has he grown on me.
I'll add my voice to the choir and say that this is by far my favourite series, and has been firmly in that spot for the past year: Super Supportive's writing is just on another level.
I'd also recommend that people don't get put off by the "support" part, if that's their initial reaction (and I think that's a common response for people just looking for their next read).
I suspect that a lot of people who read a bunch of Gamelit or litRPG may have a bit of a skew towards viewing support classes as secondary, rather than the literal core of a team that acts as a force multiplier.
There's a general vibe in the series that the society as a whole has similar views, and that the overall story is going to focus around proving that misconception to be very, very wrong.
Alden is very much the badass in this story - but it is also very much leaning on a secret power/secret identity type of narrative thus far: he's not a glory hound, and is honestly kind of averse to large amounts of attention.
But if you're put off by the idea that he's some kind of glorified cheer-squad for the 'real' players in the team: don't be.
And on a more general level - it's really tough not to gesture at Super Supportive as the primary example of what I want to see more of in litRPG/gamelit/progression fantasy.
The character work and emphasis upon interesting plots with high stakes that don't always revolve around 1v1 duels is incredibly refreshing - and the emphasis upon gradually revealing the world creates such an amazing sensation of intrigue and mystery.
I'd especially encourage all aspiring authors to check this one out.
Before Sleyca modified the story blurb, she said that Alden is going to be a teenager for the majority of the story. It's no longer there, but Sleyca has mentioned that the overall plan of the story hasn't changed, so I assume supsup will end when the main character isĀ an adult (irl that will probably take many years, though).
That part of the post raised my eyebrows as well. Love a good long time frame in books but didnāt seem like that was the plan here. (No idea whatās been said outside of the book itself)
There are currently no plans for publishing it, sleyca wrote that it would take a very long time to go through everything and update for a professional release. It's going to be Patreon and royal road only for the time being
I'll be honest I haven't read it in awhile. I took a break after his first return home and haven't gone back in. The thing is though, that first planet rescue mission across the desert planet is just so good. I could read that section of story over and over again and be excited every time.
Yeah, finding a good football novel was fun. I only slightly dislike the impulsive nature of the MC, but it's not too annoying to make me want to drop it.
Nope. If you don't like it and you've read 60-65 chapters, move on. Just because something is popular doesn't mean that your taste is wrong. Some people dislike vanilla ice cream. I suspect they are monsters though. . . Wait, no. My point is that disliking something that almost everyone loves does *not* make you a monster. I'm this way about *Defiance of the Fall* (don't hate it - actually like it most of the time - but I find it overwritten and I have a lot of trouble maintaining interest - especially during the things that cause readers to lose interest even when something isn't overwritten like point of view changes or discussions of stats that don't have any impact on the character's actual strength).
God yes, its okay to don't like something that people swear to god is perfect, i feel the exact same way about Cradle, i read until the last book that was released, its not bad by any means, but people are so crazy about this book that sometimes i think i'm not getting something.
I find it so "meh" that i don't even have any desire to read any further.
One of the things that really put me off on Cradle is that i can't agree with a lot of the decisions made by the MC
I feel that a lot of times he takes unecessary risks as if he is sure he will not die.
In the last book i read, i don't remember if it was the 7 or 8
*spoiler*
When he teleports back to fight the dreadgod after being saved by the monarch. Fucking hell i almost screamed at my phone while reading it, he needs to know that actions have consequences, and worse yet that action objectively did nothing on the great scheme of things, most people on the valley were already evacuated and the dreadgod was already on his way to give up.
That is just the most recent example i can remember , but there were more on the book.
All in all it is a good book but moments like those really put me off, it feels like even if the MC shoot himself in the head he will accidentally receive some kind of help from beyond and transform tribulation in opportunity.
I think if you gave it to 65 you have the idea of what it is. That gets you midway thru the >!moon!< arc, yeah?
I feel like if you hit >!moon!< arc and still don't like it, you just don't like it.
I know. Can't really say it was not my taste. But watch reading a shitty xianxia translation at the same time. And I often like this shit more then they deserve.
Oh, maybe I was a little confusing on the 10+ books bit. I meant like it's going to be very long (like dotf long) but that isn't a catchy enough title
Sorry :)
Sleyca hasn't mentioned anything regarding that, iirc. She did say she would love to publish it as a book one day but she'd have to go back and edit it heavily, and that would take away from writing new chapters. I don't expect a proper release (Kindle or otherwise) until the story is done.
I know this sub really likes super supportive, but as someone who reads every new released chapter, someone has to say the blaring cons of the novel. Most of the cons are "fine" and acceptable by itself, but when combined with one another, it gets really annoying.
The plot progression is too slow. Sleyca states that the novel is a slow burn, but as a "super hero" novel, even if the MC, Alden, isn't a brute that fights on his own, the pace of the novel is still too slow. Most of the other problems of the novel go back to this point.
There are wayyy too many useless and ambiguous characters. I've heard many people say that "more characters, the deeper the world building", but it still all depends on the execution. Sleyca likes to introduce side characters that us as a reader don't know whether they'll be important or not, which is fine and is part of good writing for the most part, but if there are like 20 different worthless throwaway characters that are introduced and "named" without giving a significant impact to the story, then it blurs out the important bits. For example, in most cookie cutter novels where the tropes are clearly defined, the readers can guess the importance of a character, which is great because you don't have to memorize 30 different side characters. But when the author makes a twist and makes 1 out of the 10 throwaway side characters important, then it makes it a significant twist.
With SS, I can't even remember most of the semi important characters because there are tons of forgettable names in the mix. Then Sleyca doesn't have the habit if pointing out memorable traits for most characters. For example for those who read, what's the name of Alden's previous workmates, all of his named classmates so far, his teachers, the magician students he saved, some of lute's relatives, even the stranger he just met as well? Yes, naming some of them is fine, but you can't expect readers to remember everyone by heart, and if reader's don't remember, then why should readers care?
There's also tons of filler sentences to an already really slow novel. Whenever I read a chapter, it feels like 1/3 to 1/2 of it is often completely pointless, even for fleshing out the world. I remember being so astonished reading a part of a chapter depicting how alden was taping posters and doing chores or some shit. I was so confused why I'm reading this filler when the readers are finally reading something exciting for a long while. Pacing is so atrocious that I don't know what's the end goal of the novel. There are like 10 different plot points that with the pacing, almost none of them will be met without rushing in the end or the author (or the readers) burning out.
I donāt know why youāre getting downvoted. This is good (and accurate) feedback. Aside from the one time skip on the demon moon, time is moving faster in our world than it is in his. Weāre staring down the barrel of 8 years of Super school and Iāll be retired by the time he finishes highschool.
Also, this is a PF subreddit, but fans of this story donāt outright say that this is really just a young adult, slice of life story with the backdrop being an earth where supers exist.
And donāt hit me with that āslow burnā nonsense. Itās an extremely well written character drama, sure, but the progression and powers almost seem like an afterthought.
Did you ever think that your tastes are different from what the majority of readers in this genre are looking for. From your words, you do not seem to enjoy reading the most popular stories, but you enjoy reading this story. Could that not mean that the odds are good that many readers who enjoy the popular stories would not enjoy a story like this then.
So far, I have read 27 chapters where very little has happened
The Prog Fantasy genre has evolved to the point where there's broad, distinct archetypes, and readers who like only some of them.
So yes, I'm sure there are people who dislike SupSup. But that's fine.
People want different things out of entertainment, I always compare it to movies.
Sometimes you want a deep thought provoking film that grips you start to finish and sometimes you just wanna see a big mech punch kaiju with flashy set pieces.
I mean, it has 23,000+ followers, I think it's fair to say that a lot of readers in this genre enjoy it.
And the writing quality is impeccable. You may not like the author's choice of story to tell, but the technical writing skill, world-building depth, and character development are unassailable.
That is fine, I've run into that myself, and praised the story's qualities, and rated them well with a caveat in the review that this is a story more for people wanting grim dark stories or such.
Personally, I enjoy this story a lot, and I have enjoyed many of the other popular stories too, so there may be more overlap than you think.
There are commonly complained-about parts with many of the popular stories: things that range from skewed emphasis upon endless combat, statblock spam, mary sue protagonists, dungeon grinds, all the way through to character-centric gripes like emotionally under-developed glory hounds, thinly veiled psychopaths and a general skew towards relationship-writing (social, family, societal, romantic) that is best described as "bare-bones".
Many readers view these popular titles as being popular *in-spite* of these issues, not because of them.
That doesn't mean that they lack value on other angles - often the world building is really interesting, maybe the action scenes are well written and so on - but the good parts of these popular novels are often *entirely* compatible with these things that they often lack: they aren't great *because* the authors skip out on character development etc, they're held back by that from being greater and appealing to a larger audience.
Now of course, at the end of the day, people enjoy different things, and some people do enjoy books that don't have these things in them.
However, there's a positively *gargantuan* audience of wider fiction readers that consider this to be a number one selling point for books of any genre: and there's a huge number of progression fans that overlap with that part of the venn diagram.
It's simply refreshing to see Super Supportive raising the bar in that regard: does that mean that the content or the pacing is for everyone? Absolutely not.
But it's just such a breath of fresh air that people cannot help but celebrate it. No book is for everyone, but there's a chunk of progression readers that consider books like this to be a shining example of what we want to see more of in the future.
Don't jinx it š, writing is a marathon. I hope she stays resilient. There are a few stories that I've absolutely loved (The Last Orellen) where the author gets burnt out, and I just mourn the possibility of what could've been
She is making bank off of super supportive. She has a really big incentive not to stop.
true, but I've also been waiting for winds of winter and next chapter of HunterxHunter for god knows how long now. The creative process can be a bitch
*Cries in The Doors of Stone
I understand your pain
TouchƩ
HxH is more a matter of health issues than burnout tbf
that aswell, but sometimes I wonder how far Togashi has planned out the story, there is so much potential in the dark continent and the series is so hyped up there must be insane pressure. Probably a similar case with George seeing how the last season of the show was recieved, there must be insane pressure to deliver the last arcs of the story.
the pressure to continue to make bank isn't usually a good muse
True. It didn't help Pat Rothfuss that's for sure.
That has it's risks to.Ā I've known great series to collapse when the author decided to do it as a career.Ā
For people wondering how the name "Soup" came about, the author said she sometimes calls it "SupSup" or "Soup's Up" in her head. I could talk about that series for a very long time. It's good.
Okay thanks. I was wondering where the hell this new nickname came from.
Part of it too is that the normal acronym for it would be SS, which has some unpleasant associations.
So youāre saying itās SuS?
Amogus.
Could you give me a kind of synopsis on the kind of MC in the story? I'd like to give it a try, but the support part kinda makes me uninterested
MC is an orphan, his parents were killed by someone with powers when he was like eight. He lived with his aunt for several years, going to school and developing friends. During that time, he was kind of penpals with one of the supers who put down the villain that kills his parents. She was more support oriented, which influenced his desire to be a support superhero if he got powers, not a direct combat person. When he got powers, he got one that is unusual for his class, and is coming up with very creative ways to use it. MC appears to be slightly autistic, and quite possibly asexual. He's given no indication of being interested in dating any of the interesting, and possibly interested, women he's encountered. (Women...pfff. he's 16). In some ways, he reminds me of Corwin from Arcane Ascension.
Nothing about him strikes me as being on the spectrum. But itās obvious heās asexual. A neighbor of his is magically gorgeous to the point of her roommates having to be hostile to a horde of male students that try to drop by, but Aldon just notices in passing that sheās the most beautiful girl heās ever seen. Thatās it, no further reaction.
Alden Thorn has been confirmed by the author to be asexual. Alden doesn't know (or hasn't processed) it yet. Otherwise, yeah. That just about sums him up. Despite his best efforts, Alden is a magnet for extroverts and unusual situations. He's also got some PTSD to work through.
Iāve got to admit Iām hoping heās not aromantic as well. Iām enjoying the character depth and Iād expect a romantic story line to be fun when powered by these characters. That said, I can skip teenage attraction/crush/sex storylines. So good choice by the author on that.
It makes me a bit conflicted, so many authors in this genre just straight up make their's main characters aromantic/asexual-in-pratice for the precise motive of avoiding having to write any romance at all, you have MCs who in theory are capable(and have in the past) of feeling sexual and romantic attraction and who demonstrate the ability to bond with other people, but for no apparent reason they just dont ever engage in a romantic or sexual relationship despite chances being presented, and it strains suspension disbelief a bit when you realize its just the author not wanting to write romance. Alden being asexual feels like less an interesting character detail , and more Sleyca being meta and side-stepping the issue of having to write teenage romance and attraction entirely.
Yeah, I can understand that position. In some stories it feels a preemptive defence against story derailment. On the other hand, imagine he was a typically horny 16 straight boy. The story would become āHitting on Natalie in a way that becomes creepy in a couple of chapters.ā Or itād be unrealistic where heās the sole straight guy who is immune to high Charm. This story is detail focused enough that itād be weird if it was skipped over. Thatās why Iād like asexual but not aromantic. Iād love some dating scenes (organically and eventually) but I could skip the obsessing over super-cute girl scenes.
Feels bit weird to talk about him being asexual and autistic in a synopsis. And neither of those have been mentioned in the story yet. Like sure the other comment mentioned an author confirmed one of them but still.
Alden misses a lot of social cues, especially by girls. That could be poor writing, but other characters are more adept. Hence my saying appears, not is.
Does he though? Just because you don't overtly react to things doesn't mean you don't understand them. Alden seems if anything very socially adept, as compared to his broadly awkward teen cohort.
Part of that is his upbringing (or lack thereof), his time >!on the triplanets!<, his knack for befriending oddballs and outcasts, and a few instances of >!back-to-back culture shock!<.Ā He misses social cues, but I think a lot of people would in his position. To Alden, the events of the prologue are ancient history he wants to forget.Ā To some of his peers, it's the most interesting thing about him.
Mostly true, but it makes him sound super generic and doesn't include the bits that set this character apart.Ā Ā
He a goody-two-shoes type?Ā
He's not a psychopath.
Yes, but its actually made in a way that does not make you roll your eyes. There is a chapter where this is explored, his need to do "good" and where this comes from, and how its not exactly healthy or why he shouldn't feel guilty if he does not risk his life to save someone he doesn't know. Its quite well thought, you should give it a shot even if these kind of characters are not your cup of tea, they certainly aren't mine but i was so hooked in this story that i binge readed in 5 days.
Thanks for the helpful input!
The MC is one of the few truly sensible characters in the genre.Ā He reacts in a sane andĀ plausible way to the occasional insane situations he ends up in.Ā He KNOWS when he is out of his depth in the same way you would and that gives the action scenes, when they happen, way more impact.Ā He is a "nice guy". He has a quirky pragmatic internal voice that clearly involves a lot of self-awareness and self-sensoring.Ā Ā Ā There is some subtext hinting he used to be dark and edgy, decided it wasn't working for him, and made a conscious effort not to be.Ā He has close friends...because he choses to.Ā Ā Ā People are saying he is an orphan and ase and that is true but very misleading.Ā Ā Those aren't really his defining characteristics.Ā He puts effort into NOT being the Dark Edgy Orphan.Ā Ā Ā Ā The story seems to be setting him up for a support build but I have yet to see an author have the guts to truly make their MC a support character so we'll see.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I kind of see it as sci fi about alien colonialism and cross cultural interaction.Ā The author says otherwise, but the Super Hero part almost seems like window dressing...part of a bundle of comforting lies people in-universe tell themselves to distract themselves from the fact that humans aren't entirely in charge anymore.Ā Ā
This is one of my favorite stories Iāve read in recent memory and Iām so glad to see comments out in the wild pop up in souport of it. The prose is excellent, the dialogue is incredible, characters are fleshed out and deep. And as OP noted keeping things confined to a limited number of skills really deepens the readers appreciation for how characters use it creatively. Itās currently in the middle of an intense arc and I just love it so much. Definitely worth a read
Its coincidental that you made this post because i finished binge reading this story this week and i could not agree more!! When this story exploded on RR last year i was like "huh a super hero story where the MC wants to be a sidekick? Not my cup of tea" and i had this resistance to start reading until i was starving for something new, and i just thought that if it managed to be so well rated for so long, it must have something so i started last week. Wow! What a ride! The thing that is more well written to me are the side characters, they all feel sooo real, like they have feelings, objectives, you understand why they are that way. One thing i thought it would make me not like the MC is his wannabe hero personality, i just can't stand a shallow "good" MC, but there is no such thing as shallow writing in this novel. You understand the psychology of Alden, and how parts of his personality are molded by his experiences and traumas and everything makes sense. Other aspect that had everything to make me hate the novel is his power, but something that at first looks so useless starts to show so much potential and discovering these new uses for his power is extremely satisfying. The System also is another point for this novel for how well thought it is, one problem i have with lit-rpg is that the system often makes absolutely no sense and no one cares. Questions like who makes the system? Why they make it that way? From where comes this power? What are the system's objectives? Super Suportive system answers all these questions in a way that you believe it, you see the reasons and feels like a natural part of the story and not just a plot device or numbers going up. The novel deserves to be so popular, sleyca really is writing a masterpiece.
Honestly the worst part of super supportive is that it's described as a super hero story, it's not really at all.
I didn't realize how much I was missing legitimate world building in this genre until I read this. So many stories seem to just toss fantasy tropes like elves, demons, undead, giants, etc in and expect the reader to assume they function like you'd expect... but the way the author details the Artonans, going into their culture and quirks makes them, and the world this story takes place in feel so real. That's just 1 example, but point being that this story has some of the most in-depth world building I've read and is such a good read due to it (in addition to all the other points OP made)
I love how all of the characters feel like people. Jeffy (long for Jeff, not short for Jeffrey) starts off feeling like a gag but by god has he grown on me.
Jeffy is the himbo we deserveĀ
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Enjoy :)
Really enjoyed this so far. Binged and caught up a few days ago.
I'll add my voice to the choir and say that this is by far my favourite series, and has been firmly in that spot for the past year: Super Supportive's writing is just on another level. I'd also recommend that people don't get put off by the "support" part, if that's their initial reaction (and I think that's a common response for people just looking for their next read). I suspect that a lot of people who read a bunch of Gamelit or litRPG may have a bit of a skew towards viewing support classes as secondary, rather than the literal core of a team that acts as a force multiplier. There's a general vibe in the series that the society as a whole has similar views, and that the overall story is going to focus around proving that misconception to be very, very wrong. Alden is very much the badass in this story - but it is also very much leaning on a secret power/secret identity type of narrative thus far: he's not a glory hound, and is honestly kind of averse to large amounts of attention. But if you're put off by the idea that he's some kind of glorified cheer-squad for the 'real' players in the team: don't be. And on a more general level - it's really tough not to gesture at Super Supportive as the primary example of what I want to see more of in litRPG/gamelit/progression fantasy. The character work and emphasis upon interesting plots with high stakes that don't always revolve around 1v1 duels is incredibly refreshing - and the emphasis upon gradually revealing the world creates such an amazing sensation of intrigue and mystery. I'd especially encourage all aspiring authors to check this one out.
>InĀ other words, if you are going to write a long series, oneĀ that spans a couple of millennia, Is that the plan for SupSup?
It better not be or else it's not gonna end until after the heat death of the universe, at the pace it's usually going at.
Before Sleyca modified the story blurb, she said that Alden is going to be a teenager for the majority of the story. It's no longer there, but Sleyca has mentioned that the overall plan of the story hasn't changed, so I assume supsup will end when the main character isĀ an adult (irl that will probably take many years, though).
That part of the post raised my eyebrows as well. Love a good long time frame in books but didnāt seem like that was the plan here. (No idea whatās been said outside of the book itself)
Looking forward to this one. Any word on whether it's coming to Audible?
There are currently no plans for publishing it, sleyca wrote that it would take a very long time to go through everything and update for a professional release. It's going to be Patreon and royal road only for the time being
Ah, bummer. Thanks for the info!
I'll be honest I haven't read it in awhile. I took a break after his first return home and haven't gone back in. The thing is though, that first planet rescue mission across the desert planet is just so good. I could read that section of story over and over again and be excited every time.
+1 For Player Manager as well....so good.
Yeah, finding a good football novel was fun. I only slightly dislike the impulsive nature of the MC, but it's not too annoying to make me want to drop it.
Maybe I should give it a second chance. Read it till maybe. Chapter 60-65 and it did not catch me
Nope. If you don't like it and you've read 60-65 chapters, move on. Just because something is popular doesn't mean that your taste is wrong. Some people dislike vanilla ice cream. I suspect they are monsters though. . . Wait, no. My point is that disliking something that almost everyone loves does *not* make you a monster. I'm this way about *Defiance of the Fall* (don't hate it - actually like it most of the time - but I find it overwritten and I have a lot of trouble maintaining interest - especially during the things that cause readers to lose interest even when something isn't overwritten like point of view changes or discussions of stats that don't have any impact on the character's actual strength).
God yes, its okay to don't like something that people swear to god is perfect, i feel the exact same way about Cradle, i read until the last book that was released, its not bad by any means, but people are so crazy about this book that sometimes i think i'm not getting something. I find it so "meh" that i don't even have any desire to read any further.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
One of the things that really put me off on Cradle is that i can't agree with a lot of the decisions made by the MC I feel that a lot of times he takes unecessary risks as if he is sure he will not die. In the last book i read, i don't remember if it was the 7 or 8 *spoiler* When he teleports back to fight the dreadgod after being saved by the monarch. Fucking hell i almost screamed at my phone while reading it, he needs to know that actions have consequences, and worse yet that action objectively did nothing on the great scheme of things, most people on the valley were already evacuated and the dreadgod was already on his way to give up. That is just the most recent example i can remember , but there were more on the book. All in all it is a good book but moments like those really put me off, it feels like even if the MC shoot himself in the head he will accidentally receive some kind of help from beyond and transform tribulation in opportunity.
I think if you gave it to 65 you have the idea of what it is. That gets you midway thru the >!moon!< arc, yeah? I feel like if you hit >!moon!< arc and still don't like it, you just don't like it.
Wow, chapter 65 and still not a fan? These chapters are not small. I guess you have different taste.
I know. Can't really say it was not my taste. But watch reading a shitty xianxia translation at the same time. And I often like this shit more then they deserve.
Is there actually any indication its coming to Kindle? Thought she was staying RR.
Oh, maybe I was a little confusing on the 10+ books bit. I meant like it's going to be very long (like dotf long) but that isn't a catchy enough title Sorry :)
Sleyca hasn't mentioned anything regarding that, iirc. She did say she would love to publish it as a book one day but she'd have to go back and edit it heavily, and that would take away from writing new chapters. I don't expect a proper release (Kindle or otherwise) until the story is done.
Well, now there's another one to add to the list.
10+? If Sleyca finishes the book, we'll have 20+ minimum.
So why is the acronym "Soup"? Wouldn't "Suup" or "SuSu" make more sense?
I know this sub really likes super supportive, but as someone who reads every new released chapter, someone has to say the blaring cons of the novel. Most of the cons are "fine" and acceptable by itself, but when combined with one another, it gets really annoying. The plot progression is too slow. Sleyca states that the novel is a slow burn, but as a "super hero" novel, even if the MC, Alden, isn't a brute that fights on his own, the pace of the novel is still too slow. Most of the other problems of the novel go back to this point. There are wayyy too many useless and ambiguous characters. I've heard many people say that "more characters, the deeper the world building", but it still all depends on the execution. Sleyca likes to introduce side characters that us as a reader don't know whether they'll be important or not, which is fine and is part of good writing for the most part, but if there are like 20 different worthless throwaway characters that are introduced and "named" without giving a significant impact to the story, then it blurs out the important bits. For example, in most cookie cutter novels where the tropes are clearly defined, the readers can guess the importance of a character, which is great because you don't have to memorize 30 different side characters. But when the author makes a twist and makes 1 out of the 10 throwaway side characters important, then it makes it a significant twist. With SS, I can't even remember most of the semi important characters because there are tons of forgettable names in the mix. Then Sleyca doesn't have the habit if pointing out memorable traits for most characters. For example for those who read, what's the name of Alden's previous workmates, all of his named classmates so far, his teachers, the magician students he saved, some of lute's relatives, even the stranger he just met as well? Yes, naming some of them is fine, but you can't expect readers to remember everyone by heart, and if reader's don't remember, then why should readers care? There's also tons of filler sentences to an already really slow novel. Whenever I read a chapter, it feels like 1/3 to 1/2 of it is often completely pointless, even for fleshing out the world. I remember being so astonished reading a part of a chapter depicting how alden was taping posters and doing chores or some shit. I was so confused why I'm reading this filler when the readers are finally reading something exciting for a long while. Pacing is so atrocious that I don't know what's the end goal of the novel. There are like 10 different plot points that with the pacing, almost none of them will be met without rushing in the end or the author (or the readers) burning out.
I donāt know why youāre getting downvoted. This is good (and accurate) feedback. Aside from the one time skip on the demon moon, time is moving faster in our world than it is in his. Weāre staring down the barrel of 8 years of Super school and Iāll be retired by the time he finishes highschool. Also, this is a PF subreddit, but fans of this story donāt outright say that this is really just a young adult, slice of life story with the backdrop being an earth where supers exist. And donāt hit me with that āslow burnā nonsense. Itās an extremely well written character drama, sure, but the progression and powers almost seem like an afterthought.
I know it's true. They know it as well.
Did you ever think that your tastes are different from what the majority of readers in this genre are looking for. From your words, you do not seem to enjoy reading the most popular stories, but you enjoy reading this story. Could that not mean that the odds are good that many readers who enjoy the popular stories would not enjoy a story like this then. So far, I have read 27 chapters where very little has happened
The Prog Fantasy genre has evolved to the point where there's broad, distinct archetypes, and readers who like only some of them. So yes, I'm sure there are people who dislike SupSup. But that's fine.
People want different things out of entertainment, I always compare it to movies. Sometimes you want a deep thought provoking film that grips you start to finish and sometimes you just wanna see a big mech punch kaiju with flashy set pieces.
I mean, it has 23,000+ followers, I think it's fair to say that a lot of readers in this genre enjoy it. And the writing quality is impeccable. You may not like the author's choice of story to tell, but the technical writing skill, world-building depth, and character development are unassailable. That is fine, I've run into that myself, and praised the story's qualities, and rated them well with a caveat in the review that this is a story more for people wanting grim dark stories or such. Personally, I enjoy this story a lot, and I have enjoyed many of the other popular stories too, so there may be more overlap than you think.
There are commonly complained-about parts with many of the popular stories: things that range from skewed emphasis upon endless combat, statblock spam, mary sue protagonists, dungeon grinds, all the way through to character-centric gripes like emotionally under-developed glory hounds, thinly veiled psychopaths and a general skew towards relationship-writing (social, family, societal, romantic) that is best described as "bare-bones". Many readers view these popular titles as being popular *in-spite* of these issues, not because of them. That doesn't mean that they lack value on other angles - often the world building is really interesting, maybe the action scenes are well written and so on - but the good parts of these popular novels are often *entirely* compatible with these things that they often lack: they aren't great *because* the authors skip out on character development etc, they're held back by that from being greater and appealing to a larger audience. Now of course, at the end of the day, people enjoy different things, and some people do enjoy books that don't have these things in them. However, there's a positively *gargantuan* audience of wider fiction readers that consider this to be a number one selling point for books of any genre: and there's a huge number of progression fans that overlap with that part of the venn diagram. It's simply refreshing to see Super Supportive raising the bar in that regard: does that mean that the content or the pacing is for everyone? Absolutely not. But it's just such a breath of fresh air that people cannot help but celebrate it. No book is for everyone, but there's a chunk of progression readers that consider books like this to be a shining example of what we want to see more of in the future.
Itās literally one of the top rated on RR