The Elf Who Would Become A Dragon [Vols 1–3 Complete]

I am in love with this book, binged it and now must suffer with two chapters a week. It follows Saphienne, an elf and her journey learning more about herself, her world and wizardy. Its descriptive, compelling and with make you think on the moral issues posed. The world building is great, love the non human point of view, and this novel ensures you will not be bored. Its full of wonder, magic, spirits, internal battles with one belifs vs the universal one and is a great read!!

Don't read if you don't like to cry.

Characters are varied and multi-faceted.

The book has an reliable(ish) narrator, which I find very nostalgic. The author uses the narrator to foreshadow events, which adds character to the narrator and is a literary device.

The plot is very show, don't tell, which I find to be the hallmark of good books.

Very slow burn.

Interesting exploration of unique elven society, and as proxy, the world.

I've enjoyed the journey very much so far and am eagerly waiting to read more!

This is probably the best story I have ever read. Not just on this site, but period.

Firstly, the author does an amazing job communicating things to the reader without saying them outright - an utterly fundamental strength to have. It keeps the reader much more immersed  in the story. Other authors on this site sometimes say things like “that really frustrated X character because X” but this author has an entire toolbox of ways to demonstrate that frustration. It might be the word choice a character uses, it might be a small action, or it might even be the way another character interacts with the first. Eventually, because the characters themselves are so well developed, you can almost intuit how they will react in different situations before you read how they react. This in turn makes breaks in a character’s normal pattern of behavior much more striking and indicative of something about them or their circumstances changing without the author needing to come out and say “X character had been changed by X event”, or something similar.

Secondly, the author does a great job of keeping the audience in suspense without artificially creating that suspense. For example, unlike many “litrpg” novels, which are also good and have their own place, there isn’t artificially placed conflict that the main character barely overcomes each time. The main character in this story is flawed, as all people are, and is prone to failure. The author is not afraid of letting her fail either - or for actions she takes to have real consequences. This style of writing lends itself to making the audience actually worried about what is going to happen in contrast to the plot armor that most litRpg characters have.

Furthermore, the story itself is superbly designed. The author did a fantastic job world building and designing all the places and characters so that they are interconnected and flow together. There are very few wasted side characters who serve a one-dimensional purpose, and characters who seem insignificant are often shown to have real impact on the story.

Finally, although the story is about elves in a fantasy setting, the author uses the story to explore themes about identity, belonging, and navigating the expectations of others (and yourself) while finding your place in the world. Often the parallels between elf society and our real world society are so deafening they don’t need to be said out loud.

Overall, this author’s writing style lends itself extremely well to writing tragic fiction. The level of immersion they are able to create is top notch. It encourages a sense of connectedness to the characters and the story that make the audience feel as though they are the ones being shook around by the twists and turns, not the actual characters of the story. 

The only criticism of this book I held in the past was that sometimes it felt like the main character had been “got” by the same pitfall multiple times. There were places where I thought to myself “okay and surely she knows better now”. But as I thought more about it, I realized that as smart as the MC is, she is deficient in many ways as well. Some of these moments underscored those flaws or were just natural as she’s a kid at those times and obviously doesn’t have adult decision making skills. Others were natural because although the first pitfall happened she didn’t actually change at all between it and the second pitfall, so it “got” her both times. This isn’t something that happens often, I just wanted to clarify why I now think it makes sense if you yourself get to one of those moments and are confused at the author at the time. 

Regardless, this novel is fantastic. I keep thinking about it even when I’m not reading it, and recommending it to my friends who aren’t themselves light novel readers. Suffice to say, I have been reading light novels for over 10 years now and have easily read over 500 novels in their entirety and this is the first review I have ever left on any site. 

This honestly might be my favorite piece of work I've ever read on royal road. The characters are simply amazingly written, with the progression, dynamics, interaction between them all being simply phenomenal.

Secondly the world building is amazing, it's a unique style of society and economic system that is clear in its ways and overall enjoyable to see something new and different especially written in such an amazing way.

Thirdly the main character is very clever and it is shown in a fair and honest way. Instead of simply saying she deducted something without further explanation, the author explains how she managed to figure it out and have it all make clear sense, this is also very nice and rare to see where a main character is clever and shows it. 

The story starts of a bit slow but works fantastically as a build up to when things get very interesting and the stakes are set, so let it have some time to develop as it is very much worth it.

The Grammer is very well written alongside the way the scenes are set, people are described etc that describe everything clearly without going on for ages, allowing for you to easy imagine everything going on.

The dialogue is very well written, with each conversation feeling real and authentic and once more showing each characters personalities, traits etc in a very amazingly written manner

I can keep going on about this novel but I want to get back to reading it but if your wondering if you should. Do.

This is different but gripping. It captures so expressively what it is like to be younger, socially isolated and seeing the world differently than everyone else. 

It has a narrator who may or may not be different from the protagonist. Parts of it are ambiguous for a time, but things resolve. The narrator seems reliable but there is just enough play to make you wonder. 

The parts of society that are binding or constrained are also logical and natural. The society is like a second main character. 

I have really enjoyed it so far. It has some beats that are development oriented, but it has continuous solid plot development and it has interesting world building. 

I have played around with what a society of immortals would look like and what the alternatives are and this world building is consistent with one of the paths that struck me as more or less stable.  

There are things needed for such a society to sustain itself socially without disintegrating and the author has not sacrificed sustainability for possible plot development or short cuts  

I am very glad I encountered this fiction and the chance to read it as it develops. 

The pacing is steady, the cast of characters well considered, and the emotions true to my own lived experience (given I’m not an elf and have no magical element to my life). 

The Elf Who Would Become A Dragon is a story that manages to thoroughly invest you in the setting and in the lives of its characters. Getting to grow with Saphienne and the people surrounding her while continuing to learn more about the world, the magic, and how she fits into it is intensely satisfying. It is a fascinating delve into the culture of the place Saphienne is born into, and the friction between her and that society work to create an intensely interesting read when combined with her magic and what she grows into.

The characters in the story are exceedingly well-developed, containing multiple dimensions and each maintaining the ability to grow and change as the story goes on. I appreciate the breadth of types of relationships shown and the ways in which the distinct society facilitates them.

The magic system makes me intensely envious I cannot exist as an individual in this world and every new development Saphienne makes in it is wonderful to read. Also, the happenings surrounding the title itself are so very exciting for anyone who enjoys characters who dont fit in the mold expected of them and who have something about themselves they will stop at nothing to realize and show to the world.

Read it! It's excellent!

Grammatically speaking, I see maybe two or three typos every 6 or 7 chapters. That said these typos are often mentioned in the comments and disputed as part of the prose. Due to the nature of the high fantasy this author is writing, it is only to be expected that there would be such things here. They are such a minor issue(if you could even call it that) that it's not really bothersome.

As far as Style goes, it is great. The main character has a lot going for them and really plays into the style.

I especially love the way that they build up characters besides the main character. It feels organic. Real. It's a rare thing to get such amazing characters.

Story wise, the author knows what they're doing. They write so well. I won't go into detail, because this is something you will only ever get to read first once, but it amazes me. Have you ever read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss? This is on a similar level. But hold up! Is that fucking tragedy tag you see?! Is this torture porn?! Short answer: no. Long answer: nope. Never fear, on the scales of tragedy, tnotw would be nobledark and this story is noblebright (grim dark scales if you don't know). 

Overall, it's a phenomenal work that is planned. Do not expect deus ex machina cop outs. If you enjoyed practical guide to evil, beneath the dragoneye moons, journey of red and black, most things from Brandon Sanderson, anything from Patrick Rothfuss, Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, Black prism, objects in motion, hot cocoa by the window on a rainy afternoon, steak, or living in general, give this a try. I think you'll rather like it.

Before even starting to talk about the story, I wish to compliment the author’s writing style, which is a joy to behold. Ever sentence and paragraph is seamlessly woven together in a beautiful story that seems to involve the reader. I adore it. It caresses my eyes and mind every time I read it, and there’s no detail to much or too little given.

Now, the story. I guess that by nature, an story with an elf is bound to be slow-paced, and the story (which takes the shape of a coming-of-age) on the current volumes is by all accounts not fast. However, this detracts nothing from the story itself, and instead every event of Saphienne’s life gets told at exactly the right pacing, telling us a story of how she comes to be and giving a strong foundation for her actions and choices.

The magic starts a little later than I expected, but even the day to day of Saphienne proves to be entertaining for the reader. I still am to see more action (and am eager for it) but still enjoy the emotional hurdles and journeys Saphienne experiences.

Overall, it’s an amazing story, and is totally worth your time to give it a chance. I assure you, your time shall not be wasted on this story.

I absolutely love it. I enjoy the style and the characters, the bittersweet moments, the sad ones, the happy ones, and everything in between. It is one of those books where I could't stop reading, and staying awake far too long because I had to know what came next. Concerning the pacing i can just say that sometimes I wish it could go just a bit faster but this may just be me being a bit impatient.

Over all, this story is well deserving of a top ten position on the whole website. The writing is well polished and the storyline well thought out. I have been kept on edge trying to figure out all the pieces of this story. The character growth is believable and lovely to see. 10/10 would read again 😀