No spoiler ahead ! I just talk about a writing quirk.
TLDR at the end ;).
So, I have seen a soldier's life at the top of multiple tier lists, and I decided to give it a try. I am currently at chapter 23, about half of book 1.
And if you ever read this, author, don't get me wrong, it is very interesting and I am not dropping it :D.
But.
There is something wrong with the conversations.
They usually go like this :
>"Where are we stationed next ?" I asked.
Mateo harrumphed and said "<a paragraph about lore, with a joke>".
"Can I go where I want in my free time ?" I asked as we left.
Mateo laughed, "< a paragraph about lore, with a warning>".
We split up and went our way.
He never verbally reacts to the previous answer except to ask another question ! That's not how a conversation works ! This sounds like a player clicking on every dialogue option for a NPC xD.
I literally just read in chapter 23 a conversation going exactly like that, with Eryk asking a question, we get some lore, he asks another, we get some lore... 4 times in a row. And he doesn't say anything else. And 2 of the questions were just one word with a question mark xD.
There is never a "Oh man, I hope we won't have any trouble", or a "Sounds exciting, I can't wait", or even just a "Alright, thanks".
At this point I feel like I know more about the side characters personality than Eryk's. I have no clue what he likes or dislikes, his values, what he is excited or scared about, or even just what it sounds like to have an actual conversation with him !
Damn you Eryk ! Who are you ?!
TLDR: ErykTheQuietMC is so quiet that i don't know a thing about him ! The "conversations" are just Eryk quizzing the NPCs about lore !
(Though the lore is indeed interesting).
Have you also felt this way when reading it ? Is that maybe part of why some of you guys rate it so high ?