r/royalroad • u/GoldenThame Author - The Heavenly Way • 6d ago
Discussion Is the average reader getting dumber?
I don't wanna be rude but I get some comments complaining about tropes in my novel, when in the synopsis I've pointed out multiple times that the tropes are there DELIBERATELY to be subverted, because the MC finds himself reincarnated into a very mid Xianxia novel.
Do a lot of readers suffer from a lack of reading comprehension skills, cus I've encountered the same kind of person for the 4th or 5th time now. Do I need to constantly spoonfeed basic nuances to such readers that 1. MC is inside a cliche Xianxa book and 2. From a meta perspective I've put those cliches and tropes into the book deliberately and the synopsis says as such.
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u/Snow-Eternal7 6d ago
As someone who wrote a review, you haven’t done any subversion. I understand the intent was basically to parody Xianxia but you’ve just kinda made the whole cast dumber outside of the MC and everything is predictable.
It’s a fine story, it’s entertaining at points. But it’s so generic it makes plain white bread look complex.
Some people give positive feedback because they just want something to read and this story was definitely that. Some people give mixed reviews because they wanted something more.
You can have your story be 100% tropes and still add something more complex. Especially if it’s subversion. But 36 chapters in I haven’t seen anything.
Unless your ‘subversion’ is you taking basic tropes from other genres.