Overview: If you enjoy fantasy novels, the kind you'd buy in a bookstore, then Below the Heavens is going to be right up your alley. A tale of a tragically under-powered mortal doing their best in a world where people like him are barely set pieces for the struggles between godlike beings and their squabbles, this book explores not only the difficulty of trying to make a difference when you can't shatter stone with your bare hands, but the hard choices that have to be made when your back is against the wall. It's masterfully paced and structurally excellent, each chapter building on the story and leading to the next based on the actions and choices of characters in the world, whose motivations are as nuanced and complex as any you'd find in a traditionally published novel.

If you're looking for anime-style battles every other chapter, Below the Heavens might not be the story for you. I'd recommend reading it, anyways. 

There is action in the story (I think three or four significant battles in the first book, which goes up through chapter 26, and it uses a magic system with heavy similarities to those you'd find in xianxia stories, but they have their own distinct style and are used sparingly for dramatic emphasis. They're also well-written and come with serious stakes that give the fight more weight than a local judo competition.

Style: CKMo writes a story that is very much in keeping with the traditional novel format. It's descriptive and at times evocative without the narrator losing its neutrality. That narrative focus can shift to different perspectives, but it's clearly delineated and the focus is kept on one character at a time. The author uses these shifts in limited perspective to both conceal and reveal, letting us know what is needed in the story at that moment while leaving us guessing at other times when it's needed. If you've read a lot of traditional novels, the style of writing in Below the Heavens will be both clear and familiar to you.

Story: The story is where Below the Heavens really excels. CKMo has built a narrative that is clean and flows smoothly from one beat to the next. It doesn't dawdle or meander and stays laser focused on the progression of the plot. Every word either pushes something forward or reveals something behind the narrative. Exposition, in particular, is masterfully handled. You won't find a bunch of info dumps in this story, everything is either explained through the story, through context clues, or purposely left ambiguous for the sake of the story.

Other technical aspects of the story are also expertly crafted. The pacing and stakes are well-metered and appropriate, steadily building until things being to snowball and the only way forward is either resolution of catastrophe. In addition, the use of foreshadowing is subtle enough not leave you feeling like you already know what's going to happen and the payoffs are usually sensible and satisfying. Finally, the theme of morality and hard choice is also given particularly deft attention, applied through character choice and action without feeling overbearing, preachy, or shallow.

Grammar: The language is clean and with very few mistakes in either spelling or syntax. There are occasionally sentences or phrases that have a slightly odd feeling to them, but they never seriously interrupt the flow of the paragraph and they always make sense. They're just a little odd. Given the complexity of forethought and significant the author gives to every part of the story, it's entirely possible these moments were crafted to intentionally create a moment of disturbance in the reader and I just never put that together.

Character: Nearly as strong as the story, CKMo's characters are fully fleshed out beings with their own motivations, biases, and foibles. They are not infallible, perfect beings who never doubt themselves or make a misstep. Even those who are ostensibly on the same side sometimes question their fellows and often more because of their own irrational nature than to manufacture conflict. Often, the choice of a character to do nothing or stay silent is just as powerful as if they raged and stormed when they disagree.

But what Below the Heavens does that sets it apart is the way these characters masterfully (or clumsily) try to manipulate and maneuver one another towards their own goals. And what makes these interactions so immaculate is that, even as a reader, you'll be hard-pressed to look at an outcome and see a way it could have turned out any other way, for better or worse. This is truly excellent character writing.

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