Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic is a fantasy story, a time loop story, and a... competence porn story, I'd call it. The story's main character is Zorian Kazinski, an average mage who gets stuck unintentionally stuck in the time loop due to the foolish actions of Zach Noveda, the world's main character.
This book did a series of novel things with time loops:
- Deceiving others in the time loop your your status in the time loop, both passively and actively.
- A time loop with a frankly unique mechanic that I haven't seen anywhere else.
- An excessive amount of planning, research, and dedication, though not outside the realm of possibility for someone dedicated.
- Thorough worldbuilding and power scaling across the length of the story.
- While Zorian never gets to the point where he can defeat any character in a grudge match, he is more powerful in subterfuge, planning, and skill than most characters in the world.
- This is to the point of others, even during the time loop, not believing that he is who he is.
“Tell me honestly,” Xvim said. “Are you truly Zorian Kazinski?”
“Yes?” Zorian said, baffled. “Why would you ask that?”
“You are too good,” Xvim told him bluntly.
- A story where the time loop does not unlock some hidden potential and allow the protagonist to reach truly incredible heights.
- Zorian is still an incredibly average mage for his true age by the end of the book. His main quality is his ruthless dedication and risk-taking, which the time loop allowed him to do with little to no consequences.
- Speaking of: actual consequences for the time loopers. They are not infallible, and in-fact fail quite often and need to redo things.
Finally, the writing quality is superb. I've read both the Kindle and the Royal Road versions, and I don't think I've found a spelling error that hasn't been fixed (e.g. spelling errors reported in the comments).
This is where you should stop reading if you do not want to be spoiled.
So, what exactly is Mother of Learning?
Mother of Learning is the only time-loop story I've read in recent memory that doesn't have angels as the bad guys.
Or demons.
Rather, the role of antagonist is wildly shifting throughout the entire narrative. It starts with Zach, as Zorian is fearful of what he could do if he discovered he was in the time loop. Then, the enemy is Red Robe, for quite a while. Even after Red Robe leaves the time loop, he's still the enemy, and the pre-eminent antagonist throughout the entire narrative, to the point of having his own "I Win" chapter dedicated to him.
Even then, there are still loads of other antagonists! Silverlake, Panaxeth, the Guardian of the Gate, Xvim Chao (in a very passive sense until he joins the time loop), Quatach-Ichl, and others!
Even better, all of these antagonists serve the plot as functions other than antagonists. Silverlake, Xvim, and Quatach-Ichl all serve as mentors for Zorian. Panaxeth and the Guardian of the Gate aren't inherently evil, just disconnected from any normal sense of morality (see Blue-and-Orange Morality).
If anything, Mother of Learning is the story of how wildly the roles of people can shift in our lives depending on the choices that are made.
However, it is competence porn. A large part of the story is being thrilled at watching talented people be talented throughout the course of the story. If that's not for you, the story probably isn't either.
Also, Zorian sucks at the beginning. He is the worst. He gets better, but the start of the story is always the worst part for me.
Anyway, re-read it if you're at this point, because you definitely should've read it if you made it this far. It's a good story, would heartily recommend.
Thanks for reading.