The book has a lot of positives and seems better than the others. The story is well written and can be captivating with its creativity. The reason for the three stars is it falls into a very predictable and annoying pattern with all of the fights. Before I even started the book, I could tell you based on the last six how the story would develop, and the fight scenes go. Basically, no matter how much the main character grows, he is always behind, always getting beat to an inch of his life, and always exhibits more luck than skill. There were a few scenes in this book that did not play out like this, which was nice. It feels like there is a standard template for this series. The main character will always fight someone who far outclasses himself and win within an inch of his life, sometimes he loses. If I got a coin for every time he strained or burned-out his power channels, I could pay for all the books. Not every battle needs to be won by some last-minute miracle. There can be more balance without making the main character, overpowered. This is obviously my opinion and can be debated, and some people enjoy the series regardless. The story could be an easy five-star beloved series if it could stop falling into some of the repeatable patterns. The side characters, world-building, and lore are pretty amazing.