Getting close to the end of R2. As I mentioned in my latest review, I really have no idea where the story is going. It's been mostly action-oriented chapters in various settings that don't connect well for me. I'm not sure how much of this is part of the genre and involves stuff I should already know as background.
To me it's a lot like a new TV show so far, with many apparently unrelated episodes, generally set in the same universe and involving some of the same characters, but you don't really know where anything is going for a season or two because the writers/showrunners often themselves don't know. The importance of non-main characters is also not knowable for a time until they reappear, if ever.
Yep, R2 is definitely the weakest of the five, mostly because the entire thing is an extended introduction to her initial state. In a normal story, you'd expect the intro to the character's home then the adventure to the first mission. In some ways, I've gone backwards. The unpredictability doesn't do me any favours.
Fionneche, in particular, is a huge problem because her story arcs fizzle in R3. So she teases the eye by seeming important but ultimately is not. This was an unintentional consequence of the MC being a stronger presence than she looked in the outline. I foresee demoting Fionneche to "5th business" next draft.
I read the content summaries of all four R books so far and reread the one for L. Nowhere is there a real summary of what the story (as a whole) is about. The third post in this thread is as close as you've come to a description, which is most noteworthy for saying your not following a formula. Since you're going to have to write a real blurb eventually, why not take a crack at it and drop it into the content summary of book one?
I checked the posts you mention, and can see the lack of clarity. Project R is a fallen angel story.
They took everything. My friends, my memories, my wings-- even my mother. But I have come to fight back. From the raw streets of one of Earth's toughest cities, I shall rise to vanquish evil. The only question is: once the dust settles will I have a home to return to?