A Journey of Black and Red

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags. Cover by Antti Hakosaari:https://www.artstation.com/haco Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2019
Author: Mecanimus

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 14,110
Views: 13,631,614

What readers say about A Journey of Black and Red

“Most stories don’t earn a grimdark atmosphere. Grim and gritty realism doesn’t work if the author doesn’t think about their story enough to make it actually realistic. That’s not a problem here. This is a point that’s touched on a lot in other reviews, but…”
ViewitRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“When they say do not judge a book by it's cover, it's this book they are talking about. Are the cover arts good? Sure, but I've seen its like a million times before. A southern belle vampire and an introduction with leading questions? The content warnings w…”
arggmeRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

ViewitRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Most stories don’t earn a grimdark atmosphere. Grim and gritty realism doesn’t work if the author doesn’t think about their story enough to make it actually realistic.
That’s not a problem here. This is a point that’s touched on a lot in other reviews, but Mecanimus deserves this praise. The story is very violent, but this violence is totally earned by the character motivations, time period, and setting.
The thing I like about this the most is the way the vampires are handled. I’m a big sucker for actual old-school, capital ‘G’ Gothic stories. Even though the action stands up to modern stories, the vibe is 100% Stoker. What’s great – the story actually feels old, but in a way where you can still show this to your friends who won’t look at anything made before 1998.
But the trigger warnings are serious. If you’re coming at this from the YA vampire realm where the mysterious paranormal elements are used but the violence is not – this probably isn’t for you. Vampires suck blood. They’re creatures of the night.
If you’re on board for a brutal vampire story set in the old south, this is probably for you. This is a fast-paced story, with exciting characters, in a believable world. What more do you want?
arggmeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
When they say do not judge a book by it's cover, it's this book they are talking about. Are the cover arts good? Sure, but I've seen its like a million times before. A southern belle vampire and an introduction with leading questions? The content warnings were more compelling. This phenomenal piece of work has been sitting in my To Be Read tabs for I don't know how long as a result. Do not make my mistake.
It's not like the synopsis is wrong either. What sets this work head and shoulders above it's kind is not it's characters or story, the tropes of which I've seen too many times to count, it is in the skill of the writer in weaving them together. It's like mistaking a terrine for a loaf of bread.
There is no waste in this story, no distractions or unrelated interludes, no Jospeh Gordon-DeWitt to save a random bus of children while The Dark Knight Rises to save the day. Every blow strikes the iron, moving the plot quickly in tides where plotlines entangle and culminate in commanding moments, calling upon all the smaller arcs that led up to it. This happens time and time again, trust is earned. Every note is to be part of a chord, and though you may have heard the bones of this song before, you have never heard it played like this.
Im the kind of crusty reader whos reads tons, thinks perfection doesn't exist, whose opinion is unbiased and absolute, and who finds nothing wrong with saying the same thing that makes this book amazing is also it's greatest shortcoming.
After some time you may begin to grasp the rhythmn behind the words, the soothing flows which always answer their own call. A decision could be made (pros and cons included) to add some spice, or my own preference, a rock to break some teeth. The decision to cut out the fat also leaves behind many interesting topics I'd have liked to see explored. That said, this veteran of the dumps fully recommends this positively dusty looking diamond. This is at the peak of what mortals may achieve.
Edit After Finish
Grave3ndRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read this some time ago but I still remember it when I wonder what makes good vampire fiction. It’s good to see that it’s still popular.
I enjoyed the world build that mixed real and unreal events and places as well as the well paced power progression.
I enjoyed all the characters not just the MC and I especially enjoyed the Bingles.
Vampire with guns with guns is alway way great choice and it helps that the magic wasn’t skimped on.
Overall a great story that I hope more people will read.
LynraelRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Finally a Story to at least temporarily stop my craving for Vampyr or World of Darkness storys.
With a nice pacing and good worldbuilding similar to WoD it is a nice read.
My one criticism is that the first ark could have been a bit more detailed with one or two "missions" more or more discovery of the underlying workings of the supernatural world. At the same time it avoids the usual needed Infodump and such information can be included when needed.
I for one would enjoy a deeper look into magic at a later date, till then
Looking forward to MOOOARR :)
EstellusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Journey is the story that first brought me to Royal Road. I read it off and on for... feels like years, I'm not sure. Sometimes I read it as soon as it posted every week. Sometimes I let it go for months before circling back to catch up, but it always kept me coming back.
I missed the grand finale while my attention was on other things, and strangely, I think I'm glad. I read the last thirty chapters in a fugue-like state over the course of a handful of days. I cannot imagine the agony of those climactic moments spread out across months.
Journey is a masterpiece of "urban" fantasy, a masterclass in worldbuilding and cosmology. Threads are carefully laid hundreds of chapters in advance, slowly building a warp and weft from which is born the weave of a spectacular tapestry. I can safely say I've never read anything quite like it. It defies many of the established mores and practices of urban fantasy, and flourishes in its own place for it. It twists like a screw and winds like a river. It makes you wonder just where the hell this side arc is going, only to have it petter off and merge back into the main flow, only to stab you in the side two dozen chapters later, then again half a hundred after that.
Journey capitalizes on an immortal main character in ways so few authors or stories have the courage to try; Ariane watches the world change around her, generations pass, and must confront that truth in her own ways.
Mecanimus' characters are flawed and intriguing. Men of strong moral integrity and honor become enemies not through villainy on anyone's part but through the twists of circumstance and obligation. Backstabbing bastards become begrudgingly trusted allies because the ends sometimes justify the means. The main character is no different; Ariane grows and changes. She confronts her own failings, feelings, and assumptions, and forces herself not to stagnate.
The magic, it's fascinating. The action, spectacular. The dialogue, snappy.
Journey of Black and Red deserv
PenderdaxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A solid tale in every respect. This story stands on it's own among vampire literature of which I've read so so much.
Vampire literature often is an extension of previous lore, which is fine great even, but this story is it's own lore and absolutely succeeds in it.
And now for the ridiculous imposition of 50 words. Someone direct management to a dictionary and point out the definition of prose.
Write less say more.
SusurrusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Amazing. I started it as something to pass an hour at lunch and couldn't stop till I had finished. Both well written and captivating. Well done. And thank you
DauthastundRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
As the title says- Perhaps the single best read I ever had on this site, and it's complete! The character writing and worldbuilding in this is superb and the story keeps you enticed the whole way through, though I will say that the pacing gets a little off near the end. New characters will get introduced but then barely get any time to endear themselves to you before the story is over, partially because the main character is old enough that time starts blurring together. A very important character, conceptually, gets introduced near the end for example but she barely even mattered in the end.
Overall, though, this is one of the best reads you'll have on this site if you're into vampires and don't mind if things get a little dark. The main character isn't evil, but they're still a vampire, so they're not some paragon of virtue either. She's very well written in first person perspective, really letting you immerse yourself in whatever she's feeling, and the occasional third person limited perspective chapters (from the perspective of other characters, usually still interacting with the main character in some way) are great especially for getting a feel of how the rest of the world sees the MC.
I gave this story a style score of 4 because it gets kind of anime towards the end but in a bad way. In that "no one talks like this" kind of way. But that's easily ignored because the ending of this is pretty good.
Octo3112Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I liked it
Had some parts where I felt it dragged
Overall good, fun and explosive
Some of the characters are a bit lacking or a bit flat with mainly being defined by one trope, didn't bother me too much though since it worked well with the story
In conclusion I enjoyed it and recommend to others who like progression fantasy
maraud3rRoyal Road
★ 1.0
Checked it out because of the great reviews, found it to be severely lacking. Maybe it gets good later into the story, but I really have no desire to find out. Found the first person perspective to be highly off putting, especially with how stilted the MC's thoughts felt. I can't see a mayor change there in the future, so I quit!