A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands [LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

*Book 1 and 2 are available on my newpage. It has been written under a new name 'Gilgamesh' and a new pen name Tobascoasako. It features light edits on the original. [wife will be reposting for me]

*Book 3 is now updating every week on Sunday!

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: Gian Carlo Peirce

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 1,202
Views: 35,533

Chapters(50 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

lesliestripesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style;
The language used is a bit difficult. It forced me to use my phone to look up a few things which slowed down my reading in places. On the other hand I get to expand my vocab so there is that! The prose is very well done and quite descriptive, though it can be a little purple at times.
Grammar;
Few mistakes here and there with dangling sentences and a little too much use of the passive, but apart from that is generally quite strong. Well done!
Story;
While not being 100% original, the setting surely is. Other LitRPGS I have read are basically a lot of wish fulfillment and power fantasies that center around an OP Mary Sue. The MC is given basically godlike powers but he has to work for them. I like the way the story plays around with the idea of power, and how it would affect an ordinary person. It made me think if i really actually want to go a fantasy world!
Character;
The mc is basically a nutjob, but an understandable nutjob who has gone through a lot. I found a lot of self righteous mcs to be annoying, but this one doesnt seem to fit that bill. Despite that he is interesting and has some redeemable qualities. He seems to value friendship. So far there is no romance and harem stuff. lots of bromance though.
Constantine de BoudoxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Slow going and more realistic litrpg but at no single point, it becomes boring. I also like there is no artificial mercy toward enemies that would get you killed in real life. Every advancement comes after real effort and nothing is served on the plate for the main character. Steppe nomad culture elements are also a plus since I found that part of human history (Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns/Xiongnu, Avars, Utrigurs&Kutrigurs, Cumans, Pechenegs, Mongols, Tatars) often to be overlooked and discarded as alien and barbarian.
CoronacharlesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style
The author takes a brave step writing in first person, and executes this exceptionally well. At times, however, I had to use a dictionary! Prose is well done and is downright poetic. which leads me to...
Story and Characters
From the setting, world, and characters you can tell this is a carefully constructed story. Despite its high-fantasy setting, I find myself drawn to the authors realistic description of actions and events. The world is alien and dangerous, and although the MC knows about the fantasy tropes this knowledge is both a help and a hindrance. The characters he meets feel like real people from that period and not just generic cookies cutter tropes and npcs. There are tropes, but they feel welcome like old friends. I almost expect a blind swordsman to make an entrance anytime soon!
Unlike other series the MC is not a Mary sue with everything falling into his lap, which is wonderfully refreshing. No signs of deus machine yet, a common sin in the genre.
Grammar
Is well done. No major mistakes and does not detract. Sentences flow together in a logical order.
A very fun 'serious' litrpg, just wish there was more of it.
DemitrianRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Looking forward to seeing more from this! keep up the hard work!
Love the artwork and desing of the whole thing. You can really feel a lot of effort was put into this. The story itself is very unique, visual and compelling.
Only read the first few chapters so far, but really intrigued to see how it all develops!
kanundraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Opening.
While there’s a lot of tropes in the genre, and its sub genres, this doesn’t detract from the story woven in here.
Story/characters
What I really liked in here was the thought process of the MC, it’s not just a power fantasy, where things don’t have consequences, but it’s darker, there’s real meaning and processes behind every decision. This makes it very real and even more disturbing on a level that makes us as people think. The MC here is fully believable on a level that is interesting not only for us as we’re inside his head, but to the people he meets they interact with him naturally. They’re al fully fleshed out and
Style.
I loved the writing style, it’s a bit more prose than I’m used to, I much prefer more dialogue and action style pieces. But it lent itself to being one of my fav, there’s literally not many people that make me go look up words, or think about why I like a sentence, or thought in the context of the story.
The world building has obviously a lot of work. Bringing with it a sense of wonder and realism that most stories don’t have. There’s great use of visuals, and all the senses, I always usually have to poke for more, but the balance here was just great. No complaints at all.
Set out beautifully, easy to read. The boxes are neat informative, not overly complicated as a system, and its nice to learn and grow with the MC.
Chapters are sometimes short, and alter with the story. We’re with the Mc at first for a while before he interacts with people and that gives us chance to know him as well as a bit about the world. It doesn’t read as fast as some because of the time with him, but I also like the slow style, the way things can and might progress really interests me.
I also really liked the quotes at the start of each. They too make you think.
Grammar.
I don’t and can’t comment on any of this, nothing seemed out of place to me. It’s writing style leads to more prose choices, and longer sentences, so coming from a story that had much shorte
kayenanoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An incredibly refreshing take on the LitRPG genre. A beautifully crafted high fantasy world is described in vivid detail, while being navigated by a main character who realistically must work for their progress.
Style: Excellent prose taking us right into the head of our protagonist. It is incredibly difficult to do dark fantasy well, but in a Record of Ash & Ruin, the struggles and thoughts of our MC are laid bare with bloody consequences.
Story: A traditional take on LitRPG with plentiful statistics. However, progression is meaningful and numbers have real relevancy. The strength of the protagonist is evident, but must be utilised correctly in order to survive a harsh world built on reality.
Grammar: Easy to read. Narration flows well and pacing is as fast or as slow as it needs to be. First person perspective allows more flavour for writing and Mesa does this excellently by offering an MC with down-to-earth hopes and fears.
Character: Well written main character with a colourful array of supporting cast. The future direction of the protagonist's morality is left in the dark as he has to grapple against the constant need for survival in a world with few mercies. Advancement comes after hardship with little indication that life will magically become any easier.
BobCharlieRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm going to start off this review by stating that I am not very good at giving reviews. I am much more of a reader than a critic, but I'll try my best to not spoil anything.
First off, this story is a serious page turner that gripped me by the chin pubes and refused to let go!
The authors style is crisp, smart, and very well thought out. The author is obviously intelligent, but Mesa doesn't go out of his way to drag your face through his treasure trove of vocabulary while he huffs his own farts and cackles ominously in the backdrop like many others seem to want to do. The chapters don't drone on, but neither are they simplistic.
The story itself is extremely in-depth. From the very first page the amount of world building that's been put into this story is astounding. From the very first hill he chooses to use as his base of operations, expect a world that is visual, and fully fleshed out.
Grammar is impeccable. Might be the best I've seen thus far on RR.
As for the characters, the MC is very analytic and intelligent. He brings a lot of modern day knowledge into this strange new world, and isn't afraid to ponder over its many uses. He also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, neither does he balk at eating his freshly killed beasties raw. The supporting cast of characters so far have been varied and believable. Theres been some dicks,(just can't escape em lmao) several legitimately good people that I hope to see stick around, and a few that I'm still holding back judgement on until I have a better idea of what's going on
All in all, I'm seriously happy I started this story, and I really think you will be too.
Keep it up Mesa! (Friday needs to hurry TF up and get here already!)
KamitoanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Ever read someone's work and suddenly feel as if your brain is being fed a nice glass of smooth champagne while immersed in a perfectly-temperatured bath? Like, the prose takes you to a place where comfort is just a thing that you have now?
That's what reading this story feels like. It feels like you are sampling a custom brew from some ancient monastic order who has spend ten thousand years getting all the right accents of ambrosia. It's not all in there at once, and you don't want it to be. You just want more.
I want more.
Ahem.
On to my review:
Style: Just enough standard day to show who the character was before we get to what we all came here for, check. Worldbuilding and plot setting with character-appropriate traumatic reactions, check. Puts you inside the world and makes you want more of it, check. Unique style of writing that is a bresh of fresh air in a weary world, thank Entropy... check.
Story: Crafted together in well-manicured chunks that appear to have gone through multiple rounds of editing, the plot development moves swiftly along and the pacing matches the writing style in equal measure.
Grammar: Legible, with clear editing polish. Mistakes (if any) are surprises not burrs. Full marks.
Character: So far there have been precious few side characters, but each was given enough time and distinct attention to make them easily envisionable. The main character is growing and evolving in believable fashion, and the gods are dicks (curse that, why don'tcha?). More importantly here, the main character is his own person. Not a standard template. He has voice, he has his own goals, and it's enough already that I'ma keep reading.
Updating my review to add: Please never stop adding those excerpts at the start of each chapter, they feed my flavor-text habits.
Labib6Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've read all of books 1 and 2 and part of 3 on Patreon.
The style and grammar of this story is 10/10, some of the best writing I've seen on this site.
The world feels interesting and unique and the RPG elements aren't so complicated that they distract from the story, they just add onto it like a cherry on top.
The MC isn't a bland goody two shoes, but is a true Neutral, someone who is primarily invested in themselves. It feels realistic and more relatable considering he was taken away from the real world and sent into a nightmare.
Overall, my only complaint is that I caught up to all the chapters here and on Patreon too quickly. Give me MOAR.
OrigamiKnifeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Very well written and well told story, but don't ignore the tags. The MC is a real garbage trash-fire of a human being. He isn't the mustache twirling cartoon villain, but represent a very realistic evil. I would say that he hits all three point of the dark triad, machievellian, psychopathic, and narcisstic. So be warned.