Alma's Dreams (are Default) [An Eldritch Thriller]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A Lovecraftian craft of love!

Alma’s life has always been filled with insanity. That tends to happen when you’re living in a religious country where the citizens all worship a terrifying goddess of madness. More so when your sister is a priestess of said goddess. So, what does a girl do to keep herself grounded? Why, join the military of course! A little patriotic spirit to keep the otherworldly apparitions that only she can see from driving her mad. Or that was the plan, anyway.

At least it's safe to say the repercussions of living near so much insanity isn't what drives her to then join an eldritch creature in the form of a young girl and her dark elf companion on a quest to save the world. Especially when they might hold the answers to the phantoms that have been haunting her for her entire life.

Updates Sundays.

Cover art by@山高守人

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Flowering Dregs

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 690
Views: 208,741

Chapters(158 total)

What readers say about Alma's Dreams (are Default) [An Eldritch Thriller]

“Style: The dark and mysterious tone of the story is consistently maintained, adding depth and intrigue to the narrative. Your prose flows well, capturing the emotions and experiences of the characters effectively. Story: The introduction of Alma as a young…”
Anti_HeroesRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“As you can tell from the stars, I had a really good time reading Alma's Dreams.^^ Style: I saw no issues here whatsoever. I read through it with ease. Story: Right out the gate, I'll say that I absolutely loved the world as a whole. The beginning of the sto…”
ReimiaRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(3)

Anti_HeroesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: The dark and mysterious tone of the story is consistently maintained, adding depth and intrigue to the narrative. Your prose flows well, capturing the emotions and experiences of the characters effectively.
Story: The introduction of Alma as a young woman with dreams of joining the princess's army sets up a clear goal and provides a strong foundation for the narrative. The incorporation of otherworldly beings, such as the mysterious woman Qu'l-Nia and the creatures from another dimension, adds an element of mystery and expands the scope of the story. The pacing is well-handled, allowing for character development and plot progression.
Grammar: Overall, the grammar in your story is solid, with minimal errors.
Character: Alma, as the protagonist, exhibits a range of emotions and struggles, making her relatable and engaging. Her determination, disappointment, and vulnerability are effectively portrayed, allowing me to empathize with her. The introduction of supporting characters like Zulema, Alma's sister, adds depth and provides a contrast to Alma's experiences. The interactions between characters are authentic and contribute to their growth and the overall narrative.
Overall: "Alma's Dreams" is a captivating story with a well-executed blend of supernatural elements, emotional depth, and atmospheric descriptions. The immersive writing style, intriguing plot, and well-rounded characters make for an engaging read. The overall impression is that of a promising narrative with strong potential for further development and exploration.
ReimiaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As you can tell from the stars, I had a really good time reading Alma's Dreams.^^
Style: I saw no issues here whatsoever. I read through it with ease.
Story: Right out the gate, I'll say that I absolutely loved the world as a whole. The beginning of the story does a fantastic job of giving you just enough details to understand what is happening without overloading you with information. From there on out it's a slow drip feed of information while Alma goes through her journey.
It's not just focused on Alma though. I'll expand on this more in the character section, but we follow multiple POV's throughout the story, and not just a few paragraphs here or there. Full chapters are dedicated to other viewpoints. And where I'm at in the story, all of the POV's are starting to converge together quite nicely. I'm actually not sure if that means the POV's are going to shrink to just a few as the parties come together, but I'll find out soon enough.
The lovecraftian influence is strong with this one. Normally it's hard to tell by the blurb alone, as I've seen many 'Eldritch' stories that only vaguely touch on cosmological horror, but that's not an issue here in Alma's Dreams. I wanted to go more in-depth with the story part of this review, but now that I'm actually doing it, I feel like anything I say will be a spoiler lol. Just know that it's heavy on the cosmological+mystery part, and I love what he did with the 'Goddess of madness, Macha'.
Grammar: I only saw a few extremely small mistakes in all 130k words that I read.
Character: Alma herself is fun to read. One thing I loved is that while she wants to join Macha's military(mostly because of the princess), she's also not fully bought into everything her country is selling. Yet at the same time she does want to kill the enemy for her country, so she's a mixed bag and I really enjoyed that aspect of her. Although most of that goes to the side as the biggest problem in her life is what takes centerfold in her story. The things
damienrjamesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The starting scene really swallowed me in. Gave me vivid imaginations of a submerging dream. I liked the imagery and the descriptions, made it easy to read along and picture. The transition in the next chapter was fluid. And I’d go as far as to say well placed. The introduction of the characters via conversation helped gauge the cast in a way that didn’t seem forced our out of place. It gave insight to the world and its mechanics, filling in questions as I read on.
Story: The intro wasn’t overwhelming. Most of the action started three chapters in and it didn’t feel like it dragged. I’m a sucker for action and high stakes, drama and the like. It was interesting to see how Alma reacted in a tense situation, and she even did something I didn’t expect. I do like my surprises.
Style: Doses of comedy really shine in chapter four, as well as more meaningful relationships. The style gives me a real coming of age feel, and while something outside of my norm, I do enjoy this one quite a bit. It’s light, but not too light, and has depth and meaning where it needs to be.
Grammar: spotless from what I could tell.
Overall: Honestly, the dialogue between the characters were my favorite part. I haven’t dived too far in to comment on them individually, but from what I read so far, I’m invested. They are fun and others are downright sarcastic and zany. I digested up to chapter nine (and I’ll be stealing that term of endearment!) Fun story so far.