An Arsonist and a Necromancer Walk into a Bar

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Palmira is a young fire mage, living on the streets and begging for money, just one more orphan left in the wake of the Demon Wars. Fortunately, after a decade of saving what precious few coins she had, she was able to afford her very own wizard's staff, allowing her to join one of the many adventurer's guilds competing in the city! It's just a shame that her new staff once belonged to the most dangerous necromancer to have ever lived. (Updates Mondays) Cover art by Augoostus

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: FictionalAtlas

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 1,693
Views: 647,106

Chapters(102 total)

What readers say about An Arsonist and a Necromancer Walk into a Bar

“I really enjoyed this!!! The setting is super unique and drips with personality, I especially love the close attention the author pays to senses other than sight when describing places. The action is really fun, and the way magic is written and described is…”
silk-spun ariaRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“An engaging story about the challenges of a orphan mage looking for her place in the world. Characters are engaging and act like you expect them to. I am really bad at writing reviews so I hope this is enough to reach the fity word limit, I dont know what t…”
MhahxRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

silk-spun ariaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really enjoyed this!!! The setting is super unique and drips with personality, I especially love the close attention the author pays to senses other than sight when describing places. The action is really fun, and the way magic is written and described is interesting and puts me right in the head of the protagonist while she figures stuff out. There are tons of really informative author's notes about the worldbuilding too, so you even get a peak inside their head and it enriched my enjoyment of the setting so much.
The plot is really tasty and I like how you aren't really left in the dark. Events are set up in advance and pay off really well, and I never felt like a surprise or a major plot event came out of nowhere.
The characters are sooo goood I want to put them in a little box so I can watch them interact all day. Not exaggerating when I say that I've laughed and cried when reading!!! Each character has a very unique voice, to the point where I feel like I could just read a sentence of their dialogue or an action of theirs without context and know exactly who said it. I will also say I really appreciate how Palmira stays very grounded as a character who had a traumatic upbringing. Her behaviours and habits constantly reminded me that she was just a young girl who had spent the majority of her life in poverty, on the road, on the run, in alleyways and just generally living on the margins of society. It makes me want to just hug her and tell her she's going to be okay 😭😭
There were a few spelling or grammar hiccups once every few chapters but that sort of thing really doesn't bother me!! Especially because I get to read this for free >:3
MhahxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An engaging story about the challenges of a orphan mage looking for her place in the world. Characters are engaging and act like you expect them to.
I am really bad at writing reviews so I hope this is enough to reach the fity word limit, I dont know what to do if I dont reach it, it would be really annoying tbh!
NoelOrikiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'd almost juxtaposition this story to LitRPG's of the same style but it feels disrespectful to all involved. But in a medium that is pretty overflowing with those types of stories, finding a more "classical" fantasy feeling - especially an Italian inspired one - story where magic is far more mysterious and (perhaps) vibes based is wonderful. This is genuinely a delightful story with some of the best character work I've seen on this site. The prose and writing is well above average and the flow between scenes and chapters and paragraphs is incredibly smooth. I found myself devouring each chapter and going right to the next because it just felt so damn good and entertaining to read. Absolutely brilliant work.
OctocatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is such a delight to read. It starts off simple with such an interesting premise, that over the course of the next chapters absolutely hooks you. So uh, no spoilers from me.
Stylewise there are lots of things to love, like the worldbuilding that incorporates lots of well-known concepts, but makes them feel fresh or the different interludes or the slight comedic undertone that may or may not have been foreshadowed wih the title, which only serves to make the story more fun to read, rather than take away it's importance. The way the single arcs are impemented makes them seamless but still allows for that downtime in between. While I am normally not a fan of many interludes, I honestly love them in this story. They add so much to the previously mentioned worldbuilding and flesh out characters, while never feeling like they take away chapters from the actual story I want to read.
Next up are the characters. In my opinion they all feel great and well thought out. Palmira is a wonderful main character that manages to warm my heart every time and not only because she's a fire mage. Every side character is different, gets some development and even those that do not get much screen time at all are so interesting and contribute to the stories overall vibe.
Grammar wise there is not much you could critizise. The writing style makes it very easy to read and understand what is happening, even in busy fight scenes, which is something I really appreciate. There can sometimes be a few mistakes in the text, but they in no way hinder the reading flow and when pointed out, quickly get fixed.
I really don't want to ramble on further, when you could instead read this masterpiece, so just do that. It deserves the attention.
Zodiac36GoldRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Quite literally at that. Call the fire brigade, because if Palmira gets too emotional she tends to catch on fire.
Now, onwards with the Review: Palmira is an orphan girl with a great proficiency when it comes to Fire Magic who lives on the streets. After a very long time, she finally manages to scrounge up enough money to get herself a mage's staff from the discount bin. Problem: the staff once belonged to a Necromancer. Other problem: there's someone's soul trapped in the staff. Good news: the soul has a typical "Cool Uncle" personality. Other good news: he can teach Palmira ways to get better at her magic.
The story then follows her adventures as she joins a guild and fights off evil monsters, and evil people who are way worse than monsters.
Now, I started reading this story because of the title. I found it completely at random among the "New Chapters" section of the main page, got curious because I thought the story would be something funny and lighthearted,stayed because of how deep the characters are and how great the worldbuilding is. I'll admit I'm a bit biased here, because I'm Italian, and this world is, by the author's admission, based on how Italy was during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but that alone wouldn't be enough. Instead, it's the way it's woven in, the various Famiglias and the way they work and interact, the nicknames, the insults (it's so beautiful to finally read some good insults in a story on this site, I could nearly cry). It's the many small things that together make this world feel alive, much more than many other stories.
The characters are simply great! Each and every one of them has a great depth to them, with stories that are ever so slowly being revealed, connections that make them feel more... there. I don't know for sure how to put it without repeating myself and saying they're alive, but that's exactly it. Also, they're funny as fu*k! Most of them, that is. Simbad is a bore.
Regarding the grammar, nothing special to say, other
augoostusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
My brother recommended this book to me, I laughed at the title, then I read it and I fell in love.
This book has so many fun and original concepts, which is such a breath of fresh air on this platform. I genuinely have no criticism. I just adore it. It's awesome. Read it for yourself. Please.
So not only is it original, it also has absolutely fucking splendid characters, just about each random passerby is interesting, original, and has just such great thought and writing put into them. They feel like people, with pasts and silly traits and interests, like I don't know how to get this across any better. FictionalAtlas is just crazily good at writing characters.
Speaking of characters, I'm genuinely in love with the main character. She has such a well put together back story, and it's not even just oooh loookkkk they're traumatizedddd---no! It's actually all relevant to the plot! Palmira is just such a great main character, I don't want to give spoilers, but she suits this story beautifully.
Adding onto the list of: please, I'm begging you, just read this masterpiece!!... The worldbuilding. I don't even know what to say here. It's just fantastic. It has such unique concepts for towns and cities, the imagery is great, the whole world is just, mwah. I love it. I love this book.
It's difficult to put into words all the things that make this book amazing, but like, just trust me bro. It is so worth the read. You'll fall in love with the characters, the world, the story, everything really, before you realize it. I mention this story all the time to my friends when I get the chance, you should read it so you can too. :)
Also it has a great cover!! (I say, as the one who drew the cover.)
doomsdayrsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I started reading this for the joke title
But holy moly, I can't believe the gem I found
The world building, the creativity, the awe that I feel reading the chapters.
If you like verbose, well written content, this is it.
My only slight is that I still dont know the age of the mc, assuming they a teenager I feel like they dont act much of their age? But I'd have to do a few more readings to decide.
AehsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
TLDR: Very solid start and excited to see where it goes as the author hints at a deep world lore with interesting and fleshed out(as much as you can in 17ch) characters
Don't review much but will when I see a great story that needs a bump, and guess what folks here is one of them. I have enjoyed my time reading about our stumbling newbie pyromancer and her quirky staff as she learns how to live like an adventurer and not be a constantly starving street urchin.
Style: Never really know what this defines but going to talk about the vibe of the story. Lighthearted but with depth, I think this really rides the line well of having fun jokey scenes along with having some intense character moments and mysteries abound.
Grammar: Good, haven't run into any problems with it.
Story; Took a little off as we don't really have much of a concrete plot going on but as we slowly learn more about the world along with Palmira I am starting to see where this is going and I am excited to see it. Will adjust the story score at a later date once the plot is more fleshed out and I feel I need to.
Character: Really solid, as mentioned before in the style this story is lighthearted with depth, and that is the same with the characters. Many of those introduces so far have been interesting and quirky, but here is obviously more going on than just the surface spectacle, only really seeing that so far with Palmira and Morte but seeds have been planted for others.
In conclusion its good, read the dang book
BobChouraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I honestly doubted that this story could hold up well long term, but I am happy to have been proven wrong. Bookmark and follow this story people because it is going places. If you want great characters, dialogue that flows, and actual honest to god worldbuilding I beg of you to read this story.
Updating my review, it's still good!
CaduceusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love it. I just can't seem to get enough of this story.
In fact, I find it hard to know how to begin this review since every part of it so good.
The characters, all of them, even the more jokey ones, are phenomenal. Morte is a funny old man, yes, but he is also a wise and kind one that cares greatly for Palmira. Palmira is a bit naïve and awkward, but is very diligent and smart, I never had a moment where I went "that is dumb, no one would do that" or "this makes no sense, Palmira wouldn't do that".
In fact, this extends to every character, none of them feel Out-of-universe stupid.
And the worldbuilding! Holy moly! It makes me want to drop everything and start writing something just so I can explore something close to it!
The magic that slowly transforms mages. The massive buildings hinting at a glorious past now forgotten. The cosmic horror that sometimes peaks from behind the curtain. The historical references. The way they blend in real-life elements (like the Roman Empire) in such an interesting way. I would KILL to have the author give us a map or even just a few descriptions of other regions of the world.
The only complaint I can possibly think of is that there is very big interlude telling the background of Palmira, which was good but lasted a bit too much, and that some words are occasionally misspelled. Very rare though.