An Illusion of Will

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Al struggles to survive in an ever-changing World.

Information

Status
Hiatus
Year
2023
Author
seven_of_sixes

Tags

ACTIONFANTASYADVENTUREMAGICSUPERNATURALMARTIAL ARTSMALE LEADMULTIPLE LEAD CHARACTERSPOST APOCALYPTICMYSTERYWAR AND MILITARYGRIMDARKHIGH FANTASYGENETICALLY ENGINEEREDMYTHOSSOFT SCI-FISTRATEGYURBAN FANTASYCULTIVATIONPROGRESSIONSUPER HEROESARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCETECHNOLOGICALLY ENGINEERED

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.3/ 5.0
Followers
46
Views
61,104

Chapters(123 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

  • keeganashleyliveRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I want to emphasize that this one starts out cute and seemingly happy, but it gets drenched in darkness quickly. I loved the very quick switch to action and horror. It’s obvious this story is going somewhere pitch black, and I’m here for it. I actually searched to see if it was labeled as ‘grimdark’ or ‘horror’ after reading a few chapters because of the vibe and was surprised not to see any of those tags in the description. It looks like maybe the focus will be more on the magic and action which I think goes really well with the story. There’s definitely a lot of questions at the beginning of the story with the vanishings. It leaves a lot of room for the author to really take this somewhere grand.
    I liked that it has both modern and fantastical elements and felt that both of these were really tied well together in the story. Al, the main character, is likeable and relatable.
    The writing has a flow that was pleasant to read, and I didn’t notice any grammatical errors that made me stop reading. I’d say it’s definitely an intriguing read with a lot of potential! Check it out if you’re into a modern-world tale with flashes of supernatural/fantasy that I’m sure are going to turn into more than just flashes. ;P
  • rceja5Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This novel started out very rough, but it got better and better as I read on.
    The story starts with random disappearances around the world of ordinary people. We're quickly introduced to our protagonist, Al. Without spoiling too much, he encounters a tragedy where he is forced to begin his Hero's Journey.
    We follow along his journey, as he grows up from a young naive boy into a powerful cultivator. Figuring out what's going on with the disappearances of people, making some friends along the way, and his ascend to power.
  • Genuine55Royal Road
    ★★★★ 4.0
    Ok, so let's start with the true strengths of the story before I get negative. :D
    Most importantly, it's easy to move to the next chapter. It holds me to the page while I'm reading, I don't find myself looking for distractions, and I'm interested in where the story is going. And the story does go. Set modern day, with disappearances accelerating around the world, the MC discovers a masquerade of sorts protecting a war between superpowered cultivator types and other supernatural beasties. He also discovers (of course) that he can be a part of that war. It's a fun read, and the story is told clearly and concisely. The only time I felt any confusion was with the MC's name and the name of the big bad - Al and IA. Sometimes I had to pause because my brain would assume I'd read a typo. The dangers of a sans serif font.
    The big problem I had though is with the writing style. The dialogue frequently feels stilted, and characters frequently express motivations in declarative thoughts. It doesn't quite feel natural, and it was a challenge to empathize with the characters. It was kind of rough, especially contrasted to how well the action scenes were written.
    The grammar was fine - no spelling issues or anything I noticed. No awkward sentences that made it difficult to follow a scene.
  • PreCursive (J.D. Campbell)Royal Road
    ★★★★ 4.0
    An Illusion of Will is a modern take on the xianxia/cultivation genre that's grown popular in the last few years. If you enjoy that kind of fiction, then I suspect you might find something to enjoy in this one.
    Style: I think the style is what the author needs to nail down the most. There are some tricks to writing that I feel could be implemented here that could elevate the story, but I think that's just the inexperience on behalf of the author. To be clear, the style isn't bad, and the story is certainly readable. But I can see how it can be made much better. Still, there's a solid foundation here for an enjoyable story.
    Story: I think my favorite part of this story is the world-building, to be honest. While xianxia isn't typically my genre, I can appreciate it. I actually really enjoyed the world-building around the mysterious 'Vanishings' that are happening in universe. It's fun to imagine how such a thing would impact modern society. Beyond that, the story is shaping up to be a xianxia with a western styling to it, which certainly has an audience on RR.
    Grammar: Grammar is fine, I would say. There isn't much that sticks out to me as outright bad. Functional, is what I would call it. Some of the issues that I had with the style are repeated here, though. As I said, I think it's just inexperience on the author's part, and that will change with time.
    Character: Our protagonist starts out as very much the typical teen. In other words, a bit of a shit. However, he seems to be growing out of his immaturity after suffering some traumatic events. I feel like this was the intent of the author, so I think they did a good job here. Other characters are mostly incidental at the point that I read up to, so I can't say much about them.
    Overall, I think this one is worth giving a shot. Whether or not you'll enjoy it, I believe, will depend on your love of the genre.