Arbiter: Shadow of the Sorcerer-King

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Sixteen Gods, Sixteen Races, Sixteen Systems of Magic, and the world stuck in the Sixteenth Cycle

The last Champion of the Gods refuses to die and let the world continue, and so it begins to break down. Kyallan grows from a child to a man, guided and trained by his Father, Reymond, into a weapon that might reclaim their lost lands, repair their crumbling keep, and continue their dying House. Yet the other Houses do not let him have peace long enough to see this through; and instead he is forced out into the world with a mission from the Gods themselves.

The Sorcerer-King, to which House Daai was considered the Left Hand, must die if the world is to continue. As such, Kyallan is made the Arbiter of the Gods, their judge, their jury -- and their executioner. He has a mission twofold; stop the Souls of the Champions that hold half of each God's divinity from falling into enemy hands, and hunt down the most powerful man in the world. Soon after his fateful encounter with the Gods, he begins to manifest special powers - that only he seems to have. But perhaps the Gods are not infallible; and perhaps the Magic they have curated is not completely unassailable to those with the right tools.

Talking brass tacks, I plan this to be a long series scheduled for release Mon/Wed/Fri; but that won't be the schedule for now. The series will see the main character, Kyallan, learn to use both the Magic of choice races (and his companions) as well as learn to use the gift that the Gods have given him; his own unique power system, The Arbiter's Commandments.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: R. K. Winters

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 14
Views: 6,489

Chapters(19 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(5)

AsmeonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
To start: This review is written based on a first impression after reading the Chapter I. 1. New Blood. As such, this review will contain spoilers for the first chapter only.
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Honestly, that I'm struggling to write a review already says enough about the quality of the work as I tend to never be short on criticism.
This chapter was a blast to read and reminded me why I love fantasy as much as I do. It has been a while since any story gripped me the way this first chapter did, and therefore I can't recommend it enough.
Let's start off with the boring stuff first; Prose!
The story is told from the first perspective and written in present tense. An interesting choice which I will readily admit, is not my preference. Here I didn't mind it. The prose is direct without too much flowery pretense to distract the reader. Making it easy to follow.
Don't take this to mean that it isn't well written. There are some gems of descriptions, especially whenever the magic is concerned
"Like a waterfall in reverse, it pushes upward out of my palm, like a liquid."
Strangely the prologue was where I found some minor writing mistakes that occur with most writers. Like the overuse of descriptors and the repeating of certain words:
"His hand pushes open a big wooden door to a quiet room in the west wing of his keep"
"She clutches the book tightly, her fingers delicately turning the pages. Her other hand holds a single finger up in the air, and a dim ball of light illuminates the aged pages"
"Now the room is dark, but it allows the moonlight to flood the room."
These, however, seem to dissapear as the first chapter starts properly. Making me believe that either this prologue was a later addition, missed while editing, or the rest of the chapter became so riveting that I didn't notice them anymore.
Anyway my advise to the author is to have a second look on this prologue as to make it o
Eric VanderlipRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Arbiter: Shadow of the Sorcerer-King is the story of Kyallan Daai, who is trained from birth by his Father, Reymond, into a weapon that might reclaim his family's lost honor and prosperity. On top of this, the gods have chosen him to save the world by felling the Sorcerer-King.
Style: The pace is solid and exciting. Combat well described. Dialogue is natural. The only complain is that perspective changes can be a tad confusing at points.
Story: Wonderful, meticulous world building (themed around the number sixteen), including a detailed magic system, noble houses, gods, locations, and even a fictional calendar (27 of Motarit). The early chapters do an excellent job driving the narrative forwards, setting up several layers of plot. First, on the personal level, there's Kyallan quest for vengeance and mission to restore his fallen house. Then on the global level, there is the overarching struggle to save the world and defeat the Sorcerer-King. Besides these, there are still plenty of mysteries left to explore: Why did Sorcerer-King betray the world? Were the gods completely honest? Why did the other house turn on House Daai so viciously?
Grammar: Excellent. My need to edit went mostly unfulfilled.
Character: Daine makes for sympathetic, luckless protagonist. The interaction between him and his parents feel genuine, serving to flesh out all three characters. Of what I have read so far, no complaints.
Conclusion: I recommend Arbiter: Shadow of the Sorcerer-King because of the interesting world building and compelling plot. You'll find yourself clicking "next chapter" to find out how this underdog story plays out. It's a fun ride.
JayKitsuneTVRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Admittedly, I don’t get to read a lot of pure fantasy stories like this very often, but I still love the genre. With that in mind I’m not always instantly captured by a setting, but in this case I most definitely was. I’ll begin my review.
Style: Purely from a genre perspective, I really enjoyed this one. The set-up for the first chapter gave you a sense of wonder (much like Kyallan feels reading about the Sorcerer king) I almost find myself in his shoes listening to the lore of this world through the eyes of a child. The descriptiveness was fantastic. While exposition can get tedious in the best of cases, you found a brilliant way to circumvent it. Well done.
Where I take some points away is not your fault per se, but I would play around with the space on the page and try not to cluster paragraphs and dialogue together in such large chunks. Use the page as your canvas, and your writing will do the rest of the work. Aesthetics play a part in reader retention. 4.5/5
Story: First of all, the world building takes place almost immediately, and that’s a major reason why it hooked me into your story. You give solid timelines of the Arbiters’ upbringing with each chapter, and the locations in which things take place. I love 1st person stories, but they are a little limited in that they cannot explore a scope like this. When you want to build a world with so many different events going on, this is the way to do it.
If you’re planning what I expect, it figures to be a long ride. Frankly with the quality of the story thus far, I’m perfectly ok with that. 5/5
Grammar: I’m not wholly qualified to speak about grammar, but when there isn’t anything obvious enough to warrant a comment I’d say that’s a good thing. Could use some better spacing (as I said before), and comma placement. You will find your full stride in time. Doesn’t take too much away from the content, but it needs more editing to eliminate mis-capitalizations and things of that nature. Example: [I Conjure a small kn
RestuIbuRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Arbiter: Shadow of the Sorcerer-King follows the journey of Kyallan, hailing from the esteemed House Daai, as he undergoes rigorous training under the guidance of his father, Reymond. His purpose? To become a formidable weapon capable of restoring House Daai's lost honor and prosperity. As if that weren't enough, the gods have bestowed upon him the crucial task of rescuing the world from the clutches of the Sorcerer-King. This work is another proof of why traditional fantasy holds a higher tier in my opinion than other fantasy sub-genres. Perhaps because they're less saturated here, but also because the authors are willing to challenge themselves to create something authentic yet deep; a true hallmark of the author's personality.
Style: In terms of style, the author employs a diverse range of perspectives in Arbiter: Shadow of the Sorcerer-King. The majority of the narrative is presented from Kyallan's first-person point of view, offering a deep dive into his thoughts and experiences. However, the author also incorporates occasional chapters or sections from the third-person perspective of Kyallan's father, Reymond. Personally, I found these shifts in perspective to be seamlessly executed, as they are clearly delineated by separate chapters or sections within the story.
One notable aspect of the novel is the surprising length of each chapter, pretty uncommon in web novel series and readers tend to avoid it. However, usually what sets the works with longer chapters and short ones apart is the professional quality of the writing, akin to the captivating works commonly found in your favourite bookstores. It's a trait I appreciate, and it reminds me of another favoured novel on this site that shares this commendable characteristic.
Moving on to the prose, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author strikes a fine balance between straightforwardness and poeticism, crafting sentences that are both accessible and captivating. I admire how they manage to make each s
leialuxonlooferRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The plot so far is a 9/10 for me, the Mc and his father's relationship is delightfully complicated. However, the only issue I really have is formatting and the changing of font in the later chapters. It's just blocks of text with barely any spacing or indentation which makes it hard to read. I also would like the Mc to develop relationships outside of his parents later down the line, because although the world building is great and the Mc's goals are sufficiently protagonists like, I want to see how his character develops outside of his parent's particularly father's sphere of influence. His father's character was the only character that was particularly developed, and his mother just seems like a prop at this point. But, I am looking forward to seeing more.