Artifice

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

Three Generations of Fae and Golem, Philly Style.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2023
Author: Kenny Celican

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Followers: 92
Views: 30,512

Chapters(47 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(3)

D.J. RintoulRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a unique one.
Urban fantasy in a world we've only seen in vague terms thus far, but where magic seems to be fairly commonplace just based on the sheer number of people we've seen who are magical in nature up to this point. I've seen urban fantasy that's inventive and different, but this would stack up well by comparison with many of them. One of the main characters is an artificial life form, and we're past the point in his life of possible angst over that, to the place where he's clearly accepting of who he is (perhaps always was) and is gainfully employed. Although a character being employed is theoretically not exciting, the story manages to have pretty interesting stakes around both the main character's role and his romantic life here. There's a saying that you should tell the story about the most interesting part of the characters' lives, and I feel like this author is doing that successfully.
It's a very strong story so far, beginning with an extremely cute romantic dramedy between a golem and a fae. There's clearly a bigger plot planned, with events related to this spinning out from that smaller scale, more intimate beginning, but the romantic beginning was a good way to get me invested. How things played out was not predictable until things fell into place, but the climax and conclusion made great sense once they hit.
The style is charming; I sort of gave that away when I called the romance cute. The story is a bit of a page-turner, in that it creates a sense of urgency to learn what happens next. It's basically exactly what you want in this genre and format.
Grammar is pretty much perfect.
Characters are the stars of this thing, but because the series hasn't been that long yet, and it has focused primarily on romance for the first few chapters, I don't think I know the characters as well yet as I hopefully will. Enjoying them quite a bit so far.
This needs more views.
ScruffedUpRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Decent, good for a read if you have the spare time.
Style:
The fairytale-modern day mix is done rather well. The background is still being created so all we really know is that monsters n stuff are real in the present day. Couple that with a wide arrange of 'factions' and other stuff and we have the beginning of a world, and not just a single story.
Overall, decently long chapters, creatively made world and characters, and decent story telling.
5/5
Story:
The writing is rather well done - so far - in the book. The perspective shifts can be a tad confusing sometimes but they aren't overly done (like 4 times in a single chapter or something crazy) and the story is entertaining enough that I have bookmarked it.
4/5, looking forward to more
Grammar: No issues, 5/5, moving on
Character:
The characters so far are my driving force behind wanting more of the book. They are entertaining, engaging, and I like em', I want more of em'.
The romance is also done rather nicely, not too over the top nor do I feel like the characters are actually siblings from how dry it is.
5/5
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Overall I like it, the characters made me interested and now I want more.
If I could post images I'd be posting the cookie monster eating chapters or something.
jaxobelRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I will try to limit any spoilers in the story as much as I can. And I hope that the author isn't discouraged by any ratings and statements overall, as their creativity has been expressed with their heart. I enjoyed the story very much and wish for them to continue improving as a writer. Now that the disclaimer is over, here is the review:
The style: was an interesting 3rd-person perspective of focus between one or more characters fluid within the author's abilities.
The Grammar: while sometimes structured in difficult-to-understand sentences was barely a struggle in regards to the story and showed its progression as the story picked up.
The Story: itself is highly entertaining and worth finishing if you are interested in longing for love and desires. While a little bit more descriptiveness would have helped solidify the scenery of the story, as well as the character's actions and motivations.
The Characters: Are alive and expressive and described in a very detailed way. They are filled with emotions and prejudices that affect themselves and those around them.
Overall: I'm not much for drama or urban but the fantasy setting helped settle me in it. This was a comforting read for those two genres in my non-professional opinion.