Aspect of Shadow

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Magic, monsters, demons, curses, mobsters, corrupt royals, and a healthy smattering of bandits are just some of problems plaguing the Gentile Kingdom. Unfortunately, it is about to get a new issue with the eventual arrival of Samantha, who holds the Aspect of Shadow and all the mysteries that surround it.

Who is she? What does she want? Where does she come from? Are all questions she will answer immediately, honestly and in far too much detail. For this girl has gazed into the abyss and when it gazed back, she waved.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: BrohanSomn

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 68
Views: 57,909

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(3)

ShurimooRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It seems to me the author has some measure of plans laid out for the plot given how events have fallen into place and I always appreciate good foreshadowing. I'm honestly not sure whether I truly root for the main characters given their end goal but there's been some interesting implications that give me the impression it may all be for the best when all is said and done. At any rate, the fact that I'm not sure if I am actually rooting for the main characters and yet read through all of book 1 up to what is released of book 2 in 3? days anyway is indicative of the works' quality, I think. The fights in particular strike me as well written and fairly believable given what abilities people are established to have. There's much more I could say but for spoiler reasons I will resist.
As a result, I'm directly giving it 5 stars because of well thought out plot, character interactions, and worldbuilding. I don't think the grammatical errors are significant enough to lower the score, especially as they're being fixed.
I thoroughly recommend it if you don't mind main characters that are, to put it in the most blunt fashion possible, "murder hobos". That's not to say they aren't deep and interesting characters in a similarly interesting world, but if you have qualms with (debatably) wanton murder/killing then I'd give this one a pass, since it is assuredly a core Aspect, if you will. :)
Oh and there is some not quite 4th wall breaking, exactly, but there are references or "nonsensical rambling" (as viewed by others in the story) made by character(s) at times, though the way it's done might genuinely make some canonical sense but I'm not sure yet. Point is the story is a bit of a mix of comedic and serious in tandem with that.
CortavarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The pitch is lying: this is not a solo song, this is a duet, and all the better for it!
Well, it is more than a duet, as there are many interesting secondary characters, and we occasionally follow the story through their eyes. But the main focus of the story are the (anti-)heroines, a pair of formidable teenagers with awesome powers thrown into a believably dysfunctional medieval word.
If you've enjoyed anything by Ravensdagger from this very site, you'll be right at home, as the ingredients are similar: teenage girl heroes, character and power growth, a sharp and witty style. The fourth wall is being relatively often leant on, it may have some graffiti on it, but it's never completely broken, even if the characters are so fond of waving all kind of flags that they could be recruited as semaphores.
The story has (contrary to the main characters, who are adorable psychos) a healthy balance. From slice of life to prophecies of doom, interspersed by shorter-term adventures and mid-book arcs, the adventure flows smoothly and the progress of the MCs feels earned.
The only thing this story needs is a thorough re-reading, as the author keeps mixing homophones, sometimes once in a dozen of chapters, sometimes several in the same chapter. It is a bit annoying to mentally chuckle imagining a duck's smell when a fowl stench is mentioned, and if you are sensitive to hoard/horde confusion, this story will "great" at your nerves.
This minor flaw is well redeemed by the quality and depth of the characters, from the MC pair going through a journey to discover themselves and others, to the rest of the cast all having believable and well thought off personalities.
Yes, both MCs have issues, and are unapologetic murder-hobos, but they're also teenagers learning to navigate the world after having grown up sheltered for their whole childhood. Are their characters dynamic, learning from experience and making mistakes? Undoubtedly yes. Are they learning the right lessons that would make t
Aedir001Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The story follows two girls named Samantha and Valerie who are adventuring in the Kingdom of Gentil, a fantasy kingdom. The both are a bit odd to say the least and this oddity is what gripped me as a reader. Samantha is a fearlessly unhinged airheaded goofball while Valerie is close to making the cut for an berserker class (if this was an LitRPG). Together these two meet unlikely characters, face dangerous foes, explore the Kingdom and are unapologetically racist towards monsters.
I had an overall pleasant reading experience. Our both main characters - Samantha being the true main character as far as I can tell - are adequately entertaining to read about. The world-building is workable but holds potential. The fight scenes are a pleasure to read and the prose is good while the grammar remains fluently readable.
I recommend this story to those adventure fans looking for a light read. Light as in information is given sparingly and organically. Unfortunately not light in the sense that we have a wholesome fluffy story. There is a bit of a slice-of-life feeling to the story but at least one of the main characters has had a horrible past and "suffers" under unaddressed trauma, making the sensitive content warning sensible.