Beneath the Bodies of their Betters

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Viktor stared at his small, green frame, his long goblin ears, his pointed nose, his sharp teeth. He had led armies of thousands, centuries ago. He had conquered half a continent, ruled and slain men beyond count, monsters beyond belief.

Now he was a goblin trudging in the middle of nowhere, reduced into this vile creature; like a cockroach of the land, easily crushed between the earth and a leather boot.Goblins are weak, frail, and dumb. Their lives were worth no more than dirt: the height of their value sank below the earth, as deep as a chasm dug beneath the bodies of their betters.

Still, Viktor stood upright. His little men following before him had the same pride carved in their spine.Afterall, a kingdom does not make a man a king.It was a king who makes a kingdom.

What to expect:-An entirely original worldwith its own goblin mythos and goblin cultures. I always find it a loss for authors to not give goblins / orcs and other species their own cultures that are far beyond the stereotype (the best one I've seen yet is GUL from Webtoon).-An army-based strategy and tactics.There is no such thing as a one-man army. Expect some focus on army-building, formations, and tactics like you're reading Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom.-Complex characters. I've always hated how most novels treated their side characters (e.g. once a minor character joins the MC they are always supportive and loyal). Expect characters to have their own aims and motivations. Friends can become enemies, enemies can become friends. Actions have consequences. People die.-This is not a Re:Monster remix.I absolutely abhorred Re:Monster. There will be no evolution system aside from natural progression.-Poems and music.I was a poet first before I wrote novels, so you'll be seeing some poems in the later chapters.

Release Schedule- Updates whenever because I got burned out

Information

Status
Hiatus
Year
2022
Author
Sopdrinks

Tags

ACTIONFANTASYADVENTUREMAGICSTRONG LEADMALE LEADMULTIPLE LEAD CHARACTERSNON-HUMAN LEADREINCARNATIONGRIMDARKHIGH FANTASYSTRATEGYPROGRESSION

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.4/ 5.0
Followers
373
Views
41,852

Chapters(18 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

  • doomsdayrsRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Goblin?! Goblin gobilgin glbojf. Globgkn
    Let's be serious, this author understands writing, and understands emotion. I respect the presentation of grandeur and weight of the world.
    The MC, has emotions, has an inner monologue that seeps out into their actions, with a touch of emperor of man. But what distinguishes this character from the EOM, is that he understands the limit, he understands when enough is enough.
    And through his actions in the story, we see his reflectance over his life, and how he treats others.
    And the others? Well written and fleshed out characters. The way Dos is introduced and explained is beyond touching. The perspective we see is fascinating as it is endearing.
    Keep writing author, people will throw money at me you for this.
  • Bluelightning42Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Style is gritty and stylistic. The prose is solid. Vivid descriptions and realistic sounding conversations and a dash of fantasy. Alot of the prose is almost poetic in nature I'd definitely say its one of the defining aspects of this.
    Grammar is flawless as far as I'm concerned.  Nothing that impedes reading in any way. Zero mistakes.
    Story is one of grim dark blood and bone. An old conquering king reincarnated as a goblin.
    It's a slow burn and takes a while to reach a point where you know the direction the story is going... but the day to day is great and the time to brew adds flavour. The world is interesting — as is the magic shown — and while it's not the sort of story I normally read, I'm interested to see where it goes.
    Characters are fleshed out. There's the main character who's strong and opinionated but morally grey — a great king but not a good king. There's several side characters each being given a backstory. Everyone seems complex.
    Overall if you like grimdark fantasy I'd recommend checking this out. The closest series I've read to this is game of thrones but the scope and direction is different.
  • YohaoRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    There's something in this story that really got my attention, it's not what happened in the prologue or the creatures or the world itself, it's something that crosses all of this and more: the style. I was never one to look all that much at how authors decided to tell their story but in this story the style shines and makes the story shine even more. It's realistic, and yet poetic, way of describing things is simply incredible to the point that it manages to make the reader feel the character's emotions without even talking about them.
    The characters are really interesting, each have their own distinctions and it's really easy to know who's speaking. Viktor's distinguishes himself even through his actions. The dialogues are also amazingly written and realistic.
    No real problems with grammar, there's some phrases in which past and present tenses are used side by side but it doesn't break immersion in the story.
    The creatures in the story are really interesting, some original, but others, including Goblins, already known but changed in a way that make them feel really distinct from the same creatures in other stories. The perspective of a known yet unk8and mysterious world that we get through Viktor's PoV is really interesting and gives us some marvelous chance to see a world with danger even in its beauty.
    Overall 11/10 story, recommend it to everyone ! Thanks for writing and keep up the amazing work, author !!!
  • BROBOTICUSRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    THE GREEN MEAN MACHINE and a respectable protag who is ****ing bad ass and quite a smart
    human turned gobo
    words
    words words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words  words
  • Ellen TaylorRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    DON'T! Don't skip this prologue. I've heard of these people who skip prologues, and you just can't with this story. So don't do it.
    The style is a multiple POV story, mostly through the POV of goblins. It was clear and easy to follow, and I was never confused. Not only that, but it is written almost like poetry. I believe the author mentioned they write poetry, and it certainly shows in the prose. For some of you that might be a turn off, but I eat that stuff up. The entire world was enrichened with imagery, and it was a joy to read.
    Grammar I didn't see anything. Even with the caveat the author was writing this for writathon, nothing stood out to me to break my immersion, so well done.
    The story is great. Definitely a slow burn so you actually get invested in the characters. There is quite the cast of goblins, and the reincarnation elements are interesting to follow.
    Which leads me to characters. Each character had a distinct voice, and I was getting to know them quite well. Not only the characters, but the myths and legends of goblins was deep. It is clear the author has a stockpile of information just waiting to give us, so well done!
    Overall, this is a great read. You should try it out. And don't skip the prologue!
  • FaeronRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Unequivocably the best prologue I've read on RRL, bar none. The chapters are still being edited, but this may very well be among the best of RRL overall, once there's some more meat on the bone, so to speak.
    The characters and setting are terrifyingly real and engaging. Pick this up if you are looking for a thrill, masterful artistry, and philosophy sprinkled to taste.
  • JonHRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Beneath the Bodies of Their Betters, from the get-go, leads with an intriguing and dark prelude that sets the tone for the rest of the narrative so far.
    The prose is extremely well written for something found on RR, and feels comparable to a printed book in quality. The writer has a very defined voice that bleeds through the words written, and brings the world to life in a way that every fiction book wishes it could be.
    Characters all speak in their unique voice-- which was initially a surprise, because how do you even begin to differentiate and individualize goblins? Still, Beneath accomplishes this with resounding success.
    This is the kind of story that reminds me wholesale of the game Dwarf Fortress. Interesting and terrifying creatures roam the world, the (one of the) smallest of which the story follows. Action is violent and brutal, and you can feel the impact through the main character's experience.
    I would recommend this title to anyone interested in a gritty kind of fantasy with body horror elements. In a perfect world, this would one day be a graphic novel. I absolutely recommend this story, and see it going a long way as the writer continues it. Godspeed for your writathon goal, friend!
  • Michael DuffyRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I just so happened to find this story on Recently Updated cos of the eye catching picture and title, and god-damn am I glad I did!
    It's a bloody good one, good concept, good writing, great characters, really, give it a go.
    As I said in the title, it's definately worth your time, just read the prologue and that'll give you a good idea on the quality of writing on the rest of the story, which should easily be enough to sway you into reading if you've gotten this far into reading reviews about the story.
  • Textual DeviantRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Poetic in nature and complex in design. I'm not exaggerating when I say that his sentences flow like silk and are just as trapping, so prepare to occasionally have to reread a sentence or two.
    However, that is the fault of our lizard brains (mostly), not Sopdrinks. Overall, Beneath the Bodies of their Betters is one ofy favorite novels, up there with Industrial Strength Magic and Godclads in terms of world building and quality. Even considering the time constraints the author was put under, they put extensive effort into this webnovel.
    Overall, a highly recommended read, especially for prospective authors.
    Note: the errors in grammar are mainly due to the rush to finish Writathon before it ended, so keep that in mind as you read.
  • Elijah TalbotRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 4.5
    We follow a story of little green men kicking ass and fighting battles while being lead by a former king. I have written a review for this story before, sadly the review got taken down. So as any petty person, I've read the story again to give it a star. During this review, I will spoil some elements of the story to explain why I have certain thoughts about it, so be aware of it before you continue reading this review with a funny title. Without any delays, let’s begin.
    Grammar/Style: I have no complaints. The story is technically well-written and brilliantly put together. I personally haven’t found any issues, so it’s good.
    Story: While the story is pretty good, you feel what the characters are doing and why they have to do it. Set in a dark fantasy, we watch how Viktor and his band of Gobbies accumulate power and military capabilities to survive the brutal world they inherited. It’s stock standard really, though I will admit the story isn’t entirely perfect. Most of my criticisms falls under the worldbuilding section of things (which I will explain later). Though there are moments when things are very convenient and contrived.
    In the story, Viktor is blessed with the power of luck (the story explains it better). Which, to me, cheapens the potential for conflict and just makes his journey feel artificial. To me, I feel it strips his agency, as you can see that blessing robbing him of his rewards from conflict.
    Other than that, I see the potential on where the story is going. Their motivations are not grand or even that special. But it does tell a good story about how the goblins started small and later became a force to be respected and feared.
    Worldbuilding: The worldbuilding is pretty solid overall. Though I feel it isn’t the strength of the story. Firstly, I believe the story relies too much on the journal entries that are scattered throughout the chapters. They serve to explain certain elements of the world, which is okay and neat. However, I believe that they