Bitstream

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Bitstream is a story about memory: what it’s worth, what it costs, and what someone might do to steal it back. Rhea Steele wakes up under a bridge with no memory, a busted cybernetic arm, and a gut feeling she wasn’t supposed to survive whatever happened before. Neo Arcadia doesn’t have answers. It has junk markets, blackout zones, and half-dead men with machine eyes. But somewhere in the static, Rhea’s past is out there–and so is the person she’ll have to become to face it. On the other side of the city, Isolde Crane has stopped hoping the world might fix itself. She buried those hopes with someone very important to her. Now all that’s left is the chip: a stolen prototype that can override minds, rewrite systems, and gut the city from the inside out. If the rich and the righteous built this place, then she’ll be the one to pull the plug. One woman chasing truth. One woman chasing vengeance. And in the middle: a city full of dying gods, dirty data, and people who’ve lost more than they can afford to remember. The power’s surging. The bosses are watching. And everything that matters is about to burn. Author's Note: The novel you are considering to read is a very, very long cyberpunk story, and as of writing this note, it is not even near completion. In 2019, I scribbled a note on the back of a receipt that read:“What if a girl woke up in a city that had already forgotten her?”That one sentence sat dormant for years. And then, one day, I opened a blank document and began to chase her voice. Bitstreamis the result of that chase. It is messy, cruel, vivid, and very strange. It asks a lot of its readers: patience, attention, and a willingness to sit with broken people in broken places. It’s a story about memory, control, and the choices we make when the world decides we don’t matter. I won't promise you that this story is a perfect representation of our world, or perfect at all, but from my own experience with corruption, I thought I'd try somethingbigto illustrate things. Sometimes, that means taking over a thousand pages; sometimes it means taking over two thousand. In either case, I love Cyberpunk stories, and if you do too, you might enjoy it. It's not fast-paced. It's not witty or clever. It's just sci-fi, and sci-fi is fiction; whether you believe it or not, well, that's up to you. Now, where did I put that remote? - Rowdha Al Sol Book One of The Warren Saga Updates every Saturday/Sunday

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: Rowdha Al Sol

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 616
Views: 80,630

What readers say about Bitstream

“This is one of the best-written stories I've read on this platform. Hits you in the gut at times and really makes you feel how gritty Neo Arcadia is. What really stands out is how the author conveys the protagonists' emotions. Despite leaning towards the dr…”
91sunRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I've read the first chapter and it hooks me in right away. The writing is delicious and sharp, the world has pulled me in and the characters seem nuanced and complex right off the bat. The author really knows what they're doing, and it seems the world is hu…”
BTS_STORIES_HEARTRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(9)

91sunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of the best-written stories I've read on this platform. Hits you in the gut at times and really makes you feel how gritty Neo Arcadia is.
What really stands out is how the author conveys the protagonists' emotions. Despite leaning towards the dramatic at times, it's solid and touching in the same way Edgerunners was. I am very keen to see where this story is going!
BTS_STORIES_HEARTRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've read the first chapter and it hooks me in right away.
The writing is delicious and sharp, the world has pulled me in and the characters seem nuanced and complex right off the bat.
The author really knows what they're doing, and it seems the world is huge, the plot sprawling and mature. I'm looking forward to reading more.
FalstaffRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is all good. I have no complaints.It's so stylish. The grammar is polished to a shine. I'm only three chapters in, and the story is already rolling along. Rhea Steele (great name) has amnesia of sorts, which makes for a great number of mysteries, but does limit my emotional engagement with her, at least this early.I'm reviewing the story so early because I've already made my mind up I'm going to like this, but I have to set it aside for now because I don't have much time for enjoyment-reading. I look forward to returning to it later.An earlier reviewer called these chonky chapters, which made me chuckle because I thought of a fat cat, and 'oh laud he comin,'' but I did a word count of the chapters, and they're only about 4 or 5 thousand words. That's not overwhelming. But I will say, 8 Ezekiel had a 6k-word first chapter that got a fair number of first-page views, but few second-page views until I split the chapter in half. Now my viewer-loss ratio between chapters has halved. I think online readers, especially here, struggle with chapters that greatly exceed 3 thousand, especially early chapters.But you've got such a mastery of words and story, the chonky chapters don't feel like mistakes; they feel like artistic choices, so I can slip my mind into a slower gear and just enjoy the cozy sci-fi story.Thanks for writing and thanks for sharing! You're one of the good ones.
Lord Turtle the firstRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Spoiler ahead.
Each character in this story is very well defined. Striking appearances fitting the cyberpunk style, unique personalities, distinct speech patterns, and individual modus operandi.
Even the secondary characters are portrayed with their own backstories, which they carry with them as they enter the narrative. They are not just static figures riding along the plot.
Let’s talk about the main character, Rhea Steele. She’s everything you'd expect from a protagonist in a cyberpunk world: deadly implants, minimal flesh remaining, lethal skills, and a mysterious past that hints at more than what we’re initially told.
She was apparently declared dead for 40 years before crawling out of her grave in a scene reminiscent of the one Marcus experiences in Detroit: Become Human, which is a very heavily loaded scene.
The story is told in first person, somewhat self-inserted, but it works very well. The first-person narration heightens the emotional intensity and enhances the impact of action-heavy scenes.
When I read the first chapter, my heart was pounding by the end of it.
Not long after returning from the dead, Rhea joins a new crew. They show kindness to her, more or less, especially their leader, Fingers.
She reminds me of Rogue from Cyberpunk 2077: dangerous, witty, and armed with a razor-sharp sense of humor.
But their kindness isn't free. Nothing ever is in a cyberpunk world ravaged by greed.
They see her as an asset. That’s likely why Fingers chose to be kind and help her repair the extensive damage she suffered during her forty years of death.
The characters: 10/10.
The story: 10/10 in my opinion. It delivers immersive cyberpunk elements, lore that explains how the world ended up this way, and a well-thought-out chapter flow.
Grammar: Flawless.
Style: Rich in sensory detail. You can smell, see, and feel every scene as it's described without the overload of hyper-detail that bogs you down. The author knows exactly how much to give and when.
Overall: An awesome
RoyalEclipseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far so good, only a few chapters as of now, but they are pretty chonky.
From what we can see so far our protagonist has a classic case of selective amnesia and has to relearn just about everything. The worldbuilding seems to be a classic cyberpunk type of deal, though we have really not seen much as of yet, so i can only speak about the characters and those are so far fairly compelling. From a technical standpoint the grammar is impeccable, the prose flows well and overall the author seems to have a good grasp on writing.
Giving five stars rn, will update the review in the future once theres a few more chapters out.
Im looking forward to more, good luck.
Rune FalstaffRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is all good. I have no complaints.
It's so stylish. The grammar is polished to a shine. I'm only three chapters in, and the story is already rolling along. Rhea Steele (great name) has amnesia of sorts, which makes for a great number of mysteries, but does limit my emotional engagement with her, at least this early.
I'm reviewing the story so early because I've already made my mind up I'm going to like this, but I have to set it aside for now because I don't have much time for enjoyment-reading. I look forward to returning to it later.
An earlier reviewer called these chonky chapters, which made me chuckle because I thought of a fat cat, and 'oh laud he comin,'' but I did a word count of the chapters, and they're only about 4 or 5 thousand words. That's not overwhelming. But I will say, 8 Ezekiel had a 6k-word first chapter that got a fair number of first-page views, but few second-page views until I split the chapter in half. Now my viewer-loss ratio between chapters has halved. I think online readers, especially here, struggle with chapters that greatly exceed 3 thousand, especially early chapters.
But you've got such a mastery of words and story, the chonky chapters don't feel like mistakes; they feel like artistic choices, so I can slip my mind into a slower gear and just enjoy the cozy sci-fi story.
Thanks for writing and thanks for sharing! You're one of the good ones.
SamiceeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Bitstream is an ambitious and enormous cyberpunk saga, spanning different protagonists across different time periods. We first meet Rhea, an amnesiac, cybernetic woman, who discovers a sci-fi city via an action-packed underworld.
We then meet Isolde, a struggling mother living in poverty. If Rhea's arc gives us the 'mechanics' of the city, Isolde's gives us its heart. The description of being poor, and how poverty is shunned by others, is written by an author who understands it in real life.
As of chapter 3.6 both arcs are well balanced - never intruding on one another, sometimes one referencing the other - with the sense that at some point, in some way, they will intersect. The author already has the narrative in place, and I did pick up glimpses of foreshadowing and clues, if you're a reader who likes digging.
--- STYLE ---
Well written, carefully edited, easy to read. There are even metrical lines at some (appropriate) points that were fun to come across. Bitstream is written to a professional, publishable standard.
The chapters are longer than average. This is fine, but double spacing scene-break paragraphs (rather than every paragraph having a single line space) makes longer reading more manageable. It might mitigate some of the pressure to divide chapters up completely.
--- STORY ---
Characters are sympathetic and likeable. There is a nice blend of humorous, thrilling, and sad moments. The setting is fleshed out and carefully explored. The pacing is good - by the third arc I have a clear idea of the characters and world, and enough unanswered questions to want to read on.
A small detail: I like that Bitstream's setting is multicultural. The city is not pure-anglosphere; there are people, clothes, foods, details, from outside of Britain and North America.
--- GRAMMAR ---
Other than paragraph spacing everything read clearly. As perfect as is realistic on Royal Road.
I recommend Bitstream to anyone who likes cyberpunk or scifi - it has everything you want, plus o
kaleposhobiosRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’m not good at writing reviews so forgive me.
This story is really good. The writing and editing are spot on. The characters are compelling. There’s enough depth in the side characters, both between their backstories that we slowly learn, and their mannerisms and quirks that bring them out beyond cardboard.
The memory mystery is a reasonable plot device but that ceases to matter either way once the history starts to get revealed. It’s compelling in its own right.
Definitely dark and perhaps not for the faint of heart. But worth it.
Style wise I find myself enjoying the way the words and phrases are really cyberpunk (I think) but it doesn’t feel overwrought or like the author is trying too hard. Things don’t just smell. The smells take form and look for homes in someone (pardon my terrible memory — it’s like that but actually good).
After reading the story so far, I feel like I’ve lived in the dark city for years (in a good way). Of course I hope our own world never ends up like it, but reading it is great.
My favorite line so far is how a festival is described (spoiler tag just to be safe but I don’t think it’s a spoiler really) where
parents play with with their kids “Laughing like the world wasn’t already gone”
superlloydRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Not many quality cyberpunk story on this site. This one is on a good start, and one can only pray it continues like that!
Action, high octane, dark gritty and jaded atmosphere, mystery, the ingredients seems to be there at least!
The first chapter also hook one right away the MC and reader in summer plot that been to be solved!