Bleeding Stars (Cosmic Horror LitRPG)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

All it took was to be called into work for Dan's life to change for the worse. How many times could his mind shatter before he breaks along with it?

After unintentionally drifting into a different world, Dan is faced with horrors unbeknownst to humankind. From mind-altering creatures from the depths of the ocean to cosmic gods that cause eternal storms of blood, few have the means to survive. Those that do, often are powerful and crazed.

Death and madness are two sides of the same coin, along with magic and strength. Will Dan be able to navigate this new home or will he crumble under the pressure of dread and terror?

Bleeding Starsis a cosmic horrorlight-LitRPG focused on Dan and his time being forced to heal a god worshiping cult. The story revolves around the questions of: What is real? And what is true fear? There will be plenty of death, descent into madness, and psychological battles between the main character and his new reality.

Please note the opening chapter is a skip ahead in time by 2 years and the second chapter goes back and starts the story from the beginning.

There is plenty of gore and nasty scenarios. Self harm is spoken about a few times, as well as mental illness. Please read with caution.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Leftright (Joseph McCoy)

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 458
Views: 77,244

Reviews

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Community Reviews(6)

Lapochka8Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is quite possibly one of the best novels i have ever read. I could not put it down from start to finish of book 1.
10/10 amazing story idea and execution.
i think this novel belongs in the top 10 of RR easily, matching the perfect run.
the concepts in this book may be a little confusing initially, and it might require a reread of some chapters to understand, but i take responsibility for that as a reader.
overall, just an amazingly executed novel.
QueenInRagsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Tragedy for the madness it takes me ! Its writhing tenticles digging into my skin !
iT tElLs mE !!! tHiS iS gOoD bOoK !
Overall, a fun and zany take on the cosmic horror genre. Dark, cruel, and unforgiving this author has painted a red splotch of horror. With everything within this damn book giving no respite from the nightmare. I personally am I fan of the magic system implemented. Avoiding the pitfalls of the LITRPG genre, while still hitting that craving for increasing numbers. The author does this by just using levels of magic as a general gauge for how powerful a characters draw of their magic is. Leaving everything else up the the readers and a characters imagination.
The first arc is a bit weird with its frequent flips, switches, and forshadowing, but the author manages to capture the madness of mad through it perfectly. From an artistic standpoint, they have completly pulled something rather amazing off. With the conclusion of the first arc being rather satisfying if a bit filled with overly flowy language.
Overall, cool beans. I quite appreciated everything in it. Good Job Author.
ReadingWordRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm reviewing because I really have enjoyed all the chapters so far. Have I been confused about what is going on sometimes? Certainly, but that is part of the fun . . .
It really is enjoyable to have a character that wants to be light/good yet is struggling with how to live and cope with very bad situations. However, that wouldn't be enough by itself, we can see Dan's character and understanding grow: to his decision to accept reality as it is, rather than what he desires it to be, to his realization that the "good" choice is not always clearcut, to his decision to accept people as people and valuable regardless of their looks, to chosing to move forward with life despite his fear. I'm really really enjoying it. Dan isn't just a pushover either (I mean, he is, but he is growing more confident). He is growing his powers and learning to defend himself. Too often in "horror" stories we end up following around a powerless MC being pushed around and terrorized and they stay that way. I'm exited to see where this story goes. So many possibilities! Will he enter the void again? Will he explore the land he is on? Will he find a way back home? What will he find if he gets home?
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all . . . . let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
UghRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Review submited as of the End of Book 1
One thing I think needs to be said about this is that the story is much better if you skip chapter 1. It gives away too many big spoilers for the rest of the story and certain plot points will have more of an impact if you don't know what is going to happen.
That being said the story is excellent! Extremely well written especially for this site. The story really only focuses on two characters with any regularity one being the MC and how he experiences this new reality under an oppressive slave leader and sadistic cultists, and his one friend in this world. The way the author described the madness that the MC and the others in the camp was so good that at times I was getting confused as to what was really happening. You could really feel for and resonate with the MC when he didn't understand what was happening around him with reality and madness coming and going in waves of intensity. The descriptions were very vivid and at times I found myself feeling as disgusted as the MC about the food they at and the conditions of the camp and wounds that some of the slaves had.
This felt like a very professional piece of writing and I think if you are down here in the reviews to see if this story is worth it then definitely give it a try.
ColedonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Bleeding Stars is fun, would be the best way to put it.
27 chapters in and Dan is still pretty much nothing compared to the shit going down in the camp he's stuck in. And yet, despite that, he's made a lot of progress. He's been broken time and time again, but he just... puts himself back together and keeps moving.
He's not perfect, he's not a paragon of willpower, but at the same time, he just refuses to stay broken. It's never treated by him as an outstanding thing. It's just in his nature, something fundamental that goes without saying. As he might put it, 'My mind has already been shattered before, so what's another time?'
It makes reading the trials he has to endure and evolve to tackle enjoyable to read. I'm not left feeling like I'm reading a grimdark torture-fest and getting tired of it. I feel compelled to keep reading, to see how Dan picks himself back up and tries to spite a horrible reality by refusing to stoop to it's level. He fails, of course, because he's just not strong enough for that. This isn't that kind of world.
But he never stops trying, picking himself back up when he's fallen, physically, mentally or morally.
I'm not frustrated to see his failures. I'm refreshed each time he keeps getting up.
SpicyJesusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Bleeding Stars is a cosmic horror story. In these types of stories, imagery and description are vital in describing any apoplectic horror, or varied form and shape, beyond human comprehension. Writing the genre in the first place requires a certain amount of literary skill to achieve this. Bleeding Stars, I believe does this exceptionally well, compared to other books on this platform. The writing style is well-flowing and eloquent, emotions and portrayal of horror are done up to par. Overall, in comparison to esteemed works like those by Lovecraft, Bleeding Stars is not a dumpster fire.
In my opinion, the story progression so far is going quite well. The main character, Dan, is a good-natured individual who sees helping others as a par course. In a brutal setting where cultists abound, there is a thematic struggle with his morals and his descent into madness. Plot-wise, Bleeding Stars holds up decently well. Up to Chapter 25, many engaging events occur which lets us, the readers discover more about the world. Overall, due to its limited chapter account, I can't definitively say it is a good read but it definitely has the potential to be trending weekly or rising starlet compared to other featured novels on those platforms.
A few gripes I have, however. There are very few grammar mistakes so that is not a problem, but the main character's frequent delusions and madness whatchamacallit frequently switch the setting in a manner that I see as a bit... too fast and maybe even jumpy? Again, I'm not a professional connoisseur but that's just my opinion and meant to critique the author and should not dissuade you from reading this.
TLDR;
It's a good story so far, read it.