Canticle [Historical M/M Romantasy]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Mirk has lost everything: his noble family, his home, and nearly his life. All he has left is his grandfather’s staff and the K’maneda, the strange band of foreign mercenaries who saved him. He decides to build a new life among them in their wandering City of Glass, dedicating himself to healing the outcast and forgotten men who did everything to protect him. Providence makes no mistakes. And to live is to serve. Genesis is an expert at three things: binding magic, assassination, and cleaning potions. Everything else is a mystery to him, especially people. Which is a crucial shortcoming, considering his ambition is to launch an insurrection against the corrupt mages who have warped the K’maneda into a machine designed to grind up the poor for the benefit of the wealthy. He will never be free; his nature is destruction. Since he can’t escape it, he will use it to liberate those who aren’t bound to obey. They’re an unexpected team: the unrelenting and inhumanly powerful Destroyer and the kindly healer with a knack for putting the right people in the right places. But will it be enough to ensure the revolution prevails? And is there more to their relationship beyond a mutually beneficial alliance? Set in 1697 England, within a society of mages that exists parallel to the mortal world, Canticle features: an exceptionally slow burn romance between a cunning cinnamon roll and the world's cringiest neurotic edgelord, catty infighting among nobles, shady mercenaries, rightfully vengeful djinn, a growing revolution, and a whole lot of hurt/comfort. Updates weekly on Saturday!

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: fachefaucheux

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 111
Views: 67,394

What readers say about Canticle [Historical M/M Romantasy]

“Let me start by saying that I do not give 5 stars easily so the fact this got a 5 from me should tell you something. I have only read the first chapter but I will be reading more. There are so many things this author does right but the thing I was most impr…”
scantraRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“This was difficult to get through, to be honest. A lot of sentences in these early chapters are looong and way too descriptive for me. Grammar is good but the sentences are impenetrable.I don't think the end-of-chapter hooks are where they need to be. I'm 3…”
FalstaffRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

scantraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Let me start by saying that I do not give 5 stars easily so the fact this got a 5 from me should tell you something.
I have only read the first chapter but I will be reading more. There are so many things this author does right but the thing I was most impressed with was the hook. Many authors I have come across on Royal Road make the mistake of making their hook too chaotic. They usually start the story in the middle of some battle or major event with lots of moving parts which makes it difficult to ground yourself in the story.
This author doesn't do that. Their story unfolds slowly but with plenty of tension and mystery allowing the reader to become grounded and immersed in their world.
The characters in the story are also described beautifully. I'm very impressed. This first chapter was very well done.
FalstaffRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This was difficult to get through, to be honest. A lot of sentences in these early chapters are looong and way too descriptive for me. Grammar is good but the sentences are impenetrable.I don't think the end-of-chapter hooks are where they need to be. I'm 3 chapters in and I don't know what's driving the story or who the romantic interest is. I assume it's Genesis, because that's a cool name, and the plot is kinda moving toward helping his leg heal but with very little urgency. Genesis says (I'm paraphrasing), "Not to worry. It'll heal on its own," which isn't very believable, I agree, but still takes the drama out of the issue.The characters are all lovely. I like Mirk immediately and I love the idea of a gay empath MC, but there's a lot of repeating with the mental shielding and such. I get it. He's empathic. Too many characters are thrown at me in the beginning, and they don't do anything but break the bed, and not in the fun way. It feels like speed dating with zero chemistry. I need clear sparks or a meet-cute by the end of chapter 3, especially when the chapters are this long.Also, Mirk's entire family dying is a weird plot point to me. He sorta shrugs, 'cest la vie, and decides he's gonna make the best of it because this dude's injured leg is top priority. Seems like there's a story in the massacre but it's been entirely glossed over and forgotten. I'm reluctant to suggest a prologue, but with such a slow beginning, maybe it's a good idea to show the attack.
BoraHorzaGobuchulRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A rare gem of a queer romantic fantasy on Royal Road.
The novel follows Mirk, a healer with a tragic past, and Genesis, a destroyer bound by his destructive nature. Together, they form an unlikely partnership that oscillates between pragmatic alliance and a slow-burn romance.
The story is on the outset a military fantasy but the narrative focuses less on the battles than the aftermath, where the protagonist tries to heal the wounded and dying in the wandering City of Glass, while trying to cope with his own trauma and loss.
I am still a bit stumped about the worldbuilding. The setting is an alternate earth's england in roughly the 17th century. People are teleporting in and out of other realms and waging war there against unknown enemies.
Mirk himself is a half-angel(?), there are other half angels with wings while he himself has none, Genesis is something other non-human of a kind that has not been revealed to us yet (as of chapter 19). The cast includes magicians, healers, other creatures from christian and islamic mythology like demons and djin.
I would deduct some points for the worldbuilding being a bit messy and all over the place, but still enjoy the story and characters much more than most anything else I have read on this site, so I'll give it 5 stars.
You might like this if you liked The Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater or The Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat (sans the smut).
J. G. HarpinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Hello, I just needed to heap my praise on top of everyone before me, because this story really is this good and absolutely does deserve every 5 star review. I don't read gay romance, I never thought I would be reading gay romance, but this story goes above any classification you can put on it. It is more than a romance, the story is character driven and boy do they drive. They feel real and their emotions full at your own.
Unfortunately, this story has been on Hiatus for 2 months, but I am itching for its return after finally getting through the ENORMOUS 2,322 pages it us currently sitting at. That is the length of several full novels for free, and worth every second reading. I loved Mirk and Genesis. I loved the antics Niv got pulled into. I loved the extravagant balls and dirty backstreets.
Possibly the best fantasy gay romance story of all time? But the romance really isn't the main draw. For me it was the intricate worldbuilding. The unique spin on fantasy species such as angels. A magic system I have never seen anything like. And the classic struggle of an empath against a corrupt government.
Cant wait for Canticle to return!
KalanreeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review is part of a Review Swap.I'll admit that I was initially very skeptical about agreeing to this, as I'm not part of the 'M/M or Romantasy' audience in the slightest. In fact, the few Romantasies that were recommended to me (4th Wing, Crowns of Nyaxia, From Blood and Ash) left me with a fairly negative view on the 'genre' and M/M romance just doesn't interest me.But then I skimmed the first chapter which convinced me to put my prejudices in the back of my mind, after which I agreed to it.I am glad that I did, because what I've read so far is honestly rather fascinating, surprising even. I hadn't expected to be drawn into a fantasy setting that takes place on Earth; admittedly, only the nations, some of the locations and mannerisms have been reminescent of our planet thus far, but still.If you want a tl;dr: read it, it's a delicately written story about an empath healer and an...assassin that aims to bring about change.Style:Canticle is 'hard' to read, in a good way. As in, you can skim it and still get most of what the author wanted to relay, but then you'd miss out on a lot of nuance.In my opinion, do not try to skim-read this!Focus, and then you'll find a lot of delicately written nuance in the way the story (and especially Mirk) is presented.If I had to put it into one word, then 'delicate' would be most suitable. It's delicately written, the way we perceive and sense the surroundings and more importantly others' feelings/emotions through Mirk's perception.fachefaucheux put her heart into these words and you can feel it when you read carefully. You could almost interpret it as Mirk's empathy bleeding into the prose, but you really have to focus to properly catch it.But not giving a story the focus it needs to digest it in full is a potential fault on the reader, not the story itself.Story:The unfortunate nature of Review Swaps is that you can only ever give an impression, a 'what if' sort of glimpse when you've barely scratched the surface. After the fi
NecamijatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I wouldn't really call this historical fiction since it only barely borrows from medieval/baroque England and France. The setting is more "alternate Earth with magic and interplanar connections." But that's probably the only downside (and the long chapters that make it inconvenient to stop).
The writing is superb, if a bit too flowery at times. The setting is explained well and in pieces, without heavy infodumps to detract from the focus on the characters.
The characters themselves are great so far. We've got a gay noble trying to corroborate his feelings, magical powers, and tragic past with his religious beliefs (the religion is slightly muted and tossed to the side, to be honest, given that angels are real and demons are real and other things are real). On the other side of the ring is a neurotic, probably autistic literal emo with germophobia (which is only barely a concept in the world where healing is done via magic and alchemy).
The supporting cast is also great, with believable characters that expand on the world.
The pacing is slow, really slow, but you can see a bit of progress every chapter or so as the drama unfolds.
Overall, I'd recommend it. Even if you don't like gay drama/romantasy, it's an excellent read for the descriptions and worldbuilding alone.
RavensFantasyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style/Story:
Style: The style of the story is one of the aspects I enjoyed. It is a third person based story that follows Mirk. Within this story there is a good amount of description that helps set scenes and emotions especially with the character of Mirk. The amount of detail that is given makes this story feel more real, in a sense. For me the prose seemed to be pretty good and the general writing was overall pretty good.
Story: The story itself unfolds at a decent pace as the world gets revealed as information gets told and discovered. As the world gets revealed in detail before us, we get some great worldbuilding that further helps bring this story to life. One of the things in this story that I find interesting is the magic and the use of shields and how certain emotions affect Mirk. As for romance, I am here for it. I foresee a budding romance but I am probably wrong as to who it is between. I’m interested to see the romance unfold within the story.
Grammar: I did not see any issues with the grammar. So, no complaints from me on this!
Characters: There are a few characters introduced within the first few chapters. Each seems to have their own abilities and talents. Mirk is our MC in this story as even though this is a third person, it follows his adventure. Mirk is a relatable character that seems to have had some issues but eventually gets a bit better. One can tell the emotions of other people do affect him in a way, which to me, makes him a likable character as well.
He has different relationships with different people that come and see him when he is recovering. As each character makes their introduction, one can see his different connections he has with them. Each of these characters interacts and behaves differently which makes for some interesting and fun characters.
All the characters are done well in this story as I have enjoyed a lot of them so far.
In Summary: If you are looking for a good romance story then I’d recommend giving this story a chance
Rune FalstaffRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This was difficult to get through, to be honest. A lot of sentences in these early chapters are looong and way too descriptive for me. Grammar is good but the sentences are impenetrable.
I don't think the end-of-chapter hooks are where they need to be. I'm 3 chapters in and I don't know what's driving the story or who the romantic interest is. I assume it's Genesis, because that's a cool name, and the plot is kinda moving toward helping his leg heal but with very little urgency. Genesis says (I'm paraphrasing), "Not to worry. It'll heal on its own," which isn't very believable, I agree, but still takes the drama out of the issue.
The characters are all lovely. I like Mirk immediately and I love the idea of a gay empath MC, but there's a lot of repeating with the mental shielding and such. I get it. He's empathic. Too many characters are thrown at me in the beginning, and they don't do anything but break the bed, and not in the fun way. It feels like speed dating with zero chemistry. I need clear sparks or a meet-cute by the end of chapter 3, especially when the chapters are this long.
Also, Mirk's entire family dying is a weird plot point to me. He sorta shrugs, 'cest la vie, and decides he's gonna make the best of it because this dude's injured leg is top priority. Seems like there's a story in the massacre but it's been entirely glossed over and forgotten. I'm reluctant to suggest a prologue, but with such a slow beginning, maybe it's a good idea to show the attack.
SEBscribeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've finally took it upon me to write a review! After reading this from chapter 1, I got more than a good grasp on what this story and even more so it's characters are about.
Style: This is the only point where I sometimes personally struggle and can see how others might not follow either. The setting itself is great, but fachefaucheux's style is more wordy and I can see how it sometimes might be hard to follow. It gets better the deeper you delve into the story and it isn't a problem in itself, but might be an obstacle to new readers. On a purely personal level, I am not really a romance reader usually and the spice flies over me too. But what works, works; and this works!
Story: This is what engages me personally the most and keeps me from overlooking the very minor problems I have in Style. The historic setting is absolutely my vibe and I constantly ask myself questions about the magic and its impact on the world and world history. And except for the nessecary anachronisms and "eh, lets keep it vague to not overcomplicate history" I am fully onboard for this setting. And for the plot, because I can see some rich asses be smashed in the future; and not in the fun way (yes in the fun way!).
Grammar: Nothing much to say, it is just right. Longer sentences and funny phrasings aren't a problem in this regard and there is nearly no typos or editing oversights. 's all good and functional.
Characters: This is the meat of the story. Even though I am personally hooked by the setting, the characters are what makes everything work. In the beginning, I was indifferent towards Mirk. A bland protagonist that's mainly a vessel to see the world and explain it through. He was well rounded enough to be a real character still, which is really important... but he wasn't very exciting to read. That has changed over the course and I find him adorably dorky. Whenever he says something dumb I just want to give him a wedgy and laugh it off. The main LI is a delightful weirdo as well and t
Space AtlasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Form the first chapter I fell in love. The writing is beautiful and had some magical power that meant i couldn't stop reading. I was put under a spell of great writing.
Style: The writing has a poetic feel at points throughout the story especially in the way that emotions are described and their effect on Mirk. The author uses mostly longer sentences so when a short sentence is used it has a real effect and the author has used that really really well.
Story: The story is superb. There is a perfect pace of information released in the story. This slow release of information kept me constantly wanting more. It also meant that even in a less action packed chapter I was still entertained because of all the worldbuilding and information about Mirk's past I was getting.
I am in love with the magic system. The use of emotions as an aspect of magic is part of what really made me fall in love.
My one and only complaint about the story is at the beginning of many chapters there is a time jumps which I often find can pull me out of the story because I don't know how much time has passed until a few paragraphs in.
Grammar: Impeccable! There was no mistakes that I found. Even though the sentences are longer they are all grammatically correct and the author knows how to use a semicolon.
Character: The characters are so deep and well rounded. The relationships between characters are so well written and feel very real and believable. Mirk is such a kind and loving character and if he was real I would defiantly want to be his friend.
Overall, I have fallen in love with Canticle. It is beautiful and the exploration of the characters emotions are so well written. The magic system is amazing! I am just in love with Canticle (I think I have found my new obsession).