Cleveland Quixotic

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

There are no more Napoleons.

That's what Jay Waringcrane thinks. No one person can change the world—certainly not him, a college dropout from suburban Cleveland. Bitter, cynical, and disillusioned, Jay wants only one thing: to go to a different world, a world where he is the protagonist.

Jay gets his opportunity when he meets a devil granting wishes in exchange for souls. One contract later and he's transported to Whitecrosse, a fantastic realm of knights, fairies, and monsters. Whitecrosse teeters on the brink of calamity; it's desperate for a hero, any hero, to shape its destiny. It's exactly what Jay asked for.

But nothing's so simple. The real world, the world Jay left behind, isn't keen on letting someone escape its ironclad logical order. And the embodiment of that order, Jay's uptight and meticulous sister Shannon, will do whatever it takes to drag Jay back home—even if she has to follow him to the gates of Hell.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2022
Author: Bavitz

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 52
Views: 48,482

Chapters(48 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(8)

ClevClearlyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I said a lot of the stuff that immediately came to mind in my first comment, but to review the chapter overall, it was stylistically very readable without using cliched prose, and it sets up multiple intriguing elements that could be explored more in later chapters. Spelling and grammar are perfect, no glaring issues, everything looks alright to me.
KidpenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An excellent start to the newest story by Bavitz! Original in concept, although I object to his clear stealing of demons as a plot device from the Bible. The central conceit seems really interesting and I'm looking forward to how it changes as the story goes on. Jay obviously hasn't really been developed at all and seems fairly dry for now, but I expect him to be more interesting in the chapters that actually focus on him.
I'm also very excited to see what the fantasy world is like, I think Bavitz's take on a fantasy world as requested by a 17th century english guy is going to be really interesting.
P.K. AtomystRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Excellent start, the dialog flows naturally and with this first chapter two distinct characters were well developed along with explaining the Humanity system in a captivating way. I did not feel bored at any moment while reading and if the second chapter were available, I would have read it immediately, despite being tired and needing to get to bed.
One detail I'd like to praise: Jay holding a baseball bat throughout the chapter. While it did not end up amounting to anything it still succeeded in adding tension to the scene. At any moment it could have come into play, as well as whatever Perfidia had in her desk for dealing with "angry customers." I feel Bavitz did this intentionally. If Jay got more hostile, Perfidia could move closer to her drawer and now a break down in their civil negotiations have much higher stakes than just devolving into a shouting match. It also shows that Perfidia has some level of vulnerability, a fact that is pulled out and confirmed throughout the chapter in less directly violent ways.
Couple comments from other reviewers I'd like to disagree with. The influences from Madoka Magica are indeed painfully obvious, but not necessarily everyone who reads this is going to be familiar with Madoka and it already feels the similarities between the two works will be ending there. Perfidia's personality does not feel anything like Kyubey and Jay does not seem to relate to any of the other Madoka characters. The nature of wishes and what is given in exchange likewise only slightly relates. Besides, the value of your life being treated as a sort of currency is an interesting theme and I'm happy to see it used somewhere else after all of this time. Humanity, Karmic Destiny, whatever phrase is used, I like the scenario and here is a chance for it to be used in a very different setting.
Some other Faust influences seem to have carried over from Madoka as well, but in a distinctly different way. I read Faust a very long time ago, so I apologize if I'm a
StillAnonymousRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Signal boosting since Bavitz is one of my favorite authors and this story's gonna be good. The concept is fascinating and Jay is a compelling protagonist. So intense. Can't wait to see Shannon. I'm a sucker for sibling dynamics where one's the perfect golden kid and the other's a colossal failure, which seems to happen a lot in Bavitz's stories (re: Sloan's twin).
Fun fact: The first chapter's title is a quote from Mephistopheles in Faust, which already tells you this won't be your typical isekai. Really looking forward to the next chapter, Saturday needs to come pronto
mythosiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Bavitz has always been a step beyond the average webfiction author, with coherent theming, deep worlds, and a great focus on the prose. It's common for reviewers to mention that a story is 'too good for RR', but for once I believe it's true; Bavitz is a half-step towards a literary fiction author. Character interactions are a complex web, with most characters having interacted with one-another for vastly different reasons and results. The stakes, which have escalated over the course of the novel, feel serious and earned. It's the sort of story you can analyze with a critical lens and gain new perspectives on characters.
I fully believe I miss some of the depth in the story. There are details that a more astute reader would have caught. Sometimes my eyes glaze over on the action scenes. I'm sure there are historical references that went right over my head. But I enjoy the story.
I think when I first started this story, I expected a plot that resembled a LitRPG, I don't think I got what I expected, but I got something I value all the same.
Z.Z RugertRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Cleveland Quixotic is one of those reading experiences that you look back on fondly regardless of whatever time has past since you last read it. This author is mentally unwell in the best way possible. You can feel the influence of obscure anime, classic literature, and post-modernist literature just blend together in the weirdest mixture possible. The first arc of this story (1-13) is extremely well written and ends with a huge twist (already piling on the 5-10 twists built upon before). After that the ensemble cast continues to grow with the author managing to make each side character have an appropriate amount of growth for the amount of time we spend with them. I honestly want to come back and review some of the story and maybe write a longer essay on it. I feel conflicted on the ending.
I originally had my hopes up on that the ending would continue with the influences of classical literature that the story starts with, maybe ending in some tragedy, or some parody, or maybe Jay would travel through the 7 layers of Hell in some Reminiscence of Dante's Inferno slowly becoming the hero he always wanted to be, However the two main characters of the story remain static in the end. Jay runs off to conquer worlds that were built to satisfy his own desires in line with the beginning of the story. Shannon maintains the idea of the machine, modernity, and the slow liberal growth of human progress. Neither in the end contends or has their world view altered in a radical way, with the reader in the end being given the interpretation of what was right. Our resolution eternally negated :>
ZentoyoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Lemme just state plainly what I like about this:
- Jay strikes true to what the "isekai" protagonist would truly be like, and that is why it ressonates so much with me at times and I imagine many of us who consume these types of stories ad nauseum. I like it when stories strike close to home. He is annoying as fuck at times.
-Wild and unpredictable story, willing to flip the table and have every thing you had taken for granted in the story thrown into the air and then doing so once again WHILE not being arbitrary or inconsisten or cheap doing so.
-Good prose, just check it out yerself yo.
-Widly different characters with radically different worldviews, values and objectives on a collision course.
-The ending arc is just something else, if the start is weak and iffy at times I'd say they more than compensate for it.
TalvashaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
There are two ways to approach this story, and depending on which you take, you may or may not enjoy yourself.
To put it clearly: If you are a fan of fantasy, of sweeping worlds and secrets to discover and learn about, then this story is not for you. The world that the Jay, the hero, flees to is tiny. It's insignificant and parodical. Perhaps that should be obvious from the title alone, Cleveland Quixotic, modeled after one of the most well known parodies in literary fiction.
This is a world that can be walked across in the span of two weeks. It's a world where the dragons have been slain and the land explored. It is a world where the only mystery lies in the fact that the information has not yet been relayed to you. The greatest intrigue it represents is 'what does a fantasy world look like for someone from 400 years ago.' It's not a world, and not a story, to go 'I've never seen this idea before.' As one character says, 'the fantasy must die.'
So what if you aren't a fantasy fan? What if you don't want to read about another history and world? What's here for you?
Plenty.
What is given up in the world-building is taken back through the rich inner worlds of the characters. These are characters that don't just have thoughts and opinions, they don't exist for the sake of motivating the plot or serve as a font of exposiion. They feel real. They have agency, they act according to emotion and thought as those things wax and wane inside them.
Principal characters color everything in their thoughts. Jay, a dour, sullen youth sees the same situation as his organized, order-obsessed sister, and the two come away with completely different understandings and reactions to the situation. The clashes that develop as a result of this different views, the clashes of opinion and belief that repeat throughout the novel are extremely engaging and entertaining.
The author also has a very strong handle on foreshadowing. Hints about upcoming events or how things work are peppered through