Craft the Planet

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Temporarily bumping up the schedule for Writathon! Enjoy! Oliver never asked for magic, only for a full belly and to be reunited with his sister. But in 1933 Manhattan, even dreams come at a price. When a strange ability called Analyze awakens inside him, suddenly every person, every machine, every cracked brick becomes a puzzle he can fix… and a secret he’s not meant to understand. He refuses to bow to the guilds who claim ownership of every awakened talent. With skyscraper workshops looming like steel castles, corrupt leaders starving orphans for profit, and a society built to keep “peasants” in their place, he decides his path will belong to no one but himself. He will master every craft, and invent a future no one can steal. In a city of gears, greed, and magic, a boy with a toolbelt might just change everything. Release Schedule: Mon, Wed, Fri 3:15AM PST

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Kos

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 1,868
Views: 261,718

Chapters(87 total)

What readers say about Craft the Planet

“Oliver's plight is an engaging read with well-defined characters and an elegant magic system. This MC becomes OP in a hurry with his broken ability--satisfying for anyone seeking that sort of experience. If you're looking for something that generally feels…”
MaximumCatRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I can be overly critical at times, the grouchy git that I am, but it brings me great joy to find very little to complain about with Craft The Planet. Well, I can always find something to complain about but the little issues here and there aren't enough to d…”
BendigeidfranRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(9)

MaximumCatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Oliver's plight is an engaging read with well-defined characters and an elegant magic system.
This MC becomes OP in a hurry with his broken ability--satisfying for anyone seeking that sort of experience. If you're looking for something that generally feels good to read and transports you to an alternate version of Earth fraught with magic and endless possibilities, this could be the ticket.
The author draws us into a gritty but optimistic early-1900s version of the Big Apple, where a magical society hides in plain sight.
Given his background of being orphaned and bullied, MC Oliver is less emotional and trusting than most kids. These traits serve him well as he finds himself thrust into that parallel culture, fraught with thinly-veiled dangers, magical wonders, mysterious tools, and mana-infused delicacies.
Kos Play makes effective use of accurate details from real-world crafting, then adds his own unique creativity and humor.
Grammar is solid. The characters are well-defined and memorable; especially the MC, who seems less-inclined toward vengeance against his own bully than most children. Personality-wise, Oliver reminds me a little of Anthony from Chrysalis.
This story promises wit, charm, and one hell of a magical journey for an orphaned boy who discovers the joy of creating useful, magical things.
BendigeidfranRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I can be overly critical at times, the grouchy git that I am, but it brings me great joy to find very little to complain about with Craft The Planet.
Well, I can always find something to complain about but the little issues here and there aren't enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story, at least not so far, for example:
The characters are compelling at times but they're mostly fairly one dimensional, I don't recall anyone at any point firmly declining to help Oliver, it seems that all the normal people in the world are awful and all the magic people in the world are willing to bend over backwards for this orphan boy either for no reason or just because he can identify things. Granted his abilities are incredibly overpowered, which is fine, and some people would definitely be willing to help him with stuff, that's believable. But it does feel like he has it a little too easy as far as other characters are concerned which is only really an issue because his abilities mean literally all his barriers in life are going to be either people or resource rarity, so maybe make him work a little harder socially so it feels more earned rather than just "Young boy breaks laws of thermodynamics on a whim and no one really cares because he's a sweetie".
It's no major issue though, the story is great, Oliver is an interesting protagonist and I'm hoping we'll get a time skip at some point so we can see how he develops, as it stands I don't think the author has any idea how to write teenagers, 14 is generally quite a bit more mature than Oliver behaves, his character reads as maybe 8-10 and Leslie reads as maybe 13 instead of the written 17 and ultimately kids just aren't that complicated - I'd love to see a more mature motivation behind his goals and see him grow up and stop being so naive.
DragoSOWRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Honestly. started reading this on a whim and i binged it in like 2 hours. Then went to the patreon and am caught up. Other than a few minor typos and continuity errors its pretty close to perfect.
Solid story premise. Consistent and evolving world building. Fairly consistent characterization. I mean hell, this made me go and bug Kos for more stuff to read.
Grammar is ok, nothing overly fancy. Style's fine, unique enough.
Its a historical fantasy piece. Well researched and well planned.
Arthur_PendragonRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Well...
It's a good book, I've read everything so far (chapter 27) and honestly, it made me feel complex, because the concept is interesting, the world so far seems promising and the MC's powers too, but the MC... gave me a contradictory feeling
I don't like the fact that he simply reveals his power to other people so easily, like, everyone he meets immediately he reveals it to, I mean, his power describes everything and can analyze everything in the world and leave a hint on how to improve it, so in a world like ours in the 1930s-1950s where people are in the middle of a Spanish flu, going through a depression and more... and the MC simply reveals something like that??? Like, the amount of trouble that could cause is not small
Besides, apparently there are other worlds, medieval and fantasy probabl
And the adults are simply nice to him, which makes me feel strange. Of course, we can't forget the bully from the orphanage, whom he brings to the guild, which, by the way, made one of its first rules very clear: don't bring ordinary people there and don't reveal your magic... What does he do??? Reveal everything and bring a bunch of orphans there.
So no, I don't feel comfortable with this MC. Sure, he's 13 years old, and we can excuse that as childishness, but I, my brother, and my cousins weren't that stupid at 13, and even less so the MC who's in an orphanage, which theoretically should have matured him earlier... This MC gives me strange feelings that I can't named.
However, I think this has a lot of potential. Maybe the author is intentionally making the MC childish so that there's later development or something like that, I don't know.
I like your story, I want to see where it goes, that's why I'm giving you a positive rating, because I hope the MC's childishness is part of the story or, if it's a mistake, you can correct it... I may have been quite critical, but it's positive criticism, at least I hope you see it that.
Keep going, author, with your good story
(Goo
NocainRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Abilities that make everything trivial. I do like cosy, but here there is basically no stakes at all.
Orphans are build different! The main character likes working and learning...and working...and working and learning. He is 12. Playing? Sleeping? All something that noone cares about! Because time is needed for working and learning! A bit inhuman.... Hussle culture lived ;)
It's well written and kind of fun...or I wouldn't have read it this far.... But I just can't connect to the MC and I got bored. Ah yes and he is a bit of a Mary Sue. Everyone likes and respects him, because he is so great!
LOLsuitRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
Oliver is an orphan. Cue clichés such as poor food, evil stepmother, bully, etc. And we also have references to other books. Its getting tough to find a new story in there.
Book 1 has already gone to print, so the errors I find, a few each chapter, might not have been caught in time but are still left here to annoy. Errors range from spelling, to grammar, and inconsistencies within chapters & across chapters. Too bad the author doesn't want to know.
There is the hope that the System Crafter class will do something interesting, but the MC has little pull on the adult world, and the System is already infected by straight up
magic, which may dilute any technical interest or underdog revolution amid the adult magicians.
But, quickly he's using his skill to analyze the magical ingredients needed to craft a bag of holding, a highly useful item, and join the hidden in plain sight adventurers guild, yet another cliché.
It has some good moments when the crafting finally kicks in, but there are still issues. Errors, weirdness in how nearly everyone is helping him, and just an unrelatable character in the MC.
ShaneL2018Royal Road
★★★ 2.5
I will admit I only got through chapter 1, but given the high rating,5 star I felt very deceived...he's unnaturally good. reminds me of Ella Enchanted..." want to abuse me, sounds good, just be careful you don't hurt yourself... thanks for the beating, how can I make your life better? "
if the MC was even remotely human or you explictly said he was under a "stupidity curse" I could at least not lose my mind...he's young, but instead of acting like a normal child he acts like a fictional saint..made it heard to read and could be easily fixed by making him at least poartly human or explaining his delusional attitude with a "curse"
maerlonRoyal Road
★★ 2.0
MC has access to all knowledge and infinite energy. The fact that they have any complications at any point is absolutely ridiculous. The further you get into the story the more you'll be wondering just how un-creative the MC can be.
The prose is fine, the setting is interesting, the magic system is fairly soft which is also fine. The problem is that the author didn't introduce any meaningful restrictions on the main character which leaves him feeling like a stupid god.
Eternally_Confused 1Royal Road
★★ 2.0
Not worth the effort to read. The Mc is inhuman to a degree I am unable to relate to.He has shown no resentment or hatred to his bully's or the stepmother who neglected and abandoned him.The Analyze ability is needed to uncover that his porridge was undercooked and that honey makes it taste better. Do what you will with this information.