Crossing the Rubicon {OLD} - Fantasy, Apocalyptic Survival, and Death

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2022

Author

theLonelyAuthour

• Announcement! {Please Read}
  Jan 8, 2024
• Chapter 1 - Liam - Purgatory
  Aug 24, 2022

Reviews

Community Reviews(5)

• SkeeperRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I think having multiple protagonists right from the start is rare nowadays, and for a good reason. It is much more challenging, keeping everyone interesting enough, making sure no character gets to shine more over the other and that each one gets their story and personality fleshed out appropriately. It’s very ambitious, and so far, theLonelyAuthor is nailing it.
  Style:4/5
  There isn’t anything wrong, per se, but the structure shows that they are indeed just the first chapters. The writing is easy to read, without feeling like it was dumbed down. It flows well and grabs you in. It’s easy to understand the characters and connect with them, but sometimes it can be hard to tell what exactly is going on.
  Story:5/5
  This is a great premise. A post-apo story where the initial focus is on how the characters react to the events rather than the event itself. Perfect. Characters make a story and the author clearly understands it. With 4 different characters — who feel different, which isn’t always the case with multiple protags — we get 4 perspectives into the beginning of the apocalypse so everyone can resonate with at least one of the characters, without getting bored of the others, as each has their unique way about them.
  Grammar: 5/5
  Not much to say about grammar.If I don’t notice any mistakes, that’s fine with me, and I didn't see any immersion breaking mistakes.
  Characters: 5/5
  The meat and bones of any story, and this one isn’t any different. Each of the 4 PoVs has their own personality, characteristics, backstory, and anything that a solid character should have. So far Liam, Vanessa, Emilia, and Rohan are all captivating and relatable in one way or another. Of course, it’s only 8 chapters in so a lot could change, but I trust that the author knows what they are doing and will continue to do an outstanding job with this story and its characters.
• 289Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  For a story which pulls a bit too much inspiration from various sources, it achieves spectacularly curious results. To say the least, it brought characters to action in situations which existed. Though the time period draws from an orthodox setting, it illustrates an exemplary graph. I adored the seasonal sensations serenaded sublimely so someone sends sapphire sleet southward.
  Good effort.
• OlmecRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  I saw this in a post so I thought I would check it out. If the review isn't within the "review rules"... whoops?
  Being honest, its pretty good. Yes you could see this as bias, but one thing that I liked is that there is the multi-perspectives. Its really easy to mess this up by jumping around a lot without actually building, but CTR takes time for each character. I might be wrong but of the 16 chapters, each character has gotten a minimum of three which is just enough to build up their characteristics and nuances.
  Moreover, each character has a unique storyline. From what I've seen before, in other multi-POV novels, characters exist within a similar setting meaning their individual plots are so similar sometimes it feels like you could close the book and open it to another character and it would still be the same. Like there is no change in voice or ideas. You've done well so far, so make sure not to slip into that mistake.
  Going on about the storyline, I would say the introduction of the supernatural at this point is definitely enough to get you wanting to read more so good job on that.
  Things to improve on, I don't have anything at this time, but I love what I've seen so far. So good job. The only reason I haven't put 5 stars is because I feel like its presumptuous to think any story could be perfect. If there was an option to put 4.75, I would've given that instead.
• VeneerRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  This is just the very early intro/setup for a novel, so my thoughts are less than complete. Overall, it's pretty good. I would say it has the potential to be a book that I would read cover to cover, which is not true of the vast majority of RR stories.
  Style: Nothing to take points off for. It's multi-POV third person limited, which is also how I write. I enjoy it, it's always clear who we're following, and the chronology is not confusing.
  Story: Pretty good. The initial premise isn't anything original, technology stops working around the world and supernatural stuff starts happening, but it has room to grow and it's being executed well enough. Each character has a smaller scale personal story that's happening to them, which is the key to doing this sort of thing.
  Grammar: Very few outright spelling or grammar mistakes, not enough to distract from the story. What does distract me from the story is some unusual word choice and unnecessarily (to me) elaborate descriptions. Also, some of the characters' thoughts and dialogue are awkwardly expository.
  Characters: Eh. They're not bad, but mostly they're just reacting to what's happening around them right now. That's not inherently a serious problem, this is a disaster story, but it limits the amount of development that they can have. I would say that only Emilia and Rohan feel like actual people right now, but that's also related to their amount of time in the spotlight.
• valuerRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  At the time of this writing, Crossing the Rubicon is still in its budding stages. I believe this story has great potential, it could certainly use some polish. For instance, many of the side characters barely exist, rendering the overall immersion weaker. That being said, I have reason to believe the following chapters will be of significantly higher quality and will urge new readers to give it the benefit of the doubt.