Cursed Tongues

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Times are always tough in the subterranean world of Luo Shan, where all practitioners of magic deemed illicit by the British Empire are banished underground to fend for themselves. Abyss creatures and starvation stalk around every corner, waiting to sink their teeth into any unfortunate victim that wanders into their path.

After four long years, the Darktide looms on the horizon once more, more sinister than ever before, and times have never been tougher. As the people of the Undercity scramble to stockpile enough food and prepare for the incoming Abyss horde, restlessness spreads through the limestone caverns. Strange deaths begin to crop up in the once-safe city.

Meanwhile, a young boy is left to fend for himself and his father in the dangerous world of the Nameless Town when his father is grievously wounded by a man seeking revenge...

An alternate-history fantasy fiction set in late 1920s Malaysia, where a magically supercharged British Empire has outlawed magic of non-British origins.

New releases Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'll try and release more chapters if people like it, so leave a follow or a comment if you do!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: hyletic

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 5.0/ 5.0
Followers: 22
Views: 15,502

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

ScruffedUpRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Hello, hello! Bit late on the review, had overtime work then got unlucky and caught covid, but I got here.
Style:
The 'style' / themes of the story follow a rather dark and depressing route. There are oppressed people living amongst monsters, frought with danger from not only the beasts in the dark but the people around as well. All in all the story does a rather good job at displaying the realistic ways society amongst people would shift, and the ways people would react in this situation. People aren't always good, most of the times they will do what benefits them and theirs before anything or anyone else. As such, as our MC is a small child in this world doing his best to survive we are stuck at the bottom of the totem poll working out way up.
5/5 good work.
Story:
The writing itself is rather well done, there weren't any issues I had with pacing or terminology or anything like that. The only minor thing that pulled me out was the way the magic was written. for.reference.its.written.like.this. It may just be a personal thing but it feels rather lackluster compared to how in the early chapters its treated so dramatically, but the text n stuff doesn't really showcase it.
Once again, personal thing, disregard if you don't agree.
Everything else though? Top tier. Good work! 4.5/5
Grammar: Nothing I found, good work. 5/5
Character:
The story does a rather good job on showing how the world, and the people within it, have adapted to their circumstances. The characters feel realistic, with a lot of people just out for themselves without a care for others. The main character is also written rather well, showcasing the fear and uncertainty a child in this scenario would act and feel like.
Good work. 5/5
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Overall, I pretty much found 0 issues with the novel besides the personal complaint over the magic-chanting, but even then thats moreso just a design choice than anything else to me.
If you are looking for a 'dark and gritty' type of story where the MC starts out small
TheScribeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Cursed Tongues is a fresh take in so many ways. The setting, the world, the characters; all of it underpins a very promising start to the story, with a deft, smooth style that speaks to an author who knows their stuff.
Starting with the style; it has a varied rhythm, jumping back and forth from the staccato shorter sentences to longer, stylised sections full of rich metaphor and imagery, which begin to build a world of darkness, depth, and complex layers. There’s the occasional bit of slightly off rhythm when loading up the early chapters/sections with detail on the worldbuilding side of things, but it’s barely noticeable, and it’s clear hyletic has a practiced hand.
Grammar-wise, nothing major to report.
Now, story and character (which I like to combine, as they often should be). This is where the book really excels. The setting is unique, and very intriguing, exploring an alternate history in a place (colonial Malaysia) that’s almost entirely overlooked by the genre. But it isn’t difference for the sake of difference; this is a real, layered world of complex, well thought out places, cultures, and politics. I found myself immediately invested in finding out more. The characters supplement this, with deliciously dark, morally ambiguous motives, realistic actions, and a richness and depth that is sorely lacking from many stories. Nowhere is this more apparent than the prologue in Lullaby, which creates an excellent foundation for the key players of the coming tale, and does so in a way fitting for the characters, not just a standard info dump.
I’m very excited to see where this story goes. The unique, original world, layered characters, and intriguing story provide an excellent, unique backdrop that I suspect will go from strength to strength. Highly recommend!
VVerityRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Cursed Tongues in alt-historical dark fantasy that takes place in Malaysia during British occupation, a unique and uncommon setting to see on this side of webnovels and other fictions. The actual setting is called Luo Shan, a dark cavernous place of hellrats and worse things.
STYLE
Cursed Tongues has a cohesive and descriptive style that gives a good overview of surroundings and actions without becoming too bogged down and slowing the flow of the worlds. Cursed Tongues also provides plenty of context clues so those unfamiliar with certain terms or concepts will quickly grasp it, and does provide some thorough explanation of other concepts.
GRAMMAR
Nothing really stood out to me at all on this front, which is good!
STORY
In a world beneath the ground it's clear that things are unpleasant, and people have come to accept the unpleasantness as a simple fact of existence. Their magic is outlawed and so they are sentenced to teeter at the Abyss, scrabbling to exist as what are basically meatshields for the crown. Our MC and his father are no different, although it is clear that what they have as a 'peaceful life' is not to last. There's strong hints that what the MC knows of his family may not be completely true, suggesting this story will have a strong undercurrent of solving the mystery of the truth behind things like certain family's members deaths along with the looming crisis that's creeping its way up through the dark.
CHARACTER
Our MC is named Chia Ru Meng, or as I like to think of him; 'Mengmeng'.
He's what you expect of a good and young son. Dutiful, nearly to a fault, and unquestioning of his father and his... questionableness. And his father is quiet questionable. But he's still Ru Meng's father, first and foremost. Mengmeng is learning the same arts as his father, although unlike some stories the author isn't showering the MC in new powers and power levels all the time. You really do get a sense that he's still new at what he does, and more importantly that
fantasyretreatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Cursed tongue is a grimdark, alt-historical fantasy. It's a unique story that has a lot of potential and world building. The story follows Ru Meng as he fights for survival and to become stronger in an ever threat increasing hell hole.
This is one story that would keep you on the edge of your seat. Like literally.
Style:
As said above, it is a grimdark story. Written in a depressing and dark manner. With survival being topmost on the list of priorities for our protagonist, it fits the setting. The author does well to pour out the emotion and intention of the main character, making for a very engaging read. You get to see the main character blame himself for his failures, then pick himself up, you get to see his growth from lack of confidence to confidence, from learning spells and failing at it to using those spells deftly. All in all, it was a great style of writing. 5/5 for this!
Story:
The story and its pacing flow at a considerate rate if rather slow. The author does a great job of creating a setting that is unique in itself. Which tells how much thought and deliberation had been put in place. Even with the doom and gloom of everyday life there are whispers of dark days to come (no spoilers here). This gives the story an extra edge to it and like I said above, keeping you at the edge of your seat.This is an awesome 5/5 for me.
Grammar:
All well done.
Character:
Ru meng and all the characters I've seen so far are a joy to read. They have personality and purpose, and each one the main character comes across affects him one way or another. This is where for me I think the author shines. It's quite easy to forget that your main character is supposed to be a certain way (in this case, a kid) but the author was very consistent with his insecurities and fears. Making him very real to me. Again, 5/5 for me.
Very good book to read.