Daggers, Dames, and Demons

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2022

Author

VRHolmes

• Chapter 37: Morning Calls
  Jan 30, 2023
• Chapter 36: In Your Skin
  Jan 27, 2023
• Chapter 35: Easton and Weston
  Jan 20, 2023
• Where'd You Go?!
  Jan 15, 2023
• Chapter 34: Meet and Greet
  Dec 20, 2022
• Chapter 33: The Arbiter
  Dec 15, 2022
• Chapter 32: Take Me to Church
  Dec 12, 2022
• Chapter 31: Remembrances
  Dec 9, 2022
• Chapter 30: Plotting it Out
  Dec 7, 2022
• Chapter 29: A Glimpse of Reality
  Dec 5, 2022
• Chapter 28: Secrets and Sibyls
  Dec 2, 2022
• Chapter 27: Nine Lives and Green Eyes
  Nov 30, 2022
• Chapter 26: The Key is Communication
  Nov 28, 2022
• Chapter 25: Interrogation
  Nov 25, 2022
• Chapter 24: God, You Need a Bath
  Nov 23, 2022
• Chapter 23: These Northern Lights
  Nov 21, 2022
• Chapter 22: Snakes in the Grass
  Nov 18, 2022
• Chapter 21: Echoes of Your Past
  Nov 16, 2022
• Chapter 20: One Spiteful Dame
  Nov 14, 2022
• Chapter 19: Out of the Fire...
  Nov 13, 2022

Reviews

Community Reviews(9)

• Youngish OldsterRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I've written this review in my head a half-dozen times already, but just haven't made the time to convert it to bits yet.  Which I feel guilty about, because this story is really good.  So, atone I must:
  Take one part urban fantasy.  Except in the middle of Iowa.  That's ambitious.  I've spent time in Iowa.  Making it the locale for anything fantastic is, to be honest, audacious.  But the author makes it work.
  Add one part magical realism.  Except tinted dark.  Think Addams Family with all the humor, but with the implied horror parts spoken out loud.
  Add one part layered coexistence between physical and aethereal worlds, where ghosts, spirits, legends, memories and echoes of the past can sometimes find their way or be summoned between worlds.
  Finally, add one part secret societies, conspiracies, and hidden hands who navigate between the physical and aetherial worlds and play gatekeepers.  Totally benevolent protectors of humanity of course.  (Hint:  nope.)
  When an author of VRHolmes caliber takes all these elements and mixes them together, you get a sum that's greater than its parts.  Fun.  Immersive.  Atmospheric. Wonderfully paced.  All in support of a superb main character pairing of Lydia and William, who share the role of telling the story from their unique perspectives with wit, smarts, empathy, insight, disbelief, terror and seething fury, as appropriate.
  Lydia is a firecracker who enters the tale by being canny enough to escape becoming a ritual sacrifice for a demon summoning, but then must puzzle out the implications of having survived.  Which she sets out to do, because she's smart, analytical, and resourceful.
  William is... the demonic summon.  Except that he gets the body of the idiot summoner, instead of Lydia's.  He arrives with incomplete memories, and turns out to have a lot of secrets, baggage and critical unfinished business.  In most stories, demons are above such things, but not in this one.  He too needs to learn to navigate his new circumstanc
• Wandering Brain SpasmRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I kept seeing Daggers, Dames, and Demons pop up as a recommendation in the forum pages and now I know why. Holy moly! Why are you even looking at this review? Give it a read you’ll be hooked from the start. I certainly was.
  Style: VRHolmes has some serious writing chops. The story is presented in first-person with two different points of view that are both done exceptionally well. It’s fast-paced in all the right ways, knows when to slow down when needed, and just how much detail to give without bogging the reader down. All of this, coupled with heaps of witty humor and enough clues to keep you craving more, make it far too easy to keep hitting that next chapter button.
  Story: As a fan of urban fantasies, I appreciate the overused tropes the author went out of their way to avoid. Lydia is not a damsel in distress whose sole purpose is to fall in love with a broody, conflicted monster. In addition to a captivating story, you get little bits of lore sprinkled into each chapter as well the author’s own clever twist on staple elements of the genre.
  Grammar: The grammar was fantastic. There were only a few instances where I had to stop and reread for clarity, but I chalked that up to artistic style and not an issue with the grammar itself.
  Character: My favorite category by far. Lydia and William are both competent, well-rounded characters with distinct personalities. It’s refreshing to read main characters that are driven by their own wants and desires, as opposed to navigating from one plot point to the next as a means to drive the story forward. Although at the time of this review I am only eight chapters in, there is already fantastic chemistry between them and I want more.
  Additionally, I appreciate that the side characters are treated as their own person and not mere extensions of the main characters.
  Overall: Probably the most competent story I have read on RR. Even if Urban Fantasy, Horror, Romance isn’t your usual pick, do yourself a favor and give it a try. I’v
• DestroyatronMk8Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I know I should wait til there are more chapters out to drop a review, but I can't. This story is God-Damned Excellent. The MC's a firecracker, the world building is both subtle and compelling, and the characters are an exquisite mix of depth, emotion, and chilling violence. Daggers, Dames, and Demons is as good as or better than most traditionally published novels. I don't rank the author above Jim Butcher, but I'd put (Her? Him? Prounouns are hard) them around that level.
  STYLE: A full five stars. Settings and descriptions are detailed enough to be effective without overstaying their welcome. The story is perfectly paced, and the tone of the writing changes based on which character we are following. Lydia is feisty and a bit of a nerd, while William is narrated with more dry wit and fatalism.
  STORY: Spoiler alert, this review's gonna be 5 stars all around. The urban fantasy portion of the series is subtle and believable, with clearly defined rules that still leave room for mystery. The character interactions that drive the plot are spot on, each event flowing naturally to cause the next.
  CHARACTER: This might be where the series shines the most. The characters are intelligent, make mostly good decisions, and still display enough flaws to feel human and real. The dialogue sounds natural (which is hard to do) and the emotions and undercurrents behind it hint at great depth.
  GRAMMAR: The grammar is flawless. I did not find a single mistake.
  OVERALL: This is a snappy and highly polished piece of fiction, probably one of the best on Royal Road. Give it a read. And if this series gets the attention it deserves, remember that Destroyatron Mark VIII recommended it first.
• GigabyteRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  So far, so good! The characters seem to have some depth already, and it is shaping up to be a good book. I can't really say much, considering how few chapters there are, but it's great!
  READ IT. NOW. or else.
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• JingleDragonRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The prose is well written, the characters are interesting, and the world has some cool lore. Only downside is that it's a little black and white in its character morality - the majority of characters are either very kindhearted and helpful, or Baron Puppykicker Von Tortureface.
  But mostly it's pretty hot. Bound incubus drama - he has to do what she says, she's not cool with the implications of that, so they wibble around the whole thing in very nice ways.
  Incu-boy/10.
• MezzoCatorceRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Daggers, Dames, and Demons is a rare breed of story that aims to be several things at once, and succeeds at all of them.
  It's an urban fantasy with a rich, well-conceived cosmology and developed world. It's a character-driven story with fantastic, deep, and engaging characters. It's a romance with a natural, organic progression and touching moments. It's an action story with plenty of fightan' and a bit of shootan'.
  It follows the story of Lydia Grace, who accidentally the whole summoning ritual and becomes bound to an Incubus. Thankfully for her, the Incubus is less of the ravenous, orgiastic type and more of the bishonen stoic type who smolders at her respectfully.
  They soon find themselves on a cross-country trip where they encounter monsters, mystery, and two (2) flavors of Illuminati. This is a bit of a reductionist description, but I think it gets the point across. It's a hell of a fun story, and an amazingly written one to boot.
  Review TL;DR:
  Story: 5/5 - Rich, developed world with interesting features and cosmology, engaging plot.
  Style: 5/5 - Excellent prose, developed character voice, shifting POVs which are managed superbly
  Grammar: 5/5 - Very Well Gramm'd
  Character Score: 5/5 - Believable, developed, living characters
  Story:
  5/5 - Rich, developed world with interesting features and cosmology, engaging plot.
  The basic plot beats of the story are dynamic, keeping the action going without being overly intense or dragging on. The flow is masterfully managed, weaving between lore and action without ever feeling unnatural. The setting itself is great, and has a ton of fun room to theorycraft and a lot of interesting implications. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into it, and it shows in the execution.
  Style
  5/5 - Excellent prose, developed character voice, shifting POVs which are managed superbly
  The first thing that stands out about the style is the fact that the point of view alternates between Lydia and her bound demon. The style of narration for e
• UnionegationRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  So far, so good! The characters seem to have some depth already, and it is shaping up to be a good book. I can't really say much, considering how few chapters there are, but it's great!
  READ IT. NOW. or else.
  Words Words Words Words  Words Words Words Words Words Words
• EmpireofTrustRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  It's a nice supernatural read with female friendly romance, which is not my general read (barring a brief flirting with Anita Blake novels).
  Plenty of action and mind bending spiritual trips with a biology major who doesn't know that crystal are not just geology.
  Bit of fun and may look in on future chapters.
• RinavRoyal Road

  ★★ 2.0

  There was this interesting dilemma of our incubus protagonist having to feed. He has a backstory of abuse and our other protagonist equates his experiences to rape after seeing his memories. Bear that in mind.
  Now he could have picked the least evil options available to him, knowing he was doing something selfish and acknowledging it. Respectable and interesting to read about. Or feed nonlethally, which he is capable of, using his seduction demon powers to leave no trace. Perfectly fine and the obvious solution.
  But no this problem soon becomes a ridiculously flawed case of black and white morality. He picks from the sex offender list and kills them.
  So he can be edgy but also moral! A perfect if boring solution as long as you dont think about it too hard. He is in a hurry both times, so he cant have done much research and luckily at least the second time, they were up to some evil stuff. Keep in mind this feeding kills them and even destroys their souls.
  But lets think about this a bit. Some people on that list are innocent, some even put themself on the list, despite never having done anything, to minimise the threat they might pose later in life. Last but not least if society as a whole thought them deserving of death they would be dead or at least in jail. Killing them is not really defensible morally. Does this get adressed in any way, when our other protagonist finds out? No; she wants to help him pick his targets.
  Now what does going thoughtlessly down a list and just picking some guy, based on little information, purely to satiate your desires, giving no thought to them, their humanity etc. sound like?
  Pretty rapey.
  It would be fine, if it was called out or nuanced in any way, but this is just stupid.