Desolada

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Book one now available onKindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Paperback, as well asAudible.

Continuing book two every Sunday with potential extra chapters.For millennia the demon lords known as the Goetia enslaved the human race, until a group of mortals known as the Archons received divine blessings of power and overthrew them. Under their dominion mankind flourished, though the war in the shadows never ended. A thousand years later, sixteen-year-old Leones' family is executed for the crime of heresy. Burned to death for questioning whether the Archon of Flames is a divine being, and whether any of the Archons truly are.

After manifesting the power to control time, Leones survives and embarks on an uncertain journey for power and revenge. But if he is to overcome a god, he may need some help. Along the way he will discover the truth behind the demon lords, time, and reality itself, as he walks along the razor path.

Artwork is used with permission from the creator, @chinfongart.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: lkal92

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 2,072
Views: 41,706

Chapters(14 total)

What readers say about Desolada

“Book 1 just released on Kindle/Audible, and it's a very enjoyable read. Not only is the book well written, it scratches that time loop itch that so many of us have. The world is cohesive and lore rich, artfully teased throughout the book (it doesn't reveal…”
AlbrechtRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The story is outstanding with excellent world building and character development. A good depth of mystery and a dark atmosphere add to its excellence. The story allows yourself to be lost in thought wondering about the various philosophical ideas presented…”
PrimordialOatmealRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

AlbrechtRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Book 1 just released on Kindle/Audible, and it's a very enjoyable read. Not only is the book well written, it scratches that time loop itch that so many of us have. The world is cohesive and lore rich, artfully teased throughout the book (it doesn't reveal too much too soon), definitely a place you'll like visiting when reading the pages. As long as you can deal with mind-bending otherworldly demons, of course. Giving it 5 stars not because it's perfect, but because if the premise seems even slightly interesting to you, you'll have a great time with the book. Pick it up!
PrimordialOatmealRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is outstanding with excellent world building and character development. A good depth of mystery and a dark atmosphere add to its excellence. The story allows yourself to be lost in thought wondering about the various philosophical ideas presented here. Good interactions between the characters and their unique background are also one of the many best traits in the story.
D.C.VeilingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Desolada is a fantastically thought-through piece of fantasy fiction. We are following the MC Leones who is ripped from his easy-going life as the son of a rich father and thrown into a maelstrom of mystery, action, intrigue and the development of his own fantastic powers as he tries to evade the murderers of his father and find a way to reverse the catastrophe.
Story: The biggest plus for me are the constant plot twists that came really unexpected - a lot of "wow" moments here. That kind of story needs awesome world-building of which we have plenty in Desolada. There is no boring moment even in the peaceful times meant to flesh out the characters - it gripped me from the start and never let up!
Characters: Not only the MC but also most side characters feel alive and authentic. Everyone has a role to play, there is no unnecessary character and I really like Leones and can relate to him.
Style: a few issues here and there, but they were fixed as soon as I pointed them out, leaving nothing I could complain about :-). Generally, the style is very well flowing - the last fighting scene was done excellently: quick and thrilling. I also love the setting and the author excels at creating that fantastic environment with few words which keep the pace fast enough.
Grammar: same as with style - anything I found was edited shortly afterwards and there was nothing that would really stick out, to begin with.
Overall I can recommend this fiction to everyone.
DrakilianRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Desolada is a story about a kid whose life gets ruined by the servants of an archon, only to discover he has the ability to turn back time up to an hour in any increment that he wants. It isn't enough.
The story has had years of worldbuilding behind it and it shows - the author has been working on the story for several years prior to him posting it on royal road, and the story has gained a lot for it. It's one of the few starts that you can look at and say with great confidence that it probably will not ever get dropped.
The MC is very likeable and understandable, his use of his power and the way he progresses through the story all make a lot of sense. Despite how op his power might sound, it turns out that if someone is strong enough that no matter how many times you fight them you can't do anything to change the outcome, then it doesn't really matter that you can turn back time. He doesn't stay helpless forever, but it really emphasizes how his power is nothing close to being omnipresent.
Characters are fairly well done, the deuterprotagonist Felix has a lot going on, though you learn a lot of it in retrospect. Most of the story is carried by the MC's interior monologue, which, given that he is a philosophy student, and that he can turn back time at will, is probably the best way to handle things.
An interesting consequence is that the main character has a tendency to turn back time whenever anything embarasing happens to him - as a result, a lot of the other characters in the story see him as being very inhuman - because all the little human moments that people have to bond or soften each other up, he ends up erasing. So the mc tends to both feel a lot closer to people than they feel to him, and yet doesn't trust any of them with his feelings or the truth.
Anyway, great read, it's going places and the author seems like he's absolutely going to deliver on the promises his writing is making, give it a shot!
BeatriceRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't quite know where to begin, and I do not know how to structure this well. This is my third attempt. This time I will cling to the scores in order to give myself a foundation.
Style: The author uses a first person perspective, which I usually find off-putting, due to eliminating distance between the character and the reader, going a step too far if you will. I can say that I did not have this feeling here. Narration of the first person is interspersed with shorter background information about the world and concepts, which is done expertly. At no point did I feel bothered by a lack of information about what was going on, nor did I feel suffocated under long bouts of exposition. The balance for both is as good as I have seen it done.
Story: I will separate this in plot and world building, because I feel both points deserve their time and praise.
Plot wise We follow Leones, a fugitive after his father was deemed a heretic for denouncing the holy order that structures the society they live in. He discovers a unique ability to manipulate time. From here the story follows his perspective as he grows his own strength in order to survive and one day claim vengeance for his family. So far, so good. Where the story shines is in the pacing. Stories focused on progression love to either rush through stages, or go hard in the other direction and and move at a glacial speed, both of which are detrimental to a general pacing.
This is not done here. The advancements of the protagonist are given weight, they are earned, they drive the plot along in meaningful ways as Leones uses his abilities for more than simply becoming a stronger fighter. And due to the nature of his powers, the speed at which he obtains it remains steady and believable, yes he is talented, and is advancing faster than someone not as gifted. This is tremendously well done. I will not go into spoilers here, but I want to mention stakes as well. They are kept and stuck to from the first to the latest chapter
123whothatbeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This has got to be the one of best stories on royalroad. The world building is spectacular, the characters are distinct and the pacing is perfect. It's definitely got a grimdark and light lovecraftian vibe to it, which is done so incredibly well, the author constantly keeps you curious with tidbits of worldbuilding interspersed in character interactions. There's no long winded dialogue between characters joking back and forth, the relationship between characters is conveyed brilliantly through their actions and main characters ruminations about the present. So much is left unsaid, merely implied and it creates a very rewarding read.
That said, i'm worried this work won't get the attention it truly deserves on royalroad, simply because the readers here trend towards the light and positive as well as power fantasies.
KiymerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The world building and magic system in this novel is unique in a fascinating and very new way like nothing else I've read. The writing is solid and has a good flow, with the story already going in different directions than I expected. Honestly can't wait to see what direction the story goes!
MMMMMMRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Good fantasy with awesome world building. Multi dimentional characters with a lot of deepth. There is an air of mistery waiting to be unravel about the world, the magic and the people. No OP cheat magic and the MC has to put an effort to get what he wants. I think this novel is underappreciate. Definitily worth reading. It is good to see high quality fantasy still being posted in this website.
PentiniumRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
You could say that it had a long intro, but boy did it not dissapoint. You can tell, atleast so far that everything written has a purpose. There are no info dumps for the sake of extra words, amount of him exerciseing is just enough for it to feel that he achived it, and its not a random legendary drop from who knows where. Combined with convenient time skips, it doesnt affect the flow. And makes the whole thing more realistic.
PxanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
TDLR; It's really good, if you know a bit of philosophy and letterature you will enjoy this even more.
To be sincere I wasn't excepting a fiction like this on the internet, this is near professional level of quality.
I don't want to spoil anything, the story brings inspiration is all over the place.
The philosopher are a mix of many school, western and eastern with a bit of esoteric just to spike things a bit.
I haven't read a web novel with this profoundity and themes in...never? The closest thing that I can compare this to is Narcissus and Goldmouth by Hesse and Enderal (it's a videogame.)
A solid five stars by me.