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: 2,071
Views: 41,562

Chapters(14 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

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.
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!
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
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.
VegetablesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Randomly picked this from latest updates. I have no regrets. From what I've read this is easily good enough to be a published novel. It's one of the best things I've read on RR, and I'd rank it up there with Journey of black and red. Maybe even better. Stylistically it's different though, being darker and taking itself more seriously. There are no tongue in cheek moments. If anything it evokes the same kind of atmosphere as Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series.
The writing is mature and well thought out, with beyond excellent world building.
Each character I've come across has been interesting. I initially wrote a bunch of them off as being of a typical trope, assuming they would follow a fairly predictable path within the story. Now that I've read more, those assumptions have pretty much all been subverted. The MC himself is no nonsense and do what it takes. I wouldn’t really class him as an antihero given his situation, but he's definitely not all sunshine and daisies. He'll happily murder someone if needed.
Grammar is nearly perfect, with no spelling mistakes and no misplaced or excessive punctuation. So far I've noticed a single mistake over 23 chapters, with an unintentional change in tense in the middle of a sentence.
The story itself is probably a little typical, but the setting and challenges leave nothing to be desired. The best thing is I cant be sure of where it's actually going in the long run. This is nothing like your typical web serial.
Easy 5 out of 5, and it's earned it.
VerseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The world is unique, the story is well written, and it is early enough in its lifecycle to warrant further attention for those reasons. It’s probably worth mentioning that the current pace (ch. <20) is of the story is a slow burn with a focus on world building, and that the main character is not overpowered. Given the main character’s introspection and aspiring philosopher title, this story could make a good case for itself as rational fiction, which is bonus points in my book.
burdi99Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story was solid, the dialog between character easy to understand and each chapter was long.
I like a story with long chapter because each one give something to the plot and each decision of the mc make sense so I enjoyed his journey to became strong. He also didn't had some heroic complex which annoying.
I recommend this story
dstroarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Tl;dr Read the tags. Like what you see? Then you'll enjoy the story.
I don't want to say much besides, it's everything I hope for in a good story, plus more. I can see this becoming one of the top rated with at least quadruple the number of followers at the time of writing this review. I can't find a single thing I didn't like, and I eagerly check everyday for it's updates. The quality is already there, it's just that for some reason it hasn't taken off as much as it should.
hogleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Despite my proclivity to avoid fantasy novels/shows at all costs, I have to admit there are always parallels between fantasy-land and real life. This novel is well-written, has tense ethical scenarios that contribute to character development, and symbolism that reflects the inner-workings of our subconscious minds. Thanks for posting and I look forward to more from the author, fiction and non-fiction. From what I've read on here, this is by far the best.
sontagismeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story starts a bit slow, and didn't hook me straightaway, but the more I read the more I realized that this story is pretty darn great.
The story concerns a 16-year-old Leones, setting out on his own after some kind of tyrannical Order kills his family over heresy. He's bent on revenge, yet at the same time realizes that his journey ahead is far from easy. He also realizes he has the ability to rewind time, but the technique is limited in a number of ways that makes it far from overpowered (don't expect any kind of groundhog day-esque mastery any time soon).
I really love the magic and worldbuilding here. Magic abilities feel mundane and like a very natural part of the world, some people having been born with small gifts that are just another part of the universe. So for the most part it isn't flashy like your average DnD spell (though there's some of that too), and we've seen some hints at powerful, reality-altering magic as well, and the way it plays out is always suprising and terrifying without breaking logic or disbelief.
The world is really fascinating, humanity being ruled by 11 "Archons" who claim to be gods (but maybe they're not?). There's a long history of an ancient war with some kind of demonic force, but there are many buried secrets and I am beginning to doubt that the initially stark morality of that history is questionable. In short, the author really seems to know where things are going and I can't wait to learn more about the world as the MC unravels its secrets.
Despite the tags of "grimdark" and "anti-hero lead," if those are things that normally put you off, I would still suggest you giving it a shot. While the story is at times dark and brutal, it never approaches the dreary edginess of certain self-proclaimed 'grimdark' stories, and the world as presented still has moments of beauty and virtue which offset any harsher realities. Our MC, too, is not yet especially villainous. Of course things might still change but so far he still has bou