Deus in Machina (a Warhammer 40K-setting inspired LitRPG)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In a galaxy forsaken, infernal gateways tear asunder, unleashing Hell’s legions to crush all in their grasp. From the ashes, Theosis, the Divine System and God’s voice in this temporal realm, ascends. It forges a grand Empire, waging four millennia of merciless Holy War against the Underworld’s unrelenting evil. Far from the Empire’s light, on a savage world, Angar is wrought in fury as a gateway to the abyss claws his homeland apart, now thrust into this eternal war. His maul thunders with unyielding hate, offering crimson tithes to the Lord, carving a blood-soaked path to glory – or damnation. His chest ablaze with righteous wrath, his arms singing slaughter’s sacred hymn, a new Crusader rises.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Tony

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 1,424
Views: 550,411

What readers say about Deus in Machina (a Warhammer 40K-setting inspired LitRPG)

“This is a great story. It's viscerally satisfying and it has an excellent blend of action, humor, and sheer awesomeness.Style: The writing is really good, the style is consistent and the author's voice is strong throughout. There's a great blend of the eccl…”
sohexRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I actually love this stroy, I hope that story has been planned in authors mind becouse I think this story has been put a lot tought into. Worldbuilding is good first chapter hooked me right in only problem for me was infodumps but I still enjoy reading them…”
BayOkuzRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

sohexRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a great story. It's viscerally satisfying and it has an excellent blend of action, humor, and sheer awesomeness.Style: The writing is really good, the style is consistent and the author's voice is strong throughout. There's a great blend of the ecclesiastical and the scifi and it seems clear the author knows exactly how they want to tell this story.Grammar: Excellent, there are a couple of typos here and there, but beyond that no issues with grammar and no recurrent spelling errors or anything like that.Story: Very entertaining! Book one is essentially the origin story of a Doom Slayer-esque figure in this 40K inspired setting, highly entertaining. The world building is great too, the inspirations are clear but it very much so feels like the author's own take on things and it's quite refreshing.Character: The characters are top notch. The main character perfectly captures the spirit of rip and tear without becoming a walking trope and everyone has actual depth. Not just depth for a story of this nature, but actual depth which is as surprising as it is delightful.Overall: Read it! The lizard space pope commands it. For God and Empire!P.S. Did I mention there's a lizard space pope?
BayOkuzRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I actually love this stroy, I hope that story has been planned in authors mind becouse I think this story has been put a lot tought into. Worldbuilding is good first chapter hooked me right in only problem for me was infodumps but I still enjoy reading them. I hope to see mc's rise into future.
Brian HemingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I had a hard time putting this story down long enough to write a review of it. Angar is an amazing hero: virtuous, stubborn, noble, holy, and with heavy grit. He faces world-ending stakes without blinking, enough danger and action to reduce a lesser man to gibbering tears, and comes through and does the right thing.
The opening has been the smoothest transition from sci-fi world-wrecker action to LitRPG levels/abilities I've ever seen. At no point does the imposition of the System feel like a handwave--instead, the hero partakes of it of the utmost necessity, in the most extreme situation. The holy undertones to everything he does, and the battle between Holy Crusader good and true Hellish demonic evil are a breath of fresh air in a literary world of flawed heroes and morally grey conflicts.
LitRPG-wise, the author has put great thought into the powers, the world, the battles, the fight scenes, and making the character build make sense within it. His powers are cool, and match the particular world and enemies we see in their usage.
The author's prose is great. Somehow, he's always able to pull out an excellent cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more. The action is gripping. The grammar is top-notch. This is an extremely well-executed story.
Cowabunga_BluewriterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
World Building:
First of all, let me say the amount of world-building in this is awesome, from Theosis, the system, to Spirit and the world. The monsters, the powers, the abilities, I mean, lol, everything was crafted very detailed, very specifically, and very well. The amount of detail on the system from the Parousa Protocols to the Attributetes to the lore to just everything while maintaining full steam ahead with the story is great. The monsters are frighteningly vivid in detail, and the fight scenes are top-notch. What I think makes this story a bit different is that our protagonist is a 14-year-old zealot who is being led well by a compassionate Spirit of the system. It makes for a good contrast in their characters and makes for interesting conflict, like what happens in later chapters.
Story and Style:
Angar was born and raised to people not unlike Spartans, and thus was raised with battles and within them. His mother is a hard woman, but she does care for her family a bit too much. It leads to the Hellspawn being spawned on Velfor and Angar being turned into a tier one Crusader. Along the way, battles of might and plenty of mishaps happen. Warning, there is a lot of gore, not so much as to turn stomachs, and not so detailed, but yes, there is gore.
The author, however, mixes lore, protocols, attributes, and history, listing the chapters that are just these things so we can skip them. He mixes these to great effect. One thing I do mind is sort of listing others' attributes in a chapter. LOL, I can’t remember if it was marked or not, but if it wasn’t, it needs to be. If it were, then the story needs to continue without it. We got to know a new character plus their attributes, and that should have been optional.
The POV is great, and the pacing and tone are good too. The beginning sentence: As Simo slogged through the pre-dawn murk toward his job, the sight of freshly shattered windows snapped him to alertness, demanding his full attention. It is a great hook, i
Gonetobed17Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Truly excellent, it’s a really rare thing when you find a story with this much thought put into it. The world building is excellent, characters thought out, and a plot that makes sense and progresses naturally. Now I know we are early but I really see some potential for this to be one of the best books on RR and am looking forward to what the author does with it.
NoTime..Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read on Patreon about 14 chapters in. And I will say this story is very good.World building, character building, abilities/powers all seem well balanced and properly thought out. I have noticed no real flaw in the grammar or structure of the story. Overall 5 star worth giving it a chance for sure.
PerseveranceRoverRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Everything about this story is right. The main character is truly the best part of this story because he stays true to his ideals and morals, not allowing himself to be sidetracked by the morality of others. The way he grows allows him to continue pursing his goals, rather than changing his overall goal of waging war for the sake of his God. That's not to say he doesn't change, but the way he evolves as a character supports his design rather than adjusting who he is and ripping away the warring Crusader of God that we've come to adore. I really appreciate this since, more often than not, characters can lose themselves in the story, becoming someone else entirely. Not Angar though. He's Mecian through and through, and that I think, is this story's strongest point outside of the worldbuilding.
Speaking of the worldbuilding, it is delightful. While the Author states it is loosely inspired by Warhammer 40k, it has become so much more than something merely inspired. This world the Author has crafted gives us something unique, letting us uncover things over time and in a natural manner. Every inkling we are given, you can see the 40k echoes, but we aren't bogged down by it. Everything we are given expands the world in meaningful and interesting ways and I love what the Author is doing with it.
As if that weren't amazing enough, the Author reliably posts, grammatical errors are few and far between, the characters remain who they are, and while we haven't had much time for character development, the action sequences make up for it with frequency and delightfulness. Angar is a delightful character, this universe is thoughtfully put together, and I am beyond thrilled to see where the story goes.
My only possible petty complaint is that there isn't MORE.
Half my family is obesessed with this story and every morning, we wait eagerly for 9am so we can read and then rant about the delightful chapter we have consumed. If this book ever comes out in a bookstore, I will be purchasin
ZecatatuRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really liked this one. I m a big fan of the solo strogest mtf who walk in a horde of demons killing all of them. I recomend. About the write i dont have complaints. Just read it! The begin is a lil strange but when the slaughter start everything be fine
drakynRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I wish I could provide some proper critique for this book...however it's been so good I have difficulty finding problems. There have been the odd grammatical errors, but this book has a professional finish to it that's rare to find on RR. The characters are a delight and the author makes sure they stay true to themselves rather than gradually shifting them to reflect the author's worldview or to make them just a little more likeable. The reader gets to explore the universe with the protagonist rather than having everything spoon fed to them with rare changes in POVs being supportive to the main story rather than being used as an opportunity for exposition. The combat scenes are visceral and very well thought out. VERY good work! I look forward to the next chapter.
drandreasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is a truly inspired epic set in a grim universe with themes similar to the 40k universe. It follows Angar from a forgotten backwater planet as it is invaded by the equivalent of chaos forces. The empire eventually arrives to fight the threat, But with his background and upbringing focused on glorious combat, Angar struggles to fit into and understand the new order of the empire he is now expected to fight for. Will he thrive or go out in a blaze of glory? Find out next time on dragon bal- errr not that last bit. But there are lots of cliffhangers. It makes this a fast read.
I didn’t find any issues with grammar or spelling. The characters have lots of depth, flaws, and have their own quirks and desires. The writing style is very 40k inspired but unique. It is dark and bloody at times and glorious and inspiring at others. I don’t give full reviews often nor full five star ones. This one is worth the read if you like this genre.
speaking of genre: it is a weak to strong(or strong to stronger depending on how you look at it) abilities, magic, system, combat in your face, bloody mystery story with sci-fi and fantasy elements seamlessly integrated just as Warhammer 40k does while still being its own unique universe. It will not disappoint. 10/10