Ebonreach: Rise of the Countess

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The coastal land of Ebonreach is the gateway between civilisation and barbarism. Savage western tribes salivate at the wealth that lays beyond its indomitable fortress.

The ruler’s daughter, the beautiful Countess Saemara, doesn’t have to worry about such things. Duty, study, and magic lessons be damned - her life’s goal is to marry a wealthy royal from the capital, and she’ll do whatever it takes to meet that end.

Unfortunately for her, nothing is ever as simple as that. After a disastrous meeting with a strange foreign nobleman, and with Western Islander raids on the Ebonreach fortress becoming increasingly common, Saemara is forced to confront her shortcomings and grow into something more than she’d ever aspired to be.

Ebonreach: Rise of the Countess is a fantasy adventure story starring a teenage countess who sets out with more looks than sense. Can she not only survive the turbulence engulfing Ebonreach but also guide her land into prosperity?

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Riley Albrecht

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 171
Views: 74,284

Reviews

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Community Reviews(5)

SyenzoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am not a technical reviewer, or much of a reviewer at all. The reason I decided to give a review is because of the strange contradictory feelings that the characters left me with. This is an advanced review, so I will run through the subcategories while trying to describe what I felt reading this.
Style: The story is told in first person narrative past tense which occasionally comes across as the main character telling their story; coupling this with several large skips in time gave me a feeling of distance from the story. Normally I wouldn't like this, but for this specific story, it feels like a good choice, intended or not.
Grammer: There are a few inconsequential spelling mistakes and things like missing or misplaced commas. Nothing that would break immersion or be distracting.
Story: The story is not a light read; this is why I felt the distance from the story was a good thing. After binging it all in a day, I feel exhausted, and if there weren't that distance, I may have shelved the book. The tone is set from the first chapter, and consistant throughout the entire book, I was not surprised with any sudden shifts, specifically, in tone or genre (except for maybe a little at the very, very, end).
Plot-wise, there are a few unexpected twists and some well-foreshadowed events and seems to be constructed quite well in general. The politics were simple, but not to the extent that I felt like it was being written for a child. The ending of the book was a little strange for me, while not inconceivable, it definitely had me soundlessly screaming "WHAT?!". The conclusion is open ended and leaves a lot of room for a sequel, but without that sequel now, it is difficult to get over the way the book concluded.
Characters: The characters make mistakes, and are capable of moving past them and growing as the story progresses in time. As they grew I felt quite attached and invested in that growth, though, I quite dislike all of the characters.
The characters are the driving f
TunaTunaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really do like it!
(To anyone reading, please the entire review :P)
I will say to whomever is reading this that the MC, at the start, will be a brazen, spoiled, utterly horrendous person who thinks they are doing what is best. But, we also see she has a good sense for tactics, a good sense for politics...just not a good sense of being a people-person.
The MC, is young girl who is 15 at the beginning, and is the youngest in line for the land her family holds, she has no reason to put any effort into her studies, no reason to train in warfare, no reason to do...much, except drink Bloodberry Wine, and try to train her Portalmancy(some magic is in story). She desires to marry into a rich household, help her family by sending soldiers to defend the land from invaders (explained in story), and drink bloodberry wine...all in all, a lazy - yet peaceful - lifestyle choice.
Throughout the story we see how utterly horrendous she is to the people around her; but she thinks she is doing the right thing; we see why she does these actions through her thought process.
We also see her thought process behind political affairs, which has been used to better certain situations.
I keep repeating myself, don't I?
All I ask from you, the reader, to give this story a try, with the understanding of her actions and why she does them. She thinks she is doing good by being bad, but for us, with our morals, we see the bad.
Good novel!
anon398758476Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
As of chapter 18, I can say that I've really enjoyed the world-building and characterization in this story. The plot is moving slowly, but it seems as if this is a real turning point in that regard. And, that, I think, is the big question we have here.
All this build-up and structure depends upon our acceptance of the main character, and she has been developed very well. And she is a nasty piece of work right now. I could list all her character flaws, but that's mostly what the first 18 chapters are all about: creating this anti-heroine for us to follow. But what if we don't want to follow her? Obviously, a crisis is coming, and this character is going to have to respond to it. She'll have to develop as a person and develop some useful abilities to drive the story. Let's do this!
Finally, I don't read stories that have bad grammar/vocabulary. This story meets the standard. While it is not perfect (the one mistake I remember is a pale/pail substitution), readers are never pulled out of immersion. Finally, I appreciated the command of sentax; expressions are appropriate representations of the characters/environment.
The slow development up to now could really pay off if we see her struggle and break through, but I think that has to happen soon or I'll start to lose interest. I don't want to read a continuing litany of how a clueless aristocratic bitch suffers from her own idiocy; I want to watch her take hold and grow.
P.S. I rated character as 4 because I'm becoming worried that the main character won't ever gain any self-awareness. I may change that depending on how the next story arc proceeds.
JanxiusRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I have never read a story so, riveting, despite the slightly unlikable main character, her motivations and upbringing somehow make her more... real. I can understand her thought process, while I don't approve of some of her actions, she does learn. And learn HARD. Countess Saemura, despite being petty, a tad cruel, and as naive and spolit as you would expect, her life and interactions with others keep you on the edge of your seat, not knowing if she'll cause the death of a character accidentally or be heralded as a hero next chapter. This low fantasy book is more real than most. No righteous morals, doormat characters, and absurd plot armour moments. It simply feels like the real world, and everyone has there own alterior motives.
TynianRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Female main character is really dislikeable.
Entitled, spoiled, lazy, cruel, not very smart... You ll have a hard time feeling empathy for her for a very long time.
As of chapter 50 it is slowly starting to improve, but not much.
Worldbuilding is great. Easy to fathom the local politics, characters behave sensely with their interests and motivations. Magic/fantasy is minimal.
Writing and grammar are fine, a few typos here and there but nothing that will impede the reading.
A good villainess story. I believe it could have used some more positive traits for the female main character to make her a little likeable. As is, i find it hard to relate to her struggles, most of them birthed by her own behaviour...