Eight God Engine

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2018

Author

Vze3vdnp

• Three Years And Three Drafts Later...
  Dec 8, 2021
• Chapter Two
  Jun 7, 2017
• Chapter One
  May 29, 2017
• Prologue
  Jun 30, 2018

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• pcgamernum1Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Not a ton to say but decided to put a review after digging a bit into the story. Now I want to know what's happening with this world and will likely read the whole thing. Curse you!
  The only complaint I have up to this point is the Characters I've met often have a same sort of feel to them. Different enough to be distinct for sure but maybe a hair more work for a perfect score on that part.
• Skylark (Dion Sky)Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I have absolutely no memory of how this story ended up on my to-read list, but what a joyous surprise I found waiting for me!
  Eight God Engine has one of the strongest openings to a story I've read on Royal Road, and it very much sets the tone of what's to come. Make no mistake, this story features some high-end professional quality writing.
  In some ways I find it highly comparable to a certain style of traditional urban fantasy. It dives hard into the urban grunge, with disenfranchised fugitives, secret societies, and mysticism which draws on both mythology and highly original magic systems. It also has a heavy surrealist bent - which, as a fan of the genre, I greatly appreciate - it mixes the charm of Neil Gaiman with the gravitas of John Wick and the grunge aesthetic of Charles de Lint.
  On top of this, however, it also throws strong superhero and traditional mythology elements into the urban fantasy mix, which miraculously don't end up being the focus of the story. The result is a unique blend of influences seamlessly working together in a way I haven't come across before, lending it a unique feel. And let me assure you, it works stunningly well.
  This is an incredibly well-rounded story strong in just about every metric, but the stand-out to me is its powerfully original world-building. Eight God Engine is set on Earth, but it's a very different one to the version we know. Superheroes and mysticism exist side by side, accompanied by casual insertions of amazing original concepts with their own vocabulary. Disaster banshees - ghosts of past disasters forewarning of those to come - occupy entire city blocks. Dissociative reality disorder causes people to immediately forget giant landmarks rising into the air. There's more, but I won't spoil it for you. All of this, too, is set against the everpresent backdrop of the Seam, a mysterious event or landmark undercutting the landscape and affecting its surrounding.
  If you can't tell from the above, the language and vocab
• Wickedly_DesignedRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  If you are looking for a simple little story, then this one isn't for you. If you are looking for a quick fix of words, the equivalent of a can of beer, then go on and leave. Because what you have here isn't beer, not even one of those fancy craft beers. No. This story here is red wine. Aged, with character, a beautiful mix of complex flavors.
  Every person to make an appearance has their own story. They all add to the whole, without becoming too intrusive - just like the elusive descriptors that only the sommelier and the rare connoisseur truly understand.
  There is no jarring dissonance that comes from the plot violating the world created, the events connect seamlessly, each person's motivation clear - if sometimes hidden.
  All this delivered in a beautiful crystal glass of perfect grammar, accompanied by the graceful words of the craftsman themselves.
  So fetch the good cheese, get that bottle of red that you've been saving and sit down for your date with the perfect story. Who knows, maybe you'll finally be able to find lasting love?
• crusaderbondRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Splendid writing, smooth grammar, fun and interesting worldbuilding, and an intriguing plot. Good stuff!
  Thanks for writing, it's nice so far!
• MoonWatcherRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The first thing I wanted to say is that 'Eight God Engine' isn't a simple story and is far from the wide majority of literature published on RRL. It's a complex narrative, intriguing but weird and even confusing at times, but it's ultimately very compelling and satisfying read, well-polished and thought out to the point where it easily becomes a masterpiece.
  Style - It flows really well and it's incredibly easy to get sucked in. It isn't very poetic, but the richness of the vocalubary makes it feel distinct and enjoyable. It's fairly descriptive and sets the mood and atmosphere without difficulty.
  Grammar - Very stellar and on a professional level. I'm not giving the final 0,5 stars because I'm not adept enough in English to know all its rules, so there may be some mistakes (but I doubt it).
  Story - It's by far the best element of this story for me. The plot is wonderfully woven into the world, which feels natural, distinct and intriguing. The prologue quickly sucks you in, presenting the character of Molech in an incredible way. It feels dream-like, just like it's supposed to be. From then on the story quickly picks up. The reader can smoothly get into the main character's mind and the story is viewed through her eyes, giving a distinct shade to the world around. The plot itself grips you with its numerous concept and doesn't let you slow down.
  Characters - Each of them can be clearly distinguished from the others and has his or hers own motivations, driving forces and character traits. It's a pleasure to see them interacting and moving the plot (and the world) forwards with their actions.
  Conclusion - "Eight God Engine" is a masterfully crafted story which deserves its place amongst the best of RRL. It definitely grabbed my attention and is still holding it tight. I'm giving it a deserved 5/5.
• OnchRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This is a great story, it’s well written and the grammar is impeccable. All the characters are fleshed-out and interesting. The worldbuilding is also high quality and everything is introduced in a seamless fashion that flows well with the contents of the story.
  The plot makes sense and well thought-out, it has a surprising amount of depth that sets this story apart from what we can except from this website.
• PeteRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Interesting setting, monks that make pacts with death gods and super heroes. The monks aren't the "bad guys" btw despite their rather harsh methods to raise new monks and prepare them to make pacts with dangerous entities, more a ends justifies the means type of deal. Well you can consider them bad for that of course I just mean they have no evil goals or something.
  I like the MC and the supporting cast is fine too (though I would like to know a bit more about some of them; we get to know the MC, to a lesser degree we get to know one hero and one god but the other roles don't have much screentime. What we hear of them indicates characters with well a character but we just don't spend time with them.) I like the story and think it was well written. I would like to know more details about the setting but what we got is enough to suggest the form of it and make it interesting.
  It is a self contained story like you might expect from a book not the sprawling thing without goal quite a few stories on this site are. Well the first book of an urban fantasy series since there is plenty more to explore but the story of this one has an end. Except that it went on hiatus with one chapter left to finish the story 9 months ago…………
  Talking about urban fantasy series I guess I would place it a bit under my favorites but well above the average UF series.
• BullerRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Because it hits like a truck, leaves you in the dirt, and then has the audacity of expecting me to understand just why they did what they did. Is this gonna turn out to be one of the things where it all becomes so apparent and understandable when the kinda-villian comes into the spotlight and explains everything? If so, I wont see it coming.
  Anyway. Things seem nice enough for now. 4.5/5
• fontypeRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  I love reading, its something I am good at after a very many years. If I don't find something interesting in the first couple of pages, its dropped to the floor.
  Well, this one is still firmly gripped (metaphysically speaking) between my  dirty paws. Oh, lke many books, it has its slight mistakes, but these are very hard to find and considering its a non commercial book, this is  fantastic
  Well written, good grammar, and an intriguing storyline with immense depth. May I suggest you all take the plunge, and dive into its pages.
• AxinhedRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  While I am biased against FPVs and medium-sized blocks of text, I stomached my peeves and read the story. Turns out, it was pretty good!
  The following are just my opinions:
  STYLE:
  CHARACTER:
  STORY:
  OVERALL: