Exiles

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Kalkonu, the lost continent.

What was once served as a prison for civilization’s worst criminals has become a dumping ground for political outcasts, refugees, and the undesirables of society. There is no escape. For those who are exiled there is only the cold at the top of the world, the wilderness, and the doom of the long night.

But there is fire under the snow. Shadows loom over the clouds. Old evils have begun to wake, and it is in this land of lawlessness that the rejects of the mortal races will find their one and only chance to survive. They may not trust each other, but if they want to get out of this mess, they’re going to have to work together.

And if they’re very, very lucky, they might just save the world.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2018
Author: McQueenSerialFantasy

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 148
Views: 80,354

Reviews

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Community Reviews(8)

TheresauberRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a must read weekly for me. I look forward to every issue! The writing is witty and original, though a little dark at times. I have been surprised by the plot turns more than once, which is unusual. I am generally on top of the direction. Love this series.
Elliot MoorsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review applies up to chapter 56.
STYLE - Crisp. Simple. Introspective. The author's style is one I very much appreciate. It skips a lot when it comes to environments and other descriptions, focusing succinctly on the characters and their emotions. One of my favorite aspects of the story. Though this one is a slow burn, no page feels wasted. It may not be for everyone, I can't tell, but for my tastes, it's a perfect fit.
GRAMMAR - Professional grade. A few mistakes here and there, but not more than 1-2 a chapter, and usually not even that many.
STORY - Without spoiling anything, this is a classic fantasy story (halflings, elves, etc) with a gritty shell. I found that the setting and style blended excellently together. These old tropes are a little tired at this point, but the author does not borrow much from them, and does not use them as a crutch. The only reason I'm giving the story a star off for story is because for me, the story shifts tone near the end. It is an expected change, and suitably forshadowed, but a little jarring nontheless.
CHARACTERS - The main cast all feel like people, for the most part. They're a ragtag group of exiles, as the title would suggest, and the way they play off each other is always entertaining. Different viewpoints converge to create a narrative that gives a broad perspective on the world, while still feeling focused. The only part I feel is missing is a lack of distinguishable character development. The main cast do change of the course of their journey, but given all they have been through, it feels a bit light.
OVERALL - The best story I've read on RR. Bar none. The author is a professional, that much comes through from his writing, the commissioned covers for every chapter, etc. He deserves more attention and support, and so does this story. I will continue to keep up as more chapters are posted.
On a personal note to the author; keep it up. I've learned a lot from reading your story. I hope your career blows up, because t
TheResonantWordsmithRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Style 4/5: The only thing I've found to be difficult with this story is figuring out who's talk at certain times. It's not too hard to piece it together with context, but it could be easier.
Grammar 5/5: Very clean grammar. No complaints here.
Story 5/5: I'm about 25 chapters in and so far I love it. The frozen world the story takes place in is well thought out and feels like it could be a real place. I love the idea of a frozen penal colony where exiles and political dissidents are stashed.
The most interesting aspect to me is the impending winter that will cripple the city, like Alaska when they have months of mostly night. It's a joy to learn all the different ways this event will affect the city, lawlessness for example.
Character 5/5: So far, every character feels real and interesting, each having their own goals and backstory. This story doesn't hold your hand either. You get a general idea of what someone's backstory could be but only receive crumbs here and there.
Overall 4.5/5: I really enjoy this story and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys adventure stories relating to survival and down on their luck heroes. The Art in each chapter adds to the feel of the story in a great way.
MoonWatcherRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
"Exiles" is a work of fiction that opens up with a somewhat familiar idea that has a nice touch of originatility to it. It (unsurprisingly) is focused on the topic of exile in a foreign land that is chaotic and untamed in its nature, but also intriguing and unexplored (mostly for the reader). Exactly this idea is the gateway to a vivid cast of characters and several plot threads that create a brilliant narrative.
Style - As a non-English reader, I found the vocabulary very rich, but the lack of complex words make reading easy. The author manages to create flowing prose and crisp scenes, especially with his really exact and diverse use of verbs. There is a good atmosphere and it's not hard to imagine the vividly described characters, battles and landscapes.
Grammar - As far as I've read it's absolutely stellar. There may be some mistakes that I wasn't able to notice because I'm not skilled enough in English, though.
Story - The setting quickly poses as a very interesting place for events to unfold. The continent where the characters are exiled is an unforgiving, dark place, and that definitely shapes their goals and personalities. Every character in the main cast strives to achieve something, big or small, and that helps for the plot to flow effortlessly. The story itself is intriguing, with some plot twists that are definitely hard to predict.
Characters - They are well-described and most of them have some sort of unique trait that helps them to stick out amongst the others. The main cast are all interesting and their interactions feel natural and are a joy to read.
Conclusion - "Exiles" has an exceptional quality for RRL and is definitely far above most stories posted here. It's been very pleasant to read it so far. It deserves a solid 4,5/5.
akhier the dragon heartedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I write this review having read chapter 55 (the most recent at the time)
"Exiles" is an excellent story that manages a dark world without just throwing meaningless gore and rape at you. The characters develop as the land they now live in creeps towards a seasonal time of darkness that brings down all. Having both people new to the land and those who have survived years there, we get a view into how the land is seen from both sides. Thrown into this mix, an ancient danger is resurfacing and causing upheaval to an already chaotic time. This isn't a hero's story. It somewhat follows a diverse group. Though we do get enough takes from other viewpoints to get a feel for the dark undercurrents that are running through the land.
A good read if you would like to get sucked into a darker world of magic.
JPwritesRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I wrote this review after reading eleven chapters.
Even though McQueen does a brilliant job of weaving an interesting tale, however, I struggled to give him high ratings for story and style.
My biggest issue with Exiles was the constant jump in POV early in the story. Though this serves as a great world building tool I thought it took away from the story on a whole. There seems to plenty of exposition dotted around the budding tale but it doesn't answer most of the reader's questions. Maybe it is my fault for not reading far enough but then again the tail didn't compel me to continue.
Grammar wise there were little to no issues. Nothing popped out at me while I was working my way through the tale.
Where McQueen's work shines is his character development. Every single one I've encountered is well written, easy to relate to and is more complicated than the average RRL protagonist. I like how they seem to have unique backgrounds and drives. The interactions between the cast are brilliant pieces of dialogue comparable to professional authors.
To summarise: though it was difficult to get into I think the author is doing a good job and knows his stuff. I look forward to coming back to 'Exiles' in the future.
loomeceusRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
My review is up to chapter seventeen and so far I like what I am reading.
Style: this is my lowest score for this review at three. From early on the author writes from the different perspectives of the main characters and he uses that to draw out more details from this world which is a good technique to subtlety give us exposition. However, I personally found it a bit jumpy and I had to re-read a couple sections to understand what was happening. Not a big problem. Also, sometimes the little tidbits of exposition dropped in beg more questions than give answers.
Story: At a 4.5, it's clear this author has big plans for the future of this story. These chapters I have read so far, while a little slow and full of world creation, are building a large foundation for what is going to come. I will continue to read this story to see how this is going to play out. It's not a very happy story though, so far it's mostly people in different levels of desperation.
Characters: 4. As of chapter seventeen there have been seven characters whom we have seen written from their perspective. Each one is unique from each other with interesting back stories and different motivations and values. That said, I can't tell who the main character is (I don't know if there will be one) and the different characters aren't necessarily on the same "side" so I am unsure who I should be rooting for. The person who I think would be the most interesting we know the least about and see the least from his perspective. Also, since we move from perspective to perspective it makes it difficult to get to know the characters well. That will undoubtedly change as we progress, but for now I am having a hard time empathizing with these people.
Grammer: A solid 4, very good grammar. I would not have said anything if this was not a section unto itself. Minor issues now and then, I listened to a lot of this story during my long commutes and the literal reader I use catches a few thins that would otherwise be passed o
OnchRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Style: This novel's style is pretty good, the descriptions are well done and help the reader clearly imagine a scene. However, the page structure feels a bit sparse at time, and the way the dialogue tags are handled sometimes break the flow of the story. The way the PoV switches are handled also requires a bit of time to get used ot it.
The copy-pasted text at the beginning of each chapter should be shortened and put into the pre-chapter notes, we know what we're reading so we don't need a constant reminder of the title and the author's name shoved in our face every time. Same problem with the text at the end of each chapter. The chapter body should contain the chapter, auxiliary stuff can go in the pre and post chapter notes.
Grammar: Grammar-wise, there isn't any mistakes as far as I'm concerned. But I'm not a native speaker, so I might have missed something.
Story: The beginning of the story is a bit generic, but the author's own spin becomes more obvious as the chapters progress, and it becomes truly unique later on.
Characters: The characters have well defined personalities, and they all feel like real people. The wa they interact with each other is also pretty interesting. A nice change of pace on this website.
To conclude, I'll say that Exile is an interesting read, and it's worth enduring the, in my opinion, sub-part page management since the story and setting are interesting and unique enough to distinguish Exiles from most of the other stories on this website.