Fateless: The Silver Lining

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

It has been ten years of peace for the Union since the end of the great war with the eastern barbarian tribes, yet in the cold north of the Union's land, a new threat is looming. This time, an ambitious Lord is seeking to restore the yore pride of his kin, forcing the weakened Union into yet another unwanted war, as he ramps up the ranks of his army with thieves, murderers and mercenaries.* * *The temperature inside the forge was nearly twice as high as the one outside. A black-haired girl hammered a steel ingot into the shape of a blade. The heat of the steam was draining her stamina away, but her focus remained sharp as her sweat streamed down her face. Hit after hit, for hours, the sound of the hammering steel followed the rhythm of her breathing. Exhausted, she placed the blade into the water and wiped the sweat off her face using a drenched rag.

Why are they screaming?

Vatra dipped the rag back in the water, twisted it, and approached the window. Her mouth opened as her world shattered again into the living nightmare she had wilfully tried to forget. She bit her lips; it wasn’t a dream. The pulse of her heart rose. A cold sweat prickled her back. A mother was running, and a child was screaming. A torrent of smoke was emerging from the roof of her neighbour. Vatra’s eyes blinked. The mother lay on the ground, a spear through her back. A torch circled in the air and landed on the roof of her workshop. In the distance, a man wearing a banner well known to the world…

Fateless is a philosophical medieval dark low fantasy centered on war, militaristic campaigns and geopolitical conflicts between multiple empires. This story follows the fate of Vatra, a former slave from the eastern Nar Empire who was raised in a culture far away from her own, forced into warfare against her will, and the fate of Lanaya, an ambitious half-angel exiled from her home whose existence is seen as heresy. As they wished for peace, both chose a path opposed to one another until their fate crossed. In this story where war dictates the law, love strikes them as a poisoned balm to which they grasp for with all their might, as it is in the darkest of times that the smallest flames may burn the brightest.

* * *

Tome 1 already completed and available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Fateless-Silver-Hugo-Emmanuel-Simard-Wallot/dp/B09LGSH1KK

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hugo-Emmanuel-Simard-Wallot-100547579135891/

I will publish 1 chapter per week (sometimes 2 if the chapters are too short for my liking).

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: H.E.S. Wallot

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 47
Views: 31,104

Reviews

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Community Reviews(4)

Tristan2001Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Very interesting story, The tension between the characters and their humor are fascinating. the evolution of the characters is captivating and we want to know what will happends in the next chapter over and over. the 2nd book is out recently and I can't wait to read it.
The description of the battles, of the medieval weapon is allucinating, one would believe there invested great skill and using acrobacie of master in art of the war. The strategies of war and troop movement as well as inter-tribal and kingdom politics give a lot of substance to the novel.
An epic full of panache. As dark and complex as this literary saga is, the author has managed to create a universe in which each reader can identify in order to make it their own. By imagining a fabulous medieval-fantasy universe, he brilliantly propelled the swashbuckling novel into the realm of soft fantasy. So yes, we can say it, H.E.S. Wallot refounded the genre of fantasy.
This novel is part of a series and the author H.E.S. Wallot has already published his 2nd book. I recommend it, a tasty book of intrigue, character with substance and surprising. A novel that keeps us going with an excellent rhythm and with twists that make us laugh, saddened or surprised.
sancturilloreRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This story is written differently from stories I’ve read before in this genre, hence why it poked my interest.
It’s definitely not for everyone, but while I wouldn’t call one of my favorite stories, I do believe that it should be considered despite its differences in writing style.
It’s definitely a niche story, but it also feels refreshing among the many other medieval stories.
As I said before, the writing style is peculiar, but while it has its cons, its pros allow give the story something that I rarely see in other series.
The cons:
- The dialogue are written like in a script, or more precisely like that of a written play. This can be a turn off for many, and it was for me at first.
- The descriptions are somewhat minimalistic, and the fights are almost more detailed than the environment they occur in.
- The romance is not that developed, but it is still decent.
Pros:
- While the minimalistic descriptions and the play-like dialogue can feel underwhelming, they do however allow for the story to keep its pacing fast and steady, and to focus more on character development without slowing the plot down.
- There is a lot of character development within the story and the characters feel human instead of being archetypes.
- The fight scenes remind me of "Orcs" by Stan Nicholls. They are very detailed and portray the fluidity of combat very well. It seems to me that the author does know about how combat actually flows.
- The play-like dialogue allows for conversations involving many characters at the same time without it feeling confusing.
Should you read it?
Well, if you don't mind the cons, then I definitely recommend it.
dum-tankRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
OVERALL
Overall, this is an ambitious piece that tries to do something rather unconventional. It reads less like a novel and more like a play with occasional narration. If you're looking for something stylistically unique, this is probably a good place to start, but understand that it probably needs an edit pass or two.
STYLE
Compared to everything else, this is the most unique part of the story. Dialogue is not presented traditionally (e.g., "I don't like potatoes!" Sam said), but as a screenplay (e.g., Sam- "I don't like potatoes!"). This is a bit jarring when reading it, and I think that the formatting could be played with to really own the play element. For example, the dialogue could instead be presented as:
Sam
"I don't like potatoes!"
As is, I found it a bit jarring whenever I read a new line of dialogue. Another downside is that whenever a new character is introduced, it can become confusing who is speaking because Wallot will change names on the fly once a character's name is said despite them having had a few lines by this point, which is particularly confusing in the first chapter which has several named characters who (as far as I've read) never show up again. However, all these issues can be fixed with some tweaks.
Another unique component is the dialogue itself, leaving aside its presentation. Characters often speak formally, again, like they are in a play. This works sometimes, but there are instances where characters speak their subtext directly, leaving nothing for interpretation to the reader, or will just exposit something. Again, though, this is something that I expect can be fixed in future edits, and given how rare dialogue like this is, it warrants some appreciation and adds to the book's character.
One thing that should be fixed, though, is perspective. It is not always obvious if this is third person omniscient or third person limited. It seems to change when it feels like it, which adds to the jarring nature of the book's presentation.
GRAM
BedwigRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
So I've only finished 5 chapters, so things might change later.
So far, the grammar is good. There are no mistakes I can spot.
The worldbuilding is nice. You get some lore and the greater world. You aren't just constrained to wherever the MC is currently.
The story (For now) is mostly about an ex-blacksmith apprentice and her joining the army. The other MC that doesn't get mentioned as much is already a fighter,
and so far, it's been revealed that she's the leader of a mercenary team.
The style is odd, though. The character interaction is written like a play, where you have the name, a dash, and whatever the character was saying. You know the character's name before the main MC knows.
ex)
Jorge - Hi
Fred - Hello
Jorge - How are you?
Fred - Good
(This is just an example of the writing style of the author)