Force of Will

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

This is my attempt at blending a typical fantasy isekai of sword and sorcery with a xianxia cultivation style. Hopefully its a good attempt.

Iama first time writer, so feel free to critique me! Comments, ratings, messages whatever! I'm taking it all as constructive feedback I promise!

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There was William a bright young lad who, through his father's rigorous training starting at a young age, managed to be accepted as a Page with a potential for knighthood with enough hard work. The kid was going to go places.

There was also William, fresh out of college and just aimlessly working at local restaurants and bars just enjoying life and not doing anything with his degree. Pretty much just spending his life having a good time doing whatever he wants.

Obviously these are two different Williams. Or are they?

Join the second Will as he awakes in a new body and discovers exactly what this new experience entails for him.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Torgar

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 631
Views: 128,121

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(3)

CelsicaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Force of Will took me a bit by surprise. The beginning chapters are a bit short but one quickly finds his pace here and this is surely helped by the Mc's sidekicks (a girl and a boy sidekick in a school... A traditional trio).
Delving in...
Style: I have some issues with the style, but this is mostly because I usually been spoiled webnovels that have tight beginning and endings (think He Who Fights with Monsters). I'm also okay with self-contained story chapters like the Wandering Inn. Force of Will doesn't reach that level but the prose is still decently structured. It reads better when binged, the story arcs meld well together. Also, this might cime off strong, but the author jokes during a particularly Theorycrafting chapter that "it had to happen". It made me laugh but also wish that it didn't have to be. I hope the Xianxia systems won't go "full Xianxia" and make no sense
Story: the setting is well done with a mix of popular genre. Unless I've missed a lot, it feels like there are very few kernels of a higher plot. If I'm wrong and the author has bamboozles us, I'm sorry. So far, it's mostly magic school slice of life. Enjoyable!
Grammar: I'm not sure how much has been revised, but I've seen way, way worse. Some obvious typos but they were rare. Author is receptive and fixing things. Kudos!
Character: falls a bit short in this category. The MC is a charmer with every girl he meets, making them blush in delight. Is this a harem novel? They ALL do it! Author, you had it right by having one lady be an asshole to the MC! Why did she fall for him too, he was being a pompous prince with his sister!
The character taking the place of Ron Weasley is especially silent and just not very engaging, there's a waste of potential. They should have their own motivations and conflicts, and too many characters were introduced too quickly diluting the whole novel's potential. I seriously recommend a refocus into their friendship. A character which is initially a rival just... Quic
StillnessRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
The story is about a guy who becomes his alternate dimention self starting magic knight school. That's pretty much it.
The insert from another world doesn't seem to have any impact at all, other than he doesn't have any of his past memories and his panic when he first appeared in the world. He never even gets called out for not have any common knowledge or shared experience. The insert itself doesn't bring any value to the story and could be the exact same with an in universe character.
The main character himself doesn't have any goals or motivations. He goes to classes and makes friends sure, but he is just going with the flow and not driving the story at all.
The world building is sparse and we get it in drips and drops as the MC picks up on things. This is most of the story's draw in my opinion, trying to figure out how this world works. The problem is that I only care about the world I the character gives me a reason to care.
The story itself is decently written and the characters fleshed out on the surface, though I don't get the feeling that they're vey deep. There isn't much mention of any backrounds for any of the characters, as if they started existing only when they became relavant.
In short, the characters need more history, desires and motivations (or at least imply that they exist) and the world needs more detail.
Turtles are different from TortoisesRoyal Road
★★ 2.0
Grammar: Right off the bat, the grammar has some issues. While not huge, they do have a noticeable effect on the reading experience, and the sentences are regularly choppy and ill structured. This comes across often in past vs present tense, which the story seems to struggle with keeping straight.
Character: The characters are mostly plain, falling into arc types without being comically overblown. However, that’s about it. They don’t have a lot of distinct personality or anything that makes them memorable. Because of this, none of them stand out, or are compelling enough to make me feel attached to them at all.
The protagonist is especially egregious, lacking agency and meaningful adjustment. Despite having been thrown into another body in another world, he seems to have seamlessly picked up everything and has not the slightest issue with adapting. Because of this, he doesn’t come off as real, feeling more like a robot that has been fed lines and actions which make no sense, with no personality or motives of his own to guide him. This also results in him often seeming out of character with what little has been established for him.
Story: There isn’t really much of one as of yet. The is the initial event, and then a plot hook that comes after a while, but neither really is fleshed out or elaborated on, and both come as rather hamfisted, not feeling natural with the world.
Style: Here we come to the crux of the issues with this work, which I would say come down to three elements in particular.
Firstly, the rushed pacing, and how it’s paired with little content. Scenes are jumped to from one and another, without really taking the time for any of them to have a meaningful impact.
Secondarily, the lack of a strong point. Normally, a story will have a focus. Whether it’s the protagonist’s development, the secondary cast, the spectacular action, or the interesting world. This one has nothing like that at all.
I can’t tell what the author wants the focus to be, or how they