Forged (Hiatus: Rewrite in progress)

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2021

Author

Turtles are different from Tortoises

• Announcement: About the future of Forged.
  Nov 19, 2023
• Chapter 23
  Apr 7, 2022
• Chapter 22-Volume one End
  Mar 6, 2022
• Chapter twenty-one
  Feb 2, 2022
• Chapter twenty
  Feb 2, 2022
• Chapter nineteen
  Jan 5, 2022
• Chapter eighteen
  Dec 29, 2021
• Chapter seventeen
  Dec 13, 2021
• Chapter sixteen
  Dec 8, 2021
• Chapter fifteen
  Nov 27, 2021
• Chapter fourteen
  Nov 27, 2021
• Chapter thirteen
  Nov 21, 2021
• Chapter twelve
  Nov 18, 2021
• Chapter eleven
  Nov 17, 2021
• Chapter ten
  Nov 15, 2021
• Chapter nine
  Nov 13, 2021
• Chapter eight
  Nov 12, 2021
• Chapter seven
  Nov 11, 2021
• Chapter six
  Nov 9, 2021
• Chapter five
  Nov 9, 2021

Reviews

Community Reviews(6)

• S.N. KeirsteadRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Style: First and foremost, the action scenes are excellently written. The attacks, the positions of the combatants and the impacts of the strikes are all well done and paint a vivid scene. When opponents use two different styles of weapons, it becomes even more entertaining to see how they use the unique attributes of their weapons to their advantage.
  Grammar: Grammar is fine. There are some typos here and there but not enough to detract from the work. And the author fixes them soon after they're pointed out.
  Story: The core premise is simple enough to grasp: A swordswoman is out for revenge. The battles she engages in are quick and brutal. Even though Tenjo is competent with her blade, she still has a lot of room for improvement, leaving much potential for growth. The chapter at which this review was written introduced another character with a different POV with her own backstory, so there is a lot of room for interesting and complex relationships.
  Character: The characters do lack descriptions, which can make some of the scenes a bit hard to follow. Their personalities are also very stoic so some of the dialogue might be kind of hard to follow. They aren't bad characters; they have unique traits and act reasonably, but in terms of diverse personalities and voices, it's a bit too early to tell.
  Overall, a very fun read for fans of samurai and swordsmanship with a hint of fantasy.
• PloopieRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Before I begin, let me preface this review by stating that this is my own personal perspective.
  Some notes
  It is clearly evident that this is the author's first novel. What I mean by this is the considerable jumps between chapters. I feel like there is a coherent storyline and plot, but the beginning few chapters- especially the jumps between chapter 4-5 and 5-6- are pretty hard to follow if you aren't reading closely. This, accompanied by the seemingly random flashbacks and perspective changes can lead to quite a confusing read.
  Ok, on to the actual review.
  Style
  The reason why I gave this section a four star was because of the rapid jumps between chapters. However. There is more to it than that. The author has a really nice flow in the actual scenes themselves- especially the fight scenes. The author has a real knack of describing the precise movements and describing them in such a way it almost feels poetic. It's quite amazing, coming from a newbie author.
  Story
  Right now, it might be harsh, but the story to me feels slightly basic. There's things going on, but it feels slightly disconnected and as if it doesn't have that much of a meaning. This might be a reflection of the main character's shallow personality, which I will go into further detail in the next section. As I was saying about the story, right now it's in the direction where the main character, Tenjo, is searching to find her missing brother which 'somehow' dissapeared. Slowly, we are being introduced to more new characters that will probably help Tenjo find out more about her brother's dissapearance. The main gripe I have with this is the beginning, where from the first chapter, we are being introduced into the world and straight into chapter five, it's a world of adventure and pain and mystery. Some might say that's pretty normal, but for me, unfortunately, the author has not done it in a way that I'm comfortable with.
  Character
  The characters are the one thing I am quite... uncertain about. You see
• SR FauthRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Let me preface this review by saying that I enjoyed the fiction. The fighting scene were very, and I mean VERY, well put together.
  And with that ... let us being:
  STYLE SCORE: The style is amazing and is hyper focused on the fight scenes. It took several chapters, but I eventaully realized that the writer has focused this ficton on actions and events rather than letting it be story driven. At least, this is how it reads to me. And it works.
  STORY SCORE: The story is well written. With only 7 chapters it is difficult to see where it may lead, particularily with the amounf of background events going on. The story does suffer from a lack of detail of the world, or an explanation of past and current events that have led up to this moment. Some fleshing out of the scenes, world descriptions, and context would be a very welcome addiition to a good story.
  GRAMMAR SCORE: No issues here.
  CHARACTER SCORE: This was the one area where I felt the writer had some challanges. The characters are amazing within the scenes they are placed. Their actions flow, their intent is clear. Their descriptions may as well be grey blobs will well described swords. The Author has a great level of detail for their weapons, almost as if they are the only things in the fiction that matter.
  OVERALL SCORE: 4.5 stars. I would put it at 4.75 but alas, there is no option for that. I couldnt honestly give a 5 star review for this due to the lack of descriptions for the world, environment, and characters. I dtill dont know what hair color the MC has.
• TheGreatGazpachoRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Style: I can visualize the movements very well due to the heavily detailed choreography. The dialogue between the characters was serviceable. The pacing of the action felt relatively good.
  Grammar: This is a weakness of my own and from reading this story—nothing grammatical really tripped me up.
  Story: I'm invested in seeing Tenjo discover new techniques and reinforce her current drawing technique. I'm also curious as to what will happen going forward given the surprise turn in chapter 5. I want to know more about the division in thoughts between Tenjo's mother and grandfather following the events of chapter 5. We saw a bit of their characters, but I want to see more to help flesh them out.
  Character: The main criticism I have is that I don't know what Tenjo looks like at all. While eye, hair, and skin color are important for character construction—in a combat-heavy story such as this—I think adequately explaining Tenjo's height, arm length, and weight would be interesting. Those three physical factors could be used to assess how Tenjo squares up against other sword-wielders. Since it doesn't seem like powers dominate combat, differences in speed, strength, and reach could carry more weight. Just something to consider.
  Keep going, your writing output is admirable.
• luda305Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  For all that spellblades are overused as a character type, there's always a much heavier focus on the spells than the blade in those stories.
  Not so here.
  Forged is set in a fantasy world based on Edo-era Japan.  There is magic, and mages, and some of the sword abilities are magic like, but the style of writing is heavily focused on the blade.  There are a lot of swordfights, and despite the very detailed description, and the fact that these fights are likely decided in less than a minute, the fights do not drag on and are gorgeous to read.
  That said, there's some really dark and grim undertones to the story.  Mutilation and death are accepted as exceedingly common outcomes for samurai and are gruesomely depicted, with the protagonist struggling at significant length with this reality.  I think there's actually some sort of meta-commentary there about how we accept death in fantasy fiction too readily, but I'm not qualified to comment on that.
  All in all, a very good read, especially for those with an interest in sword masters.
• MethuselahRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  The inclusion of ‘Chapter End’ seems unnecessary. I’ve noticed a few, subtle grammatical errors, but nothing that impeded my reading nor stood out as especially bad. Chapters 3 and 4 read quickly, as if they’re rushing. Generally, your writing style does a great deal of telling where, in my opinion, you have ample room for showing with character dialogue, internal dialogue, and changes in physical expressions.
  Chapter 1: I like the combat descriptions. In my opinion, albeit one that doesn’t have a lot of experience writing them out, they flow nicely. The line: “...that wouldn’t be destroyed in hours under the weight of swordsmen’s auras in combat.” seems like something better revealed when you’re showing the swordsmen’s auras instead of telling it as a fact.
  Chapter 2: I would’ve liked to see her initial reactions to the ominous ending to the first chapter. Perhaps the elaboration on ‘aura’ should occur when the powers thereof are shown, or should be shown in Tenjo’s thoughts? What manner of running earns rebukes?
  Chapter 3: The larger and stronger description of Tenjo’s opponent's sword seems to get glossed over. Is this figurative, or literal? I like that this story focuses a great deal on the combat, although I’d prefer to see a bit more detail intermixed, such as more coverage of changes in posture, facial features, etc. The imagery, like the candle in a breeze, feels like a cliche. What do you mean by ‘watchers’? The crowd? Judges? ‘Girl in green’ seems to be a fresh description of her opponent, but because the opponent hasn’t yet been described, it reads confusingly. Why did the second exchange end before someone was killed or maimed or rendered unconscious?
  Chapter 4: As with the aforedescribed, is the bending sword blade figurative or literal? With how significant the vivid descriptions of combat seem to be in this narrative, this chapter’s fight scene feels rushed. Additionally, I would’ve preferred to read her dialogue about why her grandfather was so disa