Godslayers

Information

Status

Ongoing

Year

2022

Author

Trollmore

• Planetfall 1.5
  Mar 23, 2022
• Planetfall 1.4
  Mar 22, 2022
• Planetfall 1.3
  Mar 21, 2022
• Planetfall 1.2
  Mar 21, 2022
• Planetfall 1.1
  Mar 21, 2022

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• saithorthepyroRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  While only 13 chapters are out so far, the details of this story immediately grabbed me, as did the very interesting premise. The characters are what I stayed for, as the work done with them has immediately made me interested. This story very much feels like a slower burn than some that makes me enjoy it more as I prefer that pace, although some fans of more faster paced stories (lightning fast, comparatively) may not enjoy it as much.
  On style and grammar, I have no complaints. Properly edited, with an immediate voice that stays consistent throughout and reflects our viewpoint character and well reflects a first person style.
  The characters I already briefly mentioned, and while we haven't gotten too deep with them quite yet, they are all distinct, have fun banter with each other, have hinted at deeper explorations, and overall have a good dynamic.
  The story is interesting. The worldbuilding for our protagonists is being hinted at piece by piece while they themselves are busy trying to figure out the worldbuilding of the world they are on. The overall plot is interesting so far as the character try to figure out how to kill this pantheon. An organization that goes out killing a culture's gods is an interesting premise and one I feel is going to be fully realized going forward.
• Aaron Sofaer (aka Pastafarian)Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Overall: The story is well-paced, well-written, and well-structured. The mixture of plot-driven necessities and character-driven twists and developments makes for a gripping read.
  Grammar: Impeccable. Syntax, spelling, and grammar are all basically perfect.
  Style: Love it. The descriptions of locations and scenery are beefy enough to provide the sense of place that the story needs, but the real focus is on the characters and the people and the society, and there it delivers in absolute spades. Everything is believably from the POV of the point-of-view character, and everything bleeds style. Also, as someone who loves jargon, I gotta say I love Godslayers's use of both real and fake jargon.
  Character: If you liked A Practical Guide to Evil's banter, you're going to like this banter. I did, so I do! Characters are appropriately quippy or not, appropriately smug or snarky or patient or severe as the character and the scene demands. The characters are also strongly different, and in ways which make sense given their cultures of origin.
  Story: This story crashes through the planetary barrier from etheric space and is immediately going somewhere, and I'm here for it.
  Godslayers is one of the best stories I've had the pleasure to beta-read, and I am deeply excited that it's now getting posted on Royal Road. Buckle in, there might be some etheric turbulence.
• Bug PetrichorRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This is the only social sci-fi I know of and it is downright brain candy. Highly recommend. Aliens arrive at a planet (one a former earthling) to kill it's gods that consume the souls of the people, to save and liberate them.
  Social fencing ensues, found family mixed with professional team dynamics, and the tech is on another level of imaginative. Communications, resurrections, creating emotion in themselves and others. This features largely in how the main characters' use social combat related ways of coping with disenfranchised feelings and grief that the team has to navigate over the course of their mission.
  If you like the more recent works of Thundamoo, you may love this. Complex morally grey situations, with 'the ends will justify the means because we'll make them' type spirit. Highly dynamic characters, that can body swap. Gender ambiguity and change is the norm over the story as well.
  I am padding for word count, but it really is my favorite story on here and you should really give it a shot. The effort and eye for gripping story shines through and even with some scheduling difficulties, every chapter is worth the wait. This might be the first thing I will ever support on Patreon!
  Some typos, but that's it for complaints. :)
• Chris Ford WritesRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Initial thoughts. This story doesn't babysit the reader, thrusting them into a world unlike any I've ever encountered. Captivated from the get-go, I binged everything... twice. The cast is dynamic, each character adding their own flavor of personality to every interaction. The entire story exists within a realm of gray, challenging ideologies in entertaining and creative fashion. All in all, this blew me away.
  Now, for the breakdown.
  Style: Oozes from the pages naturally. Trollmore writes in a way I'm envious of, really bringing every narrative aspect alive in a brilliant display of skill. The core concepts of this story tickle an intellectual scratch I wasn't even aware I had, and so seamlessly at that. Everything flows smoothly. Phenomenally done.
  Story: In its simplest form, this story is about a crew of space travelers with awesome tech. In actuality, this story is driven by conceptual principals with an emphasis on the main cast using mathematics to combat larger-than-life concepts-given-flesh with the goal of creating a world where all have freedom of will and are detached from the manipulative and parasitic entities they once worshipped. Deicide is the name of the game, and the amount of tools the cast has at their disposal mean little without the casts' intelligent planning and preparation. I love everything about this. I could gush far more, but I've more to discuss.
  Grammar: Liberties were taken here and there to maintain flow, and I respect that. Trollmore has a great understanding of the language and his craft, and it shows.
  Character: This. I can't even begin to describe how well-crafted each character is. A lot of thought has gone into ensuring the consistency of personality and the dynamic of the core cast. Lilith is our primary point of view character, but I love everyone equally. All of them have traits that make me want to call them my favorite. I've been thinking about that a lot as I read, and I can't definitively say I have a favorite, because t
• Courtyard AliceRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  What made me check this story out in part was someones description of it as 'hard social science sci-fi' and, having read through what is available, I really must agree.
  Also fighting gods with sci-fi just slaps as a premise, you can't go wrong with that
  Really , though, great characters with both the sci-fi and fantasy cultures well depicted and the plot is going to strange and fun places
• Daja_KisuboRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Exciting, fun and filled with interesting characters that actually feel like other people with personalities. Ordinarily, I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi, however, I can highly recommend this story. Early days, but so far, so good!
  Style: Fun and to the point, with lots of good banter. However, I’m also really enjoying some of the setting descriptions. Sci-Fi but with an interesting dose of religion and sociology built into it. The worldbuilding so far is really, really, good in its mix of sci-fi and religion, plus there are plenty of hints of great things to come as more chapters are released.
  Grammar: Flawless. Or at least I haven’t noticed any flaws yet.
  Characters: The MC Lilith is a great unreliable narrator who has her own personal opinions, desires, habits and beliefs - all of which give you a sense of her as a unique person. Lilith’s shipmates also all have their own personality/voice and given what’s going down story-wise I’m certain we have some very interesting new characters coming soon.
  Story: Kinda like XCOM and PGTE combined. I won’t say too much more because of spoilers, however, it's good shit so far.
  Very good so far and well worth a read!
• FayhemRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Story: The story is very intriguing. The plot takes twists and turns to keep our characters on their toes, but without feeling forced. The worldbuilding underpinning everything is absolutely fascinating as well. There have been a number of stories about killing gods at this point, but I don't think I've ever seen one about sci-fantasy commando teams breaking into a new reality and murdering gods with weaponized anthropology before. So points for showing me something new right off the bat.
  Style and grammar: These are both top-notch. The writing flows easily; it's both clear enough to be legible and vivid enough to be engaging. Spelling and grammar are both nearly impeccable. On at least one occasion the author has used the style of the narration to communicate important information about the protagonist, but in a way that's understated enough to serve the narrative rather than pulling focus. That's a needle that a lot of stories that try something like that fail to thread, so pulling it off successfully definitely earned some points from me.
  Character: As for the characters, well. Even with as much as I'm vibing with the rest of it, the characters might be my actual favorite part. The main character has powerful gremlin energy and following her point of view is fun as fuck, but even with as (relatively) short a time as this story has been running it's still very clear there's more depth to her personality as well; she's not just a one-note walking meme at all. The same is also true for the supporting cast; they all have clear and well-defined personalities, that are interesting in their own right and also interesting to see bouncing off each other.
  Overall: This is one of my favorite new stories on RoyalRoad, and I heartily recommend it. Seriously, unless you're just overtly allergic to the premise itself, give it a shot - you'll be mad at yourself if you don't.
• GorewoodRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Soft sci-fi with hard social sciences; not since reading Ursula le Guin have I realised how much I needed this.
  Let's start with style; the prose here is effective and seemingly effortless, with occasional flashes of brilliance. Style - I'd say it has buckets, but that implies it's applied without artistry, which is definitely false.
  The overarching plot of a team of four killing the gods of the planet they've landed on - is bold and different, and obviously we're in the early stages but I'm expecting it to pay off well.
  The closer-in threads of the initial village, the plan to get one of them into the "Olympics", and Lilith's infiltration of high society are all well executed, with satisfying pay-offs.
  Grammar, not sure what to say - it's good? The writer has a clear facility with language, well, great, we kinda covered that with style. Moving on.
  Characters: at the heart of the story we have four, but they're all centred around Lilith, at least in my view. Team rookie, Earth girl with some trauma she's still got to deal with and an attitude - there's a lot to like about Lilith, especially her screw-ups, of which there are several. Sometimes she amazes her teammates, other times she dismays them, join the rollercoaster to see them happening in real time!
  Character relationships are dynamic, nuanced and effectively drawn, even bit parts don't feel like cardboard cutouts.
  I can't recommend this story highly enough; I think as long as it maintains this level of quality it will be the best story on the site when it's finished.
• KingbobRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  So, I picked this up a few days ago when Trollmore was first getting the word out Godslayers was going live, and I have to say I've been hooked from the very first chapter.
  Overall: Godslayers is engaging, entertaining, and above all, fun as hell to read. I rarely take the time to review, but this story is beyond worth it.
  Style: Snappy dialogue, with a very Sci-fi flavor to the Fantasy universe. The focal lens of Social and Anthropological examination gives it all some good flavor to help differentiate itself from the masses of hilariously overpowered god killers out there.
  Grammar: No flaws that I've noticed so far.
  Story: The background consists of a society of Spacefaring Atheists hunting down predatory Gods on planets across the galaxy. Trollmore already has some interesting results that occur for a culture like this one and I'm curious to see what else we might get in the future.
  Characters: Still early days for our Characters, but already I'm enjoying our squads dynamic and the broad roles each one falls into as they go about Deicide. Lilith and Markus are my favorites so far, but that could change at the drop of a hat.
  Unreservedly, I would recommend picking up Godslayers. If I had the option, I would be buying this book and any sequals it has at the bookstore so I could binge read as much content as possible. Give Me The Books Trollmore!!!
  5/5 Read This Story
• LuciferLilacRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Godslayers is one of the best stories on here, no doubt in my mind.
  It's got a fantastically original concept, and merges genres in a beautifully imaginative way: in concept, it's a xianxia story (reach heaven, overthrow the gods). In background, it's science fiction (we have parallel earths and extremely advanced technology from a culture who have streamlined and perfected the process of entering alternate universes to kill every god they find)
  But in practice? This story is half philosophy discussion, and half a spy thriller. And I love it, it's so unique.
  The first thing you absolutely have to understand is that the author is brave enough to write a protagonist's side who are not necessarily right, and also that they have enough faith in their audience to not have to spell this out for you.
  This is really easy to fuck up, to be honest! is a really hard thing to overcome, and most authors choose one of two approaches. Most commonly, the protagonist's side is automatically the good one so they don't have to worry about this. Alternatively, if they want to make it clear you are not meant to unquestioningly follow what the protagonists' bosses believe, they make them kick-the-puppy level evil.
  Trollmore believes you are capable of more nuance than that! I cannot definitively say for you "yes, the Eifni organisation are good/bad", but I do believe we are meant to see that even though our protagonist generally does not question them, we are nevertheless invited to on her behalf.
  (I have to give additional props to the author here: too often, a 'super advanced sci-fi protagonist species' is just code for the author's own opinions. Trollmore doesn't do this, though: at multiple points, we are given information about Velean culture that feel politically... very uncomfortable, despite the fact that they are meant to be a very advanced culture, because they are politically completely different to Earth. And writing an alien culture like this must be really uncomfortable, a