Headcase

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Everywhere there are superheroes and supervillains, but Adrian is just a ghost. His power allows him to go anywhere unnoticed, and he hasn't wanted to be noticed at all. Until today, this telepath could barely remember his own name, let alone what his purpose in life was. But no one can ignore their destiny forever.

Adrian needed a wakeup call to come back to the world, and it came in the form of an unstoppable rampaging super. Hemust keep his feet on the ground now if he wants to survive and become the strongestsanehero left standing - and save the city he loves.

Author's Note: This will be my fourth original novel here on Royal Road so you can have confidence in my completion rate. My last book 'Creep' received both extreme praise and criticism which I have taken to heart. My intent here is to redouble all the best elements of my writing. I hope you enjoy!

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Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: Shaeor

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 370
Views: 103,720

Chapters(35 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(5)

AdmiralmonkeymanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Firstly, I would like to preface this review by saying that I am the beta reader for headcase. Now that that's out of the way, let me give you a show of how unbiased I am by bringing up my least favorite thing in headcase. Very minor spoilers below.
Adrian, our main character, has a very hard time finding his way. This isn't necessarily bad, but a few times during the story he will be absolutely positive in his decisions only to have strong doubts in the next chapter. On top of that, there are a few story beats, like Adrian being on his way to what would seem to be a new place for the plot, only for the direction of the story to change entirely. Overall, though, Shaeor makes these transitions as natural as possible and Adrian finally seems to be steadfast in his goals.
Now, to the fun part.
I absolutely love Adrian's power. Shaeor found the best way to have both a versatile power that's fun to read being played out in a fight, and a great story tool. We can instantly see how other characters feel. We can take a third person look around the block. We can get all the information we need without cheating the first person perspective, and that does wonders for keeping my attention, and I am usually not much of a reader at all due to my mind wandering.
Every character is immensely memorable. It's been weeks (of real time) since we've heard from these characters, but I still recall the fierce Zephyr, the radical Stumblebum, and the insane Torque all by name. Each character has their own voice, and ingrane a perfect little spot in your subconscious. Even sixes, the random military guy, has a lot more character than a lot of primary characters in other serials.
Adrian is a great protagonist as well. He has had a rough life, and it's great to see him emerge from his shell to fight for what he believes in. It's also just a delight to see how his powers evolve.
And while new marion may at first seem like your average super city at first, it works in much smarter ways than most
Crimson253Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
First off, let's get the small things out of the way. Grammar is great and there are no spelling errors that I could spot. The flow of the story is immersive and you do not get bored. As expected of Shaeor.
Moving on, the plot is interesting and takes some of the superb elements of his previous story, creep. It is a delight to read about an individual with "mental" powers which are applied in logical ways. You never get bored watching headcase figure out new ways to use his power. It is pleasing and exciting to see this development of his and the villains do not get undermined as a result of it either. Latest example including pass through, a very unique ability which was portrayed in a very intense manner that you would not expect.
That is all for now I suppose! Headcase is a superhero origin story which distinguishes itself from stories of the same genre with intense action, great flow and superb application of super powers!
EnourmousLettersRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's got all the basics you need; good grammar and spelling, style and characters.
If you've read a hundred superhero stories than you've kind of read them all, but Headcase stands out with a few new spins on the old formula and some excellent descriptive prose to go with.
Not the mention the author's previous works have all been decent to good quality and finished, so you know you're not signing up for a half-baked cake.
KarthoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Note: I will revisit this review as more chapters are released.
Overall: If you enjoy the superhero genre, find the unique interactions and match-offs between various powers interesting, or just are looking for something well written to pass the time, give Headcase a try.
Comparison to Creep:
Creep was an divisive story for most. It married a varied and exotic world of powers with a mentally ill and underdeveloped protagonist. I loved the depth and breadth of the world, but I mourned the absence of actual character progression and development. Not to say that there wasn't any, but the work was clearly focused on the myriad of ways the powers could be used and the metaphysical nature of them.
So far, Headcase manages to stick the landing with both a set of creative individuals and abilities, a protagonist that appears to be capable of meaningful growth, and a world that has plenty of room to grow. Will this develop into another story that makes me feel like I've taken a cocktail of psychedelic drugs, I can't really tell just yet. Do I believe the author when they say they have taken to heart the feedback from Creep, hell yes.
Style: I don't necessarily have to much to say on style, though the majority of Headcase is written with a limited narrator centered on the protagonist, due to the main characters power, that being telepathy, we do have some insight into other characters thoughts and emotions.
Story: So far we've gone through the first narrative arc, the call to action where our down and disheveled hero overcomes his initial challenges. I don't feel like I can make a broad sweeping judgment on the story, but so far it feels cohesive, with no offensive plot magic involved. That said, after this first arc it feels like the story will open up as we immediately have the opportunity to focus in on the city's struggle, or go on a training / academy arc, or maybe both. I feel like there is lots of room to grow, and am interested in what comes next.
Grammar: I found no
jxlegendRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Fantastic story, great main character with fleshed out personality, three dimensional side characters, great plotline, interesting powers, wonderful world building that brings the story to life. Grammar is flawless, prose is great. Very little exposition at all, things are revealed naturally, and there is mystery enough without it being shoved in your face. I very much enjoyed this story, hope it continues.