Heartworm [WEIRD progression fantasy] (Volume 2 complete!)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A dying world. A promise to put it to rest. A predatorial ocean in the way.A floating ocean composed chiefly by dogs is swallowing the dream-like home of Dirofil's people, inch by inch, spire by spire, palace by palace. Created by absent and imperfect gods, both the automata and their world are scheduled to be devoured by the relentless canines.

That is, unless Dirofil can meet his lover, Shadiran, at the top of world, where joining their crystal cores they will be able to create a new existence, erasing the old one.

There’s only one little obstacle that prevents their so-awaited rendezvous: Dirofil lives at the core of the world, and Shadiran at the edge, far above. And between them closed the merciless waves of this ocean in whose depths dogs mutate into core-eating monstrosities.

Armed with a pliable body with a metallic skeleton, a powerful core, and the discovery that he can assimilate aberrant dog parts into his being, Dirofil will have to cross the ocean of dogs, from bottom to top, from his fallen spire to Shadiran’s arms.

---What to expect:

-A three-handed automaton absorbing parts from the aberrant dogs he bests in combat to harness some of their powers.

-A unique setting made mostly out of normal dogs impervious to damage.

-A cast of endearing characters, some with common sense.

-Mutant dogs that range from harmless clusters of fluffy Corgis to eldritch invisible Komondoroks with carnivorous dreads, lamprey-like parasitic Samoyeds and The Reaper itself.

-Some humor.

What you should NOT expect:

-A system.

-Human-species characters

-Multiverse levels of power: The power scale of this story is only as big as the sea of dogs.

Blue cover for volume 1 made by the userx_luminous-x.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: Lack of Poochline

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 100
Views: 33,102

Chapters(83 total)

What readers say about Heartworm [WEIRD progression fantasy] (Volume 2 complete!)

“Disclaimer: This review is based on the opening chapter and may not reflect the story as a whole. Heartworm is described as a tragic post-apocalyptic story featuring fantasy, adventure, action elements, and multiple human and nonhuman leads. The story begin…”
CKJ5Royal Road5.0 / 5
“If I took ‘Cogito, ergo sum’, sprinkled some DVDs of Robots and topped it off with every picture that shows up when I google ‘cute fluffy dogs’, something like this story might sprout from this chaotic cauldron of pure, unfiltered oddness. Firstly, I want t…”
Jaha RiderRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

CKJ5Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Disclaimer: This review is based on the opening chapter and may not reflect the story as a whole.
Heartworm is described as a tragic post-apocalyptic story featuring fantasy, adventure, action elements, and multiple human and nonhuman leads.
The story begins with one of the protagonists, Dirofil, introducing readers to their strange (to us) world through internal thoughts. This method of worldbuilding works well overall and is largely executed effectively.
Grammatically, the chapter is fantastic, and the writing is engaging and easy to follow. However, I have two small areas of critique to share.
First, while I understand the importance of getting us into Dirofil’s headspace and understanding their motivations, I felt the repeated mention of their promise was a bit heavy-handed. Subtly weaving it into the narrative might have made it feel more organic.
Second, while the internal narration was effective for worldbuilding, there were moments where it felt a bit unnatural, as if Dirofil were consciously aware of narrating. For example, I wouldn’t think of my heart as “the thing keeping me alive, beating inside my meaty torso” unless I was trying to explain it to someone unfamiliar with this information. These moments leaned too much into exposition, which occasionally broke immersion. While it’s sometimes necessary to “cheat” to convey information, grounding it more naturally in Dirofil’s perspective could help maintain the narrative flow.
Overall:
Heartworm was an absolute treat to read. I only mention these criticisms because the author specifically asked for detailed feedback. I want to emphasize that none of these points detracted from my enjoyment of the wonderfully bizarre and engaging world the author has crafted. This is a story I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on and hope to catch up with in the future.
Jaha RiderRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If I took ‘Cogito, ergo sum’, sprinkled some DVDs of Robots and topped it off with every picture that shows up when I google ‘cute fluffy dogs’, something like this story might sprout from this chaotic cauldron of pure, unfiltered oddness.
Firstly, I want to mention the style. The story’s skillful and vibrant narration eased me gently into reading many chapters at once. I enjoyed the elevated language as well as snippets of normalcy and humor that broke through the flow in an unexpected but welcome manner at times. The duality of it–flexible interjections of a different style–show how the author knows how to manipulate it to fit the story’s needs and the tone in every scene. Overall, it was coherent, and I found myself appreciating the skillful use of adverbs, rhythm and rich vocabulary.
Next–the characters. The story follows mainly Dirofil, who is a protagonist that possesses conviction and confidence that makes him easy and enjoyable to read. I also enjoyed the perspective of other characters. His siblings, for example. I think that if it was just him–Dirofil–the story would suffer from the singular voice, but as it is full of different perspectives and personalities that jump off each other well, the story thrives.
Also, it would be ignorant of me to not mention how the characters in this story are not humans but automatons–some beings of gelatinous form, with metal parts and strange appendages that surround their cores which would be their very souls. Even though their design is alien and only slightly humanoid (in some cases), the characters are very much easy to relate to as they possess an astounding portrayal of humanity’s many vices and wonders. Brotherly kindness, lover’s passion and instances of greed, ambition, and fear. I think the author understands human emotions well to be able to portray them in such an immersive way.
When it comes to grammar, I have no notes. Perfect.
Now, to the meat of it all–the story. Yes, it’s bizarre. Yes, it’s odd. Yes, it’s
MeercatWhisperer112Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall: Look I know that a ridiculously positive review swap looks suspicious as hell, but this is honestly one of my favourite fics that I've read on this site, and I have functionally zero criticism. If you're looking for a really good read, grab a brink and a parasitic Samoyed and settle in.
Style: It's uncommon for absurdism to be done well, as it tends to be too self aware; and when it is done well, it's hard to explain it. This style of story is less lighthearted and more measured than Douglas Adams', more akin to Infinite Jest, but no less engaging. The elements of the world, while fantastical, have their own internal consistency and reasoning, and make sense within the world. The story is told in third person, with natural perspective jumps and enough information to understand what's going on without bogging you down with info dumps.
Story: The main character, Dirofil, is an automaton on a mission to cross the sea of dogs and reshape the world into a utopia of his imagining. If, like me, you thought maybe sea of dogs was a figure of speech, you're wrong: it is a literal sea of dogs, primarily golden retrievers, which have closed to seperate the upper and lower sections of the world. Along the way he must deal with abominations, reapers, and possibly most difficult of all: his family. I like it when the central goal of the story is introduced up front, and this story gets straight into it without feeling rushed or confusing.
Grammar: No notes are good notes, and with perhaps one mistake every few thousand words I have essentially no notes.
Characters: The characters are complex, fleshed out (get it, bc they're automatons), and incredibly believable. They have their own personalities and motivations, their own ways of interacting with each other, their own understandings of the world and each other. Dirofil, the MC, is known to his siblings as 'the kind one', and you see their reactions both to him living up to this moniker and failing to live up to it, as w
PhilOxnardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Take Mad Max: Fury Road, Tim Burton's 9, and a handful of dogs mutated to look like eldritch horrors. Throw it all in a blender and drink the sweet, sweet juice that is Heartworm.
Style: For the first paragraph or so, I thought the author's use of overly flowery and arcane language was just a silly attempt to sound smart. Very quickly, though, the point behind the distinct writing style became clear. The utterly weird, semi-steampunk world of the story simply wouldn't be what it is without the style that the author employs. There were a bunch of words that I'd never heard of before, either because they're so ludicrously irrelevant for a normal person to know, or they're straight up made up nonsense words. Either way, it doesn't matter. The effect is the same, and it's achieved to incredible effect. The world feels old, mysterious, weird, and magical, and that's largely due to how it's written.
Story: Weird, weird, weird. Our clockwork mechanical crystal powered protagonist must brave an endless sea of dogs to reunite with his beloved so they can craft a world free of suffering. While he does, he interacts with his many limbed wacko mechanical siblings, mutant dogs, and murderous monsters. For lack of a better term, it's f***ing awesome. Not only is each chapter fun to read because of what's happening in the short term, but there's so much keeping me invested in the long term. Namely, what the f*** happened to the world, and where did the Thinkers come from?
Grammar: No noticeable mistakes. The author uses weird, irregular grammar intentionally to good effect (specifically in some characters' dialogue, but also in the narration occasionally. It works really well.
Character: A big cast of characters, each one weirder than the last, and they're all memorable. Babesi is a personal favorite - the hyperactive, hyperloving youngest child is a bright light in the dark and twisted world of the story. The physical descriptions of each of the characters (primarily the Original
Rowdha Al SolRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's good sauce. Very good sauce. I will have to concur with some of the other reviewers/readers and say that this reads like someone had a dream one night and decided, 'Hey, that's a good idea'; it's simply the literary equivalent of a fever dream.
Also, competently written on a technical level outside of the use of semi-colons which are almost always used wrong.
aquaticpungaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is the weirdest thing I've read in a while. Written pretty well, haven't found any mistakes. I'm still confused about many things, but the story is at it's beginning, so I'm excited to find out more.
Took me a while to realize that it's a sea of literal dogs, what a concept !
tagamantraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Nothing could have prepared me for the wonderful weirdness that HEARTWORM would have given me. As a lover of weird fiction, I paradoxically felt right at home in the descriptions of flaoting orange orbs, iridescent spires, and of course, the undulating mass that is the Sea of Dogs. In a way, it feels like a step past the likes of Peake or Mieville. Absolutely relishing in the boundaries of human imagination, daring to push SFF ever further beyond.
Style: Just like Peake or Mieville, HEARTWORM oozes with a confident style that tells you to meet the writer in their own terms. While the concept might seem humorous at first, the way the writer whips up its words and employs just the right word for a particular explanation reveals the strange and compelling world ripe for a very niche and very unique adventure. The writer's voice is unequivocal, unrelenting, and omnipresent, speaking its bleeding edge setting into reality with the assuredness of a writer who patronizes the written word. It's great!
Character: Despite being automata, the characters are filled with a deep human touch. Having automata being more human than human is certainly nothing new but it is pulled off here so wondrously against the backdrop of decidedly non anthropomorphic silhouettes (three limbed automata that can grow tails and reshape fingers and lengthen arms aren't exactly in the shape of humans but damn if it isn't fun imagining them and visualizing the scenes!)
Dirofil has a certain stoic air to him that betrays passion and emotion that wouldn't be seen in automata. A longing for nostalgic times with their "siblings" as it performed its task. It's a wonderful wonderful fiction that, while heady and might take some time to really get into the headspace of, deserves appreciation for its innovativeness and stylishness.
Grammar: Grammar is impeccable, wielding the English language to its utmost in its attempt to describe its slipstream weird nous-field of a setting.
Story: At the time of writing I
Spicy Space SquidRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Written with masterful prose, Heartworm is a curious book themed around a world ripped straight from a dog lover's LSD trip. I mean this in the best of ways; it's filled with vivid and imaginative imagery, and almost everything unrelated to the protagonists is themed around dogs in some way or other. The automatons themselves remind me of something like the mage in Slay the Spire dialed to 11, their features both organic and not in form and function alike. Combining these aesthetics with the story of a world near its end, I find myself almost feeling like I'm reading 20,000 leagues as a child again. I almost want to throw my disbelief to the wayside and allow myself to get swept away by the sea of dogs.
Style
I love the style. Though there are some parts of it that are clearly more polished than others, it's excellent high fantasy prose. It does take a little bit of effort to read at the very start when you're still adjusting to the world, but I found this style both the reason I had to set this book down as well as the one I kept picking it back up.
Story
The story is quite engaging, but I struggled a little bit to read for longer periods due to the combination of the style and the pacing. However, Heartworm more than makes up for this weakness with its excellent worldbuilding. When I say that the theme is taken to the logical extremes, I mean it. It isn't just that the dogs serve as the means of procuring the world's resources, but that there are also considerations as to their sustainability and the precise methods of their procurement and subsequent mutation.
Grammar
Very few mistakes, and with the masterful style I'm sometimes left considering if they are mistakes at all, or if they are intentional violations used to enhance the prose.
Character
Personally, I found the characters to be the weakest part. Now in fairness, the concept that drives the characters is again very interesting, and so too are their designs. The main character certainly catches my interes
Rune FalstaffRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Everything is dogs. Everything is very weird.
Style is very loud here. Impressively loud. So loud I can't hear anything else. I had a difficult time following the narrative because there is so much style. I imagine readers are either gonna love it or hate it, and I don't love it, frankly. My writing and reading tastes are very different. But I respect and admire bold artistic choices, and this story is very confident, so 5 stars.
Characters, I honestly couldn't tell you. Something to do with Dirofil and some body horror. So much dogs. Dogs everywhere. A sea of dogs.
I gave grammar 5 stars because I didn't spot anything technically wrong with any of the sentences. I just think they're stylishly loud, but that's by choice and not by mistake, so 5 stars.
Same with story. I only got 6 chapters in before I couldn't with the dogs anymore, but there seemed to be some story going on, even if I couldn't follow it, so 5 stars.
Overall, who could say, and what does my opinion matter?
Make up your own damn mind.
Sorry about the .5
I wasn't sure where to put the overwhelming sense of 'what the hell did I just read?'
cursedclarkeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This work is a psychotropic detonation of language wrapped in a wet fleece of dog hair and philosophy. It is absurd, excessive, pretentious, occasionally brilliant, and deeply allergic to restraint. It reads like the author set out to write a serious metaphysical treatise, fell face-first into a pile of puppies, and just kept writing. The commitment to the bit is admirable. The bit itself is horrifying.
Character-wise, the cast is a warband of tragic robot-philosophers, mind-scarred captains, and gelatinous joke-goblins wrapped in existential angst. Dirofil is the most consistent, a mournful Frankenstein of purpose and metal who still manages to throw puppies like grenades and wax poetic about rat ghosts. Parvov is both emotionally compelling and exhausting, a rage-dad who thinks loyalty can be hammered into the universe. Leptos is a decent foil, though he mostly exists to be disassembled like furniture. Babesi is a clown in a slime suit and might be the only spark of real joy in this glacial techno-dirge. The rest are named like failed prescription drugs and act like depressed computers from a French play. That may be intentional.
The story is not a story. It is a sideways scream into a mythological blender. There is no arc. There is trajectory, but it’s vertical and spiraling. The central plot is a promise made under the floating ass of a retriever tide, followed by a scavenger hunt for limbs and a sequence of hallucinatory dog-dodging across crumbling towers and oceans made of barks and betrayal. It’s rich with implications and starved for momentum. Things happen, but they happen like poetry happens, or like the emotional breakdown of someone who has recently been licked by God’s favorite beagle. By the end of four chapters, we’re not so much engaged in a narrative as we are trapped inside a thematic zoetrope powered by canine entropy.
The style is relentless. Every sentence is doing far more work than necessary, as if the author is afraid a simple clause might b