Hohenfels

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The Holy Empire is in decline. Religious and cultural schisms wreak havoc on its internal politics, while revolutions are brewing in neighboring kingdoms. The aristocratic houses play endless power games amongst themselves, and the Emperor desperately abuses what little influence he has left to keep his rivals down. Amidst all of this, Arnold von Hohenfels, first son of the Margrave of Hohenfels, finds himself in the unfortunate position of having to attend the Imperial Academy, a notorious battleground of wits and brawn for ambitious young nobles. Armed with a magical gift that is as much a blessing as it is a curse, he must learn to navigate the treacherous waters of aristocratic entanglements. In the name of his family’s ambition, he must represent House Hohenfels' interests in this microcosm of Imperial politics, deal with his formidable enemies, form alliances of his own, and somehow keep his brash cousin Friedrich out of trouble. Frankly, he would much rather beanywhereelse. New chaptersonMon/Wed/Fri. Advance chapters onPatreon. What to expect: – Slow-ish burn – Focus on aristocratic politics – Occasional combat scenes – A very impactful ability with significant drawbacks What not to expect: – Flashy magic – Blue boxes

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: Perseus XXVII.

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 2,927
Views: 493,655

What readers say about Hohenfels

“Well written and not another of the copy pasta genre on RR. The misunderstanding feels very real where people don't know the other person that well and can put themselves in the other shoes. The author has started putting character recaps at the bottom to h…”
tempestseaRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“having worked in real life politics for over a decade i cannot emphasize how human everyone is... misunderstandings built on misunderstands proving to be far more persuasive than any number of people who think they're clever. Things arent decided by big spe…”
AshericRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

tempestseaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Well written and not another of the copy pasta genre on RR. The misunderstanding feels very real where people don't know the other person that well and can put themselves in the other shoes. The author has started putting character recaps at the bottom to help with retention of what's going on. Overall very pleased
AshericRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
having worked in real life politics for over a decade i cannot emphasize how human everyone is... misunderstandings built on misunderstands proving to be far more persuasive than any number of people who think they're clever.
Things arent decided by big speeches before big votes. They're decided by petty spite and friendship. They're decided by accident and circumstance. You don't control the ocean, you don't even control the tides. All you can really do is learn how to ride the waves. And then, eventually, you learn how to navigate to where you want to be.
Hope this holds up... I'll be back in a year once there is more to binge.
CenitRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This has been a great read for a couple of days. And certainly refreshing from most stuff that can appear here.
My biggest concern so far, as in regards to style, is that there are a lot of POV in the story so far. Nor completely sure that Matthias and some of the antagonist are completely needed.
The story so far has been a small/grand political drama. Small as it happens in a Imperial Academy, and grand as it still works as a microcosmos of the whole empire. Before you start running away, these students seem to be around their 20's so is not fully adolescent stuff going around. The clash between frontier and central nobility has been very nicely portrayed, even in small details as fashion sense. The one thing that stills feels "told not shown" is the Imperial decline.
In terms of characters most have been a delight. I have a great time reading about Arne and Katharina, and even if they infuriate me a bit, Fritz and Klara are well rounded and developed. Most of the support characters are also a very nice read.
It is also very well written, with a nice mix of old English words, a bit of French, but all in a way that makes it easy to read. Hope you keep the good work.
DropoutInDenialRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
What the title says. At chapter 22, this has been amazing thus far. The "show dont tell" way plot is driven, how magic is introduced, how politics happens. I wish there were 500 chapters of this out already!
I love the worldbuilding, basically the HRE with fantasy elements.
If you are ever so slightly interested in politics and GOT-like medieval fantasy, read this
DryhtenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story sets itself up to be full of political machinations without losing view of the deeper parts of the human heart. The apparent story device to present such stage is the unique capability of the protagonist, named Arnold, who can feel his peers Auras in a really heightened way, which distinguishes him from others. Meaning that, besides the in-setting expected Aura magic, he can feel others emotions and relative intent but not without severe drawbacks.
The grand feat is that this ability doesn't become a crutch for the the character nor for the writer as the story respects the reader while being highly entertaining. This element is interconnected to the slowly-revealed lore of the world and Arnold's interpersonal nature, creating engaging characters interactions that are, at times, revealed in rewarding multiple points of view.
It's well written with no particular mistake coming to mind, good grammar/spelling. The prose serves the story well, pertaining to style and substance, as the dialogues are immersive and can go from simply pleasant to captivating with some well-place words. Even if the reader doesn't read into the subtext enough, I expect that they would not find themselves lost in the drama of the story, as it is clearly presented even when heavy in subtlety. The prose also does a good job of setting expectations as it did in delivering the payoffs for this early part of the story. It seems to be well edited.
Overall, a delightful read with a heavy focus on characters in a out of the ordinary setting that lends itself to intrigue but attentive to the humanness of all its players.
YourPetPenguinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
First off, great, if not fabulous, writing by the author. The flow feels natural, with little to no bumps, and I love it when there's no five "he" 's every paragraph. Honestly this is probably one of the most well-written series I've seen on this website.
Second, character building is excellent, and I really like the varied cast (even if they jumble my goldfish memory at times).They don't feel cringy at all, and that's quite refreshing.
Third, world building is pretty decent, and while I would have preferred it to be a bit more.... exotic, it really doesn't affect anything. At least not yet. The information we get is also carefully crafted and presented, not dumped in.
Overall, excellent job by Perseus, amazing series with great potential. Hopefully he/she can keep this quality up, even if it means I can't hoard 50 chapters to read them all in one go lol.
dscuolRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A very well-written "coming of age" story with enjoyable political dynamics. The author handles multiple view-points well, and the narrative is brisk while still building a comprehensive world.
My favorite book I'm currently reading / following.
Only downside is somewhat slow pace of release (at least compared to modern RR standards).
hankRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
There is a lot going on in this already - I've had to read the whole several times to figure out who is who and what they stand for (and enjoyed it). The people are not cardboard, they feel real with their own motives that are against each other - sometimes unintentionally. I can't wait to find out what happens next.
AeolunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This whole story is impeccable. There is seriously nothing wrong with it.
There is action, there is a fuckton of diplomatics, fighting, magic, and best of all, young people in a university’ish setting, which is somehow still relatable, and a time I look on fondly, even decades later.
I dunno if it’s romance or not yet, but I find myself cheering for all the characters, some of whom hate each others guts. That’s a hard feat to pull off without making any of them seem like assholes.
I think the best part is that they’re all believably awkward. They all want to trust, but literally their entire upbrining has worked to stop them from doing so, and for the same reason, the impulse to set things up in a way that will benefit themselves never goes away, even in incredibly vulnerable moments.
The storyline itself is just a flavor of politics that really kinda goes over my head because it’s not nearly as relevant (at this point anyway) as the characters involved.
I’ll certainly continue reading, and suspect I’ve found another story that I’ll happily donate some patreon money to. I have never felt compelled to write a review after reading just 30 chapters, but here I am.
If you are on the fence, do not be, and read this immediately, I can guarantee you won’t regret it.
KittyJinglesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The pagentry! The loaded dialogue! The showdowns! I thought this would be a dumb teen high school story with swords and rich kids but it's so good. Like yes it's a teen high school story with swords and rich kids but it's opulent and high stakes intrigue with great pacing, engaging characters and no fluff. Like there are high personal stakes (not disappointing mom and dad) but also big political ambitions that effect the empire at large, wars could be started over this. Where the high school jockeying to sit at the cool kids table translates to your house having more power in the kingdom, your dad becoming Duke and your sister being able to take the fancy title you don't want. I'm enjoying the MC's interesting power and the insight it gives in these social interactions. Gives extra drama 🍿