House of Zale - Book 1

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Kaleb is the lone Paladin of the House Zale and the justiciar of Angelspree, tasked with rooting out heresy and corruption amongst the ranks of the most powerful and dangerous warriors.

When he has a neophyte thrust upon him, a great evil reveals itself to make its final play. Kaleb must learn to protect himself and his new apprentice in the wide open world where respect for him falters and the fear he once inspired amongst the heretic dwindles.

The sands of time trickle away, the demon grows stronger and the faithful grow weaker.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2023
Author: Kaleb Zale

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 14
Views: 19,541

Chapters(43 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

ExecutiveVampireRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
At least to me the influences seem pretty clear. There's a bit of the 40k darkness/brutality that has the edge taken off by a lighthearted/goofy Pratchety-esque tinge.
The characterization is done well, and you get a pretty clear picture of who Kaleb is and how he operates the very moment you meet him. The characterization makes you look forward to the group dynamic between his apprentice (who appears to be a contrast to Kaleb) and his dork of a helper boy.
Frosty I. FrostRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love this story. I used to read it on Wattpad before the author moved it here. I was quite surprised when I saw it on here and I felt the need to leave a review here.
Okay back to the story. The grammar is immaculate and the story itself flows really well. A ton of good stories lack the grammar and punctuation, making them hard to read but this one takes great attention to detail. On top of that, this ensures that the dialogue is also smooth and rolls out the tongue when you read it outloud.
The author conveys what he's trying to say really well through his good use of dialogue and the grammar helps immensely.
And on top of all this, it's frequently updated! That's rare nowadays. People usually start writing then they quit either due to burnout or they just lose interest in their own story. But not this one! He's been updating the story almost daily and he takes feedback like a champ.
As for the story, it's nice. The characters are complex (if you ask me) and the story pulls you in.
In short, I'd definitely recommend it for readers who wish to read a good story with regular updates.
NitaxxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This book is definitely one of the unique ones on royal road. The premise is an adventure but not a fun one, it's one with a serious undertone. The quad have such diverse personalities and the dialogue is so realistic.
Style: I can't imagine how hard it was to write in this style. A little mistake could have made it hard to read instead but the author pulled this off nicely. The style is unique and perfectly suited for the genre. The writing flows smoothly so it isn't hard to read at all.
Story: I love the story so far, i hope the author keeps it up. There are a lot of fun new concepts and little details that interest me, like the elf seed. It's almost like finding out more about other cultures in real life.
Grammar: There were no particular grammar issues. I focused on reading rather than looming put for grammar mistakes and nothing broke my immersion.
Character: The personalities of the characters is established well and I feel like they compliment each other in some ways. I'd love to talk more about them but I'm not sure if that would be a spoiler.
Overall, this story is really good. If you're into medieval setting, high fantasy, adventure, conspiracies and the like you'd live this. The story is also really unique in case I didn't mention it before.
RandomSyllablesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The House of Zale is an enjoyable tale filled with lively characters and their witty dialogues, well paced action, and a plot with the requisite twists and turns to reward the reader. It has enough familiar tropes and setting standards for any fan of fantasy to comfortably wade in, but adds its own unique spin on things to keep things fresh.
Kaleb Zale is the Judiciar of the Paladins. This means he specifically has the onus to be judge, jury, and executioner in routing out corruption in other Paladins, who all are connected to the Divine Heart - the source of their power. Powes which vary depending on their house and function. However, it makes him a less than popular figure in the politics of Angelspree, and a mission is soon concocted to get send him away. Not only that, but he is assigned an apprentice, a Neophyte, whose master he had recently killed. With his servant Morgan, Iridia the Neophyte, and a Dwarf with dubious intentions, he sets off under-prepared and poorly outfitted for a journey that quickly balloons beyond its initial scope.
The plot is well placed and consistent. There are delightful call backs to actions in earlier chapters, some of which are very plot relevant, but some that are just flavour. It doesn't pull any nonsequiturs trying to be too unpredictable or clever. Instead, while there are a few twists, an astute reader can probably see them coming to some degree.
As an adventure tale, the story allows the reader to visit a variety of places with their own perils and bits of lore, which enrich the overall story. And the ending, without spoiling much, certainly heavily sets up expectation of a sequel rather than tying everything off neatly.
The grammar in The House of Zale is one of its weakest points, laboured with run-on sentences and abusing comma splices. But this can be overlooked due to the writing style. The author employs a narrative eager to cheekily poke fun of the main characters, even when navigating some of the more serio