If Our Rains Never Return (Dark fantasy, non-human society, cosmic-horror-like)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

There are a few undeniable truths in the city of Felsia: Babies can only be caught from the rains every New Year, Father's knowledge is matched by his hunger alone, and The Ratchet of Horror punishes those that dare reproduce.Unluckily for Ald and all of his contemporaneous siblings, they were born just in time to see the baby rains stop. To make sure his little sister (an energetic child he caught on the city walls as her wooly cocoon descended from the firmament) can one day tutor a sibling of her own, Ald will strike a deal with the Felsian sages, venturing past the city walls, into the lands of the exiled and misshapen, to discover why The Celestial Mother has stopped giving birth to his people.

A thousand thanks to Wong40k for making the cover!

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2023
Author: Lack of Poochline

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 117
Views: 38,123

Chapters(52 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

JR CastleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story starts with a mystery that immediately presents some pretty unique worldbuilding implications, and it sorta runs with it from there. At first I was honestly a bit put off—the prose felt somewhat awkward, spotted with grammatical mistakes and a distinct lack of clarity, particularly with regard to description.
But eventually the writing won me over. The tone here is incredibly moody and dispirited, doing a good job of instilling the hopeless acceptance that the characters seem to feel about their own fate. The prose, though sometimes awkward, does have an intriguing sense of poetry to it, almost musical, and characters speak with a heightened language that gives their words added gravitas; honestly, I ended up enjoying this aspect of the story more than I thought I would. I also got pretty sucked into the mystery without even meaning to, I think because the author does such a good job of witholding information.
The plot is decidedly slow-paced, which fits the mood but might alienate some readers. Still, if you give this one a shot you might be surprised. There are interesting ideas at play here, an honest engagement with themes of religion, social dogma, and biological essentialism. It's a real effort at speculative fiction in the most classic sense.
CoffeeInMyDreamsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Disclaimer: This review is part of a swap, yet all opinions expressed are uninfluenced by the agreement and are based on my own experience with the work.
If I were to describe ‘If Our Rains Never Return’ In three words or less, it’d be unique, visceral, and OuchItHurtsStopItILikeIt (that’s a word, I swear). I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m sure fans of the Dark Fantasy genre will too.
The author’s style is definitely unique. The dialogue is believable and the prose, which has its quirks, flows reasonably well. In one particular chapter, the author employs rapid perspective changes to emulate the chaos of a particular scene, I haven’t seen this technique used before, but I’ll give kudos for the creativity- Reading it did indeed instil a feeling of chaos and disorder. Environments and Monsters (referring specifically to Masterworks) were described and given life extremely well. I felt a tingle run down my spine when reading about a certain -hot- creature.
The story is where the strength of this work lies. My thoughts are:
Non-human characters, who can’t reproduce, living in a land where babies fall from the sky and dangerous beings lurk in the periphery??? SIGN ME UP BABY!
The tone of the work is dark, melancholic, and hopeless. It's great!
I won’t comment too much on grammar or spelling as other reviewers and commenters have expressed sufficient opinions. What I will say is that the author takes feedback well and is constantly improving his work and subsequent skills. That’s a full score from me.
Characters are depicted well and are believable. I felt that Ald had so much care and thought put into his creation. I cheered him on during his troubles and inner conflicts and I hope that you, dear reader, will feel the same. Nicely done.
Overall, it was a blast reading If Our Rains Never Return.
CrazyCoreRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The entire premise is very different to anything else I've seen on RR, and raises multiple questions. IORNR swings between light hearted (very seldomly) and dark, sometimes sinister. Personally, I find this to be far more grimdark than the repetitive depression you usually find.
Anyone who's a fan of grimdark should definitely give this a try!
Lily Fhon AzhelRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is by far the best I ever read, it has realistic characters and an intriguing-interesting story that pulls you right into it. If you're reading this review, go read the story as it is worth it.
So, the review.
Overview.
The story have a dark and tragic atmosphere to it, it is a story that's meant to be hopeless, dark, and grey. If you're into that kind of thing, read it.
The story also contain cosmic horrors described in a way that is haunting and dreadful, it's up to you to reach that part of the story as I can't give spoilers in a review.
Character
The character, Ald is a determined person who will climb mountains of blades just for this journey and as time passes by he will be tested, the tests will be up to you to read.
He is likable and act like a normal person, not cringe, nor murderous, nor is he a womaniser, he is by a lack of better word - a normal person with realistic emotions and reactions to things.
The style
The style is good, it is written in a way that you can feel how the atmosphere is dry, grey and dreary. Have you experienced a rain? The stye perfectly emulate that feeling, infact this story is better enjoyed when it is raining. There was a moment in the story where I legitimately felt...sad and cried, which gives credit to the skills of the author.
Lastly.
The grammar.
The grammar is great, there are tiny inconsequential mistakes, but as a writer myself, those tend to happen no matter how much editing. Overall the grammar is excellent.
I don't review often, but this review is something I'll give after months of following this story. This story captured so many feelings I can't even say here because they will be spoilers, but if you are still reading this and not annoyed by me, this story is worth your time.
If you feel like I lied after reading the story, go ahead and report this review, that's how much trust I have to the quality of this story.
GuthanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Let's start this off with a brief summary of what's happening. Ald, our MC, is a farmer working in Felsia, the land where all the sapiant Felsians live. Now, without getting into spoilers I will say that it quickly becomes apparent that these are not humans. I will admit to finding the concept novel. It's certainly worth investing into. The story itself has an air of dark hopelessness. No one seems especially confident that things will get better, although I will admit there have been few interactions on the heavy subject at hand in the plot.
Overall Score 5/5 stars. I typically do not rate anything below a four star, ever. To me, a four star is a sign of serious issues that either won't be fixed, or the author refuses to fix. Anything below a four star indicates that I believe it unworthy of existing on the site. A five is a perfect story without visible flaws. By this I mean if you discount my preferences, there will not be any blemishes worth discussing. I rate this 5 stars, because I believe there isn't any visible flaws in characterization, plot, or grammar worth taking offense to.
Style score 5/5 stars. I usually rate the sub categories a little more harshly than the overall score. The style here is great. The author has a way of describing things that never end up distrupting the flow of the story, and always feels entertaining to read through.
Grammar score 5/5 stars. The grammar is good with only a few small mistakes.
Story Score 5/5 stars. The plot is good. I will go into detail a bit below. Warning, spoilers!
The story starts off with Ald, our farm boy protagonist, who learns that the babies required to keep his civilization functioning will cease falling from the sky. Due to genetic defects (I resume) his civilization is unable to have kids with functional minds and bodies. Their only hope lies in contacting their progenitor to find out what, if any answers at all are available.
Character Score 4.5/5 stars. The dialogue is great actually. Everyone is in
Ihdob LaprokRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story has interestingly eloquent prose to it with an incredibly vast vocabulary to which I'm not sure I can hold a candle. A friend of mine in college was an English major, we used to open the dictionary to random pages to pass the time between classes and learn new words. I still found myself cracking open the dictionary at least thrice on my read up to now. That's rare, but I like it.
The author has an incredibly unique Style, but I must caution one thing due to this. The way Poochline forms sentences is what I would consider non-traditional. That doesn't mean bad, but it will require you to pay much closer attention. The only downside I found to this was that, at least once a chapter, I was having to re-read something because it didn't click the first time. It makes for a very interesting read, but it can get the reader lost.
In line with the style, Poochline's Grammar is generally excellent. The most often thing I see are typos from what I assume is a scheduled release. There are minor occasions of comma splices and run-on sentences. However, they more than makeup for this with other masterful examples of their control of grammar and writing. I vividly remember a passage that used something like 4 semicolons. A feat which I wouldn't dare, and Poochline pulled off with grace and precision. It was incredible.
The two things that will stand out to you most are the Story AND Characters. The cast, to my understanding, is all non-human, which is something I'm not quite familiar with. It was an incredible perspective, and I loved experiencing it! Poochline weaves a story of many webs, raising numerous questions right off the bat in the first chapter. These questions are answered, slowly but surely, as the chapters draw on, filling in those blanks. The status of each character archetype is well represented, and they all feel unique. You can feel the struggle and despair of each character as they face specific challenges. It puts you in their mindset.
This story is
kp8080Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I don't know what I expected. I should have trusted the tags. I don't like tragedies. Why did I read this? If you like tragedies and existential horror, this story is for you. If you don't, run in the opposite direction. Regardless, it did a great job of keeping my attention. There are some noticeable spelling and grammar issues, but it's otherwise solid.
MarbasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
If our rains never return is a sinister tale, which asks the question of how to find meaning in a world with no future. It creates feeling of hopelesness, but still manages to drag you into reading for a possible solution.
One of the strongest points of this story's prose is the author's varied vocabulary. The right word is always used to describe what is being narrated. The sentences and paragraphs flow well into each other. Though on occasion, it seems to jump between scenes slightly abruptly.
For example, when wildfire first shows up; Ald and Gleur are having a conversation about the future, when the masterwork suddenly shows up and the mood is just switched up.
The story is among the most unique I've read on royalroad. A civilisation where all citizens are siblings. They can't have children and must instead rely upon the rain of their god-like mother. When the flow of new blood stops, they must search for an answer.
There is a very melancholy undertone, and it is unknown whether there even is a remedy, and this is just one of the many questions that is raised. We wonder: who is mother and father? Why does inbreeding seem to make the offspring even more powerful? And many more.
The grammar is nearly perfect, there a few typos every few chapters, but hardly noticable.
The characters have very distinctive personalities. Ald is a caring elder brother, who only wants to secure a future for his adoptive sister. However as the book progresses, he changes.
He still cares about Kali, but there is something else. It feels like he is being driven by something deeper. A search for meaning perhaps. Or maybe manipulation by Unkindness.
Gleur is a battle worn old man, who is hardened by the years. We see him partially soften though as he gets to know Ald.
The masterpieces themselves are incredibly interesting. Whether they live tormented existences, or are unintelligible in their goals, reading about them is captivating.
My personal favourite is unkindness. The inital scene wh
CidolphusRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The premise of this story is probably one of the most unique I've read on this site. It has a lot of mystery and intrigue to it while also straddling the line between familiarity and its rather alien world. Parts of human aspects exist, but others pop up that really make you question just what these Felsians are.
The overall style of the story is a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes it's rather eloquent with its description of this declining society, and others there are moments where it feels kind of disconnected at times (probably due to some odd comma placements but I'll talk about that more in the grammar section).
The story itself is very interesting. It has a human-like society with typical jobs like farmers and blacksmiths, but there's also hints of alien customs and the odd description of their appearance.
Most notable of these traits is how they reproduce, or rather don't: children fall from the sky every year, and the Felsian (the name of this species) who catches one becomes their caretaker. There's this odd dynamic where every single Felsian refers to each other as sister or brother no matter their age, but that's because they're all technically descended from the same mother and father who are akin to gods in this world.
The lore and setting of this world is grim, but really cool at the same time. That said, I do wish that the author would explain more aspects of this not-quite-human society. Its culture, its customs...basically how similar (or different) they are to human society.
Characters are ok so far. The MC of this story is Ald who is a rather old Felsian (40ish) that leaves on a quest to find a way to bring back the rain of children that has stopped the past couple of years for whatever reason (although it's hinted at why in the later chapters, but I want to avoid spoilers here). He's interesting and has his own personality, but I never really got 'mc' vibes from him for whatever reason despite being the 'chosen' one.
I'm not really sure why, but he
DiciesRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Disquieting really is the best word to describe this fic. A not-quite-human society where babies rain down from some monstrous sky-mother, with a sky-father that punishes reproduction by mutating offspring into horrific monsters; and the rains have stopped. When the writing's at its strongest, the concept, themes, and the style it's told in really floored me. Unfortunately, there are some issues keep it from consistently hitting that high water mark. I feel overall it could do with a hard polishing, though I think its uniqueness overall gives it a lot of pull.
Story - 3.5
Like I mentioned, an incredibly unsettling premise. What works best about it, in my opinion, is how it straddles the line between the familiar and total, bone chilling abjection.
From a general standpoint, though, I think the worldbuilding itself is a bit of a mixed bag, and I think that's in large part to how it's told. One really interesting thing that the writing does is that it seems to avoid any concrete descriptive details for a huge swathe of story elements; namely anything to do with the human-like society of the Felsians. I thought this was an intentional choice; there's a chance I'm wrong about that, but it was noticeable either way.
For the Felsians themselves, through offhand remarks and actions we can pick up on some things familiar to us: mentions of ring and index fingers, arms, legs, human tools and professions. These all signal that the Felsians share a lot of human qualities. Combined with the lack of description, it can be easy to think of them as just simply fantasy-humans. Less frequently, though, there will be offhand remarks about the nature of these Felsians that are decidedly non-human, like the fact that they're cut out of cocoons or that they have manes of hair. But we're never quite given the a full suite of details, at least not all at once. And so, the lack of concrete descriptions in this case has the opposite effect; it cuts the reader off before they become too comf