Land of the Architects

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Venterias—a continent with both an uncertain history and future. When the first settlers arrived a little over two hundred years ago, there were already cities constructed and signs of civilization having previously thrived here… but no longer. The mysterious peoples who were believed to have existed in times past are referred to as The Architects, a moniker given to showcase appreciation for what they had built that the new settlers could make use of to jumpstart life on Venterias.

Present day Venterias sees itself separated into four separate countries, each governed by their own crown, with two overarching authorities that rule above them and oversee the continent as a whole. The High Crown, and—much to the indignation of High King Vangren—The Council. Though there are the occasional conflicts, peace has been relatively consistent for most of current civilization’s history. That remains true to this day… for now.

Along the northern and south-eastern edges of Venterias lie the dangerous wastelands known as The Outlands. Historians believe that the secrets as to what happened to The Architects are kept in these strange lands that are home to the derelict remnants of what appeared to be once-great cities. They are too dangerous to venture into for normal men, however. Those brave—or foolish—enough to do so have told stories of dangerous creatures, catastrophic environmental hazards, and undiscovered treasures… including powerful weapons known as Architect Relics.

Geren, The Unbreakable Wolf and leader of the Last Stand Mercenaries, is one such man to have ventured into The Outlands and come back alive. His most recent trip saw him bring a child back with him—a boy named Lyght. Lyght’s memory was gone and his origins a mystery, but Geren brought him into his company and raised him as his own son all the same. Now seven years later, they and the rest of the Last Stand Mercenaries must do their best to brace themselves as bandits, Outlands beasts, powerful artifacts from an ancient civilization, and mysteries about Lyght’s past loom over them.

Embark on a journey with Lyght, Geren, and the rest of their crew as they fight to ensure the Last Stand Mercenaries solidify their place in the history of Venterias… the Land of the Architects.

*Part One of Book One is finished, uploaded here to RR in its entirety. Book One will be separated into two parts, and Part Two is actively being worked on. I look forward to sharing it with everyone!

There will be 3 "paralogues" that bridge the gap between Part One and Part Two to show some side stories of other characters separate from our main cast. Look forward to those being uploaded weekly from 10/2-10/16.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to check my story out!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: C Crowley

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 7
Views: 6,073

Chapters(28 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(3)

BeadaughtsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As stated in another review, the strongest part of the story is the character dynamics. They are are robust, believable characters with strong personalities that shine through in their dialouge and interactions. The author does a great job of showcasing each character's personality through unique tone and vocabulary, which helps avoid any of the characters from feeling "samey". I am legitimately excited to continue reading as the story unfolds and seeing the characters interact with each other more.
Dark DividerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Stumbled across this one and got caught up to where it's currently at. Really enjoying so far and looking forward to the continued uploads (author has indicated part 1 is finished and part 2 is still being worked on).
Style:
The prose isn't the strongest that I've read by any means, but it's quite good for what is seemingly the author's first work. There's been good mix-ups with dialogue. Not just "john said", "jim said" all the time. It is somewhat exposition heavy in some parts, but it's not done in an "info dumpy" style. The most recent chapter was done from a character's perspective who is quite different than the two primary characters, and the style shift to accomodate this new character was done well. There has been 3 different perspective shifts so far in 6 chapters plus a Prologue, but they make sense so no complaints. It's not a litrpg or anything, it's well, a high fantasy story.
Story:
Not a lot of info has been given about the "overarching story" or "primary goal" of the MC to this point, but what has happened so far has been enjoyable. It seems like the style may be more to the tune of smaller arcs. The magic, different races, and world-building have been good even without an obvious main plotline. I expect a larger "main story" will fall into place as we make progress.
Grammar:
Probably the strongest point we have here. I've seen no typos yet and the sentence structure is solid. No run-ons, incomplete sentences, or anything like that. I've found that not everyone on RR cares a ton about this if they like the content regardless, but it's still nice being easy and clean to read.
Character:
It's tagged for having multiple main characters and it does bounce back and forth between what seems like 2 primary MCs well. I mentioned that we've already had 3 perspective shifts earlier, it's done a good job giving the main group of characters enough dialogue to know their quirks and personalities, and the perspective shifts help solidify that. None of the charact
C.S. CharlesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Land of the Architects blends classic epic fantasy elements with descriptive writing to create a rich world. Starring a likable cast and held up by smooth writing, it is an enjoyable read for fans of immersive fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time with a story that at the outset seems geared toward fans of The Witcher.
Character
Geren, the prologue narrator and MC’s mentor, stands out as incredibly likable. His competence, compassion, and practicality are instantly endearing. Even in the small sample of his narrative, we can tell he has a fleshed out backstory and goals. Lyght, the MC, has a mysterious opening scene that leaves the reader wondering about his backstory and significance to the overall plot. Lyght himself is playful, lighthearted, and roguish and will certainly be involved in many antics as the story progresses. While the side characters haven’t been given much spotlight yet, the author conveys backstory through Lyght’s introspection and exposition that promise that each major character will be multidimensional.
Style
The author’s style has evocative descriptions and attention to detail that establish worldbuilding as a primary focus of their craft. From the start, we are given fleshed out depictions of geography, magic, character backstory that echo the slow-burn approach of many classical fantasy writers like Tolkien and Jordan. This works for this genre, but may not suit people looking for a fast-paced story because it is exposition heavy. Further, much of the exposition veers into tell rather than show with the author prioritizing giving the reader worldbuilding and character information sooner rather than more organically as the story progresses.
Story
The grander plot has yet to reveal itself as of the first three chapters, presenting a story that is more “mission-of-the-day” by starting each chapter with a concise summary of the POV character’s objective as a mercenary. This feels like some of the earlier Witcher books and can