Loopkeeper (Mind-Bending Time-Looping LitRPG)
Community Rating
Description
Author Note: Hi everyone — I've made the decision to put Loopkeeper on hiatus for now. The release of book 2 was met with... less than stellar reviews, and while I'll always fight for every reader's opinion being valid, it has demoralised me a little in terms of this story.
I'm still really passionate about the world I've created and the characters within it, and I do want to see this trilogy through to its end. But, that said, if I were to plough on with writingLoopkeeperat the moment, I know I wouldn't be writing my best, and that's not what this story deserves. I'm going to get some space from this story and come back to it at a later date when I'm in a more positive headspace. I look forward to you all joining me then!
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"We know how it ends. We know how we die. And then the Loop begins anew."
On the thirteenth day of Harvest, a mysterious woman enters Haven’s house of government and unleashes a devastation unlike anything this world has seen before. Lonely police recruit, Sham Tilner, is caught in the blast—and is thrown back in time armed with nothing but a Legendary new skill.
As Haven’s only resident with memory of its devastation, Sham must navigate the murky streets of his fragile city to confront this would-be terrorist before she can unleash the unthinkable.
But an investigation like this is never so simple. Dark cabals sell black market skill vials in the shadows. A strange new church pulls zealots from all walks of life. Trained operatives pursue Haven’s future saviour.
And the voices in Sham’s head seem to be getting louder.
Updates Mondays and Thursdays.
More info atFringeworlds.com
Information
- Status
- Ongoing
- Year
- 2023
- Author
- O. S. Marrow
Tags
Royal Road Stats
- Rating
- 4.4/ 5.0
- Followers
- 266
- Views
- 3,788
Chapters(3 total)
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Community Reviews(6)
- Chris WRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0Just discovered this earlier today and I've already binged 10 chapters. It's good - really good - and definitely in the top 10% on RR in terms of writing quality. I'm loving the characters and dialogue, the setting, and the narrative use of "show, don't tell". Try it - if you love litrpg, especially unusual systems with great writing, this is for you.
- JJ_WormRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0you know when you see a rogue in a story and there just a stock protagonist whos apparently charming and extra flexible. Sham isn't that, he's a depressed adict who through random chance ends up in a situation far beyond him, with nothing but social inteligence to pull him through. I like him a lot.
The story handles class struggle in a believable and mature way, no one comes across as a strawman.
The world is fleshed out, you come to understand the city and its factions and the system fits into it neatly.
Honestly it's really good and I'm surprised it's not more popular than it is. - Kris WebbRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0Honestly, Loopkeeper is one of the best stories that I've read on here, and potentially one of the best stories I've ever read. That said, it clear is borrowing from the greats; the Disco Elysium vibes are off the charts, but there are enough other influences in there to keep it from being entirely derivative. In particular, I'm a huge fan of Riot as the main recurring secondary character, she and the main character, Sham, have a wonderful dynamic that helps to enrich both of their characters.
I'm really interested in seeing where the skill system develops from here, the litrpg elements are used quite well in my opinion. If you haven't given it a look, I strongly recommend you do so! - solowarriorRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0an awesome story so far with loads and loads of questions to answer and the main one is where are all the comments? This story is really really good, with a cool mystery, an interesting system (but one you gotta workout for yourself a lbit) and characters who arent just like immediately good at everything.
- terrapinRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0Loopkeeper a "time-loop mystery" story, similar to Mother of Learning or Reroll. The main character finds themself in a time loop that ends in a catastrophic event, tries to stop it, and ends up in a tangled web of plots and intrigue. The major difference in mechanics is that it is relatively easy to gain the permanent ability to retain memories of the previous loops. This means that each loop differs wildly from the last, as dozens of people (including some in positions of power) are loopers. As such, there is much less of a looping feel to the story---even if there are a few events that remain constant, so much changes that the plot feels more linear. This allows for a lot more character growth and long-term plans.
Style: 4/5
Marrow's prose is quite good, and spectacular by RR standards. My only complaint is the interruptions of skill checks. There are low-key litrpg mechanics, where everybody has a few skills that affect their ability to perform specific tasks or feats. Sometimes characters are influenced by skills without it being mentioned, and sometimes there are "skill-check" paragraphs where a skill is explicitly checked and either succeeds or fails. Not only are these skill-checks inorganic, but they don't appear consistently or in a consistent format, and their mechanics are never adequately explained. If no skill checks occurred, I'd be happy with a hand-waved explanation of how skills work (I'd prefer this, in fact). But the skill checks do occur, promising a concrete system behind the litrpg mechanics, which isn't delivered.
Grammar: 4.5/5
It's great. Very few typos, and always understandable despite any typos. All dialogue uses single quotes, which makes it a little less readable for me (edit: apparently this is common in British/Australian English).
Story: 5/5
I've touched on this in the introductory paragraph. Lots of interconnected mysteries, and the story is still in the "more questions than answers" phase. The main character is kinda stupid, and a - RaunRoyal Road★★★★★ 4.5Good stuff here. Story goes full throttle right from the beginning and it's a bumpy ride with not a boring moment in between. The characters are brilliantly fleshed out each battling demons of their own. The world seems dark especially when seen through the eyes of the MC. Protoganist starts out as a hopeless drunk but grows on you as he struggles to redeem himself. Definitely one of the top reads in rrl!