Mage Mangler -(Crucible of Ascension)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Adam Henshaw thought he’d left his tortured past behind. Joining the army was supposed to be a fresh start—an opportunity to put his talent for violence to more humanitarian use. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. Being far away from his psychotic older brother, Earl, was definitely a much needed perk.

But when a simple guard mission turns into a massacre and invincible soldiers pour through a mysterious portal to snatch up warriors like livestock, Adam’s world collapses again.

In his new world there’s only one route to survival, ascend, train and tap into the powers of his new existence.

Through sheer grit, fast fists, and a little luck, he lands himself in an academy for warriors with untapped magical ability. He might be a hated outsider, but it’s the perfect place to develop the skills he needs to get home.

What he doesn’t realize is that his past has followed him.

Earl is a criminal, a wild card, a danger to all those around him. He’s also disposable and the perfect candidate to find out what’s happening on the other side of the portal.

It was a fool’s errand. There is no return and for Earl, there is no academy either. There is only blood, dust, and the roaring arenas of the Union.

The cosmos is vast, but no distance can stop the inevitable collision between brothers.I'll be posting three chapters a day for the first week and then dropping to one a day five days a week after that. I have a decent backlog, but I'm still tweaking things as I go. Hope you enjoy the struggle!

Currently 20 chapters ahead on Patreon depending on tier.Mage Mangler - Patreon.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: Sinky

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 460
Views: 91,324

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(7)

slargonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Well executed ultraviolence.
So for quite interesting. Handing two different view points well without becoming tedious or confusing. The author has struck a good balance between their two characters, and their environments so far.
I think this would have been a big hit in the royal road of several years ago, hopefully it can square up against the increased competition.
Looking forward to seeing how it develops.
SackOfLitRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I find this story really engaging with a unique premise. It has a cool sci-fi/ fantasy tilt. Aliens harvesting us? WTH!?! Count me in! The world building is immersive, pulling me further into this story. The characters are fully fleshed out and distinct. The main character's fighting spirit- I'm here for it. The descriptive voice and fight scenes are dope. Looking forward to enjoying more and seeing what happens next!
DRUSSBOBRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The way the characters converse is well done and the story picks up fairly quickly. It doesn't shy away from getting gritty epically the way you described Morris got killed in the first chapter, but it really picks up in the 7th chapter with the introduction of his brother Earl
Uriel of VowsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am truly a big fan of this story! I have some mixed feelings with Adam, but this has to play into his character and makes me like him more than I dislike him! BUT EARL, he's fantastic! With a personality you love and hate, and he's the level of sarcastic you'd wish to find in some MC's. I started this story for Adam, but I stayed for Earl.
moulder666Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Reviewed at chapter 15. Favourited and will update at a later point. This promises super well.
Overall, I'll go with this: This story should be for anybody into Joe Abercrombie, David Gemmell and the like. People who enjoy reading about main characters who're dragged through hell and emerge the stronger, if not the prettier. It promises to be dark, violent, gritty, and glorious.
The writing is dark, and has a solid, down-to-earth style to it. No flowery prose or crap like that here. The imagery is solid, but it suits the mood.
There were few typos and errors that I spotted. Definitely no continuity errors or other glaring issues. For Royal Road, that's pretty much 10 stars.
The system and game elements, as of yet, is a bit of an unknown. We see that it's going to unfold, but how and to which extent remains to be seen.
What I really, really loved though? The characters! The two brothers are... well, not as night and day, but night and twilight. They're both super damaged goods, but they have entirely different mentalities, way of looking at things, speech, everything. And Earl is absolutely going to wreck some aliens!
Oh, and there's one thing I really look forward to. At some point, far in the future, there's going to be a showdown between the brothers, and it's going to be ugly!
ILIYAKRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
It has potential.
The story follows the life of 2 characters:
1. Adam - a grown-up child. (2,5 - 3 out of 5)
2. Earl - a psychotic murderhobo. (3,8 - 4,5 out of 5)
The story is typical, but good enough not to spoil it.
I will limit myself to saying, that there practically 0 grammar mistakes and the plot is consistent.
Why so low, then?
Well....
While Earl plot is not brilliant, but quite good, Adam's foils a lot of expectations.
Still, the story leave a smidgen of a hope, that the author than managed to write "Earl plot", will develop "Adam plot" into similar quality.
SmythreRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
The story is well constructed and well written enough that I read multiple chapters.One of the characters is so unlikeable and unredeemable that I stopped the story just for that reason. I would not hesitate to read another story written by this author With hopes of different choices in characters.