Marriage And Monsters - An Eschatological Romance

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A healthy marriage is an ongoing conversation. So what happens when one partner is speaking English and the other is speaking the Celestial Language of Creation? Also the world seems to be ending, so maybe that should be a priority. Civilization is collapsing, magic and horror are rising, and suddenly all those lazy day conversations about heroism and fantasy are becoming very, very real. Can Sean and Haley's oddball partnership save the day? Can it even survive?

Updates Tuesdays/Thursdays, will always be posted to/r/rationalwhen a new chapter goes up.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2019
Author: Sarsapariller

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 326
Views: 112,730

Reviews

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Community Reviews(5)

Lazy SRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love it so much and miss it a lot.
The best and most inspiring think here is about how it transforms literature - just as rational literature transforms hero's adventure from "overcome this one threat" to "overcome this type of threat forever so we don't have to fight it's instances every year" - this makes a next step "empower people so that they all can solve their problems and cooperate so solve the common ones and don't need no hero"
The Aimless PasserbyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't review things often, but this story seriously needs more attention. As other commenters have mentioned, it began on reddit's /r/rational, and this is one of the better examples of it's kind. The story, by the nature of its plot, borrows from other works, embedding them into the metanarrative. The stakes and abilities escalate dramatically leaving you on the edge of your seat. The multi-narrator style is a little off-putting, but if any story deserves to use it, it's one where narrative is the entire plot. I will say that as someone who hasn't read Stephen King's Dark Tower series, I felt a little behind in some chapters, not knowing the context behind some of the characters. Yet still, I definitely wait with intense anticipation for every release.
ZethuronRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
One of the very best stories and most likely also the weirdest story i have ever read on royalroad, it has been a truly enjoyable ride so far, even if its confusing as hell at times, it is so rewarding when the climax of the ongoing plot arc comes.
Be warned, some plot spoilers in this review.
This story begins with the characters meeting eachother, with them having their own special kind of goals, however unreachable they may seem to be at first, they quickly warm up to eachother. Then change strikes, and they have to act to change the world, for better or worse.
The characters are just.. wonderfully written. They are intelligent, with their own goals and motivations. At first they seem to be quick at accepting the sudden changes, but they are being affected by their personal changes, in both good and bad ways. Theres also the fact that they are willing to act fast in this changed world, not only for themselves, but also for others. Their conservations are just so fun to read about, all witty and intelligent.
The story itself is written weird in a good way and is very complex even if it seems simple at first. The author has used elements from Fantasy Tales and other works in his story, and did that in a way that fits with the story. Theres a larger narrative with the main characters, the Fantasy tales(which have their own smaller narrative) and the entire plot surrounding the apocalypse, and all the changes caused by it, both on small scale and worldwide. All of that has been an great read so far, even if not much has been explained yet. The plot up to the latest chapter has been totally unpredictable, yet great to read.
Small spoilers here.
I really like the direction the author has gone in with this plot, making all stories from our world real in some way, both the good and the bad ones.
For example theres the small Wonderland arc, one of the most beautiful story arcs i have read so far in fiction. Its just so perfectly excuted as a arc with the best part being
patoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've actually only read the first chapter, but I am thus far ninety-nine-point-nine-eight percent sure that, whatever this story is supposed to be, it's the only piece of fiction coming out of r/rational that I'm going to enjoy. One hundred percent sure that it's the only one I have enjoyed up to this point in time.
That's a lie, actually. WTC was fun for a while until it wasn't, but that's off-topic. Anyway, dimension-crossing, soul-linking, inter-species, hard-core hand-holding. Lewd?
The premise itself reminds me of something I'd wake up thinking about on some weekday mornings, only to be forgotten in short order because there were only ten minutes remaining until the bus arrived. Not that my subconscious mind was ever this creative. But it's great because, disregarding everything else, the plot alone makes me feel as if I had gone back to a time when I didn't owe a dozen fat stacks to the federal government for helping to defer the costs of higher education.
It's weird. Kind of like substituting a package of "salted spicy radish" from the local Asian supermarket with Hot Cheetos, as a side dish to porridge. Tastes good. Also nutritionally similar? I can't imagine there's much to be had from "salted spicy radish" besides salt and spice, given that it tastes a lot like kidney failure. The Cheetos are basically just carbs and air. Mostly air.
If I had to say, Sean is the porridge and Haley is the Hot Cheetos. Given that I've only read a single chapter, the general gist of it is that dragons breathe fire and fire is hot, whereas psionic possession powers are not. However, Sean's soul buddy is able to control a number of vessels at once, just like how there are numerous grains of rice in a bowl of porridge.
Along with that, if by any chance a picky eater is unsatisfied with the simplicity of plain porridge, it's easy and socially acceptable to add various other ingredients to the mix. Things like dried prunes, beans, and lentils come to mind, but just about anything
snowdevRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This fiction is probably one of the weirdest fictions I have ever read. I mean one of the main characters is a dragon ripped right from Pathfinder and the other is a middle aged man and a gun slinging mantis-alien-thing that goes by the name sheriff. But it is because of the all of the weird that the story comes off as unique in a way that I have never seen before. The author has somehow managed to bring together a hodgepodge of different story features into an amalgamation of a fiction that somehow encapsulates the best of all its parts.
The story seems to be a mix of a little bit of everything, none of which should be able to work together to form a story, much less a good one. But somehow the author manages to introduce everything organically and fits them together like pieces of a puzzle. The fiction at its core seems to be a commentary on the very essence of stories, and is philosophical in some ways and satiric in others. The story as a whole is extremely well done, with my only complaint being that it’s a bit hard to follow at points, although even that seems to be intentional.
The characters are all unique, each has their own distinct personalities that make them distinguishable and relatable. The author does a great job of creating relatable characters that feel like real people. They react to the changes brought on by the apocalypse in ways that seem real. The characters change over the story, adapting to the new world they find themselves in. Some cling the past, unable to let go of their old way of life, and others welcome the new world with open arms.
I have never seen anything quite like this story and I cannot recommend it enough.