Metal Body, Crimson Mind

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Chapters uploaded on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Kazin and Vyvani are normal high schoolers, living in a world where politicians and massive corporations work hand in hand with violent crime syndicates. Kazin has recently moved to the metropolis for his dad’s job. All he wants is to adjust to city life and experience a single day where he isn’t picked on. Vyvani is on track to attend one of the country’s most prestigious universities, and she can’t wait until the day she graduates, following which she can start a new life in a different city.

But following a brutal incident, everything changes for the two teenagers. Both suddenly find their worlds upended, and their future goals and dreams are derailed. Kazin finds himself thrust into a quest for revenge, while Vyvani must adjust to an entirely new world. Both soon find themselves caught in the currents of a sinister plot, and their paths will inevitably intersect.

Note:This story is not LitRPG, and it is more in the format of a novel being released serially. As such, the story may be considered relatively slow burn for some readers. Thank you for choosing to read my story.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Shanduriath

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 84
Views: 23,221

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

ChocoboKnightRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really enjoying this so far! Like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners made literary, and slow cooked on a low heat. Strikes me more like a complete novel in pacing, which is a rare change for RR. An interesting and well crafted working with its own triumphs and challenges. The aesthetics are scratching all the right itches for me.
jpeteyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So let me preface this by saying that outside of Royal Road, I do read immense tomes, works like Stormlight Archive and ASOIAF by authors such as Brandon Sanderson and George RR Martin, so I am pretty used to a slow burn type of story--sometimes very slow burn, depending on the author.
If slow burn, big build up, and deep world-building are not really to your tastes, this story might not be for you.
Pacing is controlled and deliberate. There are very nice action scenes sprinkled throughout.
As another reviewer mentioned, I do appreciate the variety to Royal Road a work like this provides.
The story and its cyberpunk-themed philosophies are extremely interesting to me, hence the rating.
It does seem to be an interesting take on cyberpunk themes and philosophies, but I suppose only time will tell whether the author can keep up the momentum and provide a satisfying conclusion. As of now, I am very happy with where the story is going.
There are some moments of really beautiful and thought-provoking prose in the later chapters, and I am quite a sucker for things like that.
Good luck to the author, and keep up the good work. Thanks for your efforts.
ThaGummyBearRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
If you need stuff dumbed down and fed to you with a teaspoon from the beginning, then this book is not for you.
I have read (probably) a few thousand books, from truly appalingly bad stuff all the way throught to authors such as China Mieville and Peter F. Hamilton that write incredibly detailed and sprawling characters and worlds.
The ratings are based on the quality of stories on this site.
My reason for saying this, is that the author is actually trying to do something that few on this site do or is capable of doing. The story is taking the format of some of the greater books I have read. It is being told from several perspectives that comes together like a well put together puzzle. It is not rushed and the changes of perspective is not jarring.
The reason many find this jarring is that the events that are described are either too disjointed from each other (confusing/annoying), to similar (booring) or introduced too late in the story.
I find this level of control and planning of a story refreshing on this site.
Of course it is still early days and I cannot say whether the story will live up to the current promised quality. But I have hope.
Grammar, language and pacing is well done and enjoyable.
The story is not superpowered, dopamine inducing junk food, which is a nice change of pace.
The biggest obstacle and challenge for this story is probably keeping the flow going, balancing the depth and width of detail vs pacing. (And of course keeping the story interesting but that is the same for every single one)
Thank you for giving this site some variety ❤
Keep up the good work!
(Another story which can be worth looking too for more cyberstyled books on RR is Paladin, it does not have quite the same feeling and implication of as deep a world as this one does, but is a well done story)
MalcRoyal Road
★★ 2.0
I think the author tries to do too much. There are too many characters too early and it's hard to follow. At the same time, pacing while seemingly fast is actually slow. I find myself struggling to care about the MC (and the main supporting character). When I started skimming chapters less than ten chapters in, you know this story needs work. In my opinion, these kind of stories need to introduce the system/tech/fantastical elements early. Then give us the back story later. I'm several chapters in and still not sure what kind of story this is supposed to be. I also find the dialogue to be somewhat stilling and the character actions somewhat unbelievable as far as why they're doing what they're doing. For example, a city council rep is waiting to lure a teen girl to work for her on the off chance the teen knows something about the criminal workings of the parents of a kid she goes to school with? That type of illogic is rampant throughout. Has potential but really needs a serious rewrite.