[Old] The Mercurial Lives of Kajulan and Tekole

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2021

Author

MrOrangeContinuum

• Chapter 1: “Drop the Act, Kid. I’m the One With the Knife.”
  Apr 7, 2021

Reviews

Community Reviews(4)

• Blind_WatcherRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This story thus far reminds me of a few different anime I have watched with delinquents as the focus, in a good way. Having a more down to Earth premise, you really get to experience the everyday goings on and the quiet desperation of the cast of characters.
  It's very interesting seeing how the author has taken the relatively grounded premise and justified both dry and course humour throughout. Looking forward to seeing more in the future.
• JMWebbRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I really really like this story, and I think you will too. Let's get into the the basics, saving style score for last.
  Grammar: It's good. I haven't noticed any errors, although others have. I have also given much worse scores for grammar to stories on this site, so 5 stars from me.
  Story: It's fun, folktale like, and generally speaking a good time. It works quite well in the web serial format, and I think the pacing is lovely. This author should definitely write more long form fiction.
  Character Score: All of the characters come off accross as different people, the descriptions of their thoughts are nice, and I feel like the moment we have met them we alreadyh know them. Take Kajulan, for example. Her thoughts on things often intrude on the narration in a story-telling manner, and her bravado is palpable. She's competent, but also naive and willing to take risks. You get all of this information in the first chapter. Immediate establishment of character FTW!
  Style Score: I think it's the style that really sold this story for me. It's not a slog to read, in fact I get the sense the author would rather I speed up when reading since it is so concise. There are no wasted tags, no superfluous descriptions which bog down the narrative, and it isn't TOO concise either. It brushes up against the world the author has built just enough to get the sense that it's real, but at the fine line where much is left to one's imagination in a nice way. Basically, it's easy to read, and it gives you space to fill in the things for yourself.
  5/5 would read again.
• KajRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  When is a review too early? 'After two chapters' is a solid answer. So I went onto the author's website to read the next two to four chapters, depending on whether or not Mr. Orange decides to split them up like he did with the two currently on Royalroad. And after six (!) whole chapters of reading, I can (somewhat) safely say that this is a nice and special story. And no, that's not a nice way of saying mentally handicapped, it really does stand out from the crowd, and definitely deserves one of Trending's top spots
  Why, you ask? Because this is a story about youth. And being a gang member, but that's less important.
  The story centers on the patologically irresponsible Kajulan and the somewhat insecure Tekole, as they gag and joke their way across knife shops, gambling dens, and armed robberies with the carefree joy of teenagers messing around. It's funny and neat and though I've only read the aforementioned four to six chapters, I think I'll be happy with wherever it goes.
  And on the topic of carefree teenagers and being happy with things, we do a seemless slide into talking about the character, because I don't like it when reviews feel like 7th grade book reports.
  Well, it's more of an awkward tumble now that I've written that little paragraph....
  Anyways, character. We've got lots! The two main characters really just feel like genial teenage dipshits, constantly doing dumb stuff with this affable air of "eh, it'll be fine". Mr. Orange has also created a gang leader that manages to have a distinct culture without being an obvious ripoff of the Godfather. And the author does all that without ever outrigth describing their character-traits once, something which brings us neatly into the next category; Style.
  And again, it's got lots. In addition to some masterful showing-instead-of-telling (a detail that many neglect to mention while talking about the concept is that you actually have to be good at showing for it to work), the narrator has as much snark as any of t
• ItsKHereRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Overall: Excellently paced, well written and  with a subtle sense of humor. You'll enjoy this if you like Middle Eastern mythology and inspirations from it, including stuff by Brandon Sanderson.
  Style: The writing is lyrical. This is one of those rare stories that reads like a folk tale without being dreary, and makes an impression from almost the first sentence.
  Grammar: I think the Grammar is near perfect. There are small errors and typos, but nothing distracting. Like almost every other story on RR, it could do with a professional proofreader and editor, but since this is a WN, the grammar is plenty good enough for the average reader.
  Story: The author is really swimming against the stream with this novel, but my god does it deserve your time. An anti-Hero Female lead, with a romantic subthread sounds a little bit like it's got an obvious story path to take, but the world the author creates makes all the difference. The beauty of the world, the characters that live in it, and the actual, genuine consistency in names and etymology make it feel like the story is more of a folk recounting than something spun of whole cloth.
  Character: I saved this for last because the Characters are what make this story come alive. Kajulan and Tekole are perfect foils for each other, Jethin is appropriately comic but with an edge, and the world of Romba feels alive. I love Kajulan and Tekole, but the real character of this story is Romba and the events that take place there.
  I really recommend giving this a try!