Quill & Still [Book One on KU]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Book 1 on KU here. Sophie Nadash once yearned to understand life and chemistry. Now a disillusioned scientist approaching middle age, she yearns to set aside pipettes and polymerase forever.

A chance encounter with the Goddess Artemis sets her on the path to becoming the Alchemist for the rural Shemmai village of Kibosh, where the rat race gives way to peace and the quiet life. Freed from the hustle of Earth, she can relax, make friends, and rediscover her love for chemistry through its mystical precursor... and come to grips with the Jewish faith she left behind as a child.

Aaron crafts an interesting, vibrant world to explore. A slow life fantasy about civics, science, and a city above a dungeon.-Casualfarmer, author of Beware of ChickenThis is the story I never knew I’d always wanted to read, in a world I never knew I’d always wanted to inhabit. Among high-concept fantasy conceits, ‘what if a society was built to maximize decency’ sounds almost banal to describe, until you see it actually executed well and realize just how subversive that idea is. You deserve to read Quill & Still.-D. D. Webb, author of The Gods are Bastards

Cover by Mattias "Baconstrap". Discord link is in the Author's Notes; come hang out with us! Despite what the ANs say, my Patreon page is currently offline.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: Aaron Sofaer (aka Pastafarian)

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 2,383
Views: 435,236

Chapters(63 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

DenubisRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story feels written for me: I identify so deeply with the protagonist, both from her background and her motivations. This story feels written for me: I too am a fan of Graydon Saunders' Commonweal, exploration of novel egalitarian governments, and a deep and abiding commitment to exploring the world-implications of the "what-if." This story feels written for me: I have run Ars Magica games around a similar academic power fantasy -- that of unlimited laboratory time, a planning time horizon stretching more than a year, and the ability to engage in self-directed research for personal goals.
I have recommended this story to a close friend of mine and on one of my academic project update blog posts. If you, the reader of this review, are interested in the economic consequences of dungeons (and the words "marginal costs" are a fascinating implication of the same), or the structure of a society that has a different ideological, philosophical, and economic basis for allocating goods and authority (by function of carefully managing "dungeons"), go read this story.
The sheer joy the protagonist feels about escaping the pragmatic realities of academia, and the frustrations she articulates between what she imagined her discipline would be like and her actual experiences is clearly the author "writing what they know."
I have a doctorate in Philosophy (so useful!) and work as an "AltAc" professional staff in a university. The protagonist's desire for stability, creativity, and community is something I feel... nightly. The protagonist's visceral "nope" to actually *engaging* with the dungeon is also a quite common trend in characters I play in tabletop games and speaks to something quite fundamental in me.
Go read this charming story.
Style:
I enjoy the puzzle of the Commonweal series -- where stuff is happening and the reader is expected to go with the flow. This work is more accessible but clearly mined from a similar vein. The worldbuilding is self-consistent, excellent,
EkoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So, solarpunk. A utopian, green, near-post scarcity society with an emphasis on the environment and renewable technologies.
This story fulfils most of that with a twist. The twist, of course, being that it is set in a fantasy world. I read quite a bit and this is the first fantasy story I've seen this in, which is the main reason for the review. I've seen fantasy stories incorporate elements of post-scarcity, but it was always just background, never truly influencing the society. Authors that make truly different and original worlds are rare (because it is very difficult) and should IMO always be encouraged.
The well thought out, original, and story relevant society is not the only good thing about the story either.
The entire story is well-written, dialogue flows well and the characters participating have different voices.
The main character is likeable, relatable, intelligent and subverts the "insulting gods to their face" trope in a good way. Instead of just acting like a moron and insulting a literal god because s/he said something the protagonist did not like or some such nonsense, our heroine does it by not really being aware of long forgotten customs and not knowing how to act. This trope is one of my pet peeves and to see it done well warms my heart.
Onto another thing done well - Gods. The gods in this story are actually godly. Divine. Imagine that. Usually gods are either just some guys or mostly irrelevant scenery. Here they are present as characters and make you think that that might just be how a god/desss would be.
I can't really talk about the story since the entire thing has barely begun, but the competence the author has shown in everything else gives me confidence and makes me look forward to it.
EDIT: Since it is no longer relevant, the last part of the review has been deleted.
I_SRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a strangely mediative work on the relationship of the divine and society in a way that I simply wish I could describe justly.
It feels like a work from a wholey separate literary tradition than royal road in the best of ways. Like opening up a pulpfiction novel and getting Milton's paradise lost.
It's a slow comfortable burn like a still, and it works that queer alchemy that turns sour grapes into fondly remembered wine hazed evenings.
Jc1977Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A story that I am very much enjoying. The system and world described are very interesting to explore, both in application and philosophy, and the characters are being shown through both actions and words in a compelling manner. Thank you for your work here, please continue onwards and show us more of this character's growth in this world.
Stunt MonkeyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As someone who does not usually enjoy slice of life isekai I wasn't sure how well I'd get on with this story, turns out... amazingly. It's a delightful, wholesome, warm story with incredible writing that sucks you in and keeps you there. Themes of acceptance, discovery, wonder, and joy thread throughout it, along with a generous helping of sass.
I'd recommend everyone give it a chance, despite not being a genre I usually read I'd rate this as one of the most enjoyable and thoughtful stories on RR. 10/10
TrevorreadsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So this is neither my style nor my genre. It is less about crafting nor storytelling than an exposition on philosophy and culture and the underpinnings of society.
You may need to tough through the writing style of the first dozen chapters or so. I don't think in real live anyone will refer to their belly so many times nor will real people talk about their sexual orientation so many times nor have it as a focus of their life but whatever.
There is a nearly Neil Gaiman approach to mythology and the gods and it is well worth anyone who likes that style of writing to read though these 110 chapters.
The MC is a more than a bit of a mess but if you can work your way though that the artistry of the world building and the honesty of the relationships built will make it worth your while. I was brought to tears and several times though the emotions communicated.
So of you are looking for numbers go up. If you are bothers by a bit heavy handed homosexual themes. If your are not looking for an EXTREMELY SLOW BURN. Then give this a pass.
If however you are looking for a fish out of water tale. A unique and intriguing take on mythological gods and their relation to the world. A story of relationships between people and between society as it could be. Then I could not recommend this more.
VVerityRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style
It's a very comfortable style, it's clear the author's got a lot of experience and I feel like they've probably written a few coffeeshop style AUs in the past!
Grammar
It's well written so I don't see anything I could knock off for this.
Story
Now I'm personally a fan of slow burn and comfortable stories that linger around. But if that isn't your thing and you want to get into the action then this story isnot for you. Otherwise, without any spoilers, I can say this story very easily sucks you in. It's comfy, but the comfiness is deceptive as we learn more of the world. I'm not saying anything else because I don't want to spoil more or guess what the author has planned.
Character
This is the only part where I, tentatively, take off a half a star. I want to like Sophie but there's something that keeps me from really getting into her shoes. The non-MC characters are beautifully robust, so I'm wondering if maybe Sophie's issue is that she's written in a way to allow the reader to project a little bit of themselves into her? She can be very clinically minded. But still she's coping with a new land so who can blame her?
Anyway, please check it out if you're into these kind of cozy slow burns.
Zhantsa O. DrakeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It starts with a fun and fumbly take on gods, and continues with the MC continuing to be inquisitievley clueless.
Writing is clean, grammar consistant, and personality of players (even though it's early in the story) define their perspectives in a way that makes you want to see them grow.
Style is quippy and playful and it's quite pleasant.
partiallycyberRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
TL;DR highly recommend
Style: Elegant, smooth
Story: A solid, well-crafted foundation
Grammar: Impeccable
Character: Emotionally aware, willing to work past her issues
(summary at the bottom)
Style
The writing itself (and consequently the setting) has a soft, wondrous, watercolor feel to it which is perfectly suited to its cozy nature. But, Sophie's a scientist and we get moments of stylistic precision that gesture towards that, typically when she's in analytical scientist mode. The contrast is well executed and fun to see, especially because it emphasizes one of the themes of the story as a whole (sharp-edged scientist softening into cozy fantasy).
Story
What could we create if our community and culture wholeheartedly supported us? What if our relationship to the divine was intimate, personal and sincere, rather than externally defined?
Thus far Pastafarian is exploring these questions (among others) with grace; the story never feels preachy but rather filled with wistful wondering.
Also, do be aware that this is what the kids call a "slow burn" type of story. Is there gonna be romance? How does magic work? What's it like to escape capitalism? I've got no idea but I'm excited to find out. It seems clear to me that this starting area, at the very least, is fairly well planned out and holds a lot of space into which the story and Sophie can expand.
Grammar
No glaring errors that I've noticed and no subtle ones either. Something I very much appreciate about this story is that its grammar feels very deliberate: different characters speak differently and have distinct vocabularies, which goes a surprisingly long way in enriching the story's flavor.
Character
As I mentioned above, characters feel distinct from one another. Non-MC characters feel multidimensional and valued in their own right rather than for how much exposition they can pump out to the reader.
Sophie is flawed but doesn't let that control her - she's capable of taking a deep breath and not immediately rea
rune2269Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Its a nice slice of life alchemy story with good grammar and a likable protagnoist. The world and it's rules gets told to you without any info dumps, and it is a interesting take on another worlds society. I will say that sometimes you words and rules of the world thrown at you, without prior explanation of what these things mean, but it fits in the story as it is a whole new world with its own rules of how things are done.
Its good.