REND

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Erind Hartwell: dutiful daughter, law student, psychopath, film enthusiast—one of these makes her not normal. Was it the law student thing? Maybe. Still, she's relatively normal in a world where superhumans fight eldritch horrors that turn people into monsters. Viewing life as a movie, Erind’s wish to become the main character is granted unexpectedly: on the brink of death, an otherworldly entity offers her powers. Becoming a monster doesn’t sound like how a main character should be, but there isn’t much of a choice, as she was dying, impaled by a spike. She can probably make this monster thing work. Follow an endearing psychopath and her shenanigans in the middle of a battle between superhumans, hi-tech government agents, monsters, mutants, and wannabe heroes for Earth and the future of humanity. Book 2 completed!Cover art by ChristianAC

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Temple

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 5,814
Views: 1,431,550

Chapters(154 total)

What readers say about REND

“Honestly, this is one of my favorite series on here, Erind offers an unique type of protagonist who is not overly heroic and has her own internal logic governing how she goes about doing things, excited to see where it leads! I also love her interactions wi…”
EriBioforgerRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I read the entire original, and even just reading the first chapter I am really looking forward to this rewrite. Erind is an amazing main character, her adorable psychopathy being delightfully unique. Her running internal monologue contrasted with her outw…”
Enoch LambertRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

EriBioforgerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Honestly, this is one of my favorite series on here, Erind offers an unique type of protagonist who is not overly heroic and has her own internal logic governing how she goes about doing things, excited to see where it leads! I also love her interactions with her friend, Erind is super cute at times.
Enoch LambertRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read the entire original, and even just reading the first chapter I am really looking forward to this rewrite.
Erind is an amazing main character, her adorable psychopathy being delightfully unique. Her running internal monologue contrasted with her outwardly normal actions is one of the best things I have read.
I can tell the author has really applied his experience from the original story and is giving us top notch writing. Looking forward to this!
AetherWraithRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Solid story.
I question whether calling the MC a psychopath is accurate, or if it's just how media likes to represent them, but in the end that doesn't matter.
The MC is a cold, manipulative character who lacks certain emotions entirely and has minimal expression of others.
She has a series of rules she's decided to follow, some of which are necessary for her to operate in society, and others which are just little compulsions -- I love it.
She's smart, but not perfect, which is a line I've rarely seen ridden well on Royal Road. It's done well here.
The powers are fun, and while the world has obvious inspirations it's just as obviously original.
Good job author, I'm excited for book 2.
CatharticRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
REND is a wonderfully complex story with a unique protagonist who has the brains to hide her brawn in a city where she could be killed on site. The power scaling has so far been realistic, with real dangers posed to Erind despite her newfound power; the story's developed and clearly well-thought-out world alludes to future conflicts and enemies down the line; and Erind's civilian life gives substance to her character by showing the different rules she follows to protect her identity. I have enjoyed reading REND so far, and look forward to seeing the direction the story flows. Final rating: 5/5, would read again.
Blyg998Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’m a sucker for modern world premises, and this one is especially interesting. The protagonist is unique but likeable, and although the story has only just gotten started I look forward to seeing how the plot setups pay off.
I think this story is better than all the other ones on Rising Stars above it, so I rated it 5 stars
Critical BumRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The main selling point is the protagonist. Many villain protagonists end up boring due being an emotionless robot that does nothing but grow stronger and kill. Erind actually feels like a person though. She has an interest in movies and law that shape her thoughts and actions, but also follows her odd made up rules that let her blend in with normal people. She does more than simply amass strength endlessly or hurt people needlessly, yet it only emphasizes how evil she is. She is a narcissist who refers to herself as the protagonist more and more as the series progresses. She toys with lives by playing out movie tropes in real life as she kills people, and manipulates her friend into crossing more and more moral lines.
The plot starts of with a few pretty erratic and random events but has since slowly gotten entangled into a web of loosely connected plot threads. It feels like it's building towards something big while Erind's whims and lies push many characters and groups into more conflict for her entertainment.
Deen is a great side character that is used to highlight many of Erind's quirky and evil personality, but many other characters are underwhelming at the moment. Myra, Dorian, Sgt. Hall, and Overdive are great though. The antagonists so far have mostly been cartoonishly evil goons with no major antagonist affecting the plot yet, but many characters have been set up as dangerous enemies Erind will eventually face, so I'm excited to see where book 2 ends up.
BoodoovooRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't see a lot of first person POV in the wild, but I've seen a lot of great examples on this site. REND is probably my favorite example, with an MC perfectly suited for the personal and psychological experience that the first person perspective offers. Not a typical superhero protagonist but I'm still loving her so far. I'm excited to read more!
Dame AlannaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
REND was a joy to read, with a refreshingly unique main character and a well built interesting world. It's one of my favorite stories on this site and it's not even close. I'm excited to see where the rewrite will take us and to see the lessons the author learned put into motion.The original did have issues, but I think that taking everything the author has learned over the years will only result in a thrilling beautifully psychotic ride.
DrBrokenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love this story so much and how it breaks the mold for what you expect out of a main character and even what to expect out of royal road. It’s definitely a very nice reprieve from the usual you find on the website and the breath of fresh air truly is what allows this story to flourish in this way. I love Erind as a character and the change to focus more on side characters compared to the previous cycle has definitely made everything 10x better. I have noticed basically no grammar mistakes and the sentences flow like butter, which the beginning of the previous cycle definitely had trouble with a little. Can’t wait to see where Temple brings this story!
KargalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's an apocalypse story where the event happened ages ago. It blends the familiar life we all know and the repercussions that a cataclysmic event would cause to create a new setting.i can easily recommend to check it out even if you are not a fan of apocalypse stories. Royal road puts a 50 word limit for reviews so you get filler now, you can move along i have said what i wanted.