Risen

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Note:Slight edits to early chapters (and removal of one chapter - previously chapter 2) have been made 2/2/21

The city, my city, had once beenalivein a way that was hard to describe. Thriving, active, hopeful. Vibrant.

But life, as I had come to learn, sometimes possesses only the most tenuous of grasps. Finally, in the end, it became my city - mine alone.

I was, after all, the only one left.

Worse, it was entirely my fault.

There was red in my ledger that could never be wiped clean.

Not while I still lived, anyway.

This story follows Eran, a man who became the opposite of everything he had ever wanted to be; in a world where superpowers began to appear in a rare few, his lack of control over his own power relegated him to the role of a terrible villain - the Reaper, named so for the countless lives that he absorbed and made his own, each only furthering his deadly lack of control. Gone mad with guilt and isolation, he strove for a single heroic act - his own demise.

Death was less permanent than he hoped. Centuries later, he woke to a changed world and in a body not his own. Unfortunately, his power came with him. Yet this time, things would be different. This time, he had a chance to bring it under control.

He could never truly make up for the things he had done; he could never achieve redemption.

That wouldn't stop him from trying to be a hero.

Cover courtesy of the amazingVitaly S Alexius, author ofRomantically Apocalyptic. Go check him out!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: Zendran

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 912
Views: 119,285

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

MrDurronkoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Having read quite a few of the reviews for this fiction, I have to say, I do not agree with most of them.
I am astounded how the author managed to portray and make me feel for the MC. I had no trouble at any point following the thought processes of the MC and could feel his confusion... The author made me feel and relate to a pitiful lunatic. Thank you!
Read Heels_and_Horns Review too, for some more details, which I didnt bother to repeat.
Also, read this story, its good!
PhiFellRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The bad: only 82 pages so far.
The good: everything else.
The grammar is perfect, I didn't even spot any awkward phrasing, though if there are any mistakes and I just missed them, it was because I was too busy being glued to the page.
The characters that have been introduced are interesting, and even one-off people seem human and seem to have implied motivations, and react to the MC in ways that make sense. This feels like a world that we're getting a window into, rather than a theme park we're taking a ride in.
Assuming the author doesn't drop this and that future chapters hit my dopamine receptors as hard as these first ones have, this will be one of my favorite works on this site very soon.
And yes, the first couple chapters were confusing and took a bit to get through, but I actually think that might be a good thing. I'm not gonna say I didn't struggle through them, but I think the rest was maybe better for it. YMMV, but if you get lost, try skimming them, and see if you get hooked once the MC gets his act together a bit more. I certainly think this story is worth giving more of a shot to than most.
Paul RoundfieldRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is earlier than I usually would review but I just wanted to say that I enjoy the writing style. The editing is publication ready or close to it, that is to say, far above most stories on here. The story itself seems good so far. I read many stories and even though it is early I have found nothing complaint worthy yet, which is unusual.
Gamerkitt3nzRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Very beautifully done piece of art that I look forward to seeing grow. Risen has some edgy undercurrents, and is veeeeery confusing for the first 4 or so chapters, but the main character and other have a depth of emotions behind them that is exceedingly well done. This is a very unique read (for me) it takes super hero fantasy and gives it a depth and weight of emotion that make it feel real.
Style: The style is descriptive and flowing, although the author does like to be very wordy.
Story: Fantastic story and backstory, very confusing at the start, picks up at chapter 5.
Grammar: I haven't noticed any gramatical flaws, and the author does their due diligence in fixing issues.
Character: I love the character work that this author does, it's very intense and emotional. The flaw being confusion, the only major flaw in this story is that the first chapters are not very great for fixing any confusion you have. Other than that, the character is very well done, emotional and odd (in a good way)
I highly suggest giving Risen by Zendran a try. Get through the confusing start and then it's a diamond in the rough.
WolpertingerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An interesting start to the a story about a man, Eran, who is cursed with an uncontrollable power to steal the life of anyone who walks within several miles of him - and each person he kills increases the range. Feared as a walking apocalypse, and realizing he was going to literally end the world if his range kept growing, figured out how to make himself stay dead after commiting suicide.. he thought. Hundreds of years later, after the world has become unrecognizable due to the actions of people with superpowers, someone visits his grave in an ill-advised attempt to accomplish.. something, and is consumed by him, waking him once more.
However, this time things are different. This time, the person he consumed gave him an unintentional gift, that can allow him some measure of control over his own power so that it might not end the world if used right, and allow him to reconnect with humanity and make up for his unwanted mass-murder.
It's still VERY early, but what's there's very interesting.
EligosRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I have yet to understand why certain people feel the need to review something they have neither the faculties nor attention span to comprehend. It’s fine to not understand something. I don’t understand a lot of things. I have very little interest in ever finishing Gravity’s Rainbow, but you don’t see me waltzing up to Thomas Pynchon’s nursing home and slapping him across the face, then offering some bumbling backhanded compliment about how it was technically proficient.
Sorry. Rant over. Let’s move on, shall we?
Risen is excellent. It is better than 99% of what you will read on Royal Road. It is, by every definition of the term, technically proficient. But I think what some of the reviews are ignoring is that it has a heart as well. Eran is a tragic character for many reasons, but never so far gone you ever want to just quietly stamp him out, as is somewhat common for stories with tortured protagonists.
Despite only knowing him for a precious few pages, I want him to be okay, despite the fact that his very existence seems to conflict with the condition of “being okay.”
There are lots of Worm vibes. I take this as one hundred percent positive. A deluge of stories chased after Worm, trying for the that gritty grim-dark superhero tone and falling short. Risen captures much about what made that story so enthralling while dialing back the breakneck pace that sometimes made Worm exhausting to read.
It bears mentioning that there’s also a great sense of scale here. I have no idea how long Risen is supposed to be, but I’m fascinated with the world-building that Zendran seems to just effortlessly throw in and then ignore, leaving you with your hand raised (something this story and Doing God’s Work have in common) and your interest piqued.
There are very few negatives. Broadly speaking, the author has a tendency to write a word like “garbed” when a word like “clothed” would work just as well, but I’m not going to complain about a fiction bringing up the average vocabulary a f
SophoclesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An interesting story with a unique concept that manages to differentiate itself from the other fantasy novels on RR. People mentioned the story has worm vibes with its dark gritty hero setting which in my mind is a good thing, a nice change from the go hapoy utopia worlds.
The main character is very complex especially his mental issues but his new bright outlook makes a nice contrast with the dark nature of his ability making the story a delight to read as the author has a very polished approach to writing.
DustHurricaneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Sure the story has some basic problems. But nothing that I'd consider even close to bad enough to make me stop reading. Or really even enough to make me take notice. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's well written enough that it keeps enough momentum to carry you past it's mistakes, and to keep you interested anyways.
Like the title says, not perfect, but good!
Zenopath (AEV)Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I really wanted to like this. It's well written, interesting concepts abound... Too many in fact. Its like there's a paper shredder that took a few separate high quality novels into pieces and some genus glued it together and almost managed to make it understandable. Four chapters in we are in the level where I feel like you kind of need pen and paper to take some notes if you want to follow along.
To be fair, you can still enjoy this without understanding it, but I'm giving it a pass... But out of respect for the craftsmanship im still giving it 4.5 stars
Heels_and_HornsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
So, this is literally my first review of a story. Ever. And The reason I'm choosing this story is because of the impact it continues to have on me.
I've seen reviews that say things like "broken character, broken story". I don't agree. The fact it has such a "broken story" is what makes the character all the more convincing. I feel it.
Normally, I don't like books that deal with too heavy topics. I don't like tragedies, because either they're booring, or I can't connect with the story. Other times, I can't deal with some stories that just make me hurt.
This though. Read it. Maybe you won't like it, but maybe you will. And if you do like it, you won't regret it.
The beauty of the words woven together is breathtaking, you actually forget to breath. It's a poem, a story that leaves you feeling. Feeling the pain, the hurt.
The only reason I'm not giving this a full score, is because at times, it can be a little confusing, and I don't really know what's going on. Even so, I can bear this in the overwhelming favor of the rest of the story.
My suggestion to you if you're hesitant to read this and commit yourself, simply try the first few chapters. If you like it, then you have the fortune of reading this awesome story. If not, then so be it. No big deal. I'm sorry.
Because this story breaks me and I love it