Rogue Earth

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Earth is no longer the cradle of humanity.

Thirty years ago, for reasons unknown, the natural laws that governed Earth bubbled and melted away like film on a stalled projector. What was once a quantifiable, predictable universe suddenly writhed with chaos, making humanity's survival an impossibility.

Now, the remaining humans scratch out a meager existence through the grace of a fickle goddess, who bestows every new human being with a seed that both empowers the recipient and shackles their potential.

Finn, a rookie Ranger with a disappointing Gift but a pressing need to find his purpose, stumbles upon his own path to power, upsetting the natural order and setting off a chain of events that lead to the destruction of his home, but, for the first time in his life, he has the freedom to choose.

[This is an entry for the Royal Road Community Magazine Contest. Updates will happen sporadically, but I'm aiming for every week or so after the initial deadline.]

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: J.Drude

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 24
Views: 5,151

Chapters(9 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(2)

TealiciousTeaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
An interesting 'system' based story unfurling in a post apocalyse settings.
Leans into US miltary standards, religious conflict and conflict between humans and well 'fantasy humaniods'. Great stuff all round.
I personally like how grounded the descriptions are, and dynamic array of side characters. Both give the story and world depth and variety. Everyome from child, 'goddess', adults and elderly exists and appear to have their own point of view. Good stuff.
While there is no outright comedy, there is light hearted humour that balances out the dramatic stakes and tension of the story beats so far.
I spotted no major or minor grammar errors, so overall the text reads fine. Except for one personal issue I mention below.
My only problem is paragraph sizing and how it affects readability.
Big paragraphs on a laptop become walls of text on a phone. It adds an obstacle to the reader.
Lots of blank space is important. The advice can be successfully broken of course. But, shorter paragraph sizes make for easier reading.
You use, at least for phone screen size, a lot of big paragraphs.
Seperate point: Chapter one is nice. I like it as is. Just fair warning that it doesn't seem to have a dramatic hook to draw in readers, imo. A hook doesn't make a story better, just pulls in more readers, btw.
ksallsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
At the time of writing, I have read all available chapters (Through Chapter 8: Opportunity)
"Rogue Earth" is a post-apocolyptic litRPG, with magical and sci-fi elements. LitRPG elements are introduced slowly. The primary driver of the plot has been the setting, though there are indications that it may shift to be more character driven in the coming chapters.
Style: The author uses a number of unique and original similes; some of these land well, while others occasionally miss the mark, but the effect as a whole is whimsical and enjoyable. The writing lands, for me, somewhere between a suspense and adventure novel. Generally the author sticks to close-third-person narrative, which I think serves them well for the subject matter.
Grammar: The author's grammar and spelling are generally good. There are occasional missing words or misspellings, but not to the level where they distract significantly from the story.
Story: I enjoy a good post-apocalyptic novel. This has the makings of significant intrigue too; there's the sense that all is not quite well inside the city walls, and that our viewpoint characters are on the cusp of learning something critically important. Chapters tend not to end on cliffhangers.
Character Score: The author takes care to provide individual characters with enough description to make them unique, but they really shine when they start interacting with each other. Some exchanges may ring a little cliche, but they are generally enjoyable and help move the plot forward.
I've enjoyed it thus far, and the world feels full of potential; I look forward to seeing where you take it!