Rolliphs'

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Shrunk by a bizarre twist of fate, Jack awakens in a world gone monstrous. Blades of grass loom like skyscrapers, dewdrops become bottomless lakes, and the rustle of leaves sounds like a hurricane. Here, amongst the roots and fallen petals, thrives a hidden civilization – miniature humans who have adapted to this colossal world.

Jack must navigate this unforgiving landscape, dodging oversized predators and the ever-present threat of being crushed. But survival isn't enough. He yearns to return to his normal size. Learning the ways of the miniature people, he seeks the answer to his predicament.

His journey takes him deeper into this hidden society, where whispers of a forgotten knowledge and a reason for his arrival begin to surface. However, a dark force lurks in this miniature world, one that benefits from keeping him small. As Jack delves deeper, the line between friend and foe blurs, forcing him to question who he can trust and why he was shrunk in the first place.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2024
Author: S.Wolf

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 2.3/ 5.0
Followers: 4
Views: 12,246

What readers say about Rolliphs'

“I read up through chapter 5 and will likely revisit this story sporadically over the next few months. What draws me to it is the premise, which is similar to The Borrowers and other live-among-bugs tales I remember reading as a kid in the library. The stren…”
joygirl007Royal Road4.0 / 5
“Overall: I can see what the author is trying to do here, it just seems like they're in a huge rush to get there. You have to give us a reason to care about the characters. The MC is, as of the end of chapter 2, given a serious moral imperative. Why? Fate! D…”
PoTaytoHeadRoyal Road2.5 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

joygirl007Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I read up through chapter 5 and will likely revisit this story sporadically over the next few months. What draws me to it is the premise, which is similar to The Borrowers and other live-among-bugs tales I remember reading as a kid in the library. The strength definitely comes from the descriptions of the environments. The greenery, the scale, the wings -- all the little details of the natural world are delightfully magnified by the descriptions and in many places, it feels almost like "cozy bug fantasy."
Where I ding this story is on the repetitiveness phrases in much of the text. The author likes to state a point like, "She looked at him coldly," but then goes on to add a redundant phrase like "with an icy glare." It takes away from the flow of the story - and I knocked it off the grammar score because while it's mechanically functional, it's a structural issue with the language, and not a style choice.
Definitely put this on your Follow list if you're looking for a grownup bug adventure with lush, detailed descriptions of the natural world.
(I think the arbitrary word count on advanced reviews is silly and unhelpful. My authentic review is only like 50 words short!)
PoTaytoHeadRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
Overall: I can see what the author is trying to do here, it just seems like they're in a huge rush to get there. You have to give us a reason to care about the characters. The MC is, as of the end of chapter 2, given a serious moral imperative. Why? Fate! Do we know the MC? Nope! He's just sort of trundled along with the plot before this happens. It's too fast for us to know anything about him. The story can't breathe with this sort of rushed, get-to-the-plot-now style. A rewrite should hopefully include a bit more time to know our protagonist before he's suddenly magical and chosen.
Style: As stated above, a lot of the style of this story, in the early bits, seems focused on getting us to the meat of the story. That's fine IF the story is a bit simple. But we have a lot going on in the first two chapters; family interactions (kinda), mythical characters briefly introduced, a scene proving our MC is somehow mythical himself, and a mantle given. Al in like 3k words. It's just too much. Slow down just a bit and give us more. It's okay to have a hook chapter about the person the story is going to be about without magic or the crazy scenario. We don't need the lightning and the cliffhanger right away.
Another style choice here is the heavy-handed prose. Sometimes it works and creates a weighty scene that can evoke imagery. At least half the time, though, it feels like an amateur attempt to sound deeper than the writing comes off. It doesn't flow quite as naturally as I would think. When it doesn't work I can't hear the actual voice of the author. It seems like they're trying to copy an author that inspired them. That's all well and good, but I found myself skipping sections of this writing due to it feeling unaligned to the author.
Story: This style of story works, traditionally, when the character has a challenge growing up. We see it a lot in movies and books from the 90's: the scene opens with some form of struggle. The young adult is bullied, their parent just died,