Sapiens - A Progression Fantasy

Information

Status

Ongoing

Year

2023

Author

Persimmon

• ANNOUNCEMENT! BOOK 1 IS OUT!
  Apr 16, 2024
• Chapter 47
  Aug 11, 2023
• Chapter 46
  Aug 9, 2023
• Chapter 45
  Aug 7, 2023
• Chapter 44
  Aug 4, 2023
• Chapter 4
  May 16, 2023
• Chapter 3
  May 15, 2023
• Chapter 2
  May 14, 2023
• Chapter 1
  May 14, 2023

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• StagY48Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  It's kind of early to judge the story since there are not that many chapters yet, but it is full of potential for a great read.
  The background in-between prehistoric times and magical phenomena creates a unique atmosphere for this story. The plot until now also leaves many mysteries that are yet to be explained and I'm hyped to discover more about this brand new world.
  Would absolutely recommend it.
• misssaturnRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The story in general is very involve. With many struggles for the teenager MC, being the normal and not so normal ones. A different approach on how magic powers are gained, although full of mystery on how it works. The war is very relatable in some aspects. The MC is very likeable and interesting.
• DragonanzarRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  A story about a girl gaining powers and needing to discover more both about them and herself. Not to mention aiming to one day find out the reason for why the natural phenomenon which bestowed them upon her exists to begin with.
  Story
  So far, so good. The author has started painting a vivid world full of life and interest. From the megafauna which live in the forest to the different races which surround our main character's village, there seem to be many things that may later be explored in more detail. Not to mention the clear hints to the lore of the world in which Dorea lives.
  Character
  Dorea is a determined young women with plenty to prove. It's a nice change from the usual tortured hero  to have her starting as an accepted member of the group in which she lives: she has friends, her family is in good standing, and her parents are clearly loving. She has a lot of room to develop and it will be interesting to see her doing so.
  Style
  The style is very good, readable and engaging. In the first few chapters the author succeeds in describing something which is meant to be indescribable, in a way that both immerses the reader and indicates its psychedelic nature. The author continues to create vivid, immersive descriptions which hold the reader's interest.
  Grammar
  A couple of things here or there, but nothing that broke the immersion for me.
• D.M. Rhodes (Razzmatazz)Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Sapiens - A Progression Fantasy, written as the flagship novel by author Persimmon, is a progression fantasy (surprise!) story following Dorea, a young woman with a spirit for adventure. An unexpected major event rocks the world and her life, but she doesn't come out empty-handed from the bleak circumstances. Using these new powers, Dorea and her friends have to work together to protect their tribe from their warring neighbors.
  The story updates regularly and has a good backlog of chapters. The tone was surprisingly a bit darker than I was expecting, haha. Chapters have a good length, and the characters are fleshed out nicely. A large dynamic is the presentation of life in the tribe, especially as Dorea gains her powers and so also a rising position in the hierarchy of her people.
  The other characters are fleshed out nicely, and we spend enough time with them too.
  The grammar and prose are on point for what you'd expect. The author accepts any pointed out spelling errors and doesn't lash out.
  All in all, I found this an enjoyable read. If you're interested in complicated power dynamics, character growth, and a detailed setting, then you should give this one a fair shot! =)
• Giordano1997Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Now this is an interesting one.
  I would say that if you like the Progression Fantasy genre, there are some things you can generally know to expect, like ranks through which the MC goes through and enemies which are generally at the same level as the protagonist.
  These are constants which are mostly respected here, but there is more. We get tantalizing glimpses of powerful beings, from Yaomi to hints of great monsters in the forest.
  The setting is especially interesting to me, as the author has managed to find the right balance between a tribal world where different races of Humans live and modern sensibilities.
  The grammar has been very good, with few mistakes, if any. The character is the main driving point of the story: Dorea is a young, headstrong teenager with a great interest in magic.
  She has her own quirks which make her unique, even beyond the special powers. Those powers are well balanced with a starting weakness and a setting where much more powerful beings roam the land.
  The magic system is interesting and deserves to be explored furhter. There are hints of the classic elemental magics, but also of a more Warhammer-esque system. This has been noticed by several other viewers and I think, since it hasn't been rejected by the author, will lead to very interesting consequences.
  I'll definitely keep an eye on it.
• JarexRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Sapiens is a story about Dorea, a girl from an early human culture, and how she deals with her life being changed after emerging from a trial with an unusual set of magical powers. This does not just happen to her, but to many her age, flipping the board on the region's power balance on the regular.
  The story is a wonderful mix of coming-of-age, hunter-gatherer and village society woes, and slow-burn, grounded power progression. It doesn't shy away from taking time to immerse you in the world, a world that truly seems fantastical in a way that implies the rules of earth only vaguely apply.
  The characters are wonderfully fitting without seeming overtly complex. Dorea is quite human in her faults and desires, however an interesting thing to note is that the outlook of gaining magic is not simply taken with an eye to the benefits, but immediately a worry about the responsibilities. A reasonable mindset, considering gaining magic can determine what you'll be doing your entire life, and one that is focused on consequences in lieu with action.
  The style is set in third person and so far I can say that while the style itself is not altoo memorable, it has lent itself to being quite an enjoyable read. The frequent thoughts of our protagonist grant an insight into the worries of a hunter-gatherer/migratory village people while also nicely integrating her into the set dynamics of family, tribe, etc.
  The grammar is impeccable and the story well-edited and proof-read. I didn't see any mistakes that would bother my reading flow and neither was it obvious to me that English isn't the author's first language.
  Overall, this is something I will definitely read with less ravenous hunger than the most progression fantasies, but with all the more sharpened interest and focus as the story and world unravels on the page. If I had to liken this story to a food, it would be a fine mushroom soup: Creamy, dense in taste and sprinkled with an array of herbs that turn the flavor off every bite
• CelivalgRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  A quite enchanting story, beliefs mix with a very nice modern interpretation of a tribe life.
  Another review pointed it out and I wouldn't have noticed because of how seamless it is, but the author mixed modern view with a tribe culture quite well.
  This story is about a girl in a tribe.
  Now if you based your view of tribe life on a less innocent perspective, you would already dread all of the things that could emerge from it and wouldn't want to read about.
  But that's not the case here, the culture of ethics is surprisingly mature, maybe a bit naive at times, but it makes for a much more pleasent read in my opinion.
  Not to say it's all rainbows and sunshine, and it's balanced with the harsh reality they are set in, but this allows the story to avoid the grimdark theme.
  Sacrifices still have to be made, and the author doesn't shy from showing that to us, in fact, the first few chapters are already about that, but I'll leave you to discover what the tribe has to do to survive.
  Onto the advanced review!
  Style: the only reason this doesn't have 5 stars is that I feel some things could be given a bit more weight, but to be completely honest, very few stories have managed to impress me with their styles, and those that did... I consider them flawless.... So a bit of room to grow, but still very good.
  Story: a very nice story, quite original (most tribe settings I've read about, MC left the tribe soon after and only served as a starting point rather than a defining pillar). The community feel this brings is very nice. But this story isn't only about the tribe, but about our dear Dorea. I will come back to her during the character section, but she has the character to make the story shine. Added to that the world that seems alive around them, beast, storms and other tribes, this makes for a quite nice setting, without it being overexposed, they are a tribe, not a fully developed civilization with a completely mapped world after all.
  Grammar: looks good to me
  Character: MC i
• EddieMRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  The story is well paced and has a decent progression for the characters. The dialogue isn't clunky and for once, there is no foul language.... yet. I hope that this trend continues.The magic system uses terms we are all used to but is still original.  Very well done. Thank you to the author.
• blahlingRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 3.5

  I would love to read more about the power system the author has going here and the whole tribal era that humanity seems to be in but I have a few issues with the writing style that causes me to just blank out while reading.
  So far the majority of the first 10 chapters are actions and thoughts laid in sequence with an almost Web Novel level of details given for enviroments and people, I barely know what ANYEONE looks like still and I don't know how the author wants any of the scenes laid out which makes for a very speedy read that quickly becomes annoying.  When you have no idea what the facical expersions are during conversations or body language is in response to the topic at hand to explain things like aggression, familarity, anxiety, etc, it becomes far less interesting to pay attention to who said what and just allow the cast of characters to blend together. At no point can I recall any clothing styles being given so this world might as well be a colony of nudist with undescriptive faces, skin tones, heights and general body masses that all somehow seem to always take note of hair colors with nebulous styles.
  I really do enjoy the small and rapid time skips that pass over irrelevant travels between scenes such as home to cave or the journey through the village to the next key scene. Unfortunately, with the lack of anything being distinct or noteworthy on each location, they characters changing from one slightly different room to the next leave me feeling like they didn't even move at all other than from sitting to standing.
  Since I'm left doing most of the heavy lifting as with all web novels do, I find myself easily pulled away from binge reading the story.  I'll definittely keep this one on the back burner for when I am more in a web novel mood though.
• osthanesRoyal Road

  ★★★ 3.0

  The magical system is primarily built around elementalism interacting with mage's souls. The path to gaining elemental power is unique, but the general usage of the elements is pretty standard and isn't really explored, outside of deus ex machina level ups for the MC.
  The MC has decent depth to her. Unfortunately, she doesn't really develop as a person, her development is instead about her gathering magical power and social status. There are a host of side characters with their own backstories, but no really stand-out personalities, and they also don't really have any development to speak of, so overall the character interactions are just fine.
  The story's best quality was that it was a solid "good vs evil" story holding the moral high ground against aggressors, until...
  ...near the end of book two when the MC betrayed and killed an ally...
  ...and it became simply "evil vs lesser evil", which killed its best quality and takes all the satisfaction out of reading it.
  Overall it's a solid story, the magical initiation in the first couple chapters is the most unique thing about it and quite interesting, but if you expect the magical system to be explored, if you expect character development, or if you expect a genuinely good MC, you'll likely end up disappointed.