Scionsong

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Aliyah Scionsong is a failed scion of her kingdom: a crumbling desert dominion entombed in poisonous mists, home to murderous Magicians and dimensional libraries bursting with secrets—a place where so-called ‘Healers’ are the most dangerous of all mages.

Under pain of necessity, Aliyah has learned the forbidden magics which mold flesh and bone to her will; magic that can heal or harm in equal measure. When a royal execution triggers an imminent battle between the Magicians and a nest of faeries, it falls on her to make some very difficult choices.

Save a traitor, become a traitor—she’s thrust into a world beyond the choking mists, where not all is as it seems. But at least she has her stolen knowledge. Perhaps her illegitimate magic will make the path ahead easier. Perhaps not.

Meanwhile, ripples of unease spread across the lands; trouble is brewing between faery factions. There’s a disgraced dungeonrunner, and a faery general carrying the broken ghost of her murdered queen. Faeries scheme; the Magicians watch and wait.

The Last Faery War has only ever been the last faery warfor now.

Content warnings:violence, profanity, gore and body horror, allusions to offscreen sexual content, disturbing themes.

Cover art drawn by the author.Updates Sundays (Australian timezone).

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Anodyne

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 430
Views: 199,633

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

vibes_in_the_substrateRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: STELLAR
Story: ambitious and intricate (albeit with minor pacing... I don't know... hiccups?)
Grammar: occasional, unobtrusive errors (that are quickly fixed)
Characters: excellent
Worldbuilding: not a rating subcategory but I mention it because it's also STELLAR
TL:DR - you should absolutely read Scionsong, but if you wanna get deeper, let's dig into the meat.
The thing Scionsong does best is magic. The magic is fantastic, both in terms of the way it works and how it’s described. This story has my favorite descriptions of magic out of all the fiction I’ve ever read, period, full-stop, no exceptions, hands-down, end of discussion. It’s a feast of sensory details that paint a vivid picture of how magic looks, sounds, feels, and even smells. Often, it veers into straight-up poetry, and the different kinds of magic featured throughout the story all have their own particular flavors and nuances. The healing magic used by the main-est of the main characters has a nifty ‘equilibrium’ mechanic that makes it feel fresh and keeps healing from being too OP. There’s also runes, ‘breaker’ powers, necromancy, illusions, and more. Explanations about the mechanics are introduced organically and intelligently. Magical fights are harrowing contests of skill, endurance, nerve and creativity. Anodyne has clearly put a lot of thought into how each branch of magic plays off the others, and there aren’t any lapses in internal consistency.
Next we gotta talk about the worldbuilding. There are several important locations and cultures, and with each of them Anodyne shows off a keen understanding of how to present diverse environments and how those environments shape characters.
We've got Shadowsong, a socially stratified, isolationist kingdom where the gears of tradition and power regularly chew up the common folk (and, in subtler ways, the elite as well.) We've got Glister, a scintillating city as layered as an onion and as convoluted as a maze, full of sellswords, pickpo
Andrew B. SalmonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
(Spoiler-free review. This is about capturing the mood of the story, so the following is light on details and heavy on feeling.)
Spellbinding urgency defines Scionsong thus far. Lush and evocative prose expertly paints a masterpiece of imagination, all overshadowed by the quiet, looming spectre of old horrors. A quarter of a million words in, and I am still reeling from new discoveries and mind-bending revelations. The story never fails to engage the mind and ensnare the heart. That's not to say that the barrier for entry is too high, or that memorizing a wikia entry is required to enjoy the journey. On the contrary! Rarely have I ever been so completely enchanted with a story right from jump; its powerful siren call is irresistible--not that I want to fight the undertow pulling me into the deeps--and only grows stronger over time as the tale unfurls its wings and soars into rarified air.
Please forgive my clumsy attempts to capture its ineffable effervescence by resorting to mixed metaphors. Words fail me to adequately describe just how deeply-moving this sweeping adventure becomes; it grabs you by the throat in chapter one, and never lets go. I'm willingly caught up in the warp and weft and witchery of the narrative weave: expansive world building with fresh takes on other species that actually feel alien, unique, and utterly non-human (rather than a mishmash of uncomfortable exoticism), replete with their own motivations and designs that aren't like ours; meticulous medical magic that requires competency and knowledge, not just hand-waving; and compelling and terrifying scenarios that lay violent claim to my emotions and imagination long after I finish reading each heart-pounding chapter.
Characters are complex, by turns wise and foolish. All of the denizens of this world are eminently flawed, yet shot through with glimpses of glory. Role models need not apply. Heroes still exist, however. Their excellent traits shouldn't be downplayed; if anything, the eclectic
BullerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
truth be told, i didn't read this chapter chronologically. I skimmed through the first 4 chapters before looking through some of the later ones, trying to see the differences between the different character POVs. Or to even check if t here was one.
And, I am happily able to see a difference in the way that the different personalities portray each other. It's great stuff overall. 5/5 from me.
GrizzlyBardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall
Before I get started, let it be known that I am – perhaps – a tad bit biased here. Epic Fantasy Drama’s staring strong female leads is a bit of a weakness of mine. It’s what I myself write. So when I tell you that this is a must read, a shining jewel for all RR to enjoy, understand that I mean that to its fullest extent. Characters that ooze charm, plot that demands your attention and keeps your nose glued to the screen, a world as enticing and fascinating as could be, and an expertly crafted prose dashing between plot, character, and setting so brilliantly, so precisely, that I couldn’t get enough. If you like anything about magic, or fantasy, or secret plots, do yourself a favour and give Scionsong a read, you’ll be hooked!
Style
Written in the 3rd person past tense, the story carries a charming levity to it. Working hard to keep the plot moving, with deep character investigation into how our protagonist feels and struggles with her decisions. It manages to not get bogged down in moral treatises and purple prose, while also not feeling spartan. I get a rich sense of the world, and yet feel hungry for more. A fantastically executed story, with a style that feels at home with any of the contemporary fantasy authors you would find at your local bookstore. Amazing job!
Grammar
Little to no grammer mistakes. None that I noticed or pulled me out of the story.
Characters
Right off the bat we are introduced to the wonderful character of Aliya Scionsong, our titular heroine, as she learns from her wonderful charming mentor Zahir. Let me stop here for a moment. I adore these two characters. Their banter, their sruggles, the subtle but noticeable darkness that lays in both of their pasts. The hints to past struggles. Amazing, by the end of the first chapter I was sold on Aliyah. If anything happens to her I swear I will riot, then go back to reading the story to find out what happens next. Zahir, her mentor figure, is just wonderful. A magical healer with disturbingl
GwennafranRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Scionsong crept up on me and caught me by surprise.
It has original worldbuilding and interesting characters, with a great take on a hive-based fairy species that are struggling as much to understand humans as humans are to understand them. I’d recommend this story just for the human/fairy interactions, but luckily there’s a lot more to it as well. Still, as a human you should remember to read great stories for your continued mental health, yes?
The first couple of chapters were pretty heavy to get past, but after that the original world building made sense, and everything flows great. I can follow everything without any issues or confusion. Plot threads thrown into the air are grabbed again later, and everything is slowly merging together into one fine and intricate blanket.
The story follows three major characters with a couple of extra thrown in for spice. Our main protagonist is Aliyah, who’s fighting to make it through an adventure she never wanted to take. Impressively, for a main protagonist that does not want to go on an adventure, Aliyah has the background and skills to explain why. As well as a very down to earth explanation of how that happened. Minor late arc one spoilers:
I really like how endometriosis is used as a plot element for Aliyah motivation to learn healing. She. Just. Wants. The. Pain. To. Stop!
I haven't seen this as an important element in a fantasy story before, but not only does it make sense as a driving motivation for a young girl, but it also makes some sad parallels to what can happen in real life.
I really like that character choices makes sense for that character at the time. Even if it’s a bad choice, you understand why this character would make it. Motivations, wants and needs are clearly defined for the important characters, and often also for minor characters, without necessarily spelling them out.
I’m hooked and look forward to see how this story will wrap up.
MosquitoMissileRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Scionsong is one of those rare fantasy epics that manages to incorporate its more fantastical elements with the harshness of the real world in a way that feels totally natural. The world of Scionsong is rich with history, one of human and non-human conflict made drastically worse by the frequently-horrifying realities of magic. It's a world that feels messy and alive, littered with rampant injustice and scheming for power, but one that somehow never abandons hope. And all of it is communicated through richly descriptive prose, one that consistantly hits the sweet spot between too much and too little. On occasion it does run into a hiccup or two with the story, but frankly it's kind of shocking how few problems there are considering it's length. I'll spend some time describing those problems in more detail below, but my overall feeling for Scionsong is that it is one of the best stories on this website and absolutely worth your time.
Style:
Scionsong's style is definitely one of the best things about it. Every single chapter is full of richly descriptive prose, brilliantly informing the scenes, characters, and settings. The prose feels very much like it's been written by a professional creative writer. And while some of the writer's influences do shine through in a few areas, Scionsong manages to maintain a totally unique feeling through nine hundred pages of story. Honestly, this thing is just a joy to read.
Grammar:
This story's grammar is almost impeccable. There's so few mistakes in this regard that when I do happen to spot one I'm genuinely surprised by it. When reading this, I sometimes went a dozen chapters or more without spotting a single grammar mistake.
Character:
Every POV character in this story feels like they're a real person, including the antagonists. This is mostly because the dialogue is well written, but it's also because every character's place in the story is clearly well thought out. The only problem I really have in this regard is that charact
v0lcanoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Worldbuilding - 10/10. The magic, character writing and multiple perspectives all fall into this. Magicians are terrifying, strong, oppressive to the lowborns, and also strong protectors of the kingdom and court politics climbers. Healers, including the MCs mentor, Zahir, can mess with biology on a whim and are equal parts awesome and terrifying, for Healer is a rather positive term. The Shadowsong kingdom as a whole is both weak and strong. Isolationist, sure, but with its unique professions of Magician and Healer and their certain amount of disinterest in morals, it can punch above its size.
Characters - 10/10. Each character that we meet is real, believable, and when there are no names, only groups or impressions, like with the gossipy castle maids, their behaviour is believable too. The different POV characters are equally well-written in perspective as Aliyah, and serve to create even more interest in the central parts of the plot.
Grammar - 9/10. Every correction that I've seen in the comments has been implemented, and anything that's missed is so minor that it doesn't inhibit reading.
If there's one thing I'd put against this story, it's that as of writing, the most recent chapter was posted 12 months ago, and the story so far ends on a sort of cliffhanger (not that there are clean partway endings with a continuous plot like this). If the author manages to find their rhythm again I wouldn't say this, but it's a mild warning for anyone who dislikes incomplete stories/stories that wont be completed. Personally, I'm still happy I read the whole thing even if this is all of it.
A V DalcourtRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: Third person narrative style, set in a dessert-esque world with what feels like a miasma-like problem. The world building and descriptive elements are well balanced, but it’s the characters that really make this story shine.
Story: We start the story with the execution of the seventh and youngest royal princess, who remains unrepentant for her treasonous act against the kingdom. She dies with a warning ‘They’re coming, and there’s nothing you can do’. And then they kill her without understanding what her warning meant. Watching the execution is healer in training Aliyah, and master healer Zahir, who later decent into the dungeon to interrogate one of the fallen princesses cohorts. From the start to where I’ve reached in the story, nothing is going the way I expected, and everything is so much better than what I had anticipated.
Character: Our MC is Aliyah, a low-born healer in training to Master Healer Zahir, whose morbid sense of humour has made me chuckle on more than a few occasions. We haven’t met too many people by this point. Though we have been introduced to the foreign spy master (I don’t want to give away too much), and indirectly introduced to Aliyah’s friend/relative/love interest (I don’t know yet). All the characters are well developed.
I look forward to journeying with them.
StainedGlassThreadsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A chronically ill maidservant-turned-illegal healer, a traumatized ex-dungeonrunner, and a grieving faerie general walk into a bar-- I mean stumble across a conspiracy...
Scionsong is a very character-driven epic fantasy, following three leads whose paths don't often intersect, but who do give us three very different perspectives from which we can observe the main plot and the the aforementioned conspiracy. Aliyah is the protagonist we spend the most time with, being a healer's unofficial apprentice, who runs away from her kingdom to avoid chaos and death, and is in the process mistaken for an agent of terrifying power by the enemy. Other povs include Felun, an unwanted heir of the Sungrazer family who is made to unwillingly cooperate with a cell of faeries who aren't particularly fond of humans, and Parsec, a grieving faerie general desperately searching for meaning in the death of her beloved queen, Venerea.
All three characters are extremely well-developed with plenty of believable traits, surrounded by an equally interesting cast for them to interact with and bounce off them, though some may find Parsec's pov somewhat inhuman, or feel it may take a while to pick up. Upon picking up, however, Parsec's point of view quickly becomes my favorite of the three. All protagonists are rather flawed individuals, some of them through making poor choices while scrambling to retain their morality while achieving their goals, others through circumstances beyond their control. This is without a doubt a world where the characters must feel the consequences of their actions weigh heavy on them, and so if any readers are fond of gritty fantasy worlds, this story comes highly recommended.
The protagonists aren't the only realistic and interesting characters, though. Many villains are horrifically cruel, but their negative traits are believably rooted in greed and apathy rather than good ol' puppy-kicking. Have I mentioned this is a great gritty fantasy world?
Adding to the grittin
Sebastian LindbladRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This is Scionsong so far; Aliyah, a lower-caste healer, bare witness to an execution during which an ominous message is uttered and with that event as its inception, her mentor begin to show her the dark side Shadowsong.
Scionsong has the political undertone of 1984, with an authoritarian regime that disappears people; a magical system in which the magic users discuss usage of dilation of channels, chemicals and ecology and it feels somehow both fantastical and vaguely scientific; and by the time of this review, chapter 10, I'm hooked.
I came for the cover but I will be staying for the humor, the vivid characters and because Zahir is a such a gem of a character.