Shades of Perception

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Chapter 77-157 (Book 2) are now onKindle/Audible.

Chapter 4-76 (Book 1) are now onKindle/Audible.

When reality breaks, sometimes you need a scientist to put it back together.

Vern thought he understood the universe. Then Objectivity shattered, and with it, every law the world held dear.

Now, this ordinary scientist—overlooked by time itself, must become something more. Armed with his analytical mind, a dangerous rune of an Old God etched in his psyche, and a unique perspective ofBalance, Vern plunges into the abyss of Observation.

But as he delves deeper into the gothic streets of Elmhurst, he uncovers terrifying truths—horrors beyond human comprehension stalking the city, ancient societies vying for control over existence itself, cults preaching for old gods, and things better left unsaid. Each revelation tests the limits of his sanity, and to survive, Vern must ascend, pushing the boundaries of what it means to be human.

For in a universe that doesn't care, perhaps godhood is the only answer.

- Heavily inspired by Lord of The Mysteries, Bloodborne.

- Minor Inspirations from Death Note, Psycho-Pass, Code Geass, Attack on Titan.

Link to:Character Art Gallery,Discord

What to expect:

- Completely original 'magic' that can be hard (scientific) or soft (mystical), depending on the user.

- Reverse Engineering of magic system and its concepts.

- Competence Porn (Most characters of importance won't be stupid).

- Somewhat of a slow-burn, but rewarding (mind-bending) progression and character/world-building.

- Victorian Era, Steampunk, Lovecraft themes (subtle).

-Short sections of POV swaps in early chapters, but 95% of story is written in MC's pov.

Note: Shades of Perception currently has an unstable release schedule. I recently started as a dev for RoyalRoad and that alongside with other pursuits of my life have been hogging up a bunch of writing time. I plan to continue regular serialization once I have a backlog big enough to sustain the releases without interruption for at least a couple months. Current backlog: 5 chapters.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: FiniteVoid

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 3,583
Views: 373,318

Chapters(61 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

yadudocRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Gripping storyline, realistic lead character, and a beautifully well-crafted world.
This one is hard to put down, to the point that I check for updates to keep up with the story. The world of perception is super unique, and the mechanics of gaining power is one of most novel approaches I've read.
Highly recommend!
BlueMintishRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The best word that I can use to describe Shades of Perception is intriguing. From Chapter 1, the story is shrouded in mystery. As I read chapter to chapter, I continued to be drawn into the story and the mysteries surrounding it. This story has a lot to say, and it says it very well. Each word is carefully chosen, only adding to the grandeur of the work. As such, Shades of Perception isn't an easy read. There were plenty of words I had never seen before that I had to look up the meaning of. If you've been looking for a story with an interesting mystery that doesn't dumb down its language, Shades of Perception is the story for you.
Style: Shades of Perception oozes style. As I said above, each word used is carefully chosen. Descriptions are clear and evocative, creating clear and precise imagery in your mind. That style of writing never falters throughout. From chapter 1 it had hooked me, and I stayed hooked all the way through chapter 6.
Story: The story is still getting started, for the most part, but I am interested in what has been shown so far. There is a lot of mystery, but it's still paced very well. Never once was I bored because a chapter took too long, or because a plot point was uninteresting. If you enjoy chapter 1, rest assured that the rest of the story keeps that quality throughout.
Grammar: I noticed a couple of grammar mistakes and misspellings, but they were few and far between. Certainly not enough to really matter. When it comes to grammar, I only really give less than five stars if the mistakes made distract me from the work. What I saw didn't. Shades of Perception is a very well-written story. I'm sure what few mistakes I saw have already been fixed.
Character: Vern, the main character of Shades of Perception, is a clearly thought-out and well-written protagonist. He isn't one-dimensional with a one-track mind. He has feelings and desires that help drive the plot forward. He has flaws that cause conflict in the story. He's pretty much the textbo
DischtopiaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Shades of Perception follows a practical-minded intellectual as he engages with secret, powerful knowledge far beyond his ken.
Style: This fiction's style matches its setting: showy and refined. This is best expressed in the worldbuilding (clothes, architectural descriptions, etc.) and it is largely well-executed.
This tone is demanding, though, and signs of strain come through occasionally when the author is engaging in metaphor or attempting to describe the indescribable.
Not worth docking star rating for, but IMO the author would do well to take extra care at moments like these to keep the flow and the refinement of the story's tone consistent.
Story: Cool, unique and absorbing. I have some quibbles, though. Like why is the supposedly heretical, secret, power-bestowing knowledge our MC comes across so easily obtained from a local library? And why, in the throes of a crisis, is he so confident that the "enlightenment" it grants will solve all his problems after little more than an afternoon spent studying a diagram?
I enjoy the story and its premise, but the MC being so composed and prophetic about exactly what he needs to do to reverse a bad situation could be a drama-killer down the road. If he is going to be hyper-competent throughout, best to be very oblique about how and why that level of competence is arrived at, especially when it concerns information that is very new to him.
Grammar: Some comma overuse, some repetition of words that are best used sparingly (like "cacophony"--great word, but twice in three paragraphs is too much).
Overall, though, great effort for RR. Borderline tradpub-worthy, and plenty of evocative language. Great work FiniteVoid!
Character: I like the characters introduced so far, but I do find the MC to be a little aloof and somewhat difficult to relate to. His sister is more fun, though, and I'm sure his experiences as of chapter 6 will humble him somewhat, so maybe that will turn around as the story goes on.
Overall, Shades of Percep
EvrRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you love *LOTM*, you will love *Shades of Perception*. This is extremely well-made and has a lot of similarities to *LOTM* (a lost past, mysteries, gods, elder ones, entities that drive people insane, observers losing control, and many more). However, make no mistake, this is not a copy. There are two main differences (and many small ones) that make this a unique and incredible read.
First: Stakes. In *LOTM*, you have high stakes but also moments of control that create an incredible balance of tension that never disappears, with moments where you know the protagonist is in control. In *Shades of Perception*, you are at maximum stakes at all times. Nothing is guaranteed, and even in the similarities of "power" between Klein (*LOTM*) and Vern (*SoP*), Vern never truly has control. He is always on the precipice—one wrong move means death.
Second: Power system. The power system of *LOTM* is incredible, but in my opinion, the one in *Shades of Perception* is superior. It has more logic to it while still offering a variety with infinite potential. As the name suggests, the power is related to perception, and just as there are infinite types of perception, there are infinite types of power. The only limiting factor is creativity, and the author has plenty of it.
Cons: It currently has 180 chapters, and I think this will end up between 1,000–1,500 chapters, so be prepared to wait 8 years to see how it ends.
Conclusion: If you like absurd powers with insane mysteries, high stakes, and extreme creativity, you must read this.
TheProudfootRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story starts out in WTH-ville and hits the ground running. From the first chapter, there is a strong sense of mystery and foreboding that pays off intensely and makes revelations very satisfying. I generally like stories that plunk the reader down in the deep end without a lot of exposition about the world and that let the reader piece together how the world works organically, and this story does that better than many.
The caveat is that, if you are the kind of reader that prefers a more traditional approach to worldbuilding--i.e. having characters or the narrator explain the way the world operates at the beginning--you'll probably feel dissatisfied with the first 20 or so chapters, which will come off as kind of surreal and disjointed to you. This seems to be a common trait of most of the negative reviews on this story. Be warned if that kind of style isn't your cup of tea. Or enjoy, if it is!
Beyond the story structure, the writing style is...interesting. The story reads like watching a anime, honestly, though it's kind of hard to explain why. Among other things, sound effects are frequently written in onomatopoeias rather than just described in the narration. Also, the story viewpoint will occasionally move away from the MC to give outside characters' perspectives on things; the first time or two this happens, it's somewhat distracting, but it is handled very well the longer the story goes.
Improvement is quite a theme of the writing in the story in general, honestly. The author has really improved a lot over the course of the books in terms of both writing style and mechanics. There are still some things that cause me to do a double-take, particularly dropped articles here and there (a, an, the before nouns at the start of a sentence, for example), but as far as I know some of these may be more acceptable outside of American English, while in other cases the author has ironed out his own wrinkles.
Moving along to characters, the main one of note is Vern, th
TheRNGeniusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I binged through the first two books in the blink of an eye and enjoyed the novel a ton! Its not as „light“ of a novel to read through, since there are lots of complicated concepts to think through and delve into.
very unique experience for a progression system, i love it!
i also didnt miss the famous „blue boxes“ even once! 😊
brokenkeyboardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
i doon't have much to say beside that i enjoyed this novel thoroughly, as to the rest, don't mind it
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."
crisscross001Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am really glad that I continued reading.
The conversation with her sister in Chapter 3 made me think of dropping it since the way they talk seemed a tad bit exaggerated/animeish/unrealistic. But once I got past that... oh boy.
I found myself enraptured by the lore and worldbuilding which reminds me quite a lot of LotM.
But the greatest thing this book gives me is the way the mc is pioneering his very unique path to power in a very creative and quite reasonable way. Being able to defeat enemies a higher shade than him with only his wits gives me PURE dopamine.
I rate it 5/5 !!!
tmibvishalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Writing style is so good that it kept me engaged for nights. I ended up reading multiple chapters at once. You will love reading this book. There were times when I felt that rhe story is becoming repeating or boring, but, it is only for 1-2 chapters after which the story will become interesting again. Overall awesome book.
Story line: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Engagement: 5/5
Best wishes to the author. I advise him to also publish this book.
NichtEliasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
In my opinion, this is one of the best works on RR. The style is impeccable and the MC is awesome. The world building (including the "magic") is absolutely top tier and the best thing about this fiction. It's mysterious but you never feel like you have no idea what's happening and it's a joy to figure it out together with the MC. I really don't have anything negative to say about this.
Thank you, author, for giving us this amazing fiction.