Silver and Crimson

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In an alternate Earth, the human species has been tormented by all kinds of monstrosities. Mammoths, dinosaurs, werewolves, dragons... all of them vanished with the passage of time and evolution, but one of them has managed to remain a stain...Vampires. Appearing like a human at first, anyone can quickly notice that the pale lookalikes are much more different, and a lot more dangerous...Taller, faster, stronger, with sharp teeth and crimson pupils that resemble the blood they so yearn from their human prey. They see humans as either livestock, toys, or low trash with no other meaning in their lives. The war between the two races has spanned over decades, from the advent of Dracula's reign of terror, up to today's situation. Humanity has lost most of its former population, and lives in industrial cities, while vampires have hidden themselves in the hollow forests and ruins of the old ages, and safely come out at night to torment the humans. Humanity's only hope rests with the vampire hunter association, a century-old gathering of people, each with a reason of his own, mad enough to uptake the rigorous rituals and training of the Sun God's teachings to become a vampire hunter and partake in the long Hunt against the bats. This story follows Aaron, a 19-year-old vampire hunter, and his companions as they partake in the Hunt and stumble across a vampire plot that could put humanity back to the old ages of fear.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: Rivalex

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 9
Views: 7,548

Reviews

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Community Reviews(3)

SaucingtonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
In storytelling there's this idea of "Character Engines", what keeps the character moving and developing. Here you've got Aaron and Suiga doing the classic "Odd Couple" engine. Aaron is cynical and tired. ("Why am I here?") while Suiga is formal, enthusiastic, random, and intense ("I SHALL NOW COMMIT SEPPUKU". Their personalities clash, even when fighting vampires, and it makes this marvelous buddy-cop relationship.
And this story delivers on the promise of vamp hunter story. I wanted to see hunting, cool weapons, scary monsters, and you creatively delivered with Wolfsbane and the Imp Seductive.
The first half being Aaron just wanting to get the job over with, without extra paperwork, but the second half he pulls out this silver sword and shows he's a knight of badassery. This is gold.
Favorite tropes in this piece:
The Odd Couple, or Buddy-Cop.
Masquerade Breach. (everyone knows vampires exist, but hunters are treated with doubt by the public. So hunters have to fight vamps AND bad public relations)
Called Attacks / Magical Girl Transformation: "Oh Lord of the Sun... Wolfsbane!" adds the classic anime shonen power to attacks. It also makes it clear this is magic, not just something more biological and visceral like the vampire attacks.
And I think my mostest favoritest part was the tone. It's gritty and industrial, with trains, slums, angry mobs, and this other world of samurai intensity, magical transformations, and yelled attack names. The world isn't just magical and isn't just gritty; the world feels lived in and stylish and fantastical.
LazieRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This low level crab returns with his random review series.
Upon first read, this fiction left this crab a little confused. This fiction is written in two odd ways that might turn off a regular reader. Present tense and with dialogue in script format.
Instead of merely writing this off, this crab contacted the author about why the author chose to do this fiction and this way and recieved the answer: The present tense feels more immediate and impactful to the author, and the script style reminds the author of reading the author's father's scripts.
With that in mind, this crab can recommend this fiction as a novelty to read, in the least. If the reader is willing to embrace the style for the experience it offers, it may tickle a fancy the reader might not have been aware of.
Script it. Shoot it. Snip it.
lar.larRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
I'm a bit mad with the writing style that I had to stop and give my review sooner than I usually do.
The author has every right to write his book in any way they see fit and I wouldn't go so far as to tell them to change the way they write or anything as dramatic. It just means I have to sit this one out.
When I say writing style, I mean the way the dialogue is presented in this book. It's written as though its a script for a play. This can be cleaner to look at but makes for a rough reading experience because. It breaks the flow constantly and kills any momentum I had. It's like constantly switching between the first and second gears whiles on a highway.
And its such a shame too because the setting is absolutely cool. I like industrial age, steam punk esque worlds. I really like the main leads and the shit-talking vampires.
While its true that I could have gotten used to the writing style if I just pushed through, I have to sit it out for now due for various reasons that are irrelevant to this review. Perhaps, one day I would return and give a more favourable assessment because I do want to enjoy this book.