Sinews of War

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Xiatoktok has to take over his bank via a bloody coup. Boardroom politics won't cut it when your bank, and your Clan, are run by time-vampires. In a city on the edge of the frontier, in a world balanced between apocalypses. This, of course, means he is responsible for running things when a four way war breaks out around them. Somebody's got to finance the new weapons, right? And the new crops. And, alright, maybe starting a new cult. Espionage. Blackmail. Kidnapping. Fraud. Poisoning. Getting bullied by your wife into taking a concubine. Launching IPO's based on ancient, presumed lost biotechnology. And, of course, surviving his family. Good thing he's a time-vampire too, or he might be really worried.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Warby Picus

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 227
Views: 119,377

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

PizzaPizzaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
From the start, Warrby Picus paints a visceral image of a world that is a bit...screwy in a good way (for the readers). I'm finding what I just read a bit difficult to put to words, but I'll try my best.
Style - The world has gone through multiple apocalypses, so the author paints us a masterpiece portrait of a world where both the culture and technology is all over the place. I'd hopped into this without reading the blurb, just for the surprise element, and I didn't know what I expected but it was a pleasant and morbid surprise.
Style is probably the most important point to talk about here - the author has a beautiful style that paints a portrait of a world that's gone to the dogs. Their carefully-laden, expert prose painta a world with generations of glorified geriatocratic bureaucracy and Roman decadence, combined with all the pitfalls and backstabbing that comes with Wall Street political maneuvering and backstabbing. Humanity has been wiped out several times over, and each time, they've come back with sliiiightly more asymmetric pockets of technology and knowledge and customs. The Xia clan, which the protagonist Xiatoktok is part of, seems to be an expert at...banking, as well as the management of money in general and he leverages that to magnificent effect as tensions ratchet up and his surrounding 4 nations (Confederacies? I'm still a little iffy on how these ragtag clans come together) go to war.
It does push my suspension of disbelief that clan traditions, corpo hits, and investment banking are prevalent at the same time in a fallen world like this, but hey, it's a world where muskets and ray guns exist side by side so who am I to judge.
Story Score: Sinews of War is fundamentally a political thriller from, and there is a ton of substance here for people who are here for the straightforward, ruthless corporate politics.
Educated readers who have passed their Series 7 exams and know the nuances of debt, bonds, leverage, and currency exchange will find extr
Ellen TaylorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Despite the exclamation mark on banking in my title, I realized, after reading this, that I don't know a ton about what goes on behind the scenes with banking. But even though it took me a while to catch on, it was enjoyable.
Also, I have not read the author's other work. It's apparently in the same universe, but I haven't read it yet. Just another background for my review.
Grammar and style were great. I rarely knock stars off unless I see something consistently wrong or if something jumps out at me, and it was solid through the entire section. I wasn't too confused through th POV, and it was clear through the whole thing.
The story was excellent. The only thing I struggled with was understanding the banking, and since that was such an important part of the story, I felt like I was going through it a lot to make sure I understood. But once I did get a feel for it, it was such a fascinating part. Who would of thought that banking in an apocalyptic time would bring about such a fascinating story.
And the characters were well done. They had an interesting culture and almost religion around their clan, and that was so cool to discover. They felt real, and I liked discovering more about their culture.
Overall, it was a great read!
EmpireofTrustRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This Baroque apocalyptic story is not for the faint hearted, frankly there may be a small dark part of me that felt it was too good an end for bankers.
Cough
Well written, darkly humorous and endlessly fascinating world imagined over epochs rather than years, focused in on one part of a much larger world.
Not a lite story so some attention required to fully appreciate and enjoy which pays off in depth the further you immerse yourself.
I read the other two stories here on RR and they are equally well worth reading, epic and focused on the MC of each story.
Froyo BagginsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Good story. The banking is'nt too sophisticated. It's at that sweet spot of believable for the tech level and probably not too sophisticated for a layman. The schemes work. This isn't as good as the author's other story set in the same world though, at least not yet. It introduces you to the mechancis and viewpoint of another clan, but the introduction is less gradual, mostly because we're givin the perspective of an insider, rather than an outsider going on a journey. I personally feel that at some point we should be more immersed in the society but even if we aren't this is one of the best stories on RR.
As with last time grammar is impeccable and the style is both distinct and consistant. The story seems to have a plot that is going places, though I hope for setbacks with the main character that are less temporary, or that he has more trouble resolving.
Characters are good so far. Though major characters aren't all fleshed out yet, particularly our MCs wife, I hope and expect that to happen with time.
Again one of the best stories on Royal Road. One of the top five or ten being written, and that feels like I'm not being charitable enough.
Human Type PersonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This work deserves to win awards. I don't know if they still do those but this story would definitely win. Strong interesting well developed characters and a strange almost alien perspective of a future world, that slowly seems to become more relatable. The author has a gift and it is on full display with this story.
In the classic tradition of all great sci-fi works the naming conventions are a bitch to understand, especially in the early chapters. This annoyance, brilliantly becomes part of the reader's experience as the world slowly reveals itself.
The author has created something unique and truly impressive here. I highly recommend giving it a try.
JJBookersonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
For what it's worth, I read only Sinews of War and not the other book set in the same setting, I guess?
Summary: Well-writen unique setting with lots happening. The story starts with a complicated heist that the readers are only quickly learning the implications of over time. The author does well to slowly draw us into the fascinating setting and keep the story moving, eliciting emotions through painting pictures with words. I recommend this for anyone who likes a unique fantastical setting filled with political drama and intrigue.
For style my only complaints here are the somewhat confusing names, but those are just as much a part of the setting. I did start to get used to them after 4 or 5 chapters. I thought the style is where the story excels, where scenes are distinct and evoke thought in the reader. It is unique to me and one where I can tell the author spent some time crafting each sentence and paragraph, something as a reader I enjoy.
For story, I think the overall pacing of the story is good. Things are kept interesting as details about the setting are spoonfed to you, showing the massive scope and intricacy's of it. There are numerous factions and as I mentioned in the summary, we are put right into the middle of some intrigue and we are rapidly learning the implications over time, while learning about the setting and the characters. I think these things are well done.
Characters, the author is quick to add details that identify and make them unique. Learning their names is the hard part, but not all that bad when they appear more than once and are a recurring character as they are distinct and have their own motivations.
Grammar, the story is well-written and with no mistakes that I could spot early on in the story, but is definitely a strong point of the story in comparison to others on this site. Way above average in this category for sure.
Overall, I would recommend this story to someone if they are interested in a unique setting with political thrille
NeslonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Imagine a world where incedibly smart arrogant people like all those who work on Wall Street don't worry about the SEC or any regulatory agency cause they can all be bribed or scared into submission with your creepy rituals and voodoo. Sinews of War gives us a look into how an investment banker in a world that barely has banks begins a long term plan to get filthy rich while explaining investment banking to those poor souls he's scamming I mean selling and buying to and from.
Style- Warby Picus has the ability to paint a picture with words that is more tangibile than ethereal. Instead of staring at your screen hallucinating about another story where you can see the protaganist and your mind fills in the gaps, we are gifted on a platter a hardcore shroom experience hallucinating vivid imagery, beautiful sceneries, and characters so real they can touch you.
Grammar- The story has the occasional grammar mistake but it is rare and if there isn't an editor then somebody needs to pay this man more for what he does. Never felt the immersion break from a grammar error so thats all that matters to me.
Story- I never knew that I wanted this story till I started reading it, and now I NEED IT. Given a few fantastical liberties as all fiction should be this story feels entirely plausible and maybe based on a true story in our far future. With incredible research, good pacing that makes the story feel real. Fast when it should be and slow when we need to digest more I've been hooked and am really excited to see how much everything is not going to go to plan.
Character- We have a number of Characters given to us in the first few chapters and the author does an amazing job of giving them real thoughts, emotions, motives and desires. While we focus most on the main character the change is perspective insn't jarring but instead enlightening improving the story and our understanding of it instead of feeling pointless like lots of other stories.
I am excited to see where this story go
kingcaloobRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The world is old, human civilization has ended and restarted more times than anyone can remember. Clans cling to their institutional memories and specialized physical and mental adaptations as they carve out their place within time. We dive into the post-apocalypse with a time vampire as the main character.
This story really shines - like its predecessor - in world building. I'd hold it up against Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun in terms of depth and care given to creation. The author doesn't dump exposition on you, the reader naturally learns more about the environment as post-apocalyptic, mountain scape is revealed. And this world is deep. This is the kind of story that leaves you eager to read more, and ready to learn anything you can about this setting.
The main character, Xiatoktok, is likeable so far. The clan names can be hard to keep track of at first, but the characters we have been introduced to feel distinct and I am interested to see how they develop with the story. The initial chapters have been laying groundwork so we will have to see the characterization develops throughout the story.
The author's first story on this site was a tour de force that shines as a man on a journey. I am interested to see how the author will write a more politically minded story. I’ve added this to my follow list and think it’s worth the read if you enjoy deep lore and creative stories.
gostsamoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Xiatoktok is running on the blade of a razor. If he steps to the left, his own people will kill him while fighting for a piece of his body. If he steps to the right, he and everything he has built will be consumed by the war approaching his doorstep. Xiatoktok's solution is to become the one to wield the blade. He and his associates are definitely proficient in cutting...
I'm both excited and a pinch disappointed to return in the world of the black parade. Excited because this is a rich world with complex structure and memorable characters. A pinch disappointed because the previous book created extremely high expectations for this one and though I might be too picky, it might be that the author can do even better.
Let me start with the complaints because I love to complain and because I'd like to have some more time for the good parts. First, the book begins with rather unsure footing - the viewpoint changes, there is too much infodumping dialogues and not enough representation of the characters's internal thought processes. Second, I have some objections to the way the plot is constructed in the starting chapters. I enjoy the result, but reaching it required some compromises with my model of the world and expectations for performing a proper coup. Finally, there is a chapter focused on identity politics the existince of which I might forgive in a few epochs when the issues it discusses become as irrelevant as they are to the plot.
On the bright side, the book definitely delivers on many other fronts. First and foremost is the promise for deep dive in the Xia clan magic. Timekeeping receives an entirely new meaning when one is told that attention is something tangible, could be collected, accumulated and utilized. Like the Ma death magic in the previous book, Xia's time shenanigans could reach an eldritch level of horror and I'm waiting for those parts.
The episodes of casual violence are also rather entertaining mainly because they properly reflect the age of initi
Average SturgeonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I have come to expect quite a lot from Warbly Picus in terms of the quality of their writing, plots, settings, and characters. This spin off story met all of those expectations.
Anyone who enjoys a story focused on political maneuvering and 'kingdom' building will love this story. The characters are interesting, the social dynamics are compelling, and the webs of political connections and machinations outlined throughout the story are very fun to watch unfold.
My only two complaints is that this novel takes a step back from the 'magic' elements of the story that were more prominent in To The Far Shore and that it is incomplete (as of now on indefinite hiatus). I prefer my stories to spend more time focusing on exploring the magic rather than having it operating in the background largely unexamined the way it was in this story.