Skill Thief - The Color of Another World [LitRPG, Fantasy, Isekai]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Adam's life as a down-on-his luck college student goes from bad to worse when he's transported through a painting and into an alternate fantasy world. He quickly finds that he's gained the ability to steal people's skills – and souls – by painting their portrait in his tablet. It's the only defense he has against the ravenous monsters and suspicious locals he soon encounters.

Unfortunately, rather than a reprieve from the melancholy of his life on Earth, this new world is just as disappointing. Corruption runs rampant, and the common people suffer.

Adam judges his surroundings, and finds them...inadequate.

Someone else may have thrown in the towel. Instead, Adam watches. He plans. And it doesn't take him long to start making moves that will shake society to its core.

The denizens of the Painted World havenoidea what's in store for them.

What to Expect:

A strong focus on character development. Progression elements of growing stronger and more important. A main character who uses a combination of his unique abilities and his wits to outplay his opponents. A fully fleshed-out fantasy world with history and intrigue. Some city building elements.

Co-authored by KamikazePotato and Rafael Kaleen.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: KamikazePotato

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 2,709
Views: 260,548

Chapters(57 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

DamianSenpaiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Okay so I’ll just say flat out that I came into the story intrigued at the idea, but not totally expecting anything crazy when I came in. Reading the first couple of chapters, it’s easy get a sense of who Adam is, his frustrations in his life with where he is, how it drives him as he gets in this new world and discovers the problems with the city. A character like Tevin, who we have only just begun to pick the surface of is cool, and I recognize that him pouring his heart out is something that seems strange for a stranger, but he himself is strange and jot everything he does makes sense or is conventionally normal. The characters write themselves to be interesting, and they paint a pretty clear picture of what they want. The twist at the end of the 92 days of painting is just so perfect, I was watching the scene in my head as I read it in just the perfect style, almost like Spiderverse as I saw it happen. I commend you author, you can paint a scene like no other because I could see exactly what was happening, watching the twist with a smirk on my face as I saw Adam finally get to pull off his plan, and begin to understand how his power works. It’s also great seeing Tevin (and forgive me if that isn’t his name I’m so awful with names it’s like a thing I do), co-sign himself and force Adam to commit to things makes him such a good supporting character. Overall, love what I’ve read so far, highly recommend it, the first bit might turn you off but honestly I don’t think it will. Amazingly written, 10/10 I’m starving for more.
Ducky_Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Super good and excited for more. the writing and grammar is excellent just to get that way out of the way, but where the story shines is it's originality (in a skill thief novel no less). I don't know and can't guess what's about to happen next and what ends up happening is just as suprising as is fun to read—Very. Adam (the mc) is also very likeable, intelligent and reading from his perspective is nice, especially when he talks about his paintings. He is also a good person, and remains so. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I'm a fan of bad or morally questionable MC's because their twisted morality allows them to succeed more often, whereas Adam is just smart, fun and strongwilled enough to make things work anyway in a manner that doesn't reek of plot armour. The slow reveal of the mystery's of the painted world is just good worldbuilding. Just finished chapter 10 part 2 which should be a fairly good idea for potential readers as to whether they want to continue as so far it has 2 minor arcs or 3 'paintings.'
FlamingFalconRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Ok. So I went into this novel expecting a generic freely given utterly broken. No effort, free skill steal op story. That would just be good for dopamine.
What I got was much more. The mechanic where the MC has to understand the person and create the portrait. Is to me creative, new and pretty great. It’s interesting to read as it makes the skill feel earned, and it’s also a great way to go about describing the characters involved, their personalities, motivations and giving them depth, without feeling like a tedious info dump. It’s integrated well.
The world is interesting, with mystery to unravel.
And each key action event feels different to each other.
It’s interesting and well written, enjoyable story. Nice.
Nanashi22Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This start was so good. I seriously could not predict half of the developments comings and I love them all!
There is also some amazing potential couple material right here. Can't wait to see if it becomes a thing.
MC is also so fantasticly written, same as other characters. This level of fleshed-out is so rare that I don't remember seeing it before.
Speedy99955Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I will try to avoid spoilers but the nature of this review will spoil a little, if you want to go in 100% blind skip this and just read it, if your debating on reading this story this reviews for you.
TL;DR I HIGHLY recommend you read this story and if you're thinking of dropping it read to the end of chapter 5/6 (I forgot the exact one, but you'll know when), think of this like getting past the first 3 episodes of Hunter x Hunter 2011, as once you hit episode 4 you get to know what the shows exactly about and see how good it is.
This story is so good its not only the first thing I've commented on but the first story I've left a review on. When you read the summary it reads like a semi average but not generic fantasy book, and for the first 5 to 6 chapters it more or less is, then they're is something that happens that is the most mind-bendingly crazy sh*t and one of the best things I have ever consumed in all of fiction, and the story shifts gears into full send half politics half gambling 4d chess giga-brained shit, the best way I can describe it is this story seems like what those villainess amines think they are but aren't, like its every "gay" (for lack of a better word) political / girl drama story's wet dream. It has some of those tropes and those core ideas but rather then being surface level and duming itself down for the audience or fanservice purposes the author just goes full send and does whatever they want instead. like the MC is smart as sh*t to the point he extrapolates stuff out of almost nothing but even when you reflect back on it while theirs a little reasonable bs-ing considering how complex what the authors attempting to do, but their is no major plot holes, so it all works fine. Even though I said its got a lot of typically girlie elements as a byproduct of the genera (this isn't a bad thing, as traditional gender norms are stupid) there's also a good balance of "typical guy shit" like the amount of hype you feel when the mc successfully pulls
ThisGrainCharacterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Review has been updated now that story has evolved and become more mature.
Grammar is perfect, as expected. No mistakes that impeded the enjoyment of the story.
The style and execution of the MC's powers are pretty spot-on. Description and exposition is not too forced, and dialogue in general is pretty good. It is a bit lengthy in the beginning but only gets better. Though I'm not the biggest fan of light-LitRPG systems, this story leans into the strengths of such stories, avoiding the walls of text and while showing character growth in a more subtle way. The world of Ink is also a compelling setting and has some really good worldbuilding and issues that signal the forthcoming plot.
The MC is written fairly realistically, and I have to call special attention to the supporting cast. All the characters are written as flawed and belivable characters with complex motivations and backgrounds. This story has really outdone itself and has arguably some of the best supporting characters out of all the fictions on this website. This is even more impressive given that it's still relatively early on in the story, and this character development will only make the payoffs so much better. The MC himself also has very unique powers and weaknessess, making reading much more exciting.
In the beginning, the story pacing can be slow at times yet rushed at others. However, the story has definitely picked up momentum and settled into a steady rythm. The story is well thought out, with clever plans, realistic consequences and most importantly to me, incredible amounts of worldbuilding built into the action. The few direct exposition scenes are skillfully woven into the narrative, and at no point in time does it feel like a info dump. The story is also unique, giving it extra points in my book.
Tl;dr: Premise and story direction are really good, and I would definitely recommend a read. The style and language are also very very good, and has only improved as the book goes on. Deserving of
XtraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Extremely well-written. Very strong start to the story. It's highly satisfying and the tension is so good. I highly recommend this if you're looking for an interesting unique book. The story narrative follows logically while making sure that you keep reading to find out what happens. Definitely worth a read.
thewitnessRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It goes from pretty good quality story but slightly lacklustre character to all of a sudden incredible and then does the same all over again as of chapter 13 part 2, any fic which can make me reread single amazing scenes deserves a 5 star in my book. It’s not just the scenes themselves but the set up which all reveals itself at once in such a glorious to read fashion I can’t help but do so again and again. Having 2 moments like this already is an amazing sign of things to come.
RaunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This story is a unique find from the beginning.
World Building
Its greatest strength is the world-building and imagery. The author paints a world that is fundamentally a muted grey, where the occasional shades of color are deeply significant.
Characters
The main character is a refreshing departure from the norm. He is not a typical isekai power-up protagonist. He feels raw and real, emotionally shaped by a past event that shadows his journey. He is smart, but is not a genius. His main strength is his dogged persistence, a determination to see and understand that fits well with the skill he has. The side characters are also interesting and add to the story.
Pacing
The plot is well thought-out and the grammar is excellent. The story moves at a slow pace; I read it over a period of months rather than in a binge, which suited its reflective nature.
Overall
A thoughtful and unique story with a deeply human core. This isn't a power fantasy, and the main character's emotional journey gives the story a heavier feel at times.
DarionRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I don't normally write reviews since im legastenic and english is not my first language but i felt this deserves my support so please bear with any writing/grammar errors.
A lot of suspense, interesting thoughts, and rather unexpected but well done plot twists.
My grading reflects the current quality given in comparison to a commercial product which I gather is the end goal for the two co authors. It's current free nature makes it hard to evaluate fairly as it matches up to published successful books and established fantasy books and authors. As such giving it less than 5/5 seems wrong but I can't ignore the growth potential in comparison to true unadulterated excellence. Going forward the rest of the review can be mostly considered nitpicking.
Character portrayal is being attempted at a very high level. In my opinion not the highest possible in comparison to C.J. Cherryh or my personal favorite the Spellsinger series of Alan Dean Foster. The portrayal is definitely not lesser than an author such as Rowling who does both compelling and interesting characters. As such the authors are on the right track but could slightly refine their approach.
The Story so far is both refreshingly compelling and interesting but sadly somewhat niche, it remains to be seen what is truly in store for us.
Writing style and grammar are sound and proficient but are slightly being held back by their simplistic nature in comparison to Hugo-Award writing quality. Somewhat ironic coming from someone legasthenic but considering my spoiled nature there is still a gap to be detected even if i can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I'm overthinking but I could suggest investing more time into a slightly more descriptive/atmospheric pacing giving the story more emotional introspection or gravity which is easier said than done but in my considerably biased opinion could elevate this story into true excellence.
All in all I thoroughly endorse reading this Story.