Surviving Arkadia

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

If Petra knew Arkadia was real instead of a game, she probably wouldn't have chosenScavenger as her starting class. At the very least, she would have bought some clothes during character creation. Or decided to stay human. But when youaccidentally end up as a Hyena-kin,all you can do about it is laugh.

Petra didn’t build her character to be pretty, shebuilt it to survive. She chose aScavengerwith anIron Stomach, someone with the ability tofight,craft, andlive off the land. Too bad the System didn’t give her some pants to go along with thosewicked claws.

When amysterious illnessbegins to spread through the forest she now calls home, Petra must embark on aquest for the cure. To complete her task, Petra will need tomaster her skillsand learn tounderstand the System. Because if she doesn’t find out what is really going on,and how to stop it, the fate of the entire world may be at stake.

What to Expect:

Crafting, Survival, Detailed World Building, Magical Cities, and Mystery

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: C.T. Yarrow

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 528
Views: 287,225

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

AlsoJohnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far closely focused on the minutia of character creation, early leveling and potential paths of progress. One would generally find this tedious, off putting and perhaps terminally boring but it's being so skillfully done, I am enthralled and looking forward to more challenging events in the next few chapters
BardLyreRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a riot.
Our MC awakes in Arkadia and has a choice to make. Obviously, she goes with the Hyena-Beast Kin. Why wouldn't you? From then, she starts to fill in her skills and her understanding of this particular world.
What makes this stand out from your common or garden System piece is that it is very funny. Proper, 'coughed out my tea in the cafe and made everyone look at me' funny. This style is a nice refresher from the VERY serious nature of so much Litrpg. I mean, what is not to like about an attack skill called SILENT BUT DEADLY
It is early days yet - write more, dammit - but there is much to recommend about Petra's journey (I am very suspicious about her mentor and fully expect a Darth Sidious moment to occur as the piece developsj. There have been quite a few ominous warnings about why people may wish to help Outlanders, so I am particular suspicious abbout this guy.
Gramma is clean and clear - a pleasure to read - with the occasional error simply being a case of ensuring internal consistency with some of the choices.
A great read and one that I am very much looking forward to following across the Writathon.
SchusfusterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So, to get it out of the way right off the top, if you like the works of Robin McKinley (The Blue Sword, Sunshine) and Patricia McKillip (Riddle Master, Ombria in Shadow) you're probably going to really vibe with this.
It's sort of Isekai / Systems framework, but it's a fully realized fantasy world with its own systems and drives. Also a bit like the Vicky Clave culture in Stephenson's "Diamond Age" where professionalism overcomes bias.
Very pleasing so far.
TonyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story has so far been a well written slice of life LitRPG in the first person perspective. The RPG elements, up to this point, tilt more towards crafting. It has an interesting story, good pacing, with excellent dialogue and characters. It is very well written with immersive prose. Interesting world and world building. The plot is mainly about investigating a virus that is antimnemonic (or a similar term I learned in the comments) while the MC learns of the world and system and gets into various adventures. The biggest selling point to me is the great dialogue. Nearly no grammatical issues.
cdr_whiteRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
After "A kindness of Ravens", this is the second novel by C.T. Yarrow, I am reading now. And after the first few chapters, I am hooked again on that story. I have no idea where this will lead but I am eagerly awaiting the next chapters.
I love the writing style, the world building and how the characters feel. If you like the isekai genre and LitRPGs, this is a must read. If you wan't a well written and entertaining story containing some puns and jabs at some of the traditional LitRPG settings, this is a must read. If you just want a well written entertaining story, this is a must read.
keeganashleyliveRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really enjoyed this! Enter a sometimes comical, sometimes dangerous world with a heroine who actively chooses to become a hyena avatar... I mean, you know it's going to be good when it starts like that, and she refers to the fur as incredibly soft and a great choice that she'd recommend. Lmao. ;P
Besides the well-thought out world and the hilarity of some situations, the writing has a pleasant, flowing quality to it which I really enjoyed. The game-style universe is clear and well-described, and the character learns about it as we do which is typical of novels like this, but, also, a great touch for spacing out large description or information. It has a really creative feel to the world with, sometimes, very unexpected characters...like, say, the hobos haha.
I have instant opinions about the characters which mean they were well-developed for me, and there were no glaring grammatical errors that messed with my ability to read. Overall, five star! I really like it. Very fun, light read with some action-packed parts too! Give it a go if you're looking for a chuckle, a neat world to escape to and some tense moments. I can’t imagine not having fun in reading this.
FinyunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am loving the story so far. It is a fresh new version of the System trope and has plenty of likeable characters. The author has an engaging writing style and the way they hint at larger plots keeps me on my toes, trying to figure it out before it is revealed. I am so hooked on the story and can't wait for more!
NycterisRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is Fun and creative, and I really like the unusual idea of a Hyena protagonist! It is solidly written and engaging, and has a dark puzzle unfolding in the background while leveling continues in the foreground. A neat world with the marks of history on it, and a clever take on the genre.
PlanetNilesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Okay. So I'm back once again, like a renegade hamster (to quote my brother in law). Prior caveat still applies. I'm married to the author andf thus my review is biased.
Et In Arkadia Ego is possibly my favourite story on Royal Road. Partly because it's written by the woman I love and the mother of my children. Partly because I was there when was created. But mostly because it is so good.
I remember that morning well. There I was pounding my head against my desk, trying to get words to appear in my brain so I could use the magic buttons to put them on the screen, when Cutty burst in. She told me of the amazing dream she'd just woken from. She laid the whole thing out, from setting, characters, plot. Even the system that her setting would use. A whole LitRPG narrative just manifesting from the ether before me. She then spent the next three hours putting all of it into Scrivener so that she could write this beautiful story. While I fanned her with palm leaves and plied her with figs, grapes, and sweet meats.
Okay maybe a slight exageration at the end there. The thing is that's my shtick. Not the exageration (okay maybe a little bit). No the waking up with an entire story in my head and struggling to get it onto the page before it evaporates. But it's beautiful to see in others.
So what do I like in this story?
I love the charcters. Petra especially. But all the others too.
I love the setting with it's steam/dweomerpunk aethetics. It's a much more imaginative setting than anything I've created for myself in a long while.
I like the pacing and flow of the story.
I like where it's going.
Should you read this story? Yes. Very much so.
CatAtTheHelmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I confess, the title and the cover were excellent bait for getting me to bite. Take a good look at the cover art and compare it with the famous original by Poussin. It was worth the chuckle.
When I started reading, I wasn't sucked in immediately, but lots of good books start with less than instant captivation. Regardless, the premise was interesting enough that I kept reading. I am intrigued by where this is going to go.
The RPG character creation lead-in to the awakening in a new world was first rate. For someone jaded on mediocre fantasy RPG character generation, I was not bored or turned off. (After over 40 years of gaming, I must disclose that I am quite jaded about bad and unbalanced character generation schemes. I have the gaming chops here to own my opinion.)
While I am not thrilled in general with LitRPG as a genre, this one isn't odious or badly handled -- i.e. it's not overdone and overrun with stats. The stats manage to illustrate without taking over the action. (For the record, my negative bias toward LitRPG is right up there with people who make too much noise when they eat, bad physics in movies, letters to the editor, and US income tax forms. To want to keep reading a LitRPG is a big compliment from this grammar-and-style-picky newspaper editor. I don't like wasting time on bad writing.)
While the story started a little on the slow paced side, the setting of the plot hooks by Part I was done well enough that I was annoyed that I must now wait for more installments to be posted. As of the end of Part I, I counted four solid plot hook that have my attention and curiosity.
Those plot hooks are:
What is up with all the mystery around outlanders?
What happened to all the people in Rotveil?
What's with the hungry people/creatures/zombies?
What's the Fever?
Given the plot hooks, I must now state that I would be more engaged if the MC had a better goal or purpose. For now, it just seems like Petra's ambition is just to get along and survive. There's nothing w