Swordsman For Hire

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Sir Mark, a brave knight, awakens in a humble village, his memories lost. Leaving his past behind, he embraces a new path as a mercenary in a world unraveling at the seams, where the old ways crumble and shadows loom ever closer.

Note:

This is a medieval fantasy story that follows the many adventures of Mark. It adopts a serialized format.

What to expect:

- Short, action-packed chapters as Mark takes contracts to fight villains and monsters

- A fantasy world inspired by the classics of the genre but with its own twists

- Worldbuilding lore in the form of journals every five chapters

Hope you find it enjoyable.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: christos200

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 15
Views: 12,606

Chapters(64 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(7)

chris#1SupermanClarkkentfanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
“Swordsman for hire” is a interesting case for me. It takes place in a familiar fantasy setting filled with all manor of monster and supernatural threats, harrowing and fantastic adventures abound. But the author does several things to help differentiate it from other works of the genre like how they characterized the main character. Its protagonist, Mark, is extremely unique. He’s isn’t evil though he’s not perfect either being willing to do several things I found morally questionable. His presence in the story served as a great boon to the narrative as I found him immensely entertaining. There were times when I saw his more noble side slipping through and I felt sympathetic to his struggles. On the other hand, there were also moments when I wished he would change his ways. For the latter, I found his tendency for casual hookups with beautiful women to be a bit off-putting, especially since he meets one that would be an excellent long term partner, but sadly from where I left off the relationship hasn’t developed yet. Still, this complexity to his character made his adventures all the more gripping.
The secondary hook that the author uses is built into the very beginning of the story. We learn that Mark had experience a near-complete brain wipe, erasing all his memories except for his fighting skills. And what makes it even more mind bending is that apparently Mark willingly accepted the process having experienced something so terrible he didn’t want to think about it anymore. As I’ve alluded to in the previous paragraph, Mark goes through a lot of intense stuff on the regular. So, as his episodic adventures continue, it slowly teases an uncomfortable question at the back of the reader’s mind. What horrible thing could have possibly traumatized a battle hardened mercenary so much that he would willingly destroy all his memories? The question is inherently interesting and terrifying. As you know that sooner or later whatever happened before will catch up to Mark.
Ad
HouseOfBonesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a short fantasy packed with action and adventure, following Mark, a mercenary with self inflicted amnesia throughout a fantasy world.
If you like flash-fiction, or short yet compact chapters, this should be in your radar. I have quite the busy schedule, yet I found myself with enough time to enjoy this piece of fiction and what it had to offer.
The world building is rather nice, given in journals every five chapters, which is something I rarely see in stories, and it is a fun way to explore the world.
What intrigues me the most, when it comes to fantasy, are the monsters and beasts, and there is no shortage of those when reading through the available chapters, from spiders and trolls to werewolves and ghosts even. And I would love to see more in the future.
As for the protagonist himself, well... It is still unknown why he chose to inflict himself with amnesia, and I would love to read through his reasoning for doing so after killing the dragon.
Overall, if you are tight on time, much like myself, try swordsman for hire, you might find yourself enjoying it like I did. This was a nice read.
A. StargazerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I rather enjoyed this collection. It is a collection in my opinion, rather than a single story. While each episode follows the same MC, each chapter is its own little story.
The style itself is easy on the brain and pleasant to follow. It's like a series of bedtime stories for adults, almost. Grammatically I saw no issues.
I really appreciate that the author is keeping this simple. Each chapter has it's own beginning, middle, and end, and it's plain in a satisfyingly honest way.
I'm detracting a point from story and character because, overall, the story is just "a guy rides around killing people. For Justice." That's not that it isn't a pleasant read, just that the author isn't trying to develop the overall story in this case.
Characters get a similar deduction for the simple reason that the author isn't trying to develop anyone aside from the MC, and the MC is literally just "Huh, I lost my memories. But I remember how to use a sword. I guess I'll go kill people/monsters/things for money."
Each chapter reads just fine on its own. In fact, if you read just the first chapter in the series, you could probably shuffle them about like cards and read them in whatever order came about randomly.
MayucesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This story has been a pleasant surprise. It takes a familiar premise. A knight with no memory and builds something engaging around it. Mark feels grounded as a protagonist; he’s not overpowered, but he’s competent, pragmatic, and slowly figuring out who he is while making his way as a mercenary. The amnesia trope can easily feel tired, but here it works because the author focuses more on what Mark does next rather than dragging out mystery for its own sake.
The writing style is straightforward and action-focused. And I mean ACTION. Chapters are short and snappy, almost like reading quest logs or episodic encounters. That makes it easy to binge a few in one sitting without feeling bogged down. The fight scenes are clear, quick, and brutal when they need to be, leaning into graphic violence and profanity without overindulging. It reminded me a lot of Witcher-style monster contracts mixed with the pacing of Kurosawa encounters small, sharp stories that add up to something larger.
Worldbuilding is handled cleverly through journal entries every few chapters. They add depth without breaking flow.
Overall, this is a solid serialized adventure with promise. If you like grim but fast-moving medieval fantasy, give it a try.
Godkiller379Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Style (4.5/5): The prose is immersive and highly effective at building a rich, believable world. The author's descriptions of the Seven Realms—from the colossal architecture of Zhongdao to the intricate details of Qi cultivation and political bureaucracy—are vivid and captivating. The writing excels in its visceral, fast-paced action sequences, which are masterfully crafted and easy to follow. The style consistently supports the tone of a gritty, epic fantasy, though occasional pacing lags, particularly during extended travel sequences, prevent a perfect score.
Story (4.5/5): The plot is a compelling blend of action, intrigue, and character-driven development. The narrative expertly weaves together Mark's personal journey of survival and identity with larger political conflicts and supernatural threats. The story's strengths include its high-stakes combat, the authentic political rivalry between General Liao and Chancellor Han, and nuanced thematic arcs like the ghost storyline's focus on restorative justice. The plot is engaging and well-structured, though it occasionally relies on familiar tropes (e.g., the recalled general) and features moments of convenience, such as the timely recall of a crucial spell during a duel.
Grammar (5/5): The technical execution is flawless. The spelling, grammar, and punctuation are impeccable, contributing to a smooth and professional reading experience. The narrative's complexity is supported by clean, error-free prose that never distracts from the story.
Character (5/5): The character work is a standout feature. Mark is a profoundly compelling protagonist, whose amnesia provides a unique foundation for a journey defined by resilience, pragmatism, and a deeply relatable struggle for freedom and identity. His internal and external conflicts form the emotional core of the narrative. The supporting cast is equally well-drawn: General Liao Cheng is honorably pragmatic, Lady Guanyu is defiant and compassionate, and even antagonists like
OwlsdoomRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Swordsman for hire reminds me very much so of the early seasons of Supernatural, which followed a "monster of the week" formula for much of its early run. Swordsman for hire follows that formula pretty heavily. Spiders, trolls, werewolves, make sure to tune in next week to see where we are at!
I gave the story an overall score of 4 stars because I think it can do with some fleshing out. More than a few chapters are around 1,000 words, and could stand a couple hundred words being put towards fleshing out the larger world, or expanding on Mark's mental state, thoughts and personality.
I gave the story a style score of 5 because I think it does exactly what it sets out to do. Mark is living his best life, traveling town to town, drinking his beer with one gulp, refusing to work for free and killing things.
I gave the grammar a 5 as well. I wasn't looking incredibly hard, but nothing obviously apparent stuck out to me, I'm not a professional editor or anything, but I've definitely read books with bad grammar and this isn't one of them.
I gave the story a score of 4, because I really think it needs to be fleshed out a bit. The hook is strong, self inflicted amnesia, dragon slayer, mysterious past, but there is little built upon this in the continuing chapters. I'd like to know more about the world, and more about Mark's inner thoughts regarding his new life. I don't think there is anything wrong with the monster of the week format, and I think the fight scenes are well written, but again, adding 150 words describing Mark's thoughts about the world and his life, and 150 words describing the world, perhaps mark relearning it, to each chapter would go a long way. The journals were some of my favorite parts, but I'm a world building junkie. I think the world itself is intriguing.
I gave the character a score of 3.5. Mark himself seems to be little more than a vehicle for the death of the next monster. I like his backstory, but I really would like to see him fleshed out perso
ALJohnstonRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Overall I found the story very enjoyable. I will now share all of my opinions both good and bad
The good- The swordplay and fights in general are very well written, the world is incredibly well built and feel’s properly lived in. The mc having self induced amnesia is a cool idea I’ve never really thought of, really hope to see why he has done this to himself in the future. I personally really like the fact that Mark is a bit of an asshole who won’t work for free, cool but mean people are some of my favorite fictional characters when done well and Mark is written very well
The Bad- some of the repeated phrases that keep popping up get super annoying, i swear if I have to read about Marks white horse one more time I’m gonna lose my mind. Despite how well the world is built a lot of the characters we meet feel very two dimensional including the main character at times. We don’t just need the world to feel real, we also need the characters to feel real.
In conclusion very solid start, could definitely be something great with some more time put in to it.