Tautology

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

“Saying the same thing over and over again. For better or worse.” Aiden Lu awoke in a world that wasn’t his. There were familiarities, parallels, his old address, places he once knew, but people wielded superpowers, wondrous technology and magic beyond his age were used for the most mundane of tasks. Yet the world he awoke in was one dictated by constant conflict. Millennia ago, this world crossed a line, a line that weakened the fabric of reality, an event that would later be known as the Apocalypse. Gates to other worlds open completely at random, letting in alien things beyond comprehension or logic. The blessed few with power often give their lives to close these gates before the infection of alien realities become too great. The world is different in a way difficult for him to comprehend, yet there is a single difference, a sister dead in his old universe, alive but comatose here. Now reborn with the power to bring his memories to life, he seeks to forge ahead, to continue on. Because in the end, a restart is a restart. One you can't hesitate to take advantage of. No matter where the path may lead, what can you do except to walk it? A modern post-post apocalypse story with both superpowers and urban high fantasy elements. Slow-paced and inspired by many of the things the author found enjoyable with a focus on positive character growth and interaction.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2021
Author: Sir Nil

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 1,009
Views: 453,720

Chapters(81 total)

What readers say about Tautology

“Really really fucking good, like holy shit. the worldbuilding is great, its confusing but in a good way that lets you understand if you get what I mean and it has a brand new concept that I have never seen before on RR. Just read it, in my top 10 things to…”
xaviermccRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I didn't even realize that there has been no advanced review so far as I thought the story was much more popular than it apparently is. So looking into the completely unfair average review of what 4.2?(now 4.5, yes!) I saw them all empty and decided to give…”
necoRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

xaviermccRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really really fucking good, like holy shit. the worldbuilding is great, its confusing but in a good way that lets you understand if you get what I mean and it has a brand new concept that I have never seen before on RR. Just read it, in my top 10 things to read on RR.
necoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I didn't even realize that there has been no advanced review so far as I thought the story was much more popular than it apparently is. So looking into the completely unfair average review of what 4.2?(now 4.5, yes!) I saw them all empty and decided to give this story some of that well deserved love.
Though as a disclaimer I don't think a full 5 stars on everything necessarily reflect the truth. Like I said, this isn't really meant to be a comprehensive review. Just giving the story what it deserves.
There are some flaws with pacing, some more boring subplots and other smaller flaws. But all in all it doesn't really matter. The honestly biggest flaw of this story is the upload schedule of what feels like twice a month. Taking you out of the story and maybe a big contributor to spacing problems.
But yeah anyways. This story definitely deserves to play in the big leagues besides Super Supportive and other great stories.
Just give it a read
To satisfy our royal road overlords and not get my review deleted again >_> I shall give a bit on the power system. But there is a reason my original review was so vague. Not good at this.
In one of his comments the author went in depth on the philosophy behind constructing his powersystem and it struck me as incredibly smart. I sadly can't find it again so I have to paraphrase from memory, but it generally stated that what makes a power interesting isn't the flashy cool shit you can do with it but the limitations imposed on it and overcoming said limitations in a creative way. Here he was apparently primarily inspired by manga und anime. BnHA, HxH among them. And it's apparent in spirit but obviously it's own distinct take. The author also mentioned basing the names of the abilities and the abilities themselves on real songs. Which just sounds like hell of a fun process to me.
Anyways. Hopefully this time the review sticks around
AQuackRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Going to be more of a rambling of my thoughts more than a review.
World building - Post-Post Apocalypse world. But what does that mean? A world where the "main" apocalypse is ancient history and humanity, alongside society as a whole, has long adapted to random gates opening up to other realities. These gates bring all sort of weird laws and physics with them, making the areas around them and within dangerous for anyone without Powers. This is a world where Zombie Apocalypses are just another Tuesdays where schools don't even shut down.
The world in the story is explored and fleshed out brilliantly through the eyes of Powered student and city resident. With infinite realities connecting to one world, this allows the author to come up with some really crazy stuff.
Magic System - Powers are the main magic system but others are mentioned, though they are not focused on yet in the story. Powers or Superpowers in this story are more akin to Battle Shounen powers rather than Western comics powers. By this I mean the powers will be more similar to Jujutsu Kaisen, Hunter x Hunter or Jojo powers rather than Marvel or Worm powers. I.e more stylish and creative but more restrictive and costly.
Further to that, advanced techniques exist that allow people to use their powers in ways that weren't originally within their power use. There is much more to this but I don't want to spoil.
Characters - Pretty much all the characters within the story are likeable, and the main cast especially are memorable. I easily came back after months and continued reading with no issue remembering who and what the personalities of the main cast were. The character work is no masterpiece but its still definitely solid. There is some fine character development for both the main cast and surprisingly an antagonist.
Story - Aiden is in a brand new crazy world with brand new crazy powers but with a quite real and honorable goal set. We follow him as he discovers the costs of those new powers, the danger
JunsuaiiimRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is about a person's journey of discovery, from learning about his own power (very unique, especially on this site), to exploring the incredibly detailed world around him, to most of importantly of all having a good hard introspection session (which is excellently spaced in the story and paced reading timewise)
The main character is far from overpowered and behaves rationally and believably with problems (think Worm or A Practical Guide to Evil), the author doesn't molly coddle him or treat him like porcelain china, and power scales correspondingly and only with character development (as the best stories often do)
By far the best part of this story is the myriad of powers, where the limitations are far more interesting than just overpowered magic gibberish speak (think Jujutsu Kaisen or Hunter x Hunter). As well as the worldbuilding, which is tonally coherent and very expansive as well (think Worth the Candle scale)
The author says he simply plagiarises from everyone everywhere, but the emotion that the author is able to invoked is utterly unique. The stories of Misha against the first Titan was awe inspiring, godfather's apples heartwarming, Claudia and her green grass was nailbitingly tense and bittersweet.
I mean this wholeheartedly, when I say this is one of the best stories on this site
Lord_RindallRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This guy knows his stuff!
Expansive worldbuilding! Immersive pacing and flow! Amazing character writing and development!
If you've ever grown tired of bland power scaling and systems, this guys cooked up a refreshing, addictive story! Piping hot!
If you don't mind losing a day or two for a mad binge for more!, then give it a shot!
Mad279Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Wow this is so good. People who enjoy Super Supportive will definitely enjoy this, though it has a darker tone. But yeah, thank you Sir Nil for crafting an amazingly deep MC. I really enjoy his progression and hope to see him use his powers in more ways. Will definitely be reading this story again.
Nearly forgot to mention the world building. Wow, it’s so detailed and amazingly crafted. Can’t wait to know more about it.
MalacoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's fucking criminal the lack of attention this story has.
This is the first time i read a story of a world which is depicted as post-apocalyptic and actually felt like it is dying. Moreover, the magic system is creative and just well done. The main character has been having a nice buildup and isn't OP while simultaneously not being a pushover.
The book is just refreshing and well executed. I binged the whole 750 pages in 2 days.
ShinyRockRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Looks like I only read the first chapter I know, but I'm Nil's Beta Reader so it's more 'I have not read the chapters after they were posted' since I read through em beforehand.
He's always been one for rather unique powersystems and it shows. His 'Hume' power system measuring Reality in a world where that's broken like the last few chips in a bag is weird, but it works. Sort of.
Honestly Aiden was never going to be the perfect protagonist, that was never the point. The point is to explore a unique and more then a little insane world devised by an overworked person on the other side of the planet at three in the afternoon, egged on by his freinds. A world the penguin actually manages to make sense, and have consequences for people's actions. Aiden is the perspective character with enough personality to be engaging, and a power that was too good to not give the protagonist from the 'fun to come up with ideas for' catagory.
Expect humor and insanity coupled with worryingly-detailed consideration of various fantastical Tropes effects on a realistic world, along with more Cthulhu-esque horrors then you can shake a stick at (as the stick will be eaten).
I really enjoyed reading it and tossing out ideas for it, and Nil messaging me at 15:00 because an AMV on youtube gave him an idea for a power that when you really think about it is probably some sort of war-crime, or entirely useless for anything other then mixing drinks depending on how you use it. That's the sort of thing you should read this for: the incredibly weird and worryingly well thought out world he makes.
Sp00kyGh0stRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I managed to read all the available chapters within 3 days and can officially say that I am enjoying this chaotic world and characters.
The world building is very well done and clearly thought out. Excited to learn even more.
I adore Ranpo. Got the chance to take after his father and flew with it.
mikoscheleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Very good very fun. Only critic are the huge dump of the info to democracy. After a cliff hanger or build up. Felt forced to skip 3 chapters. Everything else was done greatly I liked the expedition being integrated with fash backs to info not mention in a conversation 4 chapters ago.