The Ballad Of A Semi-Benevolent Dragon

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The story of a semi-benevolent dragon who occasionally does the right thing for the wrong reasons. Protecting villagers from marauding soldiers? Of course. They can't give tribute if they're dead or their crops are on fire! Destroying a tyrannical kingdom? Absolutely. They have treasure... that could be his treasure. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Cover image is from OpenClipart-Vectors (https://pixabay.com/users/openclipart-vectors-30363/) as seen here https://pixabay.com/vectors/dragon-lizard-monster-chinese-149393/).

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: SecretTwelve

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 6,280
Views: 2,220,537

Chapters(88 total)

What readers say about The Ballad Of A Semi-Benevolent Dragon

“Doomwing is such an interesting character, initially you kinda expect him to be a typical Dragon that doesn't really get mortals and is learning to appreciate them. And then you learn about his history, deeds, past and sheer role in world building. He's bee…”
ArcanaVitaeRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I absolutely adore the the focus on dragons in this story. Don't let it fool you by the its simple discription, for what i have read so far its a great story. Particularly our charming protagonist doomwing, with his greed and pride that creates a flawed ch…”
CatgodRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

ArcanaVitaeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Doomwing is such an interesting character, initially you kinda expect him to be a typical Dragon that doesn't really get mortals and is learning to appreciate them. And then you learn about his history, deeds, past and sheer role in world building. He's been through countless character arcs, is one of the strongest things in his world, is basically the Archmage of the world, has made and lost countless friends and has saved the world multiple times. Doomwing is basically his setting's Big Good. And it's all done really naturally and tastefully, the world is his home, he's refined himself over countless ages, he's constantly growing, training and politicking for more influence. Everyone who's an ancient immortal creature actually feels that way, they trade in influence, favors, reputation and knowledge. All the characters are really interesting in terms of backgrounds, abilities, mentalities and how they affect the world and people around them This latest Kingdom building thing he has going on is both a note of respect for a dead friend and a friendly bet with a living vampire friend to see who's the better King. It's a very charming idea but the execution of the story has made go from a interesting idea to a masterpiece.
CatgodRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I absolutely adore the the focus on dragons in this story. Don't let it fool you by the its simple discription, for what i have read so far its a great story. Particularly our charming protagonist doomwing, with his greed and pride that creates a flawed character - which i love very much- yet beneath that surface is a lonely anicent dragon who has live countless ages and becuase of it not only he lost countless friends but also a loved one. The main character stands as a presentation of what makes the dragons so cool and awe- inspiring, its also makes us feel what would a immortal life feel like. For the majority of time we follow the story through doomwings eyes, but we also are treated to other unique perspectives like other dragons or other immortal-like beings.
For me the worldbuilding just stands out as one of the best i've seen in a fantasy genre. It devles into the very myths and creations lore of the world that shaped this fanrastical world. And Becuase of this i find it a very immersive worldbuling, that sets this story to be apart form others. I also love the doomwing unapologetic dragon like traits. it breaks away from the commen trope of dragons becoming too humanized.
Although in early stages, author has laid a groundwork for a story that has very good potential. I can not wait for more.
CecthehumanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of the best novels I have read to date. A glorious, nostalgic, rich tale of a very old dragon that successfully plucks my heartstrings. It’s a wholesome and yet gruesome view of a world through the lens of one of the oldest being in it. The depth of characters is marvelous to behold, the author truly has crated a beautiful story.
MrKitty297Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I can only compare this to the best stories I have read: Ar'Kendrithyst and The Wandering Inn.
I have wept and laughed to this story and I hope that many more can do the same. Written mistakes are rare, nothing seems too outrageous, and I haven't lost my immersion due to some bit of story that doesn't fit, it is a wonderfully crafted story of a old and stubborn dragon.
Richard SullivanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The narrative is incredibly compelling in a way that’s hard to grasp from the fiat chapters but becomes readily apparent. While the MC’s op-ness is readily evident, the structure of the world (more would be spoilers, but rest assured the worldbuilding is pretty well fleshed out) plays well against that and he’s very often not the most powerful thing around, forced to use his intelligence to solve problems.
Furthermore, it’s such an incredible fresh air to read something where the powerful ancient creatures largely get along. There’s competition, yes, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing characters sidestep future complications by just being kind and respectful.
Great book, would encourage people to read.
GodlyThongRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
World building is amazing, and the characterization is impeccable. People act in ways that are reasonable for their age and experiences. The writing overall is just really high quality and the chapters are nice and long. I don’t think I could come up with something bad to say about this story even if I tried. Which is quite remarkable really since even my favourite professional grade stories always have at least one thing to nitpick. Overall the incredible writing quality, characterization, and world building make it a must read for any fantasy fan.
Jaco van BurenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
When I started reading this, the writing style was somewhat familiar. And then I came across a post of one of my favourite indie writes (L.G. Estrella) that he was doing a side project. Well, that explained a lot. At that point I had not yet encountered Spot, my second favourite dragon (he loses out to a certain dragon with square root 64 intelligence).
Anyway: I like the worldbuilding, love the dragons and love the kingdom building aspects. I will buy this once it drops on Kindle.
L&L2009Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This book was actually recommended to me by my friend and he was so right. I absolutely love this book, the mc is smart, nonhuman and acts like it, and has a love of magic and loves to share it. This was the perfect book for me to start with in RR since I love dragons and high fantasy. 10/10.
EmbersInAshesRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I have always found it really damned difficult to write an interesting and compelling MC that is already powerful at the start of the story. How do you create any meaningful conflict for a character that is already incredibly powerful?
I think that the author of this story may have had the same difficulty at the start. The earlier chapters of this story are a little rough, and I think it is telling that many of the first characters they wrote haven't made an appearance in a very long time.
There is a really big shift in tone and mood somewhere in the first 30-ish chapters, where the author starts to really start considering Doomwing's past and personality. And I think it is for the better.
Feeling the weight of Doomwing's losses and grief is a massive change in the story, and adds something that I can really latch onto as a reader. It's not just a dragon doing random shit because he can. Instead it feels like a very old and nuanced character that is doing everything he can to hold his world together.
The technicalities of the writing have always been pretty good, but have only gotten better. I'd like to see some of the earlier characters reintegrated again; it feels a little jarring that they've kind of disappeared, though some of that may be on my end. With the large delay for the most recent chapters, it may just my own perspective. That said, Doomwing as a character had grown immensely more interesting as the story goes on and you learn more about the history of his world.
Overall, I love the story. I love how the author depicts the weight of ages and loss on a character that might otherwise be just a cutout. On a site where so many stories are focused on growing through fighting and combat, this story seems much more focused, so far, on a character growing internally. It's a real nice change.
shoco, scholar of the namelessRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Started very strong with a sort of goofy vibe, but quickly shifted into a more serious tone with much better worldbuilding and characters.
Unfortunately, at some point the story’s focus changed completely from a human–dragon companion story to just dragons, and the focus on the multiverse made it lose touch with the small things and the early settings.