The Bannermen

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

They are not royalty. Their deeds are not sung. They will not be remembered. They are...the Bannermen.

I always love that part of the fantasy story where things are really picking up and it's time to call in backup.

Rouse the Banners!

Except half the time these guys probably have no clue what's going on, and then the story just passes them by so we can get back to our royal Princes, Princesses, Kings, Queens and the lot.I always had a soft spot for these guys, so I decided to write up some of their adventures here.This will be a weekly story, and I hope you enjoy it!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: johngarrettx

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 180
Views: 16,656

Reviews

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Community Reviews(1)

SaucingtonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I loved, so much, this neat mix you did of "young leader trying to fill very big shoes" and "young woman sneaking out to see her crush" with Eldritch Horror. Supernatural threats on one hand, bureaucracy and other human conditions on the other. It makes it emotionally accessible.
Then you made great use of a foil to show us who the hero is and what they're about. Lord Multon is brutal, infelxible, and cynical, where Varsus is calm, just, and a bit insecure. So you didn't have Varsus feed an orphan or rescue a falling kitten; you had him restrain Multon. And that created conflict not with the enemy but with the hero's own camp, which was way more interesting.
Then, just as the political and military stuff was coming to a head, you introduced our b-story character. It was a fantastic lesson in pacing and showing us what Mulan's friends might call "A girl worth fighting for". She's life, and the battlefield is death.. but way scarier is when brave brave commander Varsus suddenly becomes "guy with an awkward crush". Readers are gonna cheer him on so hard.
Tropes: The Grim South (we usually call this Grim Up North, which is a theme where the environment itself is an antagonist). The foil, who exists to do bad things so the hero can remain pure and fight those bad things, but isn't a villain himself; he's still loyal, and almost like a second father. And finally, the Eldritch Location theme. Horror and mmystery fans love shit like a fortress which has architecture that looks like a face, or winds that moan as they blow through.