The Boros Bachelor

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Lilla, a vedalken raised among the Gruul Clans, joins the Legion as a double-agent in her search for revenge. Maverick, son of a famous skyknight, seeks to prove his worth beyond his lineage. During the parade celebrating the new year, Mav and Lilla come face-to-face with Rocman, a fictional vigilante come to life. This masked 'hero' turns the city upside-down, taking the law into their own hands, exacting vengeance according to their own twisted goals. Mav, Lilla, and their comrades work to uncover Rocman's secret identity and bring them to justice.

Rated: T - Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering Ravnica. M/F, F/F

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Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: AwakenedMuse

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 57
Views: 23,521

Chapters(35 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

AzielRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This may be a fan fiction but it stands on its own legs. As some others have stated below when it comes to fan fiction you're usually treading on murky waters, but from what I read that isn't the case here. Now I'm not sure I'm the most qualified person to bring this up because I know very little about this IP and its world, but as someone who genuinely enjoys fantasy it was a very solid read. While I enjoyed the characters and especially the plot there were some aspects of if that I thought could use some more explaination as far as world building is concerned. However, I'm not sure if this story is purely for the fans of this existing world or just for everyone. With that said if I were the author I wouldn't change anything if it's the later because it's so well written. Perhaps expanding the Visual Glossary section would help mitigate this problem for future readers.
Overall the author clearly knows what they're doing so I recommend it.
B.C. FaJohnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I will start by saying that I was warned this is fanfiction, and despite that fact, I fell in love with the story and felt like I was well aware of what was happening, who was who and had a clear understanding of the roots of this story. So that deserves major props, PennedUpMuse. Not many can make fanfiction seem so natural!
Now, to break it all down...
Style
I commented on this in the story because it blew me away, but I love this author's style. It was, by far, one of the best aspects and I envy the prose this author was able to put across the page. They are a master with their words, and the flow of each sentence and sequence made sense. Well crafted, and little error regarding consistency as well. Beautifully written, and that is the truth :)
Grammar
I found nothing wrong with grammar. While I am not picky with this, it felt very polished and overall I had a fantastic time reading this. Good job here as well.
Story
The story is what earned the 5 stars for me. Destiny is a scary thing to face, and the author placed the reader in a place where they felt that fear. The characters presented on the page are responding to this fear realistically, and everything is set up at a natural pace that feels neither rushed nor slow.
I can see how the two archetypes of these characters will contrast (and compliment) each other to make a truly riveting story. The author knows how to move the audience, and with such vivid characterization, it will be hard to pull your eyes away.
Character
As hinted above, the characterization was phenomenal. It helps that the author knows when to provide immaculate detail and when to suggest microexpressions and anxiety, but overall I felt connected very quickly. That is something that is so crucial with these stories that are chapter-on-demand, but it's difficult to do without sacrificing the pace of the story.
I congratulate the author on figuring out a way to build characterization, build suspense, and build the plot in a way that harmonizes
OneSevenEightRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Grammer and Style
Both the grammar and style are amazing! The novel looks like it's been professionaly edited by a major publisher. The writing style is very interesting and works very well with this type of story.
Story and Characters
You can tell that the story is well planned-out. The characters and the events are immersive and intriguing.
Overall
5/5 story. I can't wait to see what happens next!
OntoSomethingGoodRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story has been a surprise package for me.
I have never played DnD, in fact, didn't even know what it was until I read this story.
Thankfully, the author has done an excellent job explaining the world which is immensely helpful for the uninitiated like me.
At the time of this review, the book has about twenty-four well-crafted chapters. I find the pace of the story as optimum, it doesn't dwell too much on unnecessary parts, yet gives enough detail.
Overall, I enjoyed this fiction and would recommend it highly. If you are a DnD illiterate like me, do read until at least the first 3 chapters, before deciding.
Story: This is a fan-fiction based on DnD. The plot is forming well, the author has used the premise of Ravnica lore to weave a compelling story. The language is fluid and emotive. It does not take much time for the reader to get sucked into this fantasy world.
Style: The story is told with a third-person narration style. It is able to convey the thoughts, expressions, and emotions of the various characters in the story to the readers in a beautiful way. We view the world through their eyes. The writing style is also more about showing than telling, and the author pays great attention to details. Combining all these with a good fantasy storyline is bringing out the beauty of the novel. Great execution.
The grammar: The grammar is excellent, there are no noticeable mistakes that could disturb the flow of the story.
The character: The strong point of this story is the characters. Mav and Lilla are both believable and relatable. The side characters have an oomph factor and come across as essential to the story. This shows the excellent capacity of the author.
Overall, great work! I recommend this story fully :)
RainGearRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall: a good introduction to the ever-expanding D&D world.
Style: personally, I enjoyed the timely separated paragraphs–short but loaded with information, just enough not to encumber your reading; it's quite an engaging read. As the chapters continue, you will find yourself won over by the author's well-established style composition, which is mainly 3-4 lines, in addition to engrossing dialogues and an impeccable flow. The only drawback for me was italicizing a whole chapter, which I found unnecessary.
Story: the plot develops at a steady phase. There's a good amount of timely imprinted detailing. Detailed characters, detailed setting, detailed action, etc. For someone like me, slightly unfamiliar with D&D and Magic: The Gathering, it was easy to catch on who's who and what's what. Though, for someone like me, it would have been nice to get a reminder more often: "oh, so he was a goblin," having thought he was another race for three whole chapters. On a positive note, this doesn't ruin the marvelously unfolding plot by a longshot.
Grammar: comprehensive. I like the variation of the long and short phrasings. You dip into the MC minds, learning just enough to pique your curiosity. Deep dive POV expressed practically.
Characters: interesting personalities that might seem stereotypical–but are they? The author pulls the lever and takes us on a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs and emotions. In the end, I found this the most enjoyable. You'll also find an abundance of well-depicted background characters relevant to the story; each character clearly has a purpose. Potential 'ships? Yes.
Everyone: "how much showing, not telling does the author utilize?"
Author: "yes."
TheUndertakersDaughterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Wow! I am throroughly impressed with all of the moving parts of this story. Initially when I started reading I was worried about catching on to all of the lore that is customary with DnD and MTG which I am totally oblivious too. But like you said it is still totally accessible to the reader. The dialouge is clever and rich, something I feel like I struggle with so I really enjoy it. All the different sects, races and so on really flesh out the world nicely.
Style
I don't typically read stories in this category, but it definetly has that customary feeling I imaging DnD writing would have. Yet, it is uniquely well crafted and has that homage to those series without feeling like derivative. And that is not a bad thing, I really enjoy it, and it is actually quite well written. I really am impressed with all of the different machinations of this story and how charcters relate in ways that feel fantastical but grounded in the world.
Grammar
As far as grammar goes I am sure there are some small errors, but I am certainly not invincible to these so I cant really pick at any errors fairly.
Story
Really enjoying the journey so far, I find tense relations between the MC and people like Bouldertooth to be palpable in their frustration/anger. I think I would reccomend this story even to a person like me who knows nothing about either DnD or Magic which is a testament to the story itself.
Tomato In The StreetRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
To be honest, It doesn't really seem like a fanfiction to me, It feels like a story devoted something and It seems It's actually going for something, unlike other fanfictions where the goal is just to satisfy their own desires and not aiming for a plot at all. I already have a firm grasp of Magic: The Gathering's lore and character backgrounds beforehand when I read this so I'm not really affected but you don't really need to know anything to be able to understand this piece as the author spends actual time to explain things and all. The Read felt smooth and not clunky at all, maybe because the grammar is nice and all. Anyway, if you're looking for a nice MTG and D&D fanfiction with some serious thought to It, this might be for you
D.M. Rhodes (Razzmatazz)Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is actually the first fan-fiction I’ve ever read haha, it’s usually not really my thing honestly. To quote the author on the very first chapter -
„This novel is based on a Dungeons & Dragons adventure(...)The tale is set in the Magic: The Gathering plane Ravnica(…)“
Now then. I have never played D&D and I have never played MTG. I’ve never even seen either of them being played, so this was a very interesting story for me to read as you can imagine
As of this review, there are twelve chapters, though the first one is an ‚introduction‘ glossary to the setting, which I was more than thankful for as you can imagine.
Just to get it out of the way, I found no spelling or grammar mistakes and it looks like the story has been well trimmed and polished.
The writing style is fluid and it keeps up a good, but manageable pace. One thing that I’m not used to is that the author likes to jump around between characters a lot between chapters, which did disorient an old geezer like myself a little, but they always made clear from whose perspective we were now seeing things. It ends up being interesting, because these characters aren’t a million years apart, but rather we see them come together fairly quickly. This makes it hard for me to say who the ‚real‘ protagonist is, but since Lilla is the one we see first and also the most of, I’ll say it's her. Which is good, because she’s my favorite of the characters, I appreciate someone with a ‚get it done‘ attitude.
It will be interesting to see how the characters end up colliding later on, as they’ve more or less just met, as their personality types are wildly different from the looks of things. There are one or two cliches buuuut, I think that’s to be expected given the ‚inherited‘ setting.
All in all, I would say that you shouldn’t let yourself get scared away by the fan-fiction tag if that’s not your jazz. I’ve never heard of any of this stuff and I was able to follow the entire story right off the bat with no complications. It’s
BrightSparrowRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I think the character-driven story makes this stand on its own outside of being based on MTG. I am famliar with the setting, so I can't say how accessible it is for unfamiliar readers. It's just in the beginning of the story but there is a promise of character-driven mystery and adventure to come.
Style
The prose flows and gives insight into the action and character motivations. I think it is a bit info heavy in some parts, and repetition of information comes up. I know the Guild culture is an embedded part of the Ravinca setting, but I think for the reader it could be more efficient in the details of the setting.
I think the style and characters are interesting enough that the information could be parcelled out slower to create more tension. I believe in Lilla so I could have waited longer to find out exactly why she's in this position and why she hates Boulder Tooth for example.
Story
Lilla is my favourite so far. She has an interesting motivation, and I feel for her, trapped as she is the situation she has found herself in. I can see myself pulling for her in her mission.
Grammar
Very good. I think similar to the style point above the use of adjectives could be toned down a bit, especially with the amount of specialised world-building language like the Gruul and Boros and individual culture.
Character
The characters and fun, they have motivations and it will be interesting to see Mav and Lilla interact more.
S.G. SeabourneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This story is solid in a way that I hardly see on this site. Immediately, I was drawn into the conflict with a character I could sympathize with, and whom had definable and understandable goals.
The prose is solid. Easy to read and understandable, which is a lot harder to do than people like to think. I did not notice any major grammar errors. The world feels magic/steampunk-ish, which is always a fun combo too.
I think what stuck out most to me was I had NO idea that this was a fan fiction until I glanced at other reviews. (The authors might have said something in the notes, but I tend to skip those because I like to have the story speak for itself.) I've read a lot of fan fiction with the serial numbers filed off and it often doesn't work because in fic there are shortcuts taken because the audience is already familiar with the world and doesn't, for example, need a character's motivation spelled out our a familiar area described. Anyway, what I'm getting at is this story had none of those pitfalls. I instantly immersed in a world that was easy to visualize with characters who had their own motivations and I never once felt left behind. Again, I wouldn't have known this was not a wholly original world.
So the prose and style are solid. My only complaints right now are minor. There are more POV's than I generally like except in epic fantasy. I'm not 100% where the plot is going. It feels like it could turn into a fun team up or party fic which is good, but we're only 11 chapters in so I don't see it happening yet. It feels like I'm just getting to know someone before we change POVs. These are personal nitpicks which is why I only deducted a half star.
The story is only beginning but it has a solid start and feels like it is building into something epic.