The Butterfly Effect

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A series about how one small thing can change the world.

It started with whispers—secrets mortals were not supposed to know. The words themselves have been lost to time, but their meaning is still understood. The consequences grow ever-present as time passes; as shadows take form and fulfill its master’s will. But within the past, present, and future, scattered all across the land are the people and their stories that could change the course of fate.

The Butterfly Effect features LGBTQIA+ characters.

The Butterfly Effect is written as a series of moderately independent stories, bound together by a common world. Join a wide range of characters—from nobility to commoners to those barely able to be described as human—on their trips of exploration and discovery of the world around them. Below are short descriptions of each story published so far; they can be read out of volume order, and summaries are available under the Author’s Notes. Who knows, one of these stories may even tell of the event that started it all…

Departure- Follow the young Prince Natheniel on his way towards making the biggest mistake of his life—one that affects much more than him. [complete]

Secrets of the Ley Lines- A group of teens set out to not only uncover bits of the past but also find themselves in the Labyrinth, home of the Minotaur. [complete]

Bloodline- Tavin, with the prompting of his spirits, goes on a trip to understand his bloodline and the kind of power he possesses. [complete]

Rebellion- Lucas and his odd band of magic users stand up against the king and start a new future for Seothia. [complete]

Mystery of Nadia Mikah- Enebish is given their first detective case, though they aren’t ready for all that they discover. [complete]

The Stone Family Adventure- Lydia finds a way to live what has already been lost… perhaps at the expense of losing something else. [complete]

The Fiction in Fact- Two siblings begin to uncover the lies that have seeped into what’s become known as fact. [complete]

The Girl Under the Bed- Rhenei leaves her home and finds out more about her lifelong friend's past. [complete]

Philyra learns some pieces of the past and is asked to make an important decision. [complete]

Traveler’s Tales- Sukeena finds new friends on her way of fulfilling her father's dream. [complete]

Second Chances- Lynette decides to leave her old life, running away to a small town in Qizar… and finds plenty of new friends and opportunities waiting for her there. [complete]

Uncharted Waters- Oria, despite what she knows it will cost her, helps a fairy of Fleyw Bresh who shipwrecked on Idkor. [complete]

Forgotten Light- Fauna recounts a few tales of her past, as she reflects on them from the place she’s in now. [complete]

H99- Beika’s life working is turned upside down with the arrival of two strangers. [complete]

Redemption- Ouka and Brenan face their pasts and make a new future for themselves. [complete]

Black Magic- Eme, drawn in by her desire to find her lost love, attempts to conquer forbidden magic… [complete]

Dualities of Messengers- Two groups of Messengers are sent to destroy remaining pieces of forbidden knowledge.

What Time Forgot- A collection of short stories ranging from little scenes or events to longer ones dedicated to specific characters. [updates Wednesday when no story is being posted]

Extras- Character cards and concept sheets, Q&As, short semi-canonical comics, and other artwork. Placed under the What Time Forgot volume. Updates weekly on Saturday.

Author’s Notes- Additional information like a list of all the characters and places in the series, a timeline, and other stuff worth noting. [updated on the 1st of every month if new information is available]

[As a general understanding of releases: full-length stories will have chapters release on Tuesday and Thursday every week. When the story ends, there will be at least 3 weeks of What Time Forgot shorts, posted on Wednesday, before the next story starts. The Extras will be posted every Saturday regardless of the story status.]

Portions of The Butterfly Effect will be published on Kindle Direct Publishing under the pen name Moonlight Gardens.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2022
Author: MoonlightGardens

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 46
Views: 157,056

Chapters(424 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

RensenRenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I honestly didn't expect myself to like this story as much as I did while reading it. I was fascinated from the first chapter and each one after that just continued to embolden the picture of this amazingly complex world of characters and emotions that the writer has created.
I also really liked the pictures at the end of each one.
I genuinely can't think of a simple complain for this work, other than I felt that things were a bit slow and tense but even that perfectly fits the mood I think it's going for.
In terms of aGrammar there was nothing wrong, all words are spelled correctly and I found no errors while reading.
There are a lot of interesting characters, and everyone seems to play a specific part relevant to the plot. A couple of the names are hard to get used to at first but sweet and fitting nonetheless.
Plotwise I've yet to see where it's all heading but I'm excited to find out once I continue reading, I'm really interested in finding out when I get to see Nathaniel again.
That aside, it's a very captivating work of art I recommend for fantasy nerds looking for a nice read.
MelantheRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Reading The Butterfly Effect is an exercise in soft, nostalgic fairy tales meeting high fantasy. There's a love and passion in every aspect of this story, and it's a real pleasure to read.
The author is clearly a skilled writer, if a bit young-feeling. Every once in a while there will be a typo or a weirdly phrased sentence, but definitely nothing bad enough to take you out of the story.
And what a stroy it's shaping out to be! I really appreciate this slow, lulling kind of mystery. What I appreciate the most, though, is how the author doesn't hold back. They don't bore us with exposition dumping or holding our hands through this world. You're thrown right in, and trusted to find your own way in this magical, diverse world.
Speaking of diverse, I love the amount of LGBTQ+ characters in this story! We have gay characters, trans characters, even aroace characters! It's so refreshing to see the real world, and my real friends represented in fantasy fiction. While the author does throw quite a few characters and relationships at us, each character has their own unique place in the story. Thankfully, the author gave us a chart to keep track.
And the chart! Right now, Royal Road is absolutely inundated with sloppy AI "art." It's so wonderful to see actual art made by an actual artist. There's so much love and personality put into their work, and for that alone I'd recommend this story.
Overall, if you like fantasy, give The Butterfly Effect a read! I, for one, know I plan on reading past its first collection. Thank you to the author for all your hard work!
CT JohnsonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Right of off the gate the story is set up in a way that promises adventure. It's awesome to see such detail and care being invested in all the little events that lead into more important things later.
The character dynamics are interesting, and a few specifically feel unique and fresh. It adds to a growing roster of individuals in a way that makes you want to care about the different characters.
The protagonist is a healthy blend of innocent and impetuous. As you follow the characters progression your slowly feel the weight of all their choices and begin to anticipate a large scale fantasy adventure. . It's quite first clear a lot of time and effort was spent creating a wide and alive world.
I love the fantasy, the mystery, and the underlying darkness that lurks underneath everything as it prepares tje protagonist for what he needs to do. It's definitely a series I am anticipating seeing through to it's conclusion.
One of the biggest detractors for me at first is how the story seems to fast-forward skipping time between tbe early chapters as it had very little context to understand that was intentional. Once I understood that thiugh everything fell into place.
A V DalcourtRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Style: Told form a third person perspective in what feels like a series of short stories. Each titled story (ie Departures) follows one protagonist closely. After the first chapter, which I enjoyed, the style takes on a heavier dialogue based narrative style with stage direction in-between. It leads to fast reading, but for me the style never really got me fully immersed into its world.
Story: Initially we're following a young Nathanial as his relationship with his family grows estranged and eventually sours, to the point where he runs away. Through his narrative, we as the reader, get pieces of the lore - the way the writer weaves in the lore is great - subtly emphasizing the MC's unique talents, which is the kingdom's last hope for salvation. Against what? I'm not sure.
When we get into 2nd story, we pick the story from the pov of the sullen Dimas, who he and his siblings have just been assigned a dangerous mission along the lines of 'do as you're told' with no preparation or brief to survive the ordeal. At this point, the secretiveness of the court and on the part of the writer, is grating. I'm not one to be hand fed information in a story, but in particular case, it breaks my belief in that responsible adult and leaders of a nation would send their own children out on a dangerous missing with absolutely no information. For me it broke me out of the story at that point.
That said, once the mystery and intrigue elements are rebalanced possibly with the help of developmental editor (the writer says in his bio that he wants to go pro - so I'm assuming editors are in his future) this will be one hell of read. It's already pretty good.
Characters: There are a lot of characters. A LOT of characters! It was a challenge to keep them all straight. I think this is because a lot of the character interactions are dialogue based, and there's really nothing said or done that really differentiates one from the other.
Grammar: Nothing noteworthy - especially since my grammar ski
LyptixRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Style: The style of writing is a collective series of story stories. It is pretty fast paced, making it nice to read especially at night, when you're tired and can't process heavy loads of info. The only concern is that some of the information within the story felt forced.
Story: It's written in fragments over an extended period of time and it creates a nice buildup of tension between characters. However, I believed a few important events could've been more descriptive, or highlighted, to give that nice story development a more solid build.
Grammar: Nothing wrong except that there were some sentences which were worded in a way which I had to reread twice to understand.
Characters: The characters in general were well developed, though they may act different at times, causing them to seem like they are shown loosely. I liked Nathaniel's family and wished their quirks and personalities were more fleshed out.
Overall, I had a good time reading it as a bedtime story before bed due to the amount of tension in the story that doesn't keep you fully awake and at attention (I mean this in a good way). I would definitely continue this series. Definitely see the potential of a amazing story in the future.
Rachtian_ARoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Great ride overall, although in this case, I have to say that the short story format works to its detriment
Style 4/5
Odd sentence structures in some parts, although it was nothing too jarring. A lot of foreshadowing gives the short story some reread bonus.
Story 4/5
it is a fun ride, however as I said above, the short format works to its detriment sometimes, most glaring at the time skips. There are moments I'd like to see in detail, such as Lydia's death, but it skipped right to two years after. It's not all bad per se, and it does make the story more binge-able, but, keep in mind this is my opinion, it does sting a bit that it is only stated as "this character is dead".
Grammar 4/5
Odd sentences, some mistakes here and there, but it's not too often or too distracting from the overall experience.
Character 4.5/5
Your characters are by far your strongest suit. They're human and flawed and interesting, and the mistakes they have made are reasonable considering their circumstances. Overall, it can be said that your characters, both side and main, are human, and Natheniel is such a lovable mix of innocent and headstrong, a good mix for his age, but also, it leads to some interesting developments.
Veriana RoseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Note: I am a friend of the author. This review still reflects my thoughts on the story, however.
Overall, I think this story has potential. There are a few errors here and there - odd sentences and the like - but otherwise the first part (Departure) is well-written, and I know the following parts will be as well.
Style: I like how the story is written in general. The author uses foreshadowing to her advantage here, hinting towards future events. I don't have much complaints as far as this part of the story is concerned.
Story: Depature is essentially the story of Natheniel making bad choices. In general, I believe the series has a more mystery-inclined plot as a whole. Some parts are vague, although that could be a choice made by the author to fill in during future stories (which is most likely the case).
Grammar: I have very little complaints about the grammar. The most I can say here is that there are still a few sentences that read oddly, but otherwise the grammar's fine.
Character: If I love anything about this, it's the characters - I'm particularly fond of Natheniel. He's a well-written character that I can personally relate to in a sense; in the earlier chapters when he's still a kid, he's written believably.
TriartyRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I have to grant the author, the ability to write while evoking that childish fantasy-like feeling with the main-character in the beginning was superb. Not only that, but the gradual change of the way the MC sees things through the years is also particularly well done.
However, there are some points that I believe can be improved. First of all, the author uses foreshadowing and information display to its extreme in the first chapter, which isn't inherently bad, but can make reading a little more experience than it should. Especially when the cast of characters is already substantial from the beginning.
The Grammar is something I cannot criticize upon, since I detected no mistakes when reading.
The Story is compelling and does what it intends to do: present a world through almost independent stories. But even so, there are still things to watch out for. Due to the way they're written, the short stories sometimes show problems or situations that the reader is unable to empathize because they weren't developed enough to make us care about them. It can become a little frustrating trying to understand what is going on.
About the characters, the more important ones in Departure are nobility and children of nobility, which means that there's already something to expect. A lot of pomp and perhaps a certain degree of pride permeates the cast, be they young or old. The MC is interesting, even if he does behave like an aggravating teenager sometimes, and his family each have their own quirks and personalities that I wish were developed more.
As such, it might be a little odd to face the first chapters, but it is a story that we should be watching for.
skribeRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I would certainly recommend this fantastical coming-of-age story. The tone and imagery remind me very much of the initial chapters of Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice, concentrating on the minutia: the small, but extremely important moments to paint its portrait. Many will find its compelling characters and delightful world enjoyable.
Style
For the most part, this story is well-written. It is told in third-person, the chapters forming vignettes providing the reader with the essential essences of the characters and the plot. However, I did have some issues with being forcefed details, sometimes in single sentences
For example, the beginning of Departure: Part II is unnecessarily information dense. It would perhaps have been better to show these details rather than list them. It felt like a data dump, and not particularly relevant to the reader’s understanding of the events that followed. While not especially egregious, they do take the reader out of the moment in an otherwise felicitously-crafted piece. Fortunately these issues are easily remedied.
Story
While the story is told in fragments over extended periods of time, the plot reveals itself steadily and at a fast pace. The stakes continue to rise, as the tension builds both dramatically and between the characters, as Natheniel finds himself more estranged from his family. I enjoyed the way it unfolded.
Grammar
Apart from the aforementioned stylistic issues, the grammar, spelling and all that good-stuff are fine.
Characters
Although there are a lot of characters, I found them engaging with unique voices. The writer also includes a chart at the end of the third chapter that helps explain the relationships between the various characters.
emily_mccoshRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
A cool coming of age story set in a fantasy world. Got some magic, got some intrigue, and evern better, there's a cool animal sidekick dynamic going on, which will always make any story more fun. :)
Style: Story is told in 3rd person pov, with a larger cast of characters. The style is pretty solid, though some of the first chapters felt a little on the info-dump side and like some of the reactions were being told rather than shown. It makes for a quick and snappy read regardless. I would've liked more descriptions of the characters and the wold, including the possibly-magical bird the MC finds. I love intelligent animals in books and this one seems very cool, especially the implication that the bird can communicate without actually speaking, so I would've liked a better picture of him.
Grammar: Grammar was nice, I didn't see anything out of place.
Story: Interesting start to the story, with multiple characters and some solid hints at interesting things to come.
Character: This story has a large cast of characters with their own unique voices. I liked the little chart of character illustrations at the end, it's always fun when authors include artwork for their stories!