The Drifter's Curse

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A powerful spirit visited a dying Cassian Nightwater in the form of a shadow on the wall. It offered him a second chance at life, but this time he would have the power to become a warrior beyond what he could ever achieve as a mortal man. Tempted by the idea of being a great fighter, Cassian hastily accepted a pact with the shadow and in the morning discovered he was supernaturally gifted.Nearly a decade later and Cassian has become a travelling mercenary with a death wish and a knack for killing the monsters that most men can't. Meanwhile a plague outbreak is ravaging the country and Alistair, a bright minded alchemist, wants the sell-sword to help him in developing a cure. Together the pair will face dangerous foes and unsettling mysteries, as they walk down a path that will force Cassian to learn the dark consequences of the deal he made all those years ago.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The Drifter's Curseis a dark fantasy action mystery novel. It is the first book inThe EclipseSaga. New chapters are released on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: Ronathan02

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Followers: 2
Views: 4,114

Chapters(9 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

Mar QarollRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a FUN read! I agree with someone that it's kinda like The Witcher—though I've honestly never read the books, played the games, or watched the TV show. 😅 But it has that monster-hunter feel to it, y'know? And it's a great feel!
Style: No complaints! This is written beautifully! I'm rather envious. 😳 Also, I love stories that take place in feudal or medieval-like settings but use modern words and personalities. So there's a lot of that!
Story: An awesome story, and once you get past maybe chapter three it really starts to become extremely interesting. Once you get the idea that the beginning is like...an introduction arc, everything is easy to understand and understand.
The only minor "con" is that the story has moments when too much time may be taken on details. I prefer stories that aren't full of character detail in appearance...but I quickly adapted and that's more of a me thing.
So not a single point is taken off! 👏🏾
Grammar: No complaints!
Characters: WOW, I absolutely love these characters! They're interesting, seem natural in speech, attitude, how they go about things...I really came to like every character in some way or another. They're memorable, y'know?
Overall: Yes, I'm a fan for sure! I look forward to more and eagerly await another update and see where the story is going! 😁👍🏾
RandomGuy18Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
FYI this is apart of a review swap.
The Drifter's Curse is turning out to be a really good fantasy story. At the point of this review it might be a bit too early to tell the overall quality, but what I've seen so far is shaping up to be a lot of fun.
Style: No issues here from what I can tell. It reads like you'd expect a good fantasy to read like. Plenty of descriptive detail is given and the little action up to chapter 6 is well done.
Grammar: I've seen no issues so far, nothing to take me out of the story.
Story: Once again, it might be a bit too early to make a good judgment, so the four stars. The situation surrounding the "pact" have been somewhat reviled, mainly how it happened and what it gives to The Drifter, but the consequences mentioned in the synopsis still have yet to be reviled. So I'm holding out for a bit more information. Otherwise, fantasy fans will really enjoy what's been shown so far.
Character: Same deal here with the four stars as with the story. Cassian is really well written, and his relationship with the world at large is well laid out. The thing I'm unsure about is Alistair, he's was introduced early on and seems like a fun character, but it's still to early to see where he's going or how the relationship between him and Cassian will play out. Overall though, I'm excited to see where this goes.
OakFlameRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
(Review Swap)
This kicks off with an already somewhat-experienced MC- he already is strong and knowledgeable enough to be competent as an adventurer. It's a nice change compared to characters who don't know what they're doing and are incompetent at improving.
The writing quality is fine as well- some big blocks of text for fighting scenes makes it slow to read and loses a good amount of the tension and action that comes with the scene, but it is very readable. The descriptions are also pretty good.
I'd put the style in a similar vein- it's bogged down a bit by some of the text walls, but is overall pretty good.
As for the story, there is stuff going on, and while the use of flashbacks can be important, the first one is thrown in right between prep and action, and it kinda disrupts the flow. I understand why it is there- it works as a transition during the traveling time- but the introduction of a whole new backstory there feels a bit unnatural.
That said, there is clearly a world being built here with multiple factions and abilities.
The antagonist(?) in the first few chaps seems like a pretty fun character with some of the comments he makes, so hopefully he'll show up again pretty soon. I'm not sure how possible that will be, though... I'm sure he'll be back eventually!
There is some development started on other characters, but nothing significant enough to remark about yet.
Check this out if you like stories similar to the Witcher!
MrPrometheusRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
Let us begin with what the Author excels at:
World building: The world itself appears well-thought-out; in general, I'd compare it to The Witcher. Nothing unique is revealed until chapter 7, which is understandable given the story's beginning.
Pacing: The pacing of the story is well-balanced, with both action and introspection.
Now to the neutral aspects:
Font: The author uses a different font style than usual. Personally, I don't like it because I have difficulty reading it, but that's a personal opinion, so nothing I would rate negatively.
Now for the less favorable aspects:
Grammar: Occasional errors Nothing major, but it can be distracting at times.
Tense: The narrative style is disjointed, alternating between past and present at times, making it difficult to fully immerse oneself in the story. This inconsistency detracts from what should be an engaging story, leaving me confused rather than captivated as a reader.
More tell than show: While occasional instances of "showing" manage to create visual imagery, the narrative leans too heavily on "telling" to convey crucial details; the story opts for straightforward explanations that leave little room for reader interpretation.
Generally, this novel has great potential, but the author has still a long way ahead of himself in terms of refining their storytelling skills. With some further development and attention to consistency and balance between showing and telling, this novel could truly shine and captivate readers.