The Echo Realms: Through the Stones
Community Rating
Description
Gemma is a happy young woman with a simple life. As a jeweler's daughter, she doesn't want for much, and her sleepy town is well protected, verdant, and a great hub to meet strangers with interesting quests. But growing rumors of what's going on in the Tennison Manor just at the edge of town soon prove to be more than that, and in an instant, the peaceful world explodes.
The mundane, including any hint of the human world, has vanished. Gemma's family and friends find themselves twisted into elves, dwarves, warforged, tieflings, orcs, and other creatures and beings previously thought to only populate fairy tales and children's stories. With sudden access to magic and new threats once restricted to imagination, Gemma is forced to confront her family's dangerous past to make sense of this new world.
The Echo Realms is also a homebrew D&D 5th edition podcast set in the same world, but a different time.
This is a submission for the Royal Road Magazine Contest.
Information
- Status
- Hiatus
- Year
- 2022
- Author
- Aly
Royal Road Stats
- Rating
- 4.6/ 5.0
- Followers
- 7
- Views
- 2,201
Chapters(6 total)
Reviews
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Community Reviews(2)
- Consistent MilkRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0The five stars signifies the fact that the synopsis itself is attractive in nature and the first chapter does well to hold attention. There are several mystery 'triggers'. What is up with the Tennison manor? How is it related to the sudden extreme change of the fictional world? How is her family's past related to any of this(although this was a bit sudden)?
Although there is a conflict between the synopsis and what to expect. I went in hoping that the world inhabited was a completely 'normal' one which suddenly changed. But in fact it was already fantastical in nature.
The MC is a humble and sweet girl. It always turns out interesting how such characters develop throughout a story. Will be following and updating the review. - Evelyn AdelbergRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0This story is at the top om my “best prose” list. It is simply impeccable in that regard.
Now, about the characters; I love them as well! Gemma, the MC, is fleshed out vey early on. Her relationship with her mother is also very well written imo. It hit very close to home to me, indicating that the author knew what they were doing. (I’d like to say more, but that would go into spoiler territory, and RR loves taking down my “spoilery” reviews. I’ll say this much, Gemma’s character only gets better in the later chapters).
The setting is heavily inspired by DnD, in the same way that most iseakai and fantasy anime are heavily inspired by Tolkien. This means that the setting is very accessible to those new to the genre, and those who play DnD might get a few references here and there.
The plot is intriguing to say the least. It sucks you in, and I think the prose, and the way it plays into the overall atmosphere of the story is a big part of that.