The Endless Forest

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A forgotten war, a hero’s death… A Queen’s sacrifice to save another. Felix remembered none of this. He woke up scared and alone. Massive trees surrounded him, towering high into the sky… An Endless Forest. But this forest was not empty. Elves, kobolds, dwarves, and…dragon eggs. They would all end up counting on him. Join Felix as he rediscovers the world, its people, and the wounds of the past that still bled. Posting chapters every Monday and Friday. I have aDiscord!

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: Evil-Emperor

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 754
Views: 259,717

What readers say about The Endless Forest

“Prefacing this review with the disclaimer that I'm a friend of the author and a beta reader. So feel free to take it with a grain of salt. The review doesn't contain any spoilers, but is written with knowledge of unreleased chapters. Are you tired stories t…”
radius55Royal Road5.0 / 5
“I am probably a little biased as a beta reader and a friend of Evil-Emperor, but I'll make this review as honest as possible. Especially since this is my first review I've written, pretty much anywhere, and I want to do this story justice. And no spoilers e…”
LegalGraveRobberRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(9)

radius55Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Prefacing this review with the disclaimer that I'm a friend of the author and a beta reader. So feel free to take it with a grain of salt. The review doesn't contain any spoilers, but is written with knowledge of unreleased chapters.
Are you tired stories that feel like the world is a facade? Like, if the main character takes a single step off the path, they'll find those mountains in the distance are just painted plywood. Or that supporting characters have nothing to say other than the dialogue path the author chooses, like they're cookie cutter NPCs in a Bethesda sandbox game?
Well, I've got good news. The Endless Forest is the complete opposite of that. Everything and everyone gets all the attention they need to feel real. There's natural a sense of depth to things. Not depth like a hole in the ground that the reader gets forced down, but like an ocean to explore. The world feels real. And so do the characters.
So, potential reader, here's what you're in for. The story has the Reincarnation tag, which is accurate, I guess. But it doesn't have the baggage usually associated with that term. It's not isakai. Let's be clear, there. This isn't "So I was reincarnated as an X" or "Truck-kun ran me over and now this quirk is making me the god-emperor of a fantasy kingdom" story. Let's just say it's not that and leave it there.
You're going to meet characters. Felix is an interesting main character, to say the least. Not a blank slate reader insert by any means. The whole story is about his journey of self discovery in a lot of ways. Then there's the kobolds, of course. Absolutely great. And the elves, Aluin and Eri. Not your typical master and apprentice. Everyone feels alive, not just like walking character traits or stereotypes.
The dragon eggs, well, you'll see. Let's just say that fans of Eragon and Hunter or Huntress are going to have fun here.
There's not much I can say about the plot yet. Four chapters isn't much to go on, but you can see the directions things are
LegalGraveRobberRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am probably a little biased as a beta reader and a friend of Evil-Emperor, but I'll make this review as honest as possible. Especially since this is my first review I've written, pretty much anywhere, and I want to do this story justice.
And no spoilers either, that would just be mean to ruin all his hard work.
The Endless Forest is filled to the brim with characters that feel and act like actual people. They aren't constrained by the necessities of plot or cajoled into following rigid train tracks to a linear story line. Their choices have meaning to themselves and others, with emotional moments that touched even my stone cold heart.
Felix learning and finding his way was the main contender for tugging my heartstrings. Hes not just some reader insert made to experience things for us to enjoy. He's his own person, struggling to figure who he wants to be in the world and discovering more about himself as he goes.
The journey of self discovery isn't limited to just Felix, but something present for everyone. The master and apprentice relationship between Aluin and Eri is not as simple and straightforward as the archetype might suggest, but is instead full of nuance between the characters and their views of the world.
My favorite characters have been without a doubt the kobolds. There's just something about them and their practical chaos that I thoroughly enjoy. There's more I'd love to say, but well...spoilers and what not.
I'd also like to say, this story is not an isekai. Plain and simple. The reincarnation tag is there for a reason, but it ain't because a certain truck-kun decided to add one more kill to their scoreboard.
At the end of the day, this story isn't just about Felix finding his way, its about everyone finding out who they are and want to be.
NetNarratorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This gave me many 'Eragon' vibes throughout, and this story didn't disappoint. It has a diverse range of characters and does a very good job at portraying the relationships between them. It can appear as a bit of a slow burn, but you can tell it's building up to something, and I can't wait to see how it turns out!
PhoenixFierynRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Evil-Emperor tells a story about characters seeking to understand their place in the world. Through carefully considered character development, particularly their interpersonal reactions and dialogue, the author clearly values character development and self-discovery. It's evident that much cogitation has been put towards the world, though the story's pacing (owed to the style that the author wants to achieve) often melds the wider setting and world into the backdrop. Even so, the world-building is filled with intrigue and mystery directly associated with the characters—which is fantastic because they feel grounded.
I enjoy the measured pace of the story, which allows the characters to breathe on its pages. Notably, there is an emphasis on how the characters feel about one another. So far, they have been consistent, and most have a goal or a fault they want to fix. Due to the nature of the premise, the story is character-driven, making their development much more critical, even if it takes time.
The story alludes to many elements that are thus far heavily shrouded in mystery. Thankfully, this elicits curiosity rather than annoyance. I wish those details were revealed more, but they act as a motivator for the characters, too. There is always a sense of the world holding mysteries and a past ornamented by tragedy, all relating directly to the main cast. The benefit of these deliberate revelations is that I'm eager to see them articulated.
I find the style and quality of writing a pleasurable read. Sometimes, the wording confused me slightly, but those are very few and far between. The details of each moment and its sensation are great, and I'm all for it.
Oh, and the dragons! I absolutely adore their characterization and depiction in the story. They have distinct personalities, which makes them a joy in the story. Thank you for making them fun and memorable!
If you enjoy a story that lets the characters push the plot forward, introspection, and relationship developmen
Simpleman123302Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I keep waiting for this loream guy to show. I’ve heard so much about him. If it’s taking this long his grand reveal much be something of the ages. Perhaps he’ll even take Felix place in the story.Anyways I’ll wait patiently until the chad elf arrives heralding his greatness. Hopefully the author isn’t to much of a coward to add him
SpartawolfRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This gave me many 'Eragon' vibes throughout, and this story didn't disappoint. It has a diverse range of characters and does a very good job at portraying the relationships between them. It can appear as a bit of a slow burn, but you can tell it's building up to something, and I can't wait to see how it turns out!
Swamp ThingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am writing this after having just finished the first 10 chapters of the story so my my take on the story comes from a limited, early view of it. That being said, I am very much enjoying reading it so far. A single human, a baby dragon, two elves and a tribe of eager-to-please kobolds desperate to see dragons return in large numbers. There is a huge backstory that is slowly being revealed to the MC in dribs and drabs. This greatly frustrates the MC as he has lost his memory. Despite his confusion, the MC is determined to hatch the dragon eggs under his care and bring back the dragons. The characters are interesting and fun to read about. The story gets increasingly better as it unfolds. Overall, a great story to read!
gln9Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
TL;DR: This is a rather cute and wholesome story about a human (mostly? Not spoilering.) who wakes up in magical forest full of magical peoples and creatures, tasked with bringing back the almost-extinct dragons. Being almost entirely amnesiac and being the (so far) only specimen of the despised humans on the entire island will not make that an easy task, but he quickly finds friends and makes good initial progress. It is overall very well written and very much enjoyable, but has a few points which could be a bit better than they are.
Definitely recommend giving this a read. It's been delightful so far and I am looking forward to more.
Grammar: Overall, very good. Some minor things here or there, e.g. "peaking" vs. "peeking" a few times, but nothing big or distracting.
Style: An easy and enjoyable read. It fits well with the story that is being told, descriptive while not too flowery or convoluted or anything like that. Both the calm and the more heated sections are handled well. The overall tone is more on the cozy side, although there is fair bit of social conflict and some dark clouds lingering on the horizon related to the world's setting.
Story: To be entirely honest: not a huge amount has happened so far. It is quite a bit of a slow burn, even almost fifty chapters deep it still feels very much like Felix is still getting set up in many regards. So do not expect fast progress. Personally, I think that's perfectly fine.
Where I however have to subtract points is the world building, or relative lack thereof. For somebody who is amnesiac, Felix is not very inquisitve about the environment he has woken up in. Despite being surrounded by some of the best sources of information available (a sage and his assistant, the best library on the island, one of the few old dragons remaining, Fea [kinda?]), his entire curiosity about the world seems to be used up after learning his given name. He is asking no questions about the world that aren't about things that are immedia
HextechRoyal Road
★ 0.5
Same old trope that is going around these days. All you need to do is read the first few paragraphs of the first chapter. Same old religion is evil and suppresses and controls everything. Bla bla bla religion is the reason everything is wrong. Evil people are at the top (the evil emperor) and the common people are sheep, only one mc can stop the evil people. Same old plot follow the mc over come the evil.