The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The world is in the midst of a golden age. Humanity has been largely united under a single government for two centuries, scarcity has been all but eliminated, and the human lifespan has been extended further than ever before, with many living for five centuries or longer. Yet cracks have begun to form in this utopia. Progress in science has outpaced social values, leading to conflict as the new generation struggles with the prospect of perpetual disenfranchisement under their all-but-unaging elders. In this era of transition, a class of gifted young arcanists are invited to attend a conclave held by the enigmatic Order of the Universal Panacea, an ancient organization devoted to pursuing the secret of true immortality. Several of the participants, however, have ulterior motives for attending, including Utsushikome of Fusai, a young prodigy of Thanatomancy whose grandfather was once a member. But unbeknownst to them, there is a curse on the Order of the Universal Panacea. One does not defy death and the natural order lightly. And an uninvited guest may already lurk among them; one that is not human. In the end, all of them will have to ask: What can be found in this world, that is truly eternal? The curtain rises on this, mankind's final battle with entropy, and the possible outcomes are death, or a slightly later, more complicated form of death. Even so, please try to enjoy yourself. --- This story is a whodunnit-style murder mystery with a focus on psychological drama and personal horror. The setup is long, but hopefully will reward attentive reading. Discord:https://discord.gg/RTFjaKTbUe Cover illustration by Zerovirus.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2020
Author: Lurina

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 2,477
Views: 2,407,909

Chapters(239 total)

What readers say about The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere

“Awesome worldbuilding, and guessable mysteries that you can endlessly theorize about. Do you like Umineko, Zero Escape, Danganronpa or even just Ace Attorney? You're gonna love this. If I had to mention a flaw, the intermissions are a bit abrasive and jarri…”
MakinRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The Flower that Bloomed Nowhereis a mystery novel that feels strongly influenced by visual novels likeUminekoandInfinityseries.The mystery aspect of it holds up as of the time of the review, though of course it's always hard to judge a mystery story before…”
KusoroRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

MakinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Awesome worldbuilding, and guessable mysteries that you can endlessly theorize about. Do you like Umineko, Zero Escape, Danganronpa or even just Ace Attorney? You're gonna love this.
If I had to mention a flaw, the intermissions are a bit abrasive and jarring, but they're a very small part of the story.
Features probably the least annoying way of introducing 20+ characters I've ever seen.
KusoroRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Flower that Bloomed Nowhereis a mystery novel that feels strongly influenced by visual novels likeUminekoandInfinityseries.The mystery aspect of it holds up as of the time of the review, though of course it's always hard to judge a mystery story before its conclusion. The story poses a lot of questions, a good chunk of which are yet unresolved, and more questions crop up over time. The answers that the story has provided so far have been satisfying, so I'm willing to extend faith towards the overall plan of the author. I will update this review if that ever changes.What's undeniably the very strong point of this story is the characterization. Every major character has their own distinct voice, which helps the different points of view feel meaningfully distinct. A lot of stories struggle with this, to the point that if you hide the names you have no idea who's talking to whom. This story is not one of them. What's more is that the characters are compelling. They feel alive. If you've ever hanged around a certain genre of pretentious intellectuals, you will recognize some of them in the characters of this story.There's a lot of worldbuilding in here. I'm of two minds about it. It's a bit daunting to take in, when it feels more or less irrelevant, but often it does a good job at setting the tone and scenes. Once again, I can only say that the world feels alive, both alien and familiar in a way that futurism/alternative history stories only sometimes get right.The prose is good. I don't really have much to say about it. It's not overly flowery, and not overly dry. It flows well.The grammar could definitely be better. I'm rating it at 5 stars because, let's be honest for a second here, in a system where ratings are tied to the exposure the story gets there are only two real scores: 5/5 as "I want this story to get exposure" andany other scoreas "I want to tank this story". I want this story to get exposure. Still, I would appreciate it if the author gets someone to d
EunomicZenithRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story has many strong points - well-made characters, well-executed murder mystery plot that explicitly avoids cheap surprises, and a very good attitude about its transhumanist themes (which I have a weakness for), but the best part in my opinion is the incredible worldbuilding, which had me slack-jawed at multiple points in awe mixed with a little horror. As someone else put it, it's "r/techsupportgore but for cosmology".
AzziRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am never disappointed to read another chapter of this story. The multiple, complex layers not just behind the explicit mysteries, but behind all of the characters just gives this incredible sense of richness to the world.
I full 5/5 banger, I can't think of a single area in which it falters.
GodsChosenCatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I made an account to review this one just because of how interesting it has been. This story requires a lot of trust that the author will eventually make all the mysteries make sense in the end but so far I think they are making it work! Until it’s over I don’t think anyone can say if it was worth it or not but I always look forward to each new chapter so I would say it’s worth a read!
Alexander WalesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's hard to review a mystery without knowing what the resolutions are going to be like; that's like judging a joke without hearing the punchline. Still, this story has a very nicely done setup, though I'm sure that the slow pace might put people off.
I started reading the story with the promise of good worldbuilding and characterization, and felt it delivered well on both fronts. There's something very satisfying about how everything is delivered, both in terms of the prose, and in the way that the author lets everything breathe and be revealed when and where it's necessary. There's a large cast who get introduced quite gradually, each with their own specialities and personalities, which feed into their outlooks and different positions they take on various matters. Most of the work so far is contained within either scenes of characters talking to each other about various philosophical or scientific points, or overviews of matters of art or engineering, and all that stuff is a delight.
The only real reservation I have right now is on the mystery aspects, because it's hard to know ahead of time whether there will be a satisfying payoff, something crucial for a mystery to work. With regards to everything else, there's quite a lot of consideration, so the story has my trust for now, but without the execution present yet, it's hard to say.
Insurrectionist89Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A great sci-fi story with focus on character-building, inter-character relationships and world-building. The mystery-centered plot has also been really fun and interesting thus far, though as I'm not a crime-buff looking to solve the mystery myself, nor have the facts actually been revealed at the point where I am at, I can't speak to whether it would be fun to read from that perspective.
To me, the characters and the story of the world they inhabit is definitely the main draw. While not perfect, I feel the author does a very good job of interweaving these into the plot - not just for the secrets that are reasonably unknown to most of the cast and thus can be easily revealed to the reader simultaneously, but also the more basic parts of the setting is usually effectively conveyed in engaging ways. Even when they are conveyed as an internal monologue from the main character, it's fun and engaging to read - although that might be as much down to the quality of the world itself, as with how it is conveyed.
The main cast is especially well realized, and while I do not necessarily identify particularly strongly with the main character I love how they are written, as well as the journey we are taken on while getting to know them.
Its use of the Greek chorus leaves something to be desired, but so far that hasn't had much of an impact on the quality of the story as a whole. Very occasional typos. I suspect anyone looking for hard scifi specifically should probably look elsewhere.
IopgodRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Not, perhaps, a typical RR tale. A murder mystery with modernist and meta-fictional touches. Don't expect *quick* answers, but I trust the author to deliver eventually, and I am enjoying the prose (and the philosophy and the world building and the (many) diversions) along the way. The serialised release schedule may not help the apparent pacing issues.
ExactospoonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of those stories where you can tangibly feel the thought behind writing decisions. My ideal settings are ones that feel like they're a small part of an unfathomnably deep world, and Lurina comes pretty close to delivering that. The story is a "hard" mystery, in which it should be possible to deduce the ending, and it's believable that the setting is detailed enough for that to be both possible and interesting.
The only real thing I'd change, if I was editing this, is the frequency of plot points. I'm never bored while reading a chapter, but mysteries are resolved very infrequently, and introduced constantly, so it sometimes feels like the very intelligent main characters are mostly failing to deduce much of anything. I'm fairly confident the final payoffs will be good, but I'd like it to feel more like the characters are progressing in the meantime. Maybe by letting them make some more correct predictions, even about tangential plot threads.
MedvedovRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Great story with really in-depth world building. From the world's creation, to the cultures that inhabit it, and the conflicts that occur because of it. All of it results in an verisimilitude that you rarely see. (Least of all on RR) The characters all have their own views which developed from growing up in their own distinct cultures and that in turn can cause organic conflict with the other characters in the cast.
The philosophy and the political discussions are my favorite part.
The cast is distinct, they're all have unique voices that are memorable and recognizable. My favorite is the main character, probably because she's relatable at times. And her background is my favorite part of the story.
The writing is enjoyable to read, with a lot of reveals about either the world, or some of the characters, or the the mystery of the story.
The story is a bit slow to get going, but there is a lot to this world that needs to be told, so I don't mind, and despite that I say it's slow, and considering its length, there was never a point where I was bored. The pacing is surprisingly quick in comparison to what I imagined.
Overall I really enjoyed it. Definitely deserves more readers.