The Goddess's Checkmate in 99 Moves

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

War is not a battle between good and evil. The truth shall be written by the victors, and this is a story of the eternal war's final act.

When Reginn awakens from his death in a field near Avangarden, he is faced with a familiar world, in a foreign time. 97 others find themselves in a similar situation and the final act of the eternal war begins. In the 99th era, time is converging, transporting the heroes and the demon lords of the past into the modern era as the grand game between the gods is forced to a close.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: Danchive

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 8
Views: 12,522

Chapters(47 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(7)

WilmaZhuoLiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
First Impression:
If you ever go to an arcade and watch some guys playing games like Street Fighter, Tekken, or something similar, perhaps the feeling I got while reading the story is like that. As I read through chapter 5, there will be several X vs Y modes, preparing you, the reader, to witness the upcoming fights. Before the fights, there is usually some backstory about the characters. When the fights start, DanteAAA meticulously describes the fighting scenes, ensuring that you're not really lost about what is happening, which is good. However, sometimes during the fights, there are dialogues between the fighters or the witnesses, explaining what is happening, inserting skill names, and expanding on the characters involved. In the first chapter, our main protagonist shows the audience who the main character in this story is. He's cocky, I admit, but I can't hate him.
World building & Story Progression:
Initially, I thought the story's setting was in a medieval fantasy world due to the mention of the Goddess in chapter 0, but that was just my bias. DanteAAA didn't waste time and promptly established the setting within a relatively modern school. The world appeared to emphasize one-on-one duels. The second chapter describes a rather cute interaction between the main protagonist (Reginn) and the first female character (Sivrit) during a pseudo-date event. This event offers us a glimpse into the world they inhabit, featuring salons, malls, and descriptions of console games, firmly establishing it as a modern setting. It also highlights Reginn's wild nature and his lack of skill in console fighting games.
From this point on, several new characters are introduced. Numerous conversations occur, but to be honest, I find it challenging to grasp the context of their discussions, making them feel like strangers. It's like being introduced to a new friend, engaging in conversation, gradually building a bond, and then suddenly hearing a group of people nearby discussing their
InfinityphoenixRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The author has their worldbuilding and story concept fleshed out. But the execution could use a little improvement.
Style: Consistent third person. It's readable, and not too complex. But it's almost too simple. Word choices could be mixed up to make the language less repetitive, and people of different ages don't speak differently in a way that would make them distinct from each other. Surely a hero from a past age should have words or terminology not used in the present? I think some improvement could be made here. Gamelit aspects are interesting enough. But there really needs to be a line break to indicate a change in pov.
Story: I really like the idea. A battle of past heroes and demon lords in a modern world. It's creative and sounds interesting. one thing I'm wondering about is that only one 'Goddess' has been mentioned so far, so I'm not sure when the other gods will turn up, but I probably haven't read far enough yet. One issue I do have is multiple characters are introduced too quickly for me to see their personality or understand them well yet.
Grammar: One or two mistakes, and I think in places sentences need to be shorter. Some paragraphs could also do with some splitting, but so far, there haven't been a ton of really lengthy paragraphs. Maybe one or two.
Character: They're... a bit bland. Partially due to so many being introduced in the first few chapters, and partially because some interactions feel forced. The author doesn't show us their personality through revealing their actions, but tells us through another character and their opinions. I'm pretty sure an annoying character wouldn't need someone to explain they were annoying if the emotions and expressions of the characters were described.
Overall: With a bit more writing, I think this story could be improved and become a really awesome story. Maybe it does, and I haven't read far enough, but I feel like the author just needs to find their style. Their story lacks a distinct enough voice, but fo
Conrad StokesRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Disclaimer: This review is for a review swap with the author. I have read over 10k words.
Style/Story: This story is pretty ambitious. The sense of scale I get from it, along with the scope of the world building is on the larger side of what I have seen from other comparable stories. Unfortunately, I think that this can sometimes come at the detriment to the other elements of the story. Often times proper nouns are thrown around until a bunch of fantasy names and nouns are rolling around in your head, which can be distracting from what is going on.
Character: The main character is over powered. This can be a delightful trope when used properly, especially when such strength is earned. I do not think that I can say that is the case with the main character of this story however. Often his interactions with obstacles and adversaries are completely one sided, requiring little in the way of using his noggin.
Yet, on a positive note, the very fact that his natural strength has stunted his interactions with others is actually addressed in the story and has the potential to be used as character development further in the plot line.
Grammar: there are a few mistakes that made me pause, but otherwise it is not too bad.
Overall this is a decent story, but it’s world building ambition may weigh it down.
Solus-SolaceRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Style: This story's writing style feels very immediate and present, without actually using present tense. Scenes are quick, and nothing here feels boring or tedious.
The battles were an interesting addition, and it really felt like I was in a videogame watching two characters fight it out. The gamelit aspect of spell descriptions was a good aspect, and the writer manages to avoid dragging the reader out of the scene whenever these sorts of abilities are explained.
Pacing could use some work. Several times, we're given information, and then shown it right afterward in a scene or in a line of dialogue.
Story: It's interesting to see this sort of magic-gladiator story done in the modern world. While the scenes themselves are quick and fast-paced, the overall plot moves more slowly, and fortunately, it is done in a way that feels more like a slow burn rather than a slog. In each chapter, we get a little bit more information on a slowly-building grand plot, and I bet that by the end, it will be a very wild ride.
Grammar: A few issues here and there. The biggest problem I had was getting confused with the objects of pronouns, since some weren't identified previously in the paragraph.
Character: It's an interesting way to start a novel by showing the MC from another's viewpoint, but it is done quite well here. In just a few chapters, each character has been given enough for the reader to form an idea of him/her, and already, a lot of them seem like they'll be really enjoyable to read about, later on!
Rain AmbyllRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
'The Goddess's Checkmate in 99 Moves' tries to do quite a bit, but all of it lands. While the story itself is quite compelling, the style, grammer, and formatting really pull the reader out of being immersed. If you can get past those things, the underlying story is interesting, even if the characters land flat at times.
STYLE: 3rd Person Omniscient really detracts from the storytelling itself. Jumping around between characters and their thoughts makes it hard to follow at times and pulls the reader out of the story. 3rd Limited, with more showing and less telling would work a whole lot better.
STORY: The underlying story itself is interesting and compelling, although the fact that Chess takes a backseat is a bit disappointing.
GRAMMER: Both the formatting and Grammer could use some work. The skills and abilities fade into the back of the text and could use something to delineate them from normal text.
CHARACTER: Most of the characters work well, but the fact that it's entirely in 3rd omni detracts from the reader becoming invested in them. Show me how and why they are interesting, don't tell me.
Overall, 'Checkmate' could use a minor rewrite to let the jewel underneath shine through. There's a great story buried in there, it just needs to be teased out.
unfadableRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Overall:
If you like an action packed novel, this might be the one for you! The fighting scenes are depicted clearly and there are plenty of them. And from what I am seeing, the writing is getting better and better each chapter.
Style:
The writing is not too complex and is consistent, which makes it easy to read. The battles were well depicted and one of the best things of the novel in my opinion. I did think that some paragraphs were a little too long. If they were cut up a little, it would make for a more dynamic read. I also found that it took me a second to process the pov change, which got me out of the flow some times.
Grammar:
A few small mistakes in the writing, but nothing that makes it less enjoyable to read. I do think that punctuation could be something to be improved upon, but other than that I nothing to comment on.
Story:
The stories dives straight into action, quite literally. The concept of they type of magic in the modern world is something I hadn’t seen coming from the prologue, but I am really liking it. I can see the plot slowly being built up amongst the fast paced action scenes and I am interested to see how it unfolds.
Character:
From the start there are a lot of characters that are being introduced, which I don’t particularly see as a bad thing. These characters are also introduced very clearly, and that is a good thing, but I would have preferred to ‘get to know’ them and their personalities more naturally. That might only be a personal preference though. Besides that, the introduction of the main character was very well done!
David GilesRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
The synopsis and title heavily mis-sell the book I'm afraid. From the description you'd expect war, epic strategies, battles of wits etc, and it simply isn't there. It's little more than unending fight scenes, at least up to the point I read to.
Grammar:
No errors I noticed. Good vocabulary. No further notes.
Style:
After a stellar prologue the story seems to have devolved into an unending series of battles, and though the battles are interesting they have so little setup that what should be riveting reads more like someone just mashing two action figures together.
Story:
The prologue promises much and then sadly fails to deliver, the next we meet our protagonist they're just randomly beating people up with little explanation as to why, from the perspective of a character who's stakes in the battle are not established.
There's some good setting work going on in the background, we know that the kingdom's prosperity has increased drastically and that it's believed the age of heroes and demon lords has passed and it's done very show rather than tell as well.
Character:
Easily the weakest section, and in many ways the point from which the problems stem. There's little to really ground the reader, no answers to why characters are invested in events beyond their being so.