The Gods are Bastards

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

It was a world of sword and sorcery, but that was a thousand years ago.

The last elves live on reservations. Dwarven forges have turned to clockwork and steam. Drow emerge from their underground city not to raid, but for trade and diplomacy. New technologies and advanced magics have made the world smaller, safer, richer, and more polluted; dungeon delving can only be done with the proper permits. Paladins, the great warriors endowed by the gods themselves with power to drive back evil, have not been seen in decades. The Age of Adventures is over.

Until it suddenly begins again.

Without warning, the gods call forth two new paladins...into a world at peace where there are no demons to slay, and the bureaucrats and industrialists who run the world are less happy to see them than the kings and queens of old. In a cramped landscape of complicated politics where adventurers are no longer welcome, what are the mighty warriors of the gods even supposed to do?

Well, first, they're sent to school. And it all goes downhill from there.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: Webbonomicon

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 3,487
Views: 4,173,087

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

Amargo ScribeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I just caught up with all 8200 pages and counting. What an incredible series this is. I can't recommend it highly enough.
When I first began reading it, I found the author's tendency to jump back and forth between a wide variety of character storylines frustrating, and I saw in the comments at the time that I was not alone. One commenter asked if it was possible to skip Sweet's chapters (one particular character as you might have surmised) and still follow the story; the author replied that it was not. At the time I sympathized with the commenter. Every time it seemed I was about to get sucked into the storyline with the school kids, Sweet's story would interrupt it! But now, Sweet is one of my very favorite characters, and I enjoy every chapter we get with him, including when he turns up in other characters' stories. Again and again, this happened as I read through the work; it took some patience when new character storylines were introduced, when I was already invested in other ones. But every single time the author turned out to be right and I was wrong; those characters and their stories absolutely enriched the work.
That said, if you are not ready for a gigantic work with an absolutely sprawling cast, each of whom will get developed very deeply and patiently, then you might want to save this for a moment when you will be.
It's not just the characters, though. It's the world, and it's the politics. The world is very well thought out speculative fiction system and history wise. But the politics is just exceptionally well thought out. There's real wisdom about human nature baked into the assumptions undergirding these storylines. This is honestly a work that will make you think, not just entertain you. I love that it is set at the outset of an industrial revolution equivalent in a magic world, and I love that the focus is on the most important effect of that from our own world: the way transit and communication speeds suddenly connected everyone to everyo
CedocoreRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This was one of the first webfictions I ever read, so I'm definitely biased here, but as I re-read it for the first time in many years, I find myself enjoying it even more than I remember. Nearly everything about it is excellent - the characters are vibrant and stand out as unique, the dialogue is interesting and not dry, the writing is complex but not verbose. My only complaint is that sometimes, in brief moments, the writing is a bit crude when it comes to some female characters - but if you can look past that, you won't regret it.
FicWaderRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is of an epic scope, if you want a comparison, Sanderson's Cosmere.
The setting is relatively comparable to the setting in Mother of Learning - "magi-punk".
The characters are engaging, the character growth shown in this story is amazing. Most growth is of course done by our cadre of young adult students that wield powers they aren't ready for, when our cranky ancient elven Archmage Headmistress collected them for her "outdated" Adventuring Academy.
Main villains are competent, some extremely so.
As a deeply entrenched, continent-spanning conspiracy to usurp or kill gods, should be.
End spoiler.
The setting is actually not "it" for me, as I enjoy pure high-fantasy setting instead of magi-punk much more, but the series really is worth it.
The books are amazing, and the only book series ever that made me enjoy reading with changing POVs.
JTTBearRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I had never considered the combination of magic-steam-punk with the old west and political machinations. Now it is one of my favorite sub-genres, even though this is the only example I know of.
Great characters, great pacing, great plotting, good twists with out excessive cliff hangers. I was glad to see it start posting here, I am hoping it will continue past where it was when Webb started to Evil Overlord book. Which now that there is more of it I'll give another chance. I'm not a fan of serialization but I put up with it because there are great stories that are released that way.
KikanoloRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Gods Are Bastards is one of my favorite ever web serials. I have been following it on its site for years now, and it has an incredible world, a great magic system, and amazing characters. Right now only the first 3 books are on RR, but there's 16 total so far and hopefully more to come. The characters are really what carry the story, both the main characters and the supporting characters, but the world, plot and setting really allow them to shine. The story strikes a great balance between lighthearted elements and heavier aspects, and does a great job with both. The story expands significantly in scope and scale from the beginning to where it ends up, but it does so well and without feeling bloated.
It is definitely a slow burn kind of story, so don't expect fast power or personality progression. The characters develop and grow naturally through the arcs of the story, and it feels very organic and natural.
For new readers, I'll mention that while some of the main characters absolutely start out close to insufferable, they all have wonderful character arcs and a few grow into some of my favorite characters in fantasy. So if you find yourself considering dropping because you can't stand a main character, stick with it and you won't regret it.
I would very strongly recommend this story, its long but absolutely worth it.
Signspace13Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Gods are Bastards is a bloody masterpiece!
I have read the series multiple times on the author's WordPress site, and I will recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy.
It is a story of grand proportions with many fantastic characters. and I hope everyone here on Royal Road takes the time to enjoy it.
getting into the required breakdown, as arbitrary as it is.
Style:
The story is an epic fantasy one, through and through. Expect multiple viewpoints and named characters aplenty, most of which will remain relevant throughout the entire piece, even the one-off characters having a lasting impact beyond when they leave focus. The story is sprawling and may seem slow to some who expect action to be the driving force of an adventure, but this one is much more interested in building its characters and world. Not that there isn't action it just, definitively, is not the focus.
Grammar:
the series is competently written, and it's definitely worth your time to think about the phrasing and wording of dialogue and from characters, each has their own distinct voice, and it often implies more than is written.
Character:
As I have been continuously mentioning, the characters are the bread and butter of this story, and while there are a lot of them, it will become pretty clear as you read who the key players in this story are. I guarantee you that each of those key players has an arc and a journey they are on, and will change distinctly over the course of the story. don't take your first impressions of these characters as gospel for what they will be like for the long haul. The growth of characters is what this story does better than anything else on this site.
Story:
Buckle in and pay attention, this is a long one boys and girls. This story is going to take its time, and it is all the better for it. Please don't let that push you away from appreciating it, especially when it takes a turn you weren't expecting, focusing on people and places you aren't familiar with.
I love this
SpaceDorfRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read it twice before it was even publishes here.
An awesome cast, an intriguing magic punk world.
And the woke crowd could take a pointer or five from this story on how to do diversity and representation right.
It is also my first review here, just to support the Author
N0thing_NothingRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I have never once read a book with so many powerful characters. Now, I have read books with one or two characters done really well, but never one with such a vibrant cast of so many.
That does not count the messages and themes, of which there are many great ones. I will not go into them- read this book yourself if you haven’t, but if you have you know what I am talking about.
I shan’t touch on the world building, yet another thing done perfectly. I do not recall a point where I was force-fed information, a work of showing with near to no telling.
Read it now. Or else.
LiteratiRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
Its a good story with a lot of intrigue and politicking and the story is just getting started. It' a fun read if you can look past some pacing and characterization issues. I'm at close to 900 pages but nothing much has really happened. The female characters are fleshed out but act very predictably. The male characters on the other hand are really one dimensional. A lot of them are either one dimensional perverts, morons, or a-holes. It's a bit annoying to read about some guy acting like a pervert or actually trying to assault someone every couple of chapters, especially around a literal paladin of a god that protects women. It's a convenient way to make the MC look good but gets old really fast.
I'm not sure how the other reviewers feel that the story handles the tough topics with sensitivity. Every scene that has some form of SA is formulaic. The author waves their hand and some guy acts like a pervert or attempts SA, the paladin finds out cause they almost always happen when the MC is nearby, another character talks about how stupid the assaulter is to do it in front of the paladin, some exposition about how the order protects women, MC kicks ass. That's it. Everyone moves on. No emotional exploration what so ever. I'm not sure constantly creating such scenarios is handling tough topics gracefully. Also, the xenophobia by the paladin MC is not addressed. She gets to be an a-hole to another character (started out as somewhat of a pervert, hand-waved to really nice) constantly because they are a half demon and has potential to do harm even though some of the other MCs are literal forces of nature that see no issue eating humans or are magnitudes of order more powerful than the half-demon.
Like I said, if you can look past the characterization issues, it is a good story.
Silent_CosmosRoyal Road
★★ 1.5
(Read most of it on a different site)
The Grammar and Style are pretty good.
Even the plot itself is interesting and the arcs are fun to read about. To a point. Then it just becomes a repetitive loop.
The issue is the characters. They just seem like they only have one side to their personality. Almost every guy is a pervert or a wannabe rapist.
The paladin (protector of the people) is a xenophobic ass who judges people based on their capacity to do harm instead of their willingness.