The Horlock Chronicles

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Hiatus whilst I write the next book!

Still planning to come back but I want to be at least 1 book ahead of chapters posted here so I can keep control of the plot.After a fight gone wrong, Brandon Horlock falls through a portal to another world.Listen in as he tells us how he got here. How he persevered through a life of crime, betrayal, and torture. How he went from street rat to a prisoner with magic. How he lost contact with everyone he ever loved.

Expect:

A gritty, morally ambiguous fantasy

Criminal intrigue and shadowy deals

Violence and betrayal

A slow-burning journey of transformation and rebellion

New chapters Saturdays and Wednesdays! 3+ books planned so far.

The goal is to keep delivering, and keep improving.

The prologue is in third person but the next chapters are in first. Why?Because I'm an idiot. I'll eventually do something about it but take this as a warning.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: Basic Rent

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 160
Views: 36,594

Chapters(70 total)

What readers say about The Horlock Chronicles

“If the prologue and first chapter make you think that is gonna be an isekai/portal story, that is not the case at all. This is a story about a thug out of his depth, navigating dangerous waters, with competent writing to back up its interesting premise. So…”
RoidhogRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“Overall, the story is well crafted at times. Structure of the story does change quite a lot between the prologue and chapter 1. It can be said to be somewhat jarring with all the information. A lot of exposition is provided through the early chapters, a hug…”
GrumpsterRoyal Road4.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(3)

RoidhogRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If the prologue and first chapter make you think that is gonna be an isekai/portal story, that is not the case at all. This is a story about a thug out of his depth, navigating dangerous waters, with competent writing to back up its interesting premise. So far it has already delivered on its promises:
Slow fantasy introduction - after the prologue as the hook, we get a retelling of Brandon's life of crime, who he is, where he comes from, and how will he end up in the situation in the prologue, and it promises to be a long, exciting tale.
Secrets - Brandon gets a glimpse of a grand political conspiracy.
Crime - A savvy street thug dipping his toes in business out of his league.
Moral ambiguity - The plot so far promises some very hard decisions in the future for the mc.
The prologue and chapter 1 do not reflect the story, what comes after is 10 times better.
GrumpsterRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Overall, the story is well crafted at times. Structure of the story does change quite a lot between the prologue and chapter 1. It can be said to be somewhat jarring with all the information. A lot of exposition is provided through the early chapters, a huge amount, but the quality of the writing is carrying the story overall.
Grammar is good, I've only spotted one massive glaring issue.
The worldbuilding is interesting for a fantasy world. Though a lot of this is provided through the thought and instead of dialogue, which can be a massive downside for the pacing of the story - something that I see as rather jarring when transitioning between chapter 1 from the prologue. In my opinion, the prose can have a lot of work done to it. The sheer amount of exposition in the first chapters is something that slows the pacing down quite a bit, but that's all I have to say about that.
The characters are somewhat interesting, but I feel like the characterisations are not fully realised because of the first person POV. There's limited depth in some elements, but there is good depth in her elements, especially when going over some emotional beats.
There are parts of the story that are incredibly engaging, such as the world and the building of it, but the prologue and chapter 1 feel quite distant in the way they have been written. The story is subtle at times, it feels rather immersive, even, which can be improved upon massively through a smoother transition between paragraphs, depth into a lot of the characters and expansion for more quieter character moments.
PunchRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I'm at the end of the first book right now so I decided to make a review.
The story can be dark at times but I wouldn't call it grimdark. In a world that still has kings and nobles, but they have magical powers, I can easily believe horrible stuff happens. Despite this, the book never feels hopeless. Even at his lowest point in the story Brandon still has a plan. Even when he ends up in terrible places, there's people who are good to him. Not everything goes wrong, not everything is miserable. Tho both are present themes. Character deaths do happen but are treated with weight.
Brandon is probably one of the better written MCs on this site. He's lively and well defined, with a strong presence in the story. The support characters are well developed with clear drives and personalities. Even a short appearance in the story is enough to get a feel for them. I'd say characterisation is a strength of the author.
Book 1 was kind of a prequel or introduction book. Brandon is still a small fish trying to swim against the current. The action is small scale, and the plot is mostly pushed by people stronger than him while brandon struggles his way to freedom. Apparently book 2 is where the action and adventure starts, I just hope the harsher style of story doesn't completely fade.
A good read if you want a non cookie cutter fantasy.