The Humanity Dilemma

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2023

Author

JavonHindelburg

• Chapter Six: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
  Jul 30, 2023
• Chapter Five: Loss
  Jul 23, 2023
• Chapter Four: Complications
  Jul 20, 2023
• Chapter Three: Memories
  Jul 19, 2023
• Chapter Two: Case The Joint
  Jul 19, 2023
• Chapter One: Kabuki Masks
  Jul 19, 2023
• Prologue
  Jul 18, 2023

Reviews

Community Reviews(7)

• Lord TurtleRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Disclaimer: This is for a review swap, but the words below relfect my own opinion.
  1) This story makes me want to play cyberpunk again, and that's good! It's immersive and really throws you into the mind of the character and the world from the word go. It hits the right sci-fi and dystopian notes and has me excited for where this will end up.
  2) My main concern and one that actually disappeared as the author kept going was that in the starting chapters a lot of the paragraphs begin with "O'Della... (emotion/action)" However, after noticing it, I also immediately noticed how the author shifted away from that in the subsequent chapters, hence why I'm not docking points for that. Though I will recommend a little touch up on the first two chapters to just make it a little less clunky.
  3) Overall, just some good ol' dystopian sci-fi and it scratches just the right itch.
• ThatWriterGuyRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Story:
  The story is grimdark sci-fi cyberpunk. The setting itself is a typical cyberpunk dystopia. Expect the typical cyberpunk affair. However, it's a brutal setting that lets you now why this is a dystopia as futuristic technology doesn't make a better future. The pace is a bit slow, but it hits you emotionally. The way the author delivers emotional gut-punches is perhaps the author's greatest talent.
  Style:
  This is author's strong point. This novel is dark. Many dystopian stories forget to establish why the place is a dystopia with everything only looking gray. Not this story. The author describes the brutality of war, the stark contrast between rich and poor, and just how much of a horrible place the setting is.
  Grammar:
  There are a few spelling or grammatical errors when a chapter is published, but they are normally ironed out. Otherwise, everything flows well and is well-written.
  Character:
  Every single character has their own story, personality, and life to them. The main character has PTSD and it affects him everyday. He has to struggle with that challenge in his line of work. And by seeing the chapter's title that this review was left on, you'll know that a character dies early on. The worst/best part is that the character never got to finish their story. This only adds to the tragedy of this setting since even main characters don't have plot armor.
  Overall:
  This story is very immersive. While I normally don't read grimdark or cyberpunk stories, I know that this is one that hits all the right notes. This is a slow-burning action story that is brutal in all the right ways. If you like dark stories or cyberpunk, give this story a try. You won't regret it.
• Conrad StokesRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Disclaimer: This review is for a review swap with the author. I have read a little more than the required 10k.
  Story/Style:  I have never played the game Cyberpunk 2077 nor watched the anime, but if there was a web-fiction like it, I would suppose that it would be very similar to this story. Now, the author told me it is pretty grimdark and let me say this, “yes”. This fiction nails a couple of desperate dudes doing some evil stuff just to get by in a cyberpunk dystopia.
  Sometimes in these settings authors hand wave the background or dump it all in exposition. Yet in this story the author is constantly interweaving it in between action and dialogue, which is very appreciated.
  Characters: These guys come off as a little generic, like macho cyberpunk street runners, and that’s exactly what they are. But the author also adds in backstory and fleshes out the characters so that you’re at least somewhat invested in what happens to them and the bromance.
  Grammar: this story really earned its profanity warning. I think I edited out thirty f bombs alone when I read it on my word document. Yet there is a warning for a reason (no points taken for that)! The grammar has no serious issues (other than a whole lot of adverbs), so good score there.
  Overall, this is a pretty bold story. It is in your face with crass and amoral protagonists in a very grimdark setting, but it is written well and pleasantly surprised me with some twists. Read if you like grimdark cyberpunk.
• Shrike LawRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Very immersive, I can feel myself being sucked into the world. There aren't many sci-fi stories like this on RR, it was a nice change of pace.  I just wish the information being given was not only mixed in better with the events of the story but also that we are able to know what information should be prioritized since if one tried to recall all of the information given it would be too much.
  Grammar - Grammar is perfect. Didn’t notice anything off. During dialogue it is clear who is speaking and there is no confusion as to who is doing what action
  Story -  The story is good, the prologue threw me off a bit in terms of pacing due to the info dump but from chapter 1 it was easy to get into. The flashback, in the beginning, was a good choice since it builds interest as to what caused the future situation
  Character - the characters are lifelike and have realistic conversations, they have a past that has shaped not only their actions but also their bodies.
  Style - I think I'd be able to identify the author when compared to other ones, the writing style is specific, its information-rich, fast-paced, and has plenty of dialogue
• O. MannRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Okay so there's a lot to unpack here but overall, I was surprisingly impressed with this one.  Let's get into it!
  Style: I love how the author is able to write a futuristic sci Fi story and make it feel real.  Great style allows the reader to fall into a story and become part of it, and the writer here has definitely accomplished that.  The world is not always a paradise and the author is effective at capturing it's darker nature.
  Story:  This will be my shortest response because YOU SHOULD GO AND READ IT!!!  The story is the best part of this novel, especially for me being ex-military.  It's highly relatable and well executed.
  Grammar:  Let me preface this by saying that I recommend this story.  That said, I find the grammar to be the weakest point.  I'm putting it out there in such a blunt manner because this is an amazing story and I would hate for people to miss out on it because the grammatical mistakes turned them off.  Constructive criticism:  the two biggest issues I noticed were run-on sentences and the changing of tenses.
  Character:  This far the development has been exceptional.  I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know the main character and learning what makes him tick.  Definitely seems like a guy I could have a drink with.  I also appreciate that the character is flawed, which I think is important, especially in a grimdark novel.  Next to the story, the character development is the most powerful aspect at work in this novel, as it should be.  Bravo sir.
• FireballchargingRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 4.5

  Overall:
  It was a very gripping story. It showed the brutality that happens in war and didn't shy away from the more traumatizing things that soldiers can go through. The setting is somewhat basic cyberpunk, but it more than makes up for it with the struggles the characters go through. I did enjoy the premise and it made for an interesting take on the cyberpunk setting.
  Style:
  To me, it exemplified grimdark in the tone that was set from the very first chapter (not including the prologue). It felt very real and the descriptive language used really sold the setting. The tone used is also very consistent and I was impressed with how descriptive the author could be without sounding repetitive.
  Story:
  The story starts a bit slow, but there are only a few chapters and it more focuses on the characters' struggles with what they have seen and done in the past.
  Grammar:
  The grammar is good, but some sentences are structured oddly and could use a little tweaking, but overall easy to read and understand what is going on.
  Character:
  The characters in the story are very well written. It explores the PTSD that they have gone through and if you are sensitive to that I would advise caution, but for those that want to read something in that genre, this is it.
• burningGroundRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 3.5

  It's a bit too wordy though... not every part of the setting need to be laid bare in the prologue. That's a lot of info-dump that I'm sure I won't be able to retain on a first read (and it feels mostly skippable). At times it feels like I'm losing because I don't know how much of that information would be relevant to establish the protagonist and what he would need to go through. It gets overbearing. But the author's ambitious, I'll give you that. (This paragraph is to give you an impression on how long it felt to read the prologue---it was even wordier than this!)
  Word of advice: I hope that the subsequent chapters that represent the main story do not follow the style the way the prologue does. Because that would be a horrifying slog to go through.