The Ill Dead

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Since Omia was very young, she'd suffered under the odd and unique condition of foreign knowledge. Almost every day, memories of another person would flash through her head. Initially confused, the memories slowly began to piece themselves together as she grew up, and she realized these flashes contain the final dying message of a woman named Jane. Jane's memories are that of war and death, causing Omia to suffer under their onslaught, but there is no way to alleviate this pain.

When she first leaves the walls of her little town and catches sight of Wiltwood, the forest of undeath, she is struck by a vision she cannot make sense of as the Wiltwood calls out to her, luring her to what might be her doom.

What to expect:

- Story starts when she is young, but rapidly skips through the years until chapter 10. After chapter 10, pace slows dramatically.

- World with smaller-scale powers in general, but a high cap as well.

- Weak to strong MC, does not start out OP and likely never will be, but she won't be underpowered either.

- Well-rounded characters

Unsure release schedule, depends on how the story is received in general and peoples interest in it.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: Stygon

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 48
Views: 4,441

Chapters(16 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(2)

Nanashi22Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The style of the narration is rapid at the start and seems to be slowing down with the first half a dozen chapters; consistent time skips are a prominent feature because the story almost immediately starts with a training arc. This seems to be something the author is testing; seeing if a faster start helps the story.
The grammar is good, and the author is one who responds to edit suggestions. Nothing to critique.
The story is centered on the protagonist's ambitions and her small world. It's a bit hard to review this part this early, but I think it will continue to revolve around the MC, her town, and her adventures in the Wildwoods. World-building will likely not be vast but focused, something we learn through Omia's hunches and observation when the story reaches the stage where she explores the Wildwoods. This will be a small world, I think.
The character is bizarre. A lot of her thoughts and actions are shown through a third-person pov, which I think could be flavored more with some occasional first-person pov considering an introvert should be thinking to themselves a lot of the time. She has occasional somber psychological moments, which while positive sometimes give a weird taste to the bleak before.
Overall, I think this book has potential, ultimately the story is in its infancy and needs more time to establish an image to reinforce. I think the story needs more work with balancing the psychological, the horror, and the grimdark. Those aspects joined with an introverted, exclusive third-pov representation of a protagonist, give the story a feeling of lacking action.
I like the story, and I'd like it if you read it too.
In conclusion: The story shows a lot of promise, but some areas need refinement, especially when it comes to pacing, POV choices, and balancing tone. The psychological, horror, and grimdark elements could benefit from being more carefully integrated with the action and pacing, and giving the protagonist more internal dialogue from a first-person
TheManOfThingsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I can see the similarities in writing and world between Beacon and this, but it is very obviously a different story. The progression feels natural and manages to maintain enough questions for the reader to ask, that in truth is the heart of a good story, the silent cliffhangers of every paragraph that make you want to read just a little bit more, and Stygon is avoiding putting attention drawing action this early, where it doesn’t fit yet, and still creating those questions