The Infinite Spear (A Sci-fi Progression Fantasy)

Information

Status

Ongoing

Year

2023

Author

Marc Mulero

• New Story Announcement
  Jun 8, 2024
• Amazon and Audiobook Announcement
  Jul 27, 2023
• Chapter 3 - Assassin!
  Jan 4, 2023
• Chapter 2 - A Challenge to do More
  Jan 3, 2023
• Chapter 1 - One Man's Trash
  Jan 2, 2023

What readers say about The Infinite Spear (A Sci-fi Progression Fantasy)

• “The Infinite Spear is an awesome take on a cybernetic enhancement kind of progression fantasy, and a great choice for anyone looking for some originality in the genre. Marc takes his time to build up a strong cast of characters, and develop an interesting s…”

  Alex MRoyal Road5.0 / 5

• “When I was first starting this, I accidentally hit one star when trying to follow, and since I couldn't back out, I put three stars until I could get into it and give a proper review, which is now a full five stars. This may be my favorite story on RR, and…”

  AllanGrant88Royal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• Alex MRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The Infinite Spear is an awesome take on a cybernetic enhancement kind of progression fantasy, and a great choice for anyone looking for some originality in the genre. Marc takes his time to build up a strong cast of characters, and develop an interesting setting full of evil Sci-gods and gritty, future era.
  Story - The story follows Slip, who had his family taken away in an attack by the sci-gods, and has since scraped by however he can. Slip's introduction is quite bleak, but it's great setup and makes you want to root for him. Things change with the arrival of a mysterious note that may be his first chance at leaving his meaningless life behind and seeking vengence for his family.
  The 'magic system' if it can be called that, is based around cybernetic implanted tools. Everyone's tool is unique, and can be upgraded through Tech addons by Carvers - a lost art that makes this a scarce, mysterious, and valuable resource.
  Characters - Slip is a mouthy, antagonising young cyborg, that probably talks more than is good for him. The dialogue is a lot of fun, with Marc not shying away from strongly characterised and, at times, corny dialogue. It makes for characters with strong personalities. I like Drusilla as a counter point to Slip, being moody and curt, and adding a lot of flair to their encounters.
  Style - Marc's writing is well described, evocative, and well above the average on Royal Road. The story flows nicely and both the setting and characters are brought to life with great dialogue.
  Grammer - Excellent writing and clearly thoroughly edited. Nothing broke my immersion while reading.
  Overall this is well written and I really enjoyed the sci-fi take on the genre. It's a great new progression fantasy that I highly recommend.
• AllanGrant88Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  When I was first starting this, I accidentally hit one star when trying to follow, and since I couldn't back out, I put three stars until I could get into it and give a proper review, which is now a full five stars. This may be my favorite story on RR, and I've been reading on here for years. The world building is top notch, with info given organically through story telling rather than just info dumps, which is a sign the author trusts the reader. It's very refreshing. There are pieces of the world that the MC doesn't know about which means the audience doesn't know about. I'm excited to see how much is explored and when.
  The reasons for a gamified existence are believable, and the connection to the Ancients and mythology is great fun for a lifelong mythology geek like me.
  I can't wait to see where the story goes. I'll have to see where I can tweak my budget just to get more chapters on Patreon
• AustimizedRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This story feels somewhere between Illium - Dan Simmons' masterpiece about far-future, near-omnipotent beings recreating the war between Greece and Troy - the Matrix, and Gladiator.
  The world the MC starts on, or at least the area where he scrabbles for to survive, is a junkyard, packed with broken relics of more advanced civilizations. Few of the scavengers hold any hope of a better life than their day-to-day scrounge for scrap, the MC among them.
  Until he meets a former gladiator and his daughter who open up the possibilities not only of a chance at glory, power, and fame, but revenge. And not revenge on just anyone, but the Sci-gods.
  Taking on the mein of the various pantheons of Greece, Rome, Norse and Egyptian mythology, these "gods" use their inestimable technological prowess to lord over the commons and do as they will. They giveth, they taketh, such as granting technological replacements for disfigurements, missing limbs, and other limitations, then arbitrarily hitting those they've gifted with deadly EMPs. Including the MCs' family.
  As cool and unique as the setting is, where it really trips down a path I haven't visited in fiction before is the nanotechnology. Each person carries a "bead" of nanite "dust", usually fairly limited in function, but, with the right skill and advancements, capable of forming weapons and armor for a start then progressing to seemingly magical abilities.
  If the MC can master this technology, learn to fight, and advance his stats enough, perhaps he can get revenge for his slain parents... and throw some God of War into the mix as he Kratos' some Sci-gods on the way.
• ButterBoy9000Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Set in a dystopian futuristic world, our protagonist starts from the very bottom of society, among the broken and the lost, scrounging for parts amongst a graveyard of metal and electronics. The execution of the story thus far has been original, with a truly unique and flavourful world. If you're interested in tons of action, intrigue, and an excellent cast of characters, then I'd definitely recommend checking this out.
  Grammar/Prose - The prose is pretty simplistic and clean, and generally flows well from sentence to sentence. I don't find myself getting hung up on sentences finding any particularly awkward phrasing/writing. There are relatively few typos/errors that I've observed thus far. My biggest gripe with the writing is that it can sometimes be a little difficult to tell who's speaking, and the pacing in and around the dialogue can be a little whiplash heavy, giving little time to breathe and feeling a little forced.
  Story - Thus far the story has been well executed, maintaining a medium pace that sucks you in and leaves you hugry for more, without leaving you exhausted and needing a break. Thus far the plot has been unique and well executed, without deferring to any obvious cliches. That said, there's not a ton written, so my rating is subject to change in the future.
  Worldbuilding - The worldbuilding itself is fun and interessting thus far, spliced in with tons of cool things and mystery. Instead, almost 100% of my issues with the worldbuilding are based around how the worldbuilding is explained to the readers. The worldbuilding is VERY much focused around show don't tell, and many of the finer details are heavily glossed over, leaving you to fill in the blanks (perhaps this is intentional on the part of the author, and we'll get more later). For example, we know that the people are heavily physically integrated with regards to the machinery and technology, but it's never really clear exactly how integrated they are. I have blatantly no idea how much of ou
• Coldfang89Royal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  A deliciously dark start for the series! I'm looking forward to addition chapters.
  The story is a pretty unqiue take on the sci-fi genre and I find the overall worldbuilding, theme, and setting to be a mishmash between the TTRPG Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, and a 40k-lite. It's grity, and the author does a wonderful job with clearly showing the world to the reader.
  The technology aspects with the almost cyborg style and nanomachine based abilities feels really awesome, and the author paints pictures for each scene involving them. The immersion in very strong with such scenes, and It kept pulling me in.
  Character wise, the MC is a young, slightly aggressive and mouthy guy who readers will quickly become sympathetic with. Every other character feels well thought out, vibrant, and geniune. The overall development for them also flows well and keeps you wanting to read more.
  Grammer wise? It's pretty much near perfect. I'm not a nitpicky about it as some people are, but I didn't find very many issues at all, and it seems like the author is responsive in fixing issues that pop up.
  I'd definitely recommend this story to anyone who values strong character development, and a dark sci-fi theme. Everything just feels so rich, and well done. It's on my personal Follow and Favorite list, and I'm excited to see where the story leads.
• DoublemansRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The Infinite Spear is a pleasure to read. It's well written, the characters are distinct and interesting, and the world-building is strong without being overly expansive. It's a fun read that has me refreshing the "Latest updates" button each morning. I'm excited to see how Slip and his AI continue to develop and grow.
• DrimRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The world-building in this story is amazing. Normally, I'd save mentioning that until later but it couldn't wait. It really blew me away. I'm a sucker for good world-building and this really drew me in. The author manages to dive so deep into this completely unique setting and does it without the story ever feeling like it's slogging, truly impressive. If you like being completely encapsulated in the world of a story, this books is reading just for that alone.
  The prose of the story is very well written on top of it with no grammar issues I could find. A solid read mechanically through and through. The story itself is quite engaging and had me constantly guessing where it was going and the uniqueness and intrigue of the sci-fi aspects really give the story its own unique charm. The action that the author has shown has been fantastic so far and I can tell it's building to a lot of fantastic battles in the future.
  The cast of characters are all very unique so far, each with individual personalities that shine. The main's personality is the only one that has felt slightly off. He's snarky, very snarky, far too snarky than his back story and tragic life up to this point. Obviously, it could just be humor in tragedy, but it still feels a bit off. It feels kind of like the author set up what his personality should be after a bit of growth and power to back it up but didn't quite showcase the character's development to get to that point.
  Regardless, it's a minor gripe in an otherwise fantastic story and the uniqueness of everyone else more than makes up for it. This is a great read if you want a character growing against all odds and a completely unique sci-fi dystopia.
• Eric VanderlipRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The Infinite Spear is a sci-fi progression fantasy which follows the story of Slip Disk, a young who works the scrapyard, who stubbles on a chance for greatness and possibly revenge for this dead family.
  Style:    The perspective is consistent and smooth.  The pace is solid and exciting.  No complains.
  Story:  A techno-based litrpg.  Every being in the world has stats and a "bead" (sentient AI) which allows nano-machine based abilities/magic.  There are also Sci-gods who are responsible for the universal prevalence of birth defects which requiring cybernetic parts to fix.  It's obvious great care has been given to every facet of the worldbuilding.
  Grammar:  Near perfect.  My need to edit went mostly unfulfilled.
  Character:   Slip Disk makes an excellent, sympathetic protagonist who quickly grow on you.  The rest of the cast is just as vibrant and well-developed, with every character feeling alive and fleshed out.  Interactions feels genuine and are a joy to watch.  Great character development.
  Conclusion:  I recommend The Infinite Spear because of its gripping protagonist and its unique take on the techno-take litrpg genre.  The setting feels deep and rich.  You'll soon find yourself relentlessly click "next chapter" to find out what happens next.  It's an addicting read.
• FJBRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Okay, let’s just clear the air right now: the MC’s name in this story is Slip Disk. That’s just... I’m not even sure what. A technology-based pun? A reference to his broken condition? An unfortunate coincidence? I dunno.
  What I do know is that this is basically my only complaint about this story (so far). The writing is clean, snappy, the premise draws you in from the first chapter, and the MC is both relatable and driven. What little hints about the system given early on are also extremely promising.
  In short, this looks like the whole package to me. While I haven’t read any of Mulero’s previous works, it’s pretty obvious they’ve built up a solid base for both storytelling and progression from their experiences.
  Character— Slip, unfortunately named as he is, is engaging right for the get-go. He’s got a world of problems, not the least of which being that his life was ruined by something called a ‘sido bomb’ several years earlier, which left his home as one gigantic rubbish heap, and the survivors as little more than scavengers picking through the remains to sell anything worthwhile to (presumably) wealthier nations.
  Besides that, Slip has an artificial leg that constantly sparking and giving him trouble, and a ‘bead’ (some sort of nanotech?) imbedded into him that provides both his system abilities (meager that they are) and companionship. This relationship immediately caught my attention, and I loved the way that Tammy (as he refers to his cybernetic buddy) communicates mostly through emoji and other simplistic symbols that appear on Slip’s skin. Their dynamic is immediate, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it grows.
  Story— Ah, but what is a character without conflict? While not explicitly stated as the antagonists, early on mention is made to the ‘sci-gods’, all powerful creatures that lord over humankind, and apparently spend much of their time spectating glorious, gamified combat. Being unleveled and basically the worst dreg of humanity, Slip can only dream
• Jack0fheartRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  In The Infinite Spear, Slip, a lone cyborg seeking vengeance against the Sci-gods who destroyed his life. He enters a new reality where he must choose allegiance to ancient mythological deities and fight in the arena for upgrades to his Tech, leading him on a journey for retribution and the power to slay gods.
  Overall score 5/5: This story is an impressive blend of sci-fi, action, and adventure, with a richly crafted world and well-developed characters that draw the reader in. The plot is fast-paced and engaging, with many unexpected twists and turns.
  Style score 5/5: The writing is expertly crafted, with vivid descriptions and well-defined characters that come to life on the page. The story is well-paced, with a perfect balance of action, character development, and world-building that makes for an enjoyable read. The author's writing style is engaging and immersive, with a tone that perfectly captures the gritty and dangerous world that the characters inhabit.
  Story score 5/5: This is a gripping and action-packed story, with a well-developed plot that keeps the reader engaged from the beginning. The story is set in a dystopian world where workers must scavenge for scraps to survive, and it explores themes of survival, loyalty, and revenge. The author does an excellent job of building tension and suspense, and the action scenes are well-written and exciting.
  Grammar score 5/5: The grammar is excellent, with clear and concise writing that flows smoothly without any obvious errors. The author's attention to detail and careful editing make for a polished and professional reading experience.
  Character score 5/5: The characters are complex and multi-dimensional, with well-defined motivations and backstories that add depth to the story. The main character, Slip, is a particularly compelling protagonist, with a tragic past that has left him bitter and resentful. His interactions with the other characters, particularly the enigmatic Drusilla Spear, are well-written and add