The Labyrinth: Lazarus [LitRPG]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

[Souls-Like + Tower Climbing]

A burdened man will do whatever it takes to save his daughter, even if it takes him to the depths of the Labyrinth.

BOOK 2 COMING SOON!

Working on Reviewing the First Volume + Writing the Second one.

A dead body is given a second chance and thrown into a mysterious cave. When Christopher wakes up in a dangerous swamp inhabited by eldritch abominations, he finds himself at a loss for answers. With him, there’s only a notebook with ancient-looking pages. On one of them, a single cryptic message: “She Lives. Find the Exit.”

What to Expect:

- Weak to Strong.

- Meaningful System.Its secrets will be slowly revealed as the story progresses.

- Complex and Asymmetrical Progression System.

- Tons of World Building. The Labyrinth is a huge, mysterious place, and I intend to explore most of it.

- Real Characters with real stakes.

- Anti-Hero MC.

- Slow Burn.

**Don’t expect a lot of stat blocks. They exist but are used sparsely.

I have always loved gritty, dark fiction. For a long time, I’ve entertained the idea of writing a LitRPG filled with conspiracy, intricate plot threads, and moving parts. And so, the Labyrinth was created—a place where men, monsters, and gods walk alike, stumbling through its maze amidst the dying rubble.

[Release Schedule]:Monday, Wednesday, Friday.BOOK 2 COMING SOON!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: Three Doors

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 1,001
Views: 162,505

Chapters(53 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

ZenolixRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is my first introduction to an eldritch story of any kind. I'm vaguely aware of the lovecraftian horror/cthulu genre, but not to any meaningful extent. I'm really enjoying the authors take on it.
The best thing about this story is the quality of the writing. The author has clearly put a lot of time in to editing it, or is highly skilled at producing quality writing from the start!
There's no infodump on how the system works, which I love. I don't believe the author is expecting readers to understand it, as the main character (Christopher) is also discovering it as he goes. There's an element of mystery here, and I'm looking forward to learning more about it.
I've found the main character to be incredibly realistic in how he suffers and the decisions he makes. The author describes everything really well.
Some other characters have been mentioned and there's clearly a lot of world building going on behind the scenes with various factions.
I haven't noticed any issues with grammar or spelling, it's all great.
There were one or two chapters that were a bit slower paced than the average webnovel story here on RR, where it reminded me more of a typically published story, but the descriptions and atmosphere kept be focused and entertained the whole way through. That's a very unusual thing for me, which I think speaks a lot to how good the writing really is. I really do suggest trying this, it's captivating.
Darian321Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Usually I don't touch novels of first time authors because I have very limited time to risk but I made exception for this one because I'm sucker for tower climbing AND souls like gritty climates.
And ohh boy I made a mistake. Chapter after chapter and half night went by without me noticing.
Whether it's style or grammar I don't have any big complaints.
Where story really shines are characters and atmosphere. MC is an mature adult struggling with guilt and longing toward his daughter while at the same time braving horrors of the Labirynth despite how obviously and rightfully scared he is of terrors within. No rambo power fantasy here which I love. There's also dozen of side characters and mysteries being seeded left and right so it's not like world revolves around MC. He is just small part of bigger whole. For now at least ;).
Then there is an atmosphere. Labirynth is full of horrors and is not afraid to throw them at feet of our poor MC.
Overall I can recommend this novel. It's a good stuff.
KobinaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I pick up and read a lot of stories on Royal Road which forces me to quickly discern what's to my taste. Labyrinth has what I consider the it factor: interesting world building, a plot that moves without rushing, protagonists to root for and conflict to anticipate. It does this in the first 5 chapters and keeps up the quality. I'll be keeping an eye on this one and I'd say it's worth taking a chance on.
LordAnchalinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The cover art is what drew me in at the beginning. I really like anything that has a labyrinth in it and when I saw it was LitRPG, I was a fan. I’ve only read 7 chapters so far but the system is just so interesting. I’ve never read anything like this before and that’s enough to show me that it’s worth following. This story is dark, foreboding and horror adjacent, I want to know everything and I’m a fan now, fully invested!
There is a fear element to this story, that I have never really considered in dungeons/labyrinth before. It’s opened up a whole new idea or style of writing to me. The MC has strong willed desires to live and while it seems (I’m assuming) he’s become a revenant. I feel like the story is offering the chance at becoming a mortal/human again. It’s like he’s being offered a chance at redemption and who doesn’t love or like a redemption story.
The swamp setting inside of a labyrinth is such a cool idea, I can only imagine what Christopher is thinking and what’s on his mind as he’s faced with a system and what that now means for him.
R.BRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The grammar is very good, no issue in regard to the vocabulary used, or in terms of typos. If there are errors, i did not smell them.
The characters are intriguing. I will develop more in the story part. It is made evident that characters are classified, and the said classification holds a huge importance in this world. While their descriptions were quite classical due to the modern time, their behaviors was brought with agility and intelligent bouts of descriptions. Lovely.
The story definitely looks to be a very intriguing and original work. The lore is brought quite naturally. At no point have i though that i was beingvfed exposition. The classification of people's... jobs? seem to reflect a society gone wrong with the ability to "author" stories, hence the attempt to weaponize it. This is one of those original and refreshing story concepts we need more of!
The style hangs between classical, roman noir and a thriller. The ambiance, the atmosphere is made easy to visualize. The characters' social dynamics, the way the scenes are brought and made to evolve - all of it speaks of a very personal style.
My overall impression is that this is promising to be a great work to follow for anyone in the genre. But proceed with caution: few ever come back from the labyrinth.
SRadioactiveRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is probably one of the best LitRPGs I’ve read. I am a huge fan of grimdark and just generally dark settings. And swamps. Love swamps and swamp-related creatures (I mean, have you SEEN Shrek? Masterpiece.) The whole concept of “Lazarus” is incredibly haunting and just eery. Even the people in charge of them don’t like it.
I have to absolutely praise this part. Listen, I am not a huge fan of just being dumped into “x died oh no he is elsewhere now” I am a girl who has to be taken to dinner first. Well, dinner is a POV of someone who feels empathy towards our MC. Someone who has seen this take place over and over again. The transition between this and our Lazarus is beautiful and heartfelt. The style only evolves from there.
I don’t particularly like reviewing the story so early on, as I am a fan of slow burn and firmly believe that it is unfair to judge a book by its first few chapters. However, I can already tell this one is phenomenal. It doesn't give you an open world of “anything can happen,” I mean it does because anything CAN happen, but we have a goal. We have an emotional bond to our hero making it - She lives. Find the exit.
I am not an authority on grammar, and I listened to it anyway. Everything flowed and I heard no flaws. This is a polished, waxed, and sealed book.
Christopher has depth. That is the very first thing I noticed and the very first thing that matters to me in any book. Our MC suffered and wanted a second chance, and when he got it, he reacted pretty appropriately to the situation. In the meantime, he reflects on his life and situation, his goals, and the brand-new rules that apply to his survival. It’s not absolutely instant and he is scared, and he is making mistakes. That is so relatable and well-written.
In summary, if you are looking at these reviews and trying to decide if you should committ - just do it. You won’t regret it. Go, comment on the chapters, get super into it, and then have your heart broken because I can just FEEL the
Sixbees2Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
As of the first seven chapters, phenomenal writing and world building.
I don’t typically read stories with such few chapters, but Lazarus had an intriguing premise I knew I wanted to be a part of from the start. We have an aged protagonist in a world that’s dangerous and unknown, as ferocious as it is nightmarish, with a simple yet powerful motivation to work through it’s horrors.
In terms of writing, it is far above the standard of royal road without indulging into purple prose. It is simple, efficient and perfectly captures the atmosphere of a dangerous and grotesque atmosphere.
As for the system, not too much of it has been unveiled as of the time of writing this review, but I’m loving just the general premise of it. From what I can tell, it uses literary terminology to build the MC’s power up as a tale/story-book. His main power coming from his ‘synopsis’ as a Lazarus. There are stats that don’t fall under your typical scope, spells that come at a cost, and I’m sure the author has more up his sleeve.
Overall, I am very impressed and I’m not honestly impressed by a lot of what gets published here.
tl;dr: good writing, good atmosphere (feels like a bloodborne dungeon), good characters, good worldbuilding and a really intriguing system.
Malus MichaelRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
A review swap from a fellow Portuguese speaker? Nice!
Style: Description-wise, they're great. The swamp is brought to life on its smells, fauna, flora, and tons and tons of mud. However, I have to point out some repetiveness in words and weird sentence construction. Nothing that harms the experience, of course.
Grammar: Aside the complaints on the style section, the grammar is pretty much flawless. No typos or mistakes in punctuation to write about.
Story: I'm still at the early steps of the story, but there's much to talk about. We learned a little about the Lazarus and other classes, stats, and what lied beyond the labyrinth. The MC's backstory flawlessly serves to give readers an emotional hook to make us invested on his plight.
Characters: The MC's story is brilliantly crafted to make us care about him and want him to succeed. However, his personality is yet to shine through.
I appreciate Christopher actually reacting like a human being in face of being transported to a game-like world. There's so many LitRPG's out there where the protagonist just accepts it so easily.
The outside characters (Michael and Sarah) have more distinct personalities and I welcome everytime they're on page.
Overall, a solid LitRPG that doesn't shove stats and numbers on your face. Absolutely worth your read!
Agora devolve meu ouro, Português safado!
Wax IIIRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I absolutely love the slow pace and the fact that the mc don't just instantly accept his situation. Small cuts can get infected, people suck, learning is hard. It's not like the other books where the MC just up and knows everything.The "system" is analog and you can lose it, absolutely brilliant
Andrew616Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Overall:
This story is starting to find it's stride, the beginning is a little rough, with a lot of POV shifts and obscure references to worldbuilding without enough explanation or detail to understand what is actually happening so it is a bit confusing and frustrating to read at times, but once you get past the first 15 or so chapters things are Finally explained and you can get your feet under you.
Style:
The general style is first person focused on Christopher, and generally flows well, there are a lot of POv shifts though, and they aren't always the smoothest transfers, and there isn't always a clear link between them.
Story:
The general world is interesting, and there is a well set up main arc/motivation for the MC, along with multiple sub plots going on. Definitly interesting, and the system seems like it has a lot of potential as things develop.
Character:
There are a lot of "main" characters, by this I mean characters thay get their own POV and story plot. Generally they are well developed, and have a solid motivation for what they are doing, the problem is, I don't really like any of them. The labyrinth is a miserable place with no one to root for (even the "good guys")
Grammer:
The grammer is generally good, but it's not rare to have a sentance that uses the wrong word or are worded in a way that seems odd. It's not bad enough to detract from the story though.