The Last Philosopher: Part one

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Before everything, it’s assumed there was nothing, but what if there was no real difference between the two? Just two extreme philosophies from the first conflict.

The planet Huom has been under observation for longer than should technically be possible. The primary watcher, a bitter black hole, is excited to see that there is finally a proverbial Darkness at the end of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, on the planet, in the freezing mountains of Empris, Lyeasrakardsul, the oldest living sorcerer, suffers from devastating nightmares. At the same time, far away in the sandstone desert of Zenon, Herschel, a man filled to the brim with weird ideas is escaping a prison filled with strange old men.

What does all this have to do with arsehole Gods, hairy Dwarfs, frustrated Afreets, curious Knomes, lizard-women, and nude Áettar? Perhaps Nothing, perhaps Everything… but why can’t it be both?

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2025
Author: nickfeast

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 101
Views: 10,919

Chapters(11 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

BullerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Long names are cool, after all. Who doesnt want a size competition in that regard. I can hardly even remember anything about it, except for just who absolutely gargantuan it was. Truly impressive right there.
With that out of the way, I don't really have much to say about this story. It has humor from the start, with an arrogant astral ass spreading his unwanted wisdom everything, while also providing enough character depth that you can really feel how screwed some of the people in it are. Loved it.
5/5 from me
SpookyspacklesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story has got some very strong Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy vibes. If you don't know that series, but like some well written, cosmic ludicrousy, this book definitely has the potential to fit the bill.
The MC's 'nickname' is definitely used for some subtle tongue-in-cheek humour, and there's some clever plays throughout the rest of the chapter that make it a treat to read. And while the narrator is weaving in the comedy, they are also weaving in a ton of worldbuilding.
There are some tense shifts within the first chapter (potentially intentional), but otherwise, the flow, spelling, and grammar are peachy.
Overall, the author humanizes the furthest from a human thing you can probably think of, and does it well. Excited to see Richard's quest come through!
Arthur InverseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Last Philosopher is a ride.
The story starts with a black hole named, wait for it. Di- I mean Richard. And as a black hole should be, he think's hes the apsolute center of the universe, able to bring everything to him and underfoot.
Then we ar brought to our chrotchity old headmaster of our school.
The story so far has been good with worldbuilding, pictures and maps in the story adding just the right amount of touch and immersion to help visualize wheer you are and what is going on within the chapters.
I found little to no errors in word choice, flow, and spelling. Solid all around.
LTAndersonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
If you've spent any time around the RR forums, chances are you've seen nickfeast's The Last Philosopher. It usually comes with a big map!
The entire first part of the story runs for about 12,000 words and can be read in a single sitting. From the opening lines, it's immediately clear that this story is clever. It has great grasp of the language and is feels at home with comedic contradictions.
On the surface, it has everything to be a humorous powerhouse. It has a black hole called Richard (long for Dick), a crotchety insomniac sorcerer, and a philosopher trying to escape a prison despite the glaring fact that freedom is an illusion.
It also has a rather unique style reminiscent of something like Disco Elysium where the characters' fragmented psyches are talking to them and make various snide comments.
What it lacks is a coherent and gripping plot. Things are a bit too esoteric. We know that there are sentient black holes and a big battle of light and darkness. We also know there are sorcerers with big problems, and philosophers with smaller problems. But in all this philosophy, we don't get enough action or characterization to truly get lost in this world.
It's a bunch of cool concepts, ideas, and sentences arranged in a mesmerizing way that makes you want to think 'big thoughts.' But it's lacking something more grounded and relatable to latch onto.
There's no denying that the story is well polished. And the only complaint when it comes to its technical parts is that the italics that usually denote characters' inner aspects talking to them are absent in one of the chapters.
Regardless. Considering the story's length, if you find yourself in a philosophizing mood, this should be your first stop.
SR FauthRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This was a fun read. The story was interesting and the characters were amusing. I enjoyed the ridiculously long names. Those really threw some left turns into the works.
The element of mystery was nice, it added some flair that you wouldn't normally expect in these styles of books. The Author has his writing style down, for sure.
The astral known it all has fun being ... well an ass-tral know it all. The comedy is pretty damn good.
The grammar was a bit iffy, run on sentences, and some minor errors here and there. Over all it was a fun read. 4.5/5
VRHolmesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I really enjoyed this piece. It was up beat and engaging, but it managed to work in some deeper commentary about people and life in a way that reminded me of an author we all know and love. I kept waiting for the monologue about good and bad boots. (Points if you get the reference!)
The style was quick and kept up a persistent dry humor that I found fun, but not overpowering and not so excessive that it detracted from what the author was trying to say.
The grammar had a few snaffoos here and there, but nothing that was so bad it turned off the reader or made the passages difficult to understand by any means. Mostly all that's left by this review's posting are some minor typos.
The characters were the strength here. The author has great skill with introducing their cast quickly and giving just enough detail to make them sympathetic and engaging. He juggles four POVs in what is honestly a fairly short book, so the fact that he could do that effectively is pretty impressive.
Finally, story. I think my only nit pick here is that the overarching plot about the black hole doesn't get far, but it's a pretty mild complaint as this is obviously meant to be the first part of a series. The characterization is good enough that I think there's enough momentum to pull the reader towards book 2, just to see what happens to everyone.
All in all, really solid piece! I would recommend giving it a read.
HippioScipioRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I don't know quite what to say other than I enjoyed this very much and you should read it.
Overall - Read it. I think that was pretty obvious from the first line.
Story - Well what is a story? You know, philosophically speaking? Just kidding, I found the plot interesting enough to merit a follow.
Grammar - No issues so far as I can tell.
Style - Philosophical.
Characters: Enjoyable, Human, and Interesting.
IanFlatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This sort of archly satirical Terry Pratchett-wannabe tone always goes awry! Always! Or so I thought, but … to my shock I actually enjoyed it here.
'The force of perpetual indignation' pulled me in, and then 'Richard, long for Dick' cemented my amusement. Some very clever lines.
A few sentences I couldn't parse: "From the time before the multiverse, and the Afreets both took orders from an undead master, a god."
I enjoyed the rocks evolving form Huom's eye, and the lines about life being considered an 'unpleasant success' and the ego line. This kind of thing, with no real forward action but plenty of voice, should probably be kept fairly short … and it is!
I'm an anti-prologuitarian, and humor is extremely hard to make non-cringey, but I think it works here. If anything, I'd shorten even more. But the rhythm is good and the world and imagery are fun. And the final lines, linking to an old sorceror in a lonely tower, propel the reader forward.
LacunyktRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
[This review was spurred from a forum post.]
Definitely a cool story. You can tell how much the author cares for it, and how much work they put into creating the narrative. It's somewhat hard to follow at times – there are a lot of elements to be aware of and introduced to, and sometimes the pacing is a bit odd – but The Last Philosopher is quite unique. A fun read that encapsulates humour well.
CKJ5Royal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I hope people will keep in mind this review is based on only one chapter of the story: The Last Philosopher, and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of it. Okay, now that's out of the way, let’s get into it.
Pros:
There were a few high-level concepts in this chapter I found to be very interesting. The first that stuck out to me was the idea of deities being pricks, and the author excelled at illustrating that point. Speaking of Demi-gods, the concept of the planet being a piece of a god is very neat. All of this sets up some fascinating lore for the world. Finally, I do appreciate the humor in the chapter.
Cons:
The biggest drawback to this chapter is I have no idea what the story is about. Maybe this chapter relates to something later, but reading it in a vacuum left me confused. That is not to say it wasn’t entertaining, but if I had to explain the story to a friend, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I felt a bit letdown when I finished the chapter because I read an entire chapter about the creation of the universe, and my reward was a tagline about a sorcerer. That’s a lot of work to learn that the story might be about a sorcerer in a tower.
Overall:
The writing has charm, and it looks like the author put a lot of love into their work. But will people see it if they don’t know what the story is about? I glanced at the next chapter, and like the first, the writing seemed solid, but as a reader, it felt like I was going through another world-building piece after just reading a universe-building one. All in all, the prose is very functional and easy to read. I just wanted to know what the story was generally about in the first chapter.