The Last Sage

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

[Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]

A Saga detailing the Plight and Journey of the Cursed Children

Ages have passed since the Demons of the Lower Realms were exiled from the Midworld. In the time since, calamity wrecked the world of Ārhmanhaḥ. Now the people grow desolate.

During the twilight of the current age, a boy was born to a cursed couple. The two had offended a sage who sought shelter, and paid for their insolence. Their child was to be exiled.

Yet the sage felt remorse, and offered to train and guide their yet unborn son for the journey that was ahead. And so it happened that their child, Tūmbṃār, became a disciple to one of the greatest sages.

The twelve-year old would venture forth from his home, embarking on a journey that would change not only the fate of his world, but the ones of his dearest companions. Not least, the mysterious maiden he found under a tree.

Their lives would be intertwined, involving the Gods above and the Demons below. Together they would herald the great saga, recorded at the close of that age!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: Ujwal Vujjini

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Followers: 129
Views: 89,321

Chapters(147 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(4)

FoundForesterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The world setting is beautiful, majestic, and culturally expansive. Typically traveling in books is either skipped altogether or tediously boring. This couldn't be further from the truth in this piece. Every step Tūmbṃār (The MC) takes reveals something interesting about the world or the people in it.
The pacing is also a highlight. This isn’t a fast-paced story by any means. But scenes rarely overstay their welcome and the well-thought-out descriptions make them a joy to read.
Grammar: the grammar on a professional level. However, it’s important to note that the sentence structure and word choices are very old English, think 17th-century religious text, which may be jarring to some. Still fantastic nonetheless.
The Style: The writing style in the piece is very unique. Sentences are written in a very formal and proper manner and the dialogue shares this formality making it feel other worldly, which is a plus in my book.
Character: Characterization is generally very good though the MC Doesn't have a clear motivation other than simply exploring. Additionally, the main religion of the world is extremely pervasive making many of the characters feel very similar.
Most everybody believes the same things so there is very little meaningful interpersonal conflict as a result.
Story: The story starts off fast: Epic fight scenes, training montage, hints at something big on the horizon, ect. but slows considerably at times. That being said, the pace picks up again near the end of the first book and the final battle is an epic one!
Mithradates EupatorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Hands down the best story I've read on RR, no more, no less. And I don't even read any fantasy (apart from Tolkien), so I have no idea how I stumbled upon this, but man am I sad I didn't sooner (bonus, more to read!).
Ujwal Vujjini's passion and drive for this series shines through on every page, it's so damn creative and imaginative, and reads like literature velvet. Every detail from the lovingly crafted world and the language, to the description of clothes and customs, is brimming with a bright energy that immediately brings your mind to Hindu mythology and old Indian tales.
And that is the best way to describe this work, as a tale. The best way I can think of to put it is that this is a story that is being actively told, not presented as is the most common way of writing stories. It has the emotion, vocabulary, and tenor of an old remembrance, rather than a modern story, much in the same veins as the Ancient epics. Unlike what I usually prefer (and how I myself write) there are few lingering descriptions of locations, of how the magical powers look and work, and how the village of the protagonist looks. It lends to the feeling of an old tale; the reader/listener is expected to know how it looks because it looks just like what they themselves would be very familiar with. And the powers are just powers, no need to explain that, you know what powers are, dummy! It feels natural and flowing, and where there are lengthy decriptions they feel very organic and properly placed.
The protagonist is a loving little scamp, who appears ridiculously overpowered when it comes to his powers, but judging by some other reviews, they're appropriately scaled for when the story advances. As a twelve year old in the start of the story, it makes sense that his only motivation is to see the world, unbridled curiosity is a fine personal motivation, and I wouldn't expect a child in this kind of folktale-esque setting to be any more personally complicated at this stage. He also has a well
Rookie12Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review is based on Book 1 and the chapters available at the time.
Simply put, the story is great. It reminds me something of the Journey to the West story. The extensive and very interesting worldbuilding. The MC, who starts reasonably OP, and his party—all of this comes together just great!
The story starts humbly enough, when a sage curses a family with a deadly curse. Feeling guilty about his outburst, the sage stays with the people for a while, helping them to deal with this curse that forces their child to leave home at an early age or to bring death to both himself and the family. To atone for his sins, the sage trains the MC, preparing him for the journey.
Everything about the MC's past looks nice, from the family to the village itself and the people. You can easily see why the MC is such a good-natured protagonist. He is curious and proactive in the story, stubbornly making his own decisions, but never at the cost of other people.
The secondary characters join the main party rather late, but they never feel like simple numbers or extras, each and every one of them has their own agency, be it a desire to go home or to prove something to their own people and protect them. Each of them brings something unique to the story. Party is not always serious; they all come as relatively young people who pull pranks on each other, but these pranks are friendly, and each of them gives back as much as they get. It is easy to see why these rascals stay together despite their different backgrounds.
The humor and jokes land well in the story, the worldbuilding is extensive, feeling like a mountain. It never covers the reader in its shadow, always leaving a room to breathe after revealing something about the world, but you can always see the peak of this mountain, and that keeps the interest of the story going.
Style and prose. Both are great. The poems and prayers all come naturally, when it comes to the illustrations, they never break the mood.
Action. Everything is fa
TMarkosRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I knew I had lucked out when the first chapter of this story was not an introduction, but instead a thorough guide to pronunciation of a conlang complete with custom orthography, laid out in the style of a textbook. When after that came an introduction and prologue in measured, contemplative pacing, I found myself adjusting my expectations further upward. I had originally clicked on this story because it had a long mouthful of a title and I was curious to see what manner of story hid behind it. Now that I have, I feel kind of astounded to have stumbled across a story of this caliber by random chance.
To get some initial things out of the way - this review is at the very early stages of the story, so my ability to talk about broader plot elements is limited. However I felt it was important to put something down because dear lord, author - keep writing it! This is not something that I've seen before on RR and I'm quite excited to see where you take it.
In style and layout it is very traditional - and I do not mean "tired" or "staid" or anything like that, but that it reads as if I were reading a manuscript of 17th-century parables or a particularly rigorous translation of One Thousand and One Nights. Despite this the prose manages to not be overcomplicated or difficult; just descriptive, meaty and exceedingly competent. The overall feel is of a story that has been transcribed to the page after a long history of being passed down by storytellers around a fire.
The plot movements that have unfolded thus far likewise put it in company with fables and folklore. It begins with a traveling sage not recognized for his greatness, of a curse handed down to punish poor judgement, of mercy and prophecy that result. This is bedrock storytelling stuff, the base tropes that everything written in the past couple of millennia have built upon.
I expect that there will be some comments saying that the story is unfolding in a very predictable manner and is not bothering to subv