The Man At The End Of The World

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The world has ended. The virus is triumphant.

But there is still hope. In Maine.

Join Danny as he races across America, adventuring with friends, overcoming dangers, bonding with family and perhaps even finding love?

And at the end of the world, what awaits him?

This is a novel taking a raw look at public health and LGBTQIA, providing a contemporary examination of how they interact and impact the world. It examines matters from a perspective seldom shared in light novels and hopefully enhances the reader's understanding of such issues.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: GECDAG

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.3/ 5.0
Followers: 6
Views: 29,410

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

ApocaNovelRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't really know where to begin with this one. This is the first time I've actually felt compelled to sign up for an account on this website simply to write a review of this wild epic which I discovered after someone posted it on Reddit. I love post-apocalyptic stories and that was what eventually drew me to it, even though it's currently unfinished and also quite the long read.
The story takes place in what feels like the real world and at a time in very recent history. This is a virus/zombie type of apocalyptic story on the very base level, but to simplify the story to that degree would be giving it a great disservice and would also trick potential readers into thinking they're in for a familiar ride. Nothing about this story is typical.
The story begins as a virus has begun to take over America. The virus has origins in China. The virus is unique, and isn't given a name, except that it is very clearly based on COVID-19. Except this virus basically eventually mutates into something that causes those it infects to turn into something like zombies.
Danny, the central character or at least in the beginning of the story he is, lives a pretty boring life with his room mate Luis and the story begins with the virus not yet becoming anything so apocalyptic but rather we get whiffs of what is to come and Danny's story helps us establish the world the story takes place in.
As the world begins to come unglued Danny joins two other characters on a crazy road trip to Maine, which is both the only "safe" place left but also a horrible place that will remind you of a Stephen King novel (I don't think the fact the author made Maine the safe place is a coencidence, it seems an homage to King) and is the domain of the antagonist of the story --- a shapeshifting demon named "Xir."
If this was the entire story it would be pretty atypical and boring, but it's far from it. Instead, the story is much more expansive than that, which is both its strength and weakness.
Let's start with
Reader X1Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is an unusual story. The sypnosis is technically correct in describing what the story is about but after reading the whole thing, I can only conclude that the story is the product of a raving right wing lunatic. That or the whole thing is an elaborate troll.
I will try to explain.
The story starts of with the world ending because of the "virus", an infectious demonic disease originating from china which kills by destroying the victim's lungs. Sound familar? Of course it does. The story doesn't bother to pretend that it is not referring to Covid. Except here Covid causes it's victims to degenerate into bloodthirsty zombies that seek to infect everyone that is healthy. The author even ties this up with real life anti mask and anti vaccine movements, represented in the story as the Herd, a militant band that are a combination of zombie horde and rag tag army.
The protag, Danny (though he isn't really the protag, this story is weird), is living with his roomate Luis and a chance meeting in a supermarket leads him to a group of immune, people who survived Covid and have natural immunity to it. Some shenanigans later, Danny is on a road trip to Maine, the one safe place in America as the entire country begins to collapse under Covid's onslaught.
But the story never says this to you upfront. The story is told in a very confusing way and the occassional bad grammar does not help, the early chapters are particualarly bad offenders though it does improve greatly later. The story jumps back and forth in time, talking about Danny's adventures on the road, his current time in Maine and the various lives of the sub characters.
Because you see, Danny is not the actual protag of this story. His tale is just one part of a much larger picture. And here is where the real issue with the story lies. It is unapologetically right wing in it's views and morality. To the author's credit, there is no preaching unlike some of the other stories on RR. However, the author presents his view