The Ruins of Magincia

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

They say all things end in time, but the exalted City of Magi would’ve begged to differ.Yet when an attempted coup goes wrong, the city finds itself brought to the very brink of destruction.

In the wake of the calamity that left no survivors, the autonomous infrastructure still operating the ruined city seeks to restore what was lost. Luckily for it, the Mana-devoid Universe it awoke in holds an unexpected surprise: a planet full of sentient life forms. All capable—with alittlehelp—to become the next generation of Magi.

Back on Earth, Millie McArthur is a pregnant out-of-work mechanic struggling with the prospect of moving back in with her parents after leaving her unfaithful fiancé. That is until she finds herself just one of the hundreds that have been shanghaied by the callous artificial constructs still manning the ruins of Magincia.

Now, she must struggle to learn magic, compete for resources, get good 'grades,' and fulfill the seemingly arbitrary requirements for her future job in this broken city. All while keeping herself, and her son, alive.

Is the miracle of magic really enough to make up for all the pain?

The Ruins of Magincia is a dark fantasy that's heavy on the drama (LitRPG aspects are very light). Chapter lengths can be anywhere from 7k-12k and there's no current release schedule as I'm focusing on wrapping up volume one.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: Gentle Rose of Radiant Waffles

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 252
Views: 62,338

Chapters(40 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(8)

HumbleThomRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you're going to take one thing away from this review, take this: Writing is an art, and Gentle Rose of Radiant Waffles (hereafter shortened to Rose, since that's the root noun in their penname) is a skillful artist. There are only a handful of stories here on Royal Road where I find myself wondering "what's a traditional-publication-worthy author like this doing in free site like Royal Road?" and they are one of them.
Grammar: Starting here because it's the one of the four that is more objective... I have had no concerns regarding the grammar in this story. If there were any grammar errors at all, they slipt by me. (5 stars)
The other four categories are all subjective.
Style: Style is the most subjective of the categories, because it's the hardest to define, but there are a few tools here. Rose is writing with clear and transparent prose, in third person limited, with only very small divergences from the primary viewpoint character, Millie. Given that, I can rate the style based on how well they stuck to those... which is yes. Clear and transparent prose remain clear and transparent. There are no tense or perspective breaks not indicated as intentional. There are no turns of phrase that become overbearing or words that stick out as overused. As for the more vague elements of style... the writing is fantastic. (5 stars)
Story: I suspect Rose would give themselves a lower rating here, as they have stated that the story has become more overtly about what was intended as an undertone. As a reader, I find that intention irrelevant, so I'm going to rate according to my reader-experience. This story is web-novel paced, by which I mean a bit on the slow side. If I were a professional editor, I think I'd be suggesting a book or volume close at around chapter thirty, and an emphasis on the plot that resolves around there. But I'm not, and as a web-novel reader, I don't feel the need for book or volume closure points. Stuff happens every chapter. A lot of it is character d
acausalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This has exceeded expectations time and time again in the first 40 chapters give or take. It's a story that isn't shy about the good and bad sides of human nature, and the depictions of the different people are vibrant and unique. Each character really feels like they have a different personality, down to even their dialogue. It's also quite compelling as a story, this is an underrated gem
Lictor MagnusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm wiritng this review a few days after chapter twelve has been posted so some of the things I may say may have changed by the time you see this. that being said, I'm really loving this story so far.
Syle:
The author does a great job of describing both what the characters look like and the envirments they are in. Everything is laid out in a clear manner and the few fight scenes we've had so far have been easy to follow.
Story:
The plot follows a young prenant women, a few people she knows and some helpful strangers as they all get abducted to a empty magical city that is trying to repair itself. Mixed in with all the magic and the burgeoning conflict is a lot of interpersonal drama that is very well written.
Grammar:
I haven't noticed any glaring gramattical errors that have pulled me out of the story, or oddly worded sentences that you have to reread a few times to understand what the author was trying to say. If you fluent in english you'll have no problems following along.
Character:
The characters, especially the lead Millie all feel like real people. None of the interactions so far have felt forced to increase the drama going on.
Overall I'm really enjoying the story so far and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
MagikerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a fun magic school meets apocalypse story. It includes an awesome MC that is one part frustrating and four parts awesome. Very human and believable. Side characters have depth, but given the number we need more time for that to develop. It's got a villain you want to hate. The world and systems are detailed with clear logic behind the scenes. All in all, this is an entertaining story with a realistic power curve and story/character-first focus. Grammar and editing are excellent. Give it a shot.
ShadyFerakRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I'll start with the easy stuff: grammar and style.
Although I'm not a native speaker, I can hardly find any mistakes in your work. Your writing style and overall flow and feel of it, is easy to follow and enjoyable. Occasionally, there are moments when I encounter a passage, that immediatelly screams to me, this could be written better, like this: "....."
But that's just the way you express your thoughts. That's to say, it's not bad as it is, it just could be even better! :)
Either you are able to write very quality work right of the bat, or you take your editing seriously, doesn't matter which, you do a really good job of it.
As for characters:
I really enjoy and appreciate the way you work with your characters. They come to life as I read. They feel natural, their conversations are well written, well thought out.
I also appreciate, that although all the "when things go to shit, your true self comes out" is a strong theme (as it should be in a somewhat apocalyptic story), this fundamental truth does not suck everything else into itself. In your case, this theme enriches the story, makes it more interesting and more believable. Often times in other (lesser) works I encountered, it unfortunately just boils down to MC being the only sane and decent person there is and all the others are just pushed so strongly over the fence to dark/light side, just to make clear "lines" between the two. Life is not at all like that and I feel (and hope) that neither is (will be) your story, so for now .. good job ! :)
I also really like the mixed and chaotic feelings Millie holds (for a long time) towards Liam. It feels really natural. This is the way, I imagine it must feel like, when you have been living with someone for years. Planned your future together and everything, then suddenly it all comes crashing down.
But even though you suddenly have a clear distinct and irrefutable evidence/reason to hate the person with all your being .. you just can't, not with all your heart, since
AphaiasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The Ruins of Magincia is a bit slow to get going and characters beyond the view point character lack depth at the start, however together with excellent world building, an interesting magic system and a more thorough fleshing-out of characters, it builds a striking story that differentiates itself from other progression and magic school stories on this site. The plot seems to be picking up speed as of the most recent (30s) chapters and I am looking forward to were it leads.
TealiciousTeaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Interesting story, more sci-fi than fantasy for all the talk of magic. I recommend it for the curious reader.
The first chapter is one of them hmm... I'm sure what is going on. We get hints at what magic is like and we learn what destroyed the magi city.
Style -
Longer and more descriptive. Four stars. More dense than normal but clean enough for reading as a web fiction.
Story -
Tense and thrilling. A Dark read.
so far it is the destruction of the city or at least its population than its arrival to Earth to fill the zoo so to speak. Death games, so mostly thriller and drama.
Our main character is having nasty issues with her personal life and a baby on the way. Nothing quite shows frailty like pregnancy, important yet vulnerable.
By chapter five we get the system.
Grammar -
Mostly fine, and errors are corrected. Four and a half stars.
Character - this might actually be the first time I've read a story with a pregnant woman as the main character.
Everyone's distress is felt. I think I felt more aligned to the postionposition of the 'dead' archmage about the whole baby drama. Haha.
By chapter three I was getting confused between all the characters. Most of them were clear but not all of them.
Four and a half stars. Bar confusing all the side characters, the actual main characters' relationships, thoughts and emotions are all clear and compelling.
TelRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
I honestly like the story, magic city, people getting kidnapped, an okay magic system, and in interesting backdrop.
Two major problems however the first being the basic star trek problem, the author declared a motivating "problem" for the MC that is immediately solvable. Twenty chapters in you will loath the stalling trying to spin this motivation out, it needs to be magicked away by the so the plot can move on, or any of the bleak solutions so the plot can shuffle on in an angst filled way.
The other issue the "current" characters are a bit like shallow high school kids. Circling round the MC is generally fine but the MC isn't in the best of shape at the moment. They are not getting out there and exploring, they are not playing with magic in any meaningful way, they are just a barage balloon getting tugged around by the plot right now circling the "motivating" problem. Needs to move on positive or negative so the MC can get on a decent "school" footing and move on from just being awkward and unfortunate preggers.