The Strong Gods: Grimdark Sword & Sorcery

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

New chapters Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri!

In the brutal Kingdom of Night, elite fighting men called Thorns train with blood magic and blade to protect their lords. Souls bound until death, they exist only to serve.

But not always willingly.

Izakiel, former crown prince, has the birthright torn from his hands and is sentenced to serve his younger brother, the newly named heir to the throne.

Araam, piratical raider and son of the seas, watches his people slaughtered by the Kingdom of Night. Taken alive, he is enslaved to protect the very royal family he’s sworn vengeance against.

A nameless brat—thief, liar, imp of the streets—is given the choice between the noose and a new life. The decision isn't a hard one, and becoming a thorn might even pay out in the long run. But the brat has a dark secret that jeopardizes everything the young rogue seeks to protect.

United by fate, the dethroned prince, savage pirate, and thief will band together to fight the evil tyrant who enslaved them.

Kingdoms will break. Armies will fall. Oceans of blood will flow.

No one escapes the thorns unscathed.

(Book 3 starts posting on Wednesday 7/9.)

Warning: This is a grimdark epic fantasy. It contains scenes that may be disturbing to some viewers. Also, it isn't litrpg or progression, just straight fantasy. If that's your thing, enjoy!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: elfshanx

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 52
Views: 9,878

Chapters(16 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(4)

JoJoWhoaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a polished, well crafted, well told story. I'm emotionally connected enough to the story that the Grimdark tag is beginning to haunt my dreams. I'm hoping it's more Grimdim than Grimdark, because I love everyone.
I would usually say the author's strongest writing is in the complexity of specific characters, but oh boy... I could read a book set in any civilization in this world and it would feel more than fleshed out enough to binge read.
The style is flavorful, but shifts slightly specific to each character POV. What makes this so great is that you're convinced that every character is the main character while you're reading them. Luckily every character is compelling enough, partially due to the author's unique style, that you don't feel impatient to get to your personal "Tyrion or Matt Cauthon."
Story wise: I'm hooked. I'm buying this book in paperback. The only reason I haven't reviewed it so far is because I keep slapping that next chapter button.
I've already bragged on the characters enough. I'm telling you, I feel like I'm reading three separate books, and somehow that's not a bad thing.
Grammar wise- if this story hasn't been professionally copy edited, it would be a waste of money to do so. Werds and strucksure reel goode.
The only thing I will say, and I probably should have said this first: take the content warnings seriously.
The author does a pretty good job of giving you that first taste of said content within the first four paragraphs, but at no point has it felt gratuitous. There are also warnings the first time a situation pops up.
Reading this book and getting upset at the content is like punching yourself in the face and then biting your hand to punish it.
Having said that... read this story.
PeterRobertsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A gem of a book to find on Royal Road. Great quality of writing craft to carry you through a wonderfully grimdark world. A bit of googling showed that Eden Hudsen has been on Royal Road since 2017, and has released an impressive number of books. Easy to see how the quality bar is so high for this one.
The prologue, history of the world ‘two thousand years before’ is nicely done and doesn’t feel like an info dump. Quite the opposite, it actually frames the first chapter perfectly in terms of kin strife before we meet the dysfunctional and conflicted royal family.
Ikakiel is a really relatable main character to begin this journey with, his penchant for whoring and drinking make him a likable companion and his scathing assessment of the royal court really sets the scene well for the kind of morally grey worldbuilding I like. The queen is despicable, and the king arrogant and cruel - the king's early move is to threaten his son with the life of his younger sister if he does not obey: “The queen can always birth another daughter to raise in her own image. She’s fond of Kelena, but not attached”
The story gets into gear quickly, establishing Ikakiels character and shipping him off onto his story arc within two chapters, before turning to the next POV. It's got a rapid pace, but I can't help but feel that I liked the character so much it would have been good to stay with him for a while.
Araam is the next POV and after a few chapters we move onto Brat. I won’t spoil anything here, just know that these POV characters are as well fleshed out as Izakiel and their arcs are immensely engaging.
It's got swords, bonded warriors, dark blood magic, a class system and a world that is rotten to the core.
WilliamMyrlRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read this book before it was on RR. This isn't LitRPG, it's not cultivation, but it's the kind of book that made me a reader in the first place.
The language is lovely. The characters are real. The setting is as deep as the sea.
It may not be the typical story for RR, but if you love words, and love fantasy, then give it a try. I want to live beneath the ghostlight.
doobiesteintortoiseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've read this on Patreon, and this is a slightly revised version of what's been posted there.
I love this author's work, every time, and this setting does not disappoint in the slightest. eden Hudson is one of my favorite authors, and justifies it every freaking time. This is grim, brutal fantasy, and everyone bleeds in a way that feels appropriate to the setting - and you feel it, along with their despair and triumphs, such as they are.
It is not a happy setting, but it's a very deep setting, and gets deeper as the story progresses, as one might expect. There's an arc for this book, and it *sort of* follows a cultivation vibe, but there're tweaks to the standard cultivation storyline that make it less of a standard cultivation story and more of a tragedy with some classical elements from comedy - and it has some funny parts, too.
Be ready, readers. It starts off fast, and slows down when you rather want it to - and Hudson is difficult to predict as a writer (part of why I enjoy her writing so much), and every unexpected turn is absolutely worth it.
Excellent work. Two thumbs up. Three thumbs if I can borrow one from someone else. Four, really, if I have to steal some extra thumbs I'm okay with that.