The Three Keys

Information

Status

Cancelled

Year

2017

Author

lkohol

• A Brief Respite
  May 24, 2017
• Interlude
  Apr 8, 2017
• Sparring and Lunch
  Mar 17, 2017
• Small Talk
  Mar 8, 2017
• Morning
  Mar 4, 2017
• In Her Realm
  Feb 4, 2017
• The Forest
  Feb 3, 2017
• Chapter 26: The Past Comes Back For You
  May 18, 2021
• Chapter 25: Returning East
  May 6, 2021
• Chapter 24: Three to One
  Feb 2, 2021
• Chapter 23:
  Jan 18, 2021
• Chapter 22: When Fools Are Dead, Is Wisdom All that Is Left?
  Dec 20, 2020
• Chapter 21: Step Off Man, and Let Gods Decide Now
  Nov 29, 2020
• Chapter 20: Rattling Old Bones
  Nov 4, 2020
• Chapter 19: The Thoughts A Week Has
  Oct 24, 2020
• Chapter 18: Conflict Born of Love
  Oct 24, 2020
• Chapter 17: We Act, They React
  Oct 14, 2020
• Chapter 16: Price Paid in Noughts and Droughts
  Oct 11, 2020
• Chapter 15: Starting Line of an Overdue Race
  Oct 8, 2020
• Chapter 14: Three Thoughts Thought
  Sep 26, 2020

Reviews

Community Reviews(1)

• asphaltusRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 3.5

  {SPOILER ALERT} REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS UPTO CHAPTER 9
  Bias
  I know the author, Shellblue, and have read several of his works. I also like his writing style, and the weirdly descriptive and lush prose he has.
  Story
  The story and the pacing are all over the place for me. Alex Square, the MC, is... a guy who gets lost in a forest. A powerful goddess finds him and invites him to her home. Like Belle in Beauty in the Beast, he follows, and the setting changes from a forest to the god's home.
  Where the plot stops. There are magical beings and artifacts, mysteries and hints of future arcs, but the actual events aren't that good. The lady tempts, he refuses. He uses a magic device, walks into an occupied bath. You know, filler stuff. There are sparring and lunch. Lots of dreams and symbolisms. But the actual plot is lacking.
  The interlude, however, shows signs of picking up the pace, and thus I remain hopeful.
  Style
  Style is where ShellBlue shines. It's relaxing, slow prose with every action is given due consideration. Alex's narration, to me, reveals a lot about his methodical and detailed nature. This fiction would be great as some sort of an adventurer-explorer in unknown lands writing in a diary, but ShellBlue hasn't gone in that direction so far. It might not be for everybody, but I find it delightful.
  Grammar
  No mistakes that I could spot. And I spent 20 minutes in one chapter trying to do so.
  Character
  The only character that I like so far, unfortunately, is the narrator.
  While very descriptive about physical appearances, Alex doesn't make many opinions on anybody's character or even say what he thinks about them. Their dialogues are somewhat cliche, and not all that interesting. There's the mysterious goddess who wants to up sexual tension (but Alex is having none of it), the flirty servant who sleeps naked on his bed (Again, denied), and the girl who he spies on bathing (DENIED FOR THE THIRD TIME). They drop hints, but there's no outright development. Alex himself