The Undying Emperor [Grand Conquest Fantasy]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Alt. Title : How To Lie Like A Military Bulletin Endless ambition is pitted against the world and gods both as a self-made hero sets his sights on conquest. If you're a wizard looking to conquer the world, you need someone to lead your armies, to inspire your subjects. They must be cunning in battle, of strong moral grounding, able to inspire loyalty, and most importantly they have to be rather difficult to kill. If you're going to spend decades setting up their heroic narrative to justify their rise to power, the last thing you want is them breaking their neck from falling off a horse. A sword and sorcery tale of world conquest. Born the son of a miner, schooled by a wizard, destined to rule the known world.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: Krake

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 925
Views: 751,933

What readers say about The Undying Emperor [Grand Conquest Fantasy]

“Some stories promise little and fulfill that promise completely. Others point towards greatness and instead march a path to disappointment. This one seems to walk the rare road that may actually lead to where it promises. How do you make a story about an al…”
AustimizedRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“Telling the tale of the ascension of Lucius (and how he became him), The Undying Emperor is a blend of action, war and adventure in a fantasy world that you may think you've heard before, but rest assured that from the worldbuilding to the presentation that…”
MightySkrowRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

AustimizedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Some stories promise little and fulfill that promise completely. Others point towards greatness and instead march a path to disappointment. This one seems to walk the rare road that may actually lead to where it promises.
How do you make a story about an almost-invulnerable man interesting? Make the story about more than a man, make it about the empire that man is fated to create. Make it about him pushing the boundary of his toughness to see how much punishment his stigmata will really allow him to take.
How the author turns a phrase set the story apart from the pack beyond even the promising plot. The combat flows crisp, clean, and tactically clear. The dialogue avoids the ring of contrivance or roboticism. And when setting the stage for a new scene or situation, it takes on an almost mythic style that deepens the meaning and sense of place without becoming grandioise or pretentious.
Perhaps it's the subtle magic, or the rise of a simple warrior to greatness, but this story kept striking to me the same chord as the best essence of the Conan stories: a harsh world there for the strong to sieze, magics subtle, dark, and ancient pooling beneath waiting for the canny to tap it.
Whether this story achieves the lofty goal it presents time will still tell, but wherever it leads, the journey so far is definitely worth undertaking.
MightySkrowRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Telling the tale of the ascension of Lucius (and how he became him), The Undying Emperor is a blend of action, war and adventure in a fantasy world that you may think you've heard before, but rest assured that from the worldbuilding to the presentation that you're in for something deeper. Throw in the complexities of a wizard's masterminded plan and you're in for a whirlwind.
Going into the story at Act 0, I was worried there would be a stray into purple prose, but this was not the case. The prose is both tight and descriptive, holding the balance well without paragraphs of ramblings that break the flow. Without knowing that the author has written books before, you can tell that he has worked on his craft.
Stylistically, the story is something different—in a good way. Framed as a recollection of events based on personal experiences, texts, etc. Undying Emperor almost reads like a historical book (complete with footnotes) rather than your typical fantasy story. I admit that it took a little time to get used to, I'm glad that I took the time to get used to it.
MulmulwasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's is published level good.Starts off slow and a bit confusing but it ties up nicely with great a premise and flow.The magic system works great, keeps the mystery and unfolds without being overbearing.The main protagonist is cunning and ruthless and gets by with mostly his own strengths. The supporting cast is also nice especially on the supernatural side. Thanks for the good work.
OstensibleMammalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
What can I say, the prose and imagery drew me in at from the first moment. Expect something in the style of more classical fantasy here, of a character that really needs to rely on their techniques and wits rather than brute force.
When you come to read The Undying Emperor, you need to understand that the story is just that: about a guy ascending to become emperor. There is some magic here of course, but don't expect massive god killing explosions every three fight scenes or for the character to engage in spur of the moment dungeon crawls, this is a very purposeful story with a very specific direction it is developing toward.
Style: The opening gave me a mix of old Conan novel vibes along with some First Law moments. This is a harsh world, thought not absurdly miserable. Life is hard and people are jocking for power. The expansion of the worldbuilding is done gradually and skillfully--by this I mean the exposition is not served to you raw. Enjoy it. Watch the narrative, character, and setting components walk step by step next to each other.
Just go in a look at the first lines written. It's good.
Grammar: The author does good work at keeping their words clean and prose sharp. Minimal mistakes most times.
Story: I don't want to reveal too much of the story, but let's just say I quite like ascension to rule stories and that the orchestration of certain individuals towards this end is quite satisfying.
Character: Lucius makes for an interesting protagonist especially with what they do with him through the 0-xxx arc before even Act 1 begins, but my eye is primarily on the Wizard. That old craft git is up to something and every move he makes and step they makes me wonder what they're going to try to pull next.
Overall, read this. It is very well written and demonstrates a professional quality of work that is rarely seen. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to keep reading through this while music from the Hyborian Age plays.
OthymerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is great. If you are used to reading stories on this platform you will be very impressed by the quality of both the editing and the story itself. The characters are well described, multifaceted and interesting. Knocking a point off for using the wizard as a framing device for the story I would have much prefered it to have been the pov of the main character with other minor povs when he isnt present. This is personal preference and does not really degrade the story in any meaningful
Interesting magic system. The main character in the first chapter or two assumes the identity of a nobleman as a part of an intricate plot. Up to the point of this review it has mostly followed main character establishing their identity as that nobleman. The magic system, stigmata, provides a convenient excuse as to why the main character looks slightly different from the real nobleman. The stigmata is a sort of tattoo that endows its bearer with some magic power normally bestowed upon sparking. Sparking being a common trope among superhero and mutant genres is sort of assumed.
I can't reccommend the book enough. Give it about 4 or 5 chapters to see if it your cup of tea.
SpindrifterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I look forward to reviewing this more thoroughly at another time, but to be succinct: Krake writes like every other author here wishes they could write Like every author here ought to strive to write. This isn't just a story, this is goddamn Quality Prose. Ambitious in scope, style, and story, Undying Emperor is among the best webnovels I have read. Read this and have no regrets.
DaishiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A very refreshing take on the genre and consistently interesting side characters. Some grammar and syntax issues but overall it's fine and rarely immersion breaking. Great pacing. I am looking forward to seeing the mainland arch of the story and where it goes from there. No skill and stat dumps just taking up space.
DangerguardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read it and was hooked. This is how Empire building should be written, but rarely is.
Story:
The world building is exceptional. The author brings the Vassamark Empire to life.
It has properly thought out economics, politics, and a consistent magic system.
The politics are convoluted but logically consistent with a Rome-style Empire.
The empire and colony relationship makes perfect sense and aligns with our historical understanding of the Roman Empire.
The characters are well developed. You really feel for some of them.
The protagonists are no Mary Sues, which is good. The hero and his mentor are slightly OP, but from the flashbacks you can see that it's well earned.
Grammar: there were no particular issues that I could note.
Style: the story flows well; the telling kept me hooked from the beginning to the end.
The story is narrated by the mentor, but it switches to the protagonists POV frequently. This may be a bit off putting some readers although I personally found it quite smooth.
The plot twists were well thought out, but there are no major surprises.
Not much suspension of disbelief was required.
Overall, author has done an excellent job.
Dear author: Great work. Stick with the story, take it where you want it to go, and when the inevitable half star trolls arrive ignore them.
DevilManRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story honestly surprised me when you read the same generic, cliche litrpg stories this one is a change of pace so I have to say it's really a tier above the rest, you have McDonald's and then you have a 5 star restaurant - this is a 5 star restaurant's work, once you begin you can't put it down I promise you won't regret picking this up
DrimRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Undying Emperor is one of the most ambitious projects I've read on this site. It's not just a power fantasy or a classic hero's tale. No, it's a full world to be explored and conquered. The lore runs deep and the story runs even deeper. Hell, I'd say I even know more about this world now than some facets of the real one.
It's hard to describe exactly what kind of story it is since every act brings something different. The first act is a war arc, jumping into insane conflict and large battles right out the gate. The second arc finally gives us some needed backstory on the main character and leans more into the political drama.
The third act is a kingdom builder, probably my favorite so far, where the MC has to turn a desolate land into the most profitable in the empire. The fourth (ongoing at the time of writing) starts off as a more classic adventure that brings us back full circle to war. Additionally there is a prologue act that's a smaller adventure to set the stage and an interim arc focusing on a monastery's turmoil told through historical records. I found that on to be particularly creative.
There were acts I liked more than others, but each does a fantastic job of bringing something new to the story that builds the world even more. The story itself is very well written with almost no grammatical faults, though it can feel a bit overbearing with the verbiage at times. This fits the narrator perfectly, but it can kill the reading momentum a bit when I have to google words every few chapters I've never heard of.
The characters in particular really shine in this. Each one is well thought out, defined, and sticks to their traits and roles. The women, yes this is a harem (eventually), do each feel independent and bring something to the table besides being just another girl for the pile.
Overall, it's a fantastic and incredibly ambitious project. I wouldn't be surprise to see it labelled as a classic someday in the future. Give it a shot if you really want a wor