The Xulaain Chronicler

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Heya, Just know that these first chapters have glaring formatting inconsistencies on purpose. However, do know that these first 10 chapters don't reflect the quality of the rest of the work. This has been a long 2 years of work on this, so the beginning is, unfortunately, worse than the current chapters. I recommend reading all of the chapters, even the beginning ones where we developed the world because those do contain relevant plot points. But if you don't want to, skip to 6. Return of the Brand.

You are Nova.

In a world of titanic floating trees the size of mountains and giant, majestic birds that wheel in the sky, you lead a quiet and peaceful life in your little world—a world of safety and solitude among your neighbors on one such Titan Tree. But, everything is not as it seems.

You are suddenly contacted by a creature, an Aarkiel, who calls himself Tyrr'olni'nel'mul. He harkens a Storm, a great and terrible Calamity. However, he offers you the power to save yourself and those you love from it in exchange for your soul being his to observe.

Strange dreams, a mysterious grinning face, and alien, sacrificial magic tear you from your home to become a Branded One, a person who is in the patronage of the magical beings known as Aarkiel.

Do you take up the mantle, who you are, or throw it away in exchange for blissful ignorance?

A shorter high fantasy novel without any super common Royal Road tropes from what I can tell.

DISCLAIMER: The beginning of this story was written with thehelpof Novel AI. NAI had no part in any of the major developments, all plot points were created by myself and the readers. I stopped using NAI to assist the progression very early, around chapter 20, as the quality took a significant hit, and efficiency was at an all-time low, so the story is only slightly assisted.

Thank you for reading!

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Perpetua:L

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 40
Views: 34,233

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

ScruffedUpRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Now, this review is going to be a bit different, because the story ITSELF is a bit different.
Usually I do a whole thing with these reviews. 'Whats the writing like' 'how does the story flow' 'what length are the chapters, do they feel like they have enough content', etc.
This book is a bit different because the writer is just that, the writer, while we the readers (and the voters specifically) are the ones actually choosing how the story progresses. Its a CYOA in a way.
I would like to compliment Perpetual250 for this, it's honestly rather rare for the users themselves to set up events like this from what I have seen after a year on the site, and even rarer that I get to see it happen.
Good work.
=
Style: The story is a semi-CYOA, the writer writes out whatever option gets voted for at the end of stor, IE; "should you do A) or B)", this means that while you cant really change anything from the earlier chapters, you can still read and progress to the current chapter and begin to alter the story as you please by voting, and hoping your choice gets the most votes. This type of story heavily incentivizes us as the readers to be more interactive with the story, and makes us feel like we are more a part of it than other novels.
5/5, good work.
Story:
We progress the story, the writer writes it out. So far the writer has done a decent job of holding up their end of the bargain as well. The chapters are rather short, however I can't really blame the writer for not wanting to put out a 5k word chapter and robbing us of several votes. The writer has done a very good job keeping us in the loop of votes, while still writing his own lore and building the world for us to play in. 5/5
Grammar: I haven't noticed any issues, 5/5
Characters:
WE are the main chracter, so I am just going to comment on the side characters:
The characters that the writer has written for us feel real, they feel like part of the story and really help sell the whole quasi-CYOA thing we got going on here.
Slow_NeptuneRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The Xulaain Chronicler is a unique type of story that I haven't seen on this site before. The story is almost entirely reader-driven and written somewhat by an AI. So as I read the story it was interesting to observe what direction the author, readers, and AI would take the story.
The writing style of the story is easy to read and flows well. The descriptions of the world emphasized the massive Titan Trees, which inspired a sense of wonder as I read.
The grammar of the story had very few noticeable mistakes. There were a couple of extra commas and run-on sentences, but most of the story had no grammar mistakes.
This story also has a deep sense of world-building. The author teases so many mysteries that I kept guessing what would happen next. This is a double edge sword as the mystery makes me intrigued, but too many mysteries leave me confused. If the author can start answering at least a few questions in the next couple of chapters then they would have straddled this line perfectly.
The characters all are unique from each other. Despite some of their long and confusing names, I was able to differentiate them from each other due to their unique features and personality traits. One complaint I have about the characters is that I feel like some of Nova's friends at the beginning of the story have been completely forgotten.
Overall this was an enjoyable and intriguing read.