Theory of Rifts

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

BOOK 2 AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

THEORY OF RIFTS BOOK 1 LINK

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Keynes Kid is gifted with a perfect recall and, being several months away from ascending to Level 1 and receiving a Talent, he finds himself attracting the attention of powerful people who want to shape his Talent. If they can get him a Talent with an intelligence affinity, he will have hit a jackpot…

Then the Talent Unlocking Ceremony finally comes and Keynes Kid receives…

Error…

Anomaly (what?)

His new Talent turns out… useless.

Why then does the World Government want Keynes so badly? Why would they abduct him and why was his Talent classified as Top Secret?

At the same time...

Somewhere in the Universe, ancient beings stir from their slumber, awoken by the system alert and the wall of glaring red warnings. Their greatest fear just manifested.

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It is a slow-development story, so you won't find the MC with super powers at the beginning.

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It is a coming of age story and focuses on a Talent system (in the beginning) with several additions that bring to the table upgrading of a planet’s tier and such (a bit later). There will be quite an amount of rebuilding society as new, unknown resources enter the economy, and a lot of travelling, delving and naturally, unlocking the secrets of the Universe.

As for the setting, the story starts in XXI century, which technology-wise isn't much different from what we have now, but it is enhanced by magic associated with Talents. This allowed the humankind to colonize the solar system, but the technology that allows for interstellar travel doesn't exist (yet).

Because it’s my first attempt at LitRPG, please be forgiving but constructive. I hope you will enjoy the story!

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This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Cover by Muhammad Waqas

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2021
Author: Cyril Sarnath

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.1/ 5.0
Followers: 1,145
Views: 714,572

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

avg readerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
rating it because doing otherwise is a crime.
i dont know about anyone else, but i fell like your story is actually well done. i have a LOT of reasons as to why, but most are personal so i wont share them.
1. i feel like the eidedic memory is actually being put to good use here. you could explain gaps as being due to all of that conditioning and mental damage, and it seems like it is helping him improve his essence flow, as everyone else just remembers the pain, it seems like he remembers where it hurt less, and works from there. it could be done better, but you´re aiming for cartoon eidedic memory. real versions typically will actually have gaps, its just that they remember MORE. so, overall its done fairly realistically
2. his character feels believable, and still has that storybook determination. people who are complaining seem to be aiming more for ex-military or anime protagonist, but this is a teen. you said that you might make him 21 in the remake, but i feel like this will make the story lose some of its charm. which bring me into
3. the story and big bad. you said that it doesn't really have a big bad, but from how its written, you actually do! these early chapters use the ¨teenager against the world¨ trope very well. you set up how important his power is, how corrupt the leader is, and how other groups are also vying to control him. you showed how they are willing to break him, and how he needs to escape. this would all set up for a big escape where he gets free and the old ones, the government, and other concerned parties are hunting him down, and he has to run, hide, get stronger, and uncover secrets.
i feel like doing a re-write would be a bummer, but if you are, please take these into consideration
sincerely, a very exited reader
ArcanicalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The beginning is rough, and until chapter 20-25 the mc doesn't really have any agency, so if that keeps you away consider skipping there. The later chapters though are very promising, and we start getting into the bread and butter of the plot and begin seeing more of the system. A good way to describe the story generally without many spoilers, is imagine The Path of Ascension except without all the problems and a different setting.
Definetly give it a try, and skip to 20-25 if you get fed up with the lack of agency in the beginning.
destravousRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story takes place in a world that is similar to what I imagine Path of Ascension's universe might have looked like 100's of thousands of years in the past. The world starts out seeming like a very normal parallel version of our earth, with technology using a light mix of magic. It doesn't take too long for things to begin going off the rails though.
Up to the point I have read, it has been a very enjoyable read. There are almost no gramatical errors I could detect at all, and the world itself is described with skill. You can tell the author put some serious thought into the worldbuilding.
For some reason, the writing style reminds me of The Menocht Loop, with a feeling of aproaching inevitability.
Characters change due to circumstances and/or changes in the environment, and so far as I can tell the world is self consistent.
The biggest thing people might dislike about the story so far, is the lack of initial main character autonomy/freedom. It is still early in the story though, and this is a coming of age story.
If the author can keep it up, there is the framework in place for this to become a fantastic epic, I am quite excited to see how things play out!
SlashionRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Honestly i'm just furious at all of the bad reviews, which is why i'm posting this. I'll go right ahead and say it, the story is rough at the start. I don't want to spoil too much, but in a world of the powerful, someone who has no power is going to get stepped on. All the bad reviews of people complaining about how the mc is weak or spineless clearly are just used to power trip fantasies where the MC is crazy powerful with just a modicum of effort or time invested.
I think this story is very unique in the dystopian world and the multiple avenues of progression, and I love how it's a story about basically an entire world unfolding and comin into its power, with all of the changes, emergences, and struggles for power that such an event would entail. The MC may start weak, but he plays it smart (within his limeted ability) and takes risks to grow and achieve. He is by no means handed power out of nowhere, and goes through a lot to get to where he is a power unto himself.
I find the system and avenues of preogression in this story to be a breath of fresh air, and I like a lot of the characters in the story. It is definitely a slow burn though, so don't walk into it expecting instant progression and free power. I am excited to read more, and please excuse me if this review comes off a little unplanned and discombobulated, I'm a far more avid reader than I am a writer.
P.S.
I believe the one weakness for me of the story is the grammar and sentence structure, there are often dropped words or things that don't fit quite right. It's nowhere near unintelligible, but it can be annoying when I have to solve the word puzzle to get the meaning out of a sentence, and can break immersion.
Harshith VenkatRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
it's really good after the remake of the earlier chapters. the concept is good and unique, even the way the characters react to the situations is in a good way.
but the only problem is that the main lead has been a big pushover until I read chap 29, its a little frustrating. hope the author develops his character after this that's the only drawback of this novel its good otherwise
MrGrassRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The story revolves around a character who is constantly pulled into situations he has no control in. Very few choices are actually made by the MC. It seems like every plot point is some random character appearing then forces the MC on a quest or he is imprisoned/killed. The MC has very little agency and has no actual personality other than being an angsty teen with delusions of grandeur.
The story meanders and frollics in the fields of unnecessary side character details. They rarely matter and when they do, it is usually just one more for the pile of enemies.
The story takes place in an universe technology adjacent to ours, but with nearly everyone with some unique superpower called "talent." It follows the cultivation progression archetype with LitRPG elements. The world building is intricate and detailed, but occasionally has large gaping plot holes. These are usually just hand waved away by whoever is dominating the MCs life at that point in the plot.
The style is... rough. The slow emergence of the plot makes getting into the story a chore. That coupled with the irrational and arbitrary decisions made by key characters makes the story very confusing and breaks any immersion.
The grammar is pretty decent, there has only been a few typos and tense mistakes.
I would recommend this to someone who enjoys deep world building lore and a story that constantly throws curve balls(even if it isn't subtle). It is much better than you would think. 4/5 Stars
Irrelevant Side Note: It irks me that the author uses the term photographic memory to describe eidetic memory(perfect recall). Photographic memory only refers to visual memory, while eidetic refers to all facets, to include sight, smell, taste, hearing, propioception, etc.
MestamaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This is a good take on the litrpg subgenre. I like how the system is fallible and even able to be manipulated. The plot moves along nicely and doesn't get bogged down with too much with "number go up." I love the journey of figuring out how things work. However, the grammar bothers me. There are places where articles are mishandled that is immersion-breaking as well as destroys proper emphasis. Along with that, conversation can be a little stilted and it makes me wonder about some of the characters' motives. Maybe add more consistent internal monolgue for people's actions? You don't have to spoon feed us. Heavens know L. E. Modesitt Jr. doesn't give many clues and he's doing quite well. There's just been a few times where I wondered why people were doing things. I think a good edit could take this from a good story to a great story. Keep going author!
AzureDaoistRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
The good: The MC has an interesting talent and the way the system and the rifts are set up makes you want to know more. Lot of potential for a good story in the world building. This is the best part of the novel. The power system a mix of cultivation and system is more than leveling up is good too.
The Bad: This is my personal preference but I prefer MC's with a bit more agency. After 75 chapters the MC actions/plot is still driven by the world/people around him. Due to strong people or "visions". E.g. "don't want to participate in tournament but have to otherwise the world collapses".
The ugly: The MC is stupid, irrational and becomes even more stupid if he finds a girl pretty. It becomes better after CH25 but at CH75 he's stil annoyingly stupid and dorky. It's hard to read a MC charging headfirst into enemy territory without a plan while still weak. Sometimes you just want to read about a MC getting stronger and some loot and not him making choices he doesn't want to/benefit him just because it concerns a girl he finds pretty.
So decent novel but you need to be able to handle a wimpy MC as he super slowly improves in an interesting world.
xcaresRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Ultra-minimal world building doesn't allow the reader to understand basic social dynamics.
You can't judge why characters interact the way they do. You can't tell if it's normal for the MC or his parents to submit so easily to power. Honestly the societal setup depicted reads more like a parody than anything organic or functional.
The fact the MC seems to have no agency doesn't make him likeable. I didn't get past chapter 10 but so far hes not fleshed out at all. Wouldn't care if he gets killed. His skill is relevant to the plot. Who he is as a person seems irrelevant.
Same with his parents and the rest of the cast. Wouldn't care if all of them died.
The basic concept is interesting. The overall arc teased is interesting. Implementation needs a lot of work.
Rethinking your characters might help. For example, having perfect recall would change the MC far more than the author thinks. We are our memories. At the same time our memories are a lense defining and framing our perception of the world. A person like that isn't just better at recalling trivia...
Thank you for the effort dear author. Hope you keep improving to reach your goals.
arvingenRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Well the title says it all I would say. I hade hopes at the start of the story. Even though the Main Character took awhile to not be insufferable. Then we hade quite a lot of good chapters, then everything became a mess again with. Could use alot of streamlining.