Those Who Ignore History

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

"Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Those who fail to read it... are doomed to experience it."

On the day of his awakening, Alexander Duarte gained an Arte—his own unique power—granting him control over paper. A simple ability, or so he thought. But when night falls, he is dragged intoDanatallion’s Halls, a labyrinthine library where knowledge is power, and the unwary are consumed by the stories they uncover.

One book. One mistake.

Now, his Arte hasevolved, allowing him to step into the very fabric of history itself. The past is no longer just words on a page—it is a battlefield where he must fight, survive, and claim its treasures for his own. But history is relentless, and those who fail to understand it are bound to suffer its lessons firsthand.

Armed with nothing but his wits and the magic of paper, Alexander must navigate treacherous paths of forgotten knowledge, lost civilizations, and whispered betrayals.

A LitRPG/Xianxia adventure featuring:

✅ A unique paper magic system✅ Skill-based progression and tactical combat✅ A vast Otherrealm library filled with danger and opportunity✅ Mysteries, betrayals, and forgotten history

Read now and uncover the secrets of Danatallion’s Halls—before they consume him whole.Chapters every:Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday - 10PM.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: UmbralWhite

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.9/ 5.0
Followers: 1,117
Views: 290,125

Chapters(200 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

BolzerBBRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm enjoying this because it is a different way of becoming stronger and because the world building is done in an interesting way. MC is not a scardy cat, but does have a bit of a hero complex. It will be interesting to see how he progresses. He is surrounded by people who he can't trust and who want things from him. I hope there are friendships that can be built with some of them, because I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy!
Brythnoth: Void ChampionRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Let me say right now: This is a very good story, 0 doubt about that. That being said I’m not reading the rest of this story; and all I have to say is what’s happening up to chapter 6. I explain why in the spoiler section of the Story part; and to clarify, that hasn’t affected my judgment on the stories technical aspects.
Style: Cultivating Creativity 5/5
Style wise, this story is great; it’s got a good blending of Cultivation and Leveling that I think will work out well; and the world itself is interesting, the rules and interaction between the powerful and the regulars are not as callous and fixed as in most cultivation novels, and that allows for a much more interesting and dynamic world.
Story: Printing Progress 4.5/5
the story is good; it’s intriguing and has lots of opportunities for exploration of both the system and the world. Better still is the author doesn’t club you over the head with lore and info dumps, and manages to weave in information in a clean and subtle way; which brings us to that missing half star. The author is new, I knew that going into this, and it shows a bit in the weaving of their story. It’s a bit too gentle a touch, at least for how different the world is to most other stories and tropes; and some of the details are just confusing and distracting because I don’t have the basis of information and understanding to put together what’s going on. When that is an intentional part of the world, like with the archive, it works wonderfully; and as the story goes on it’s likely that issue will fade as we get a better understanding of the world and it’s customs. Now, between a the options of a too light touch making causing slight confusion and too heavy a touch making a dry and painful story; I prefer the former. Both indicate room to grow, but one is more likely to get genuine feedback and the other is more likely to suffer people just saying it sucks. And personally I want to see people grow and improve, so I prefer when they have that opportu
FuDawgRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Binge read and then despair because you ran out of chapters. The characters are great, the plot is moving along super well, and the MC is not just bulldozing through obstacles. So far we have mostly seen world building and set up but I have the feeling that once we make the turn into action and exploration it’s going to be a wild ride. I would also like to give some extra credit for leaning into an Arabic Mythology and fantastic influence- we don’t see it often enough!
InkBladeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don't usually review stories until I finish reading them or they end their first book. However, this one caught me on the hook enough where I felt inclined to reccomend it to people already. It feels as though there's a strong world in place only 20 chapters in.
The characters are interesting, albeit a little crazy most of the time. However, I wish we discussed more of the interpersonal relationships more. It seems like the emotions of his parents and some other characters get glossed over a little, and this could use some polish there. Their identities are clear and unique, plus fun to read, so I'd want to see more of that. Also, more denizen of the libraries. I'm curious as to what other beings are there legally and what deals they could make.
The story also has a surprising focus on the eldritch horror aspects of superpowers, plus a darker tone on their cost. Everything has a price, and with how powerful a lot of.his abilities are, he's got a lot to pay up on. We also don't know all of his debt holders too, so I'm very interested to see what they look like later.
I would also warn about the content warnings. This series has the general fighting viscera, but also some horrific actions at certain points. The story trades a lighter tone for a more serious and interesting plot.
Overall would reccomend, and very excited to see where this goes in the future!
YukifuriRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
My dad recommended this story to me, and I'm glad he did. I've definitely enjoyed it so far.
The world building and power system is unique and a nice change of pace from many of the stories I've read lately.
I've seen some complaints in other reviews of the character building, but I just don't see it. Yes they're not perfect, but I find many of them relatable, and the one I really didn't like didn't show up past the first few chapters. The MC, his mother, and his uncle are all ones I particularly like, and I'm enjoying reading them flaws and all.
Cranky CookRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is an unique and interesting take on the LitRPG genre, and in general.
While I'm writing this review with only 16 chapters released here on Royal Road, it has set a solid foundation for an interesting story. I can't comment on grammar--I'm horribly bad at that--but haven't noticed any technical issues (spelling, etc.)
TL;Dr Unique power set, interesting setting, and an MC that doesn't fit into the usual litRPG "main protagonist" trrope.
BookyHellyshFoxRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Not gonna say too much.
Unearned and unnecessary dramatism. (Like smells nice, but doesn't taste as it should.)
Author should seriously consider adding more POVs besides Alex's.
Vanita's stopped mattering like a snap after the encounter with Barbatos. Felt like leaving a loose end about a character that seemed like it would be the major Antagonist, but just became irrelevant.
No clear major Arcs sometimes, many of what I can only think as fast mini Arcs.(And why is the first book staring after 82 chapters and not before?)
Time skips and/or time dilatation in some places would do wonders, the world almost begs it.
No traces, clues, kinder eggs of information, just a light dump of new information without previous hints. (Further along in the book.)
The MC cool, but he kind of does weird choices a few times. (Might lack some common sense due to his curiosity.)
The characters seem to always be something more, but they're not. (Some of them just seem to change and adept to the plot.)
What happend to what see the animosity between V and Alex just poof no more, it wasn't solved, just gone.
The pirate captain he released? Only heard of her once after the choice of prisoners for Adjunts.
Will he keep the promise he made about uncovering Ten's past and the lead up to her previous situation.
Is Vanitas meaningless now? And the lion dude that just appeared in Rannah lab??? who in the fck is he? So much dramatizing and you don't even explain it it a way that matters.
The so called teachers are almost useless almost just doing filing.
the Power tiers seems clear at first until it doesn't: awakend, ascended, dominus, archon what else? With different povs it could surely be better approched.
Again Creating situations, and stuff without any build up, flow up or clues. (It just boom here you. Sometimes you can't see where something is going and sometimes you don't see how it go there.)
The author uses italic a lot. For real and I mean it. At some point in the novel the writer starts
DuneslayaRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
This story has decent enough characters, a good world from what I can tell and the story definitely is fun. The biggest thing holding back my review from being higher is that it doesn't feel like it gives you enough time to enjoy it. Throwing new systems and plot hooks at you, hoping you won't be bored if it just throws more. From new characters to new plot points. Something somewhere is thrown at you and you're not given time to digest or get fully invested. And neither is the MC. It feels as if we're constantly tossed from one thing to another. With factors from previous parts being ignored or forgotten. His power scaling doesn't feel right either, with his abilities mostly growing laterally rather than linearly. Causing him to feel like he's stagnating rather than progressing. And this would be fine itself if the MC was interesting, but I know 4 facts about the MC's character, and I'm nearly 80 chapters in. Less for the supporting cast.
But despite it's clear flaws, I'm still interested in how it progresses. And do enjoy the journey, at least currently.
GofraidRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
This novel's world-building is overly complex and presents too much information too soon.
Style: The overall writing style is very formulaic, with an almost rigid structure that makes it reminiscent of one written by AI, although it is not. The dialogue is deeply entrenched in appropriate fantastical phrasings and idioms, though sometimes to the point of excess.
Story: There is simply too much world-building too soon. The reader is thrown into the deep end, with an albeit very complex world, and little explanation. While this is usual of many novels, this novel presents too much new information too quickly, it just detracts from the story. The main grip of the story, the library, is almost like an add-on, with its significance lost in the novel's overly complex worldbuilding.
Grammar: The grammar is nearly perfect; I can not fault it.
Character: The main character seems to be likable enough, but the secondary characters are a detriment. His friend is an annoying nuisance, although, thankfully, her appearances are short-lived. His uncle is a lunatic who almost caused his death with the carelessness of giving him something
library access
too soon, and then everyone moves on hunky dory, as if it was the most natural thing.
Thanotos_247Royal Road
★★★ 3.0
Okay, let's get to it.
Your worldbuilding is fantastic, very interesting ideas and power system. However, your world building has some issues. The way you bring new concepts into view feels very forced, not always a bad thing, but it does bring me out of the story.
Your characters are... meh. They aren't given any space to breathe in the narrative, and this leads to a kind of flat experience. It's not a dealbreaker, as long as I care about the main character, but I could not for the life of me describe a single thing he's interested in other than the general 'books'.
Those previous points are mainly side effects of the main problem, which is that there is no fluff to the story. You move from one plot point to the next with no downtime and every line of dialogue is for the purpose of moving the story along. It is a style of writing that can be effective if, for example, your writing focuses on the overarching story rather than the characters. I find it to be ineffective at telling a compelling story though. (If you were going for a kind of whirlwind that shows how his life has changed so quickly, I would suggest adding greater reactions to the whiplash rather than him taking it in stride.)
In short, it's your first story, and it's a great first story. I look forward to seeing your writing develop.