Thy Secrets Should Be Sung

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Once upon a time, a Dark Knight abducts a beautiful Princess and carries her away to an enchanted garden, desperate to win her hand. He’s absolutely convinced that only the love of a good woman can save his poor, woebegotten soul.

Ha! What a tired cliché! Unfortunately for the Knight, the Princess is far from a helpless damsel in distress or easily beguiled maiden, and as the Knight attempts to woo her, she in turn, works her own agenda.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2020
Author: CrosstownGate

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 27
Views: 16,133

Chapters(19 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(5)

AlyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a story that is Romantic with a Capital R. It feels like it was written in the 1800s, style and references. (And it's a relief to learn that this was intentional! I felt so nervous reading this at first.)
I thoroughly enjoyed the crisp, polished feel this tale weaves. It felt like something I would be assigned to study back in college, and while I would not have appreciated all the work that went into this back then, all the things I read in college allow me to appreciate the intricate details of this story now.
If you're not well read in the famous English staples, the bits and baubles that should be appreciated might be missed. It's still beautifully crafted.
Very, very few grammar mistakes (typos? maybe leftover draft marks? Hardly there!).
The characters are consistent, the tone balanced. It has a slower pace, where the action is in dialogue rather than prose. That's a style that's very, very on-brand for this type of story. It's not for everyone, and normally not even for me--but my goodness was the quality of writing wonderful.
I give an overall score of 5* because this story deserves it.
If there's a way the author thinks of making this story more approachable to people that aren't well-versed in Romantic literature and Greek myths, I think that would be a worthy endeavor!
BullerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Well, I first of need to say I don't read too much like this. It just feels like the old texts that I would be forced to read during my younger years by teachers that couldn't help but swoon around some old guy that lived 300 years ago.
If that didn't make sense to anybody, I won't fault them for the confusion. It is very hard to nail down what I truly think about this fiction. Its style is something that fits the dramatic theme very well, all the characters speaking like it's some ancient play by a certain person that I utterly detest(if you remove the fact that these people are actually using sentences that can be read easily).
Overall, I would say this is good enough. Story is a bit abstract, the way they talk might cause initial confusion, and the grammar is alright. Conversations get halted quite often but that's just more nitpicky than-
5/5 from me.
luda305Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's extraordinarily rare to find an unknown work of such quality on this site. The search for such diamonds in the rough inevitably lead to finding many, many pebbles. This is no mere pebble.
In a fit of irony, I want to sing praises upon the unknown beauty that is Thy Secrets Should Be Sung. This quality simply should not appear on this site. Given how I usually review material on Royal Road (which is a bit on the harsh side), I need a seven star scale to work with here.
Overall: 6.5/7
Style: 7/7. The author is masterful on this point, though I will mention only a few points.
First, in the hands of a lesser author, each scene would have the setting, then the characters enter, and their dialogue. Here, the author spreads out the description of the setting throughout the chapter, providing wonderful juxtaposition between the characters, their dialogue, and the setting.
Second, the author does a wonderful job of the characters moving between the different formal and informal modes of speech. I would normally support this with further detail, but I will simply leave this point as conclusory.
Story (6/7): The story is a character-driven extended dialogue between the Dark Knight and the kidnapped Princess. He woos her, she refuses him. But these are not children nor simpleton, and their interactions are beguiling. To be clear though, this is not a work meant to be binge-read in a single-sitting. That is not to say that it is difficult to understand; rather the emotions evoked in the reader are so strong that the reader simply must rest.
I docked a star for two reasons. First, it is implied in the last two chapters that Rosemary is a refugee from the (literal) collapse of the Greek Pantheon. This seems to be a very important point for the climax in the last chapter, and yet it's sudden appearance so late in the story makes it feel a litlte hamhanded. Perhaps it is foreshadowed earlier in some of the references to classical works and myths, but if so, I missed it.
S
AsvilokaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a lovely, relaxed sequence of distinct scenes, each a worthy short story in and of itself, but weaving subtly together into a tapestry of words such as I fail to properly describe. It is eloquent and quaint, simple and beautiful, old-fashioned and timeless.
Delightful, soft, and unwavering, the style is one of this story's many strong suits. The interweaving of action and dialogue is exquisitely done, perfectly matching the tone of the work, and I can find no fault with it.
Grammar, while excellent, is flawed in some instances. Specifically, quite a few homophones have slipped through, which do distract jarringly from the otherwise perfect prose. This is the only thing holding it back from a perfect score.
The story is simple in conceit, but layered and unfolds delicately across the chapters. The characters are multi-faceted and well considered.
I must confess I haven't finished the story yet, as it feels best served unfolding a chapter at a time, with space to breathe; taken as a sequence and not as a single thing to rush through. I've been so impressed with it so far I feel compelled to write this recommendation as soon as possible. It is also possible that, like so many other stories, it could fail to stick the landing. But I'm not sure that would really matter when the journey has been so utterly enjoyable.
CinnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I found this story when someone recommended it on a hidden gems thread in the forums. And I must say that I'm glad I took a chance on it.
Style: It's not really the kind of style I'd normally read, but Thy Secrets Should be Sung has a gorgeous style. Throughout the dialogue the setting absolutely shines through with interesting details highlighted, it's descriptive but not overly so. The dialogue is also stylised and fun to read.
Grammar: A few typos here and there, but nothing that detracts from the quality of the writing.
Story: This is very character driven with a slow pacing, with most of the plot being driven by the stories shared between the two main characters. I will admit that a couple of times I found myself wishing things would move more quickly, but not often. But still an enjoyable eighteen chapters.
Character: Thy Secrets Should be Sung has a very small cast, with the focus mostly on two. These are very well done, their characteristics consistent complete with foibles to counter their strengths.
Overall: A very enjoyable read if you like stories within stories, a nice dollop of ambiguity to keep the reader thinking and most of the plot driven by character interaction.