To The Far Shore

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Post apocalyptic Oregon Trail. Mazelton comes from a clan of radiation wizards who harvest the cores of living beings to power their magics, but he's not really in to it. Not that anybody cares about his opinion when they send entire armies to exterminate his family. He has to run- from mobs, cannibals, soldiers, sailors, cholera, cattle, thieving sales-monks, starvation, mechanical horrors, vengeful spirits, negotiating your own marriage, and poison of every sort. Fortunately, his not terribly nice family has trained him to survive apocalypses. A world recovering from the last apocalypse should be easy. Story is now complete, with occasional updates of epilogue chapters.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Warby Picus

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 1,009
Views: 767,830

Chapters(116 total)

What readers say about To The Far Shore

“Every once in awhile, you stumble upon your new favorite book. This is what happened to me. Don't get me wrong, I have many favorite books. This is my newest one. The world building is top notch, the character is driven by his flaws as well as his strengths…”
13torchesRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“This isn't your typical fantasy, nor a typical post-apocalyptic story. With a 'magic' system aesthetically similar to cultivation and a setting that's a delightful cross between the Wild West, a Lovecraftian hellscape, and a low-ish fantasy world, this is t…”
Average SturgeonRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

13torchesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Every once in awhile, you stumble upon your new favorite book. This is what happened to me. Don't get me wrong, I have many favorite books. This is my newest one.
The world building is top notch, the character is driven by his flaws as well as his strengths, and the humor is like a seasoning that brings out the flavor of the story.
I love that our hero is so complex. He has many forces pulling at him from within and without. And seeing the world as this great eternal round was awe-inspiring. Five stars. Wish I could find this in hardcover to buy. Definitely worth the read.
Average SturgeonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This isn't your typical fantasy, nor a typical post-apocalyptic story. With a 'magic' system aesthetically similar to cultivation and a setting that's a delightful cross between the Wild West, a Lovecraftian hellscape, and a low-ish fantasy world, this is truly something fascinating and entirely its own flavour.
This isn't the type of story I usually read, but it was written with such care and thought that I found myself pulled along all the way through it. I highly recommend that anyone who likes sci-fi, magic, or journeys read this book.
BlastwavenorthRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Quite simply it is one of the best written things on this site. It has been some of the most enjoyable world building I've ever read and probably my favorite characters ever as well. You truly feel like you are immersed in a different world full of strange people and cultures and every second of learning more about it is a treasure.
DarwinismRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love the genre of weird sci-fi. Two of my favorite books ever are Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine, and this fits into that genre perfectly and I think Tanith Lee would've enjoyed this immensely.
Mazelton is written extremely well as a POV character - they/he provide a great perspective of the world from someone who is both privileged and oppressed, and the fish-out-of-water perspective also works extremely well to highlight how much and how little is different in the human(ish) experience. It's very well-written with characters that feel like whole people even with minor interactions, with even characters that speak almost never coming across as real kinds of people that you might meet even in the weird and/or fantastical circumstances they exist in.
I honestly can't recommend this story highly enough, and will read every single word this author puts out for the forseeable future.
The ShardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm heading into my third re-read after watching 1883, this is by far my favorite non Litrpg post apoc novel and I badly want more.
The Story, the world, the characters, I can see them in my head and they are amazing. I don't write many reviews, but this fic deserves one because yes, it is really that good.
dav0x00Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of the best reads I have encountered. There are a lot of interesting points of view on very many subjects. It seems there is something new to think about after each chapter. It is well written and the language clear. The world created in the story develops well and has kept my interest. I am always looking forward to the next chapter. The different ways of thinking with other characters points of view are a lot of fun.
gostsamoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Absolutely delightful. The fans of old science fiction will remember "A Canticle for Leibowitz" as that classic where people bring out the apocalypse and recover only in order to bring it yet again. "To the Far Shore" is the spiritual descendant where the apocalypses come with casual regularity and parts of humanity have learned to roll with it. Monks are no longer the keepers of the torch of civilization, but big clans of genetically and mentally modified humans who are forging their bodies and social structures so that no matter the type of the apocalypse to come there will be someone on the other end of it to wake up and restore mankind.
I'm starting with this broad intro because the plot itself mirrors the larger history of the world where it develops. The apocalypse comes for the young Mazelton while he thinks that he is on a date with a beautiful companion and a bottle of wine. The events are developing fast and the protagonist must survive a direct attempt on his life, a general hunt for his clansmen and the death of his home city. "Run and survive" are the last words of Malima the head of the Ma clan in the city. Run far and survive against all odds will Mazelton do even if it takes him to the other end of the continent while a war is engulfing the lands behind him.
I won't spoil his journey for you, but prepare for old secrets, macabre discussions on what survival entails and even more macabre introduction to the everyday lives of the great clans. All of this while traveling to the new promised land which everyone is hungering to grab for themselves.
quacksalotRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's post-post-post-post apocalyptic Oregon Trail. The story throws you straight into the deep end with no floaties, a whirlwind of chaos, and as you slowly paddle your way back to shore your questions are answered. The world is rich with character (and radiation) that leaves you always wanting to know more.
The first book is complete and it is a complete end-to-end adventure. You could read this story, set it down and feel satisfied.
Worth it. Read it.
Harlequ1nRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I very rarely write reviews/comments or otherwise contact people. This is in fact my first review since I joined the site. Please make of that what you will.
This story is one of the best I've read in a long time. The world building is detailed without being over the top, the characters are convincing and lifelike (I very much wanted to give Mazelton a hug at one point but I suspect it'd be the last thing I ever did). By the end of it not all mysteries have been solved, not all questions have been answered but that just leaves you wanting more.
I've recommended this story to several people since I finished it. This is something I would actually buy if i saw it on the shelf. Doubly so if it was a well narrated audiobook....
KaeinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So when I first saw this book I kinda felt...meh. Oregon Trail in post apocalypse? Sounds bleak and rather unhappy of a premise. But something made me read a few pages, and boy am I glad I did.
The world is simply incredible. The hundreds of apocalypses have created a layer of dangers and wonders that permeates every aspect of this world. Cities are pockets of safety in a world that is difficult and hard to live in. But it isn't a bleak sad world. It's lively, filled with organizations, clans, families and groups each seeking to rebuild in their own special way. The world is still chugging along despite pockets of radiation, deadly robots, toxic mutants, and wierdos with radiation magic that can poison your water and turn you into a walking ghost.
There's a lot of building and details that go into this world and it's varying factions, but at no point does it feel bogged down by explanations and exposition but instead flows naturally whenever Mazelton has some thought or commentary on something. You learn bits and pieces over time and it paints a fairly coherent picture of the world state.
And speaking of Mazelton, he's a fantastic character. On one hand I wanted to slap him in the face because of his social awkwardness, his condescending outlook on everyone who isn't in a clan, and his rather bloodthirsty and sociopathic look at how to solve problems. But on the other I wanted to share a drink with the guy, because he is a strangely beautiful soul who seems to yearn to be a simpler man with simpler goals and had to learn to let go of a lot of his clan's bloodthirsty conquerer nature and become more accepting of his current bad circumstances and what it forces him to do.
Although bro, you can't complain about eating meat considering you murder and castrate people who piss you off with your 'gammamancy'.
Mazelton's hypocrisy aside, he's still never boring to follow. Whether he's crying at a funeral of someone he doesn't know or boiling a person's face off, he's never