Torchbearer: Ascent Of The Sacred Machine [A Magipunk ProgFantasy]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

"Death isn't the worst thing that can happen to you —It's being reborn." The Death, the Rebirth, the Violence.Sam has done it all before. She fought her way up from nothing, found friends she could trust, and together they carved their name into history. So when she wakes up ina strange place, in a stranger's body and without access to her divine magic, it is nothing but a familiar, if annoying setback. After all, nothing could keep Sam from saving her nation and protecting her friends. ...Untilreality itself begins to fragment, memories Sam refuses to believe haunt her with digital precision, and bizarre amalgamations of myth and machine creep out of the dark. Perhaps this setback is not as familiar as it seems. Inspired by The Matrix, Inception, and Blade Runner,as well as games such as Persona 5, Superhot,Control, and The Secret World,GOTSaM isa story about overcoming grief, breaking the shackles that bind you, and finding your true self. What to expect: Quality-first writing Weak to OP Regressor MC Slow burn (MC unlocks system in the middle of book 1) A unique progression system Weird cyborg monsters Explorations of grief, rage, and PTSD Emotional Damagewrapped in Numbers Going Up! :D - A new chapter releases whenever I get itdone -

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: Madix-3

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.8/ 5.0
Followers: 895
Views: 204,681

What readers say about Torchbearer: Ascent Of The Sacred Machine [A Magipunk ProgFantasy]

“....The MC just got a cute little Star Trek comm badge, so I had to stop and review. This is a rewrite of the story, and I always bounced off reading it before. So far, it's an isekai-within-an-isekai; the MC wakes up in a mysterious city with her memories…”
lordnikelasRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The World-building, Machine Fighting magic, an MC that was, once, powerful and now has to reorient her self, living inside a Domain. Its awesome. the previously grating things like constant anger management issues and dancing around important topics have be…”
KaijkoRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

lordnikelasRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
....The MC just got a cute little Star Trek comm badge, so I had to stop and review.
This is a rewrite of the story, and I always bounced off reading it before. So far, it's an isekai-within-an-isekai; the MC wakes up in a mysterious city with her memories scrambled, and has to parse through her scattered recollections and various traumas. There's a LOT of blue boxes, once the actual litRPG part of things start up. Lots of Arabic, since the city she woke up in is very Middle-Eastern inspired (as is its ruler,) so be prepared for occasional "inshallah" at the ends of sentences. (There's also an entire chunk of chapters that is a TON of mildly recognizable, legally distinct cameos from other stories.)
The System itself feels very much like that old Tron FPS game, where all the weapons, armor, and everything else, are computer programs; the main character's primary resources are "file integrity" and "CPU load."
But the setting is cool, and if you can get into it, there's a lot of cuteness and fun. Worth a look if you need a new progression fantasy.
KaijkoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The World-building, Machine Fighting magic, an MC that was, once, powerful and now has to reorient her self, living inside a Domain. Its awesome.
the previously grating things like constant anger management issues and dancing around important topics have been cut through. massive improvement on that front.
was there from the start and the 2 rewrites were certainly worth it to read again.
Samot0423Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've been reading this story for awhile - I read it when it was coming out with the now deprecated version, and picked it back up once Madix had a backlog built up again. This is a very well-written and well thought out story that clearly has plotlines building from the very start that are only realized later in the book.
The Mc is not a perfect person, and she is constantly struggling against her past and her deepest anger throughout the full story.
I'd definitely recommend if you want something other than plain numbers go up bonk bad guy stories.
timewalkRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I enjoyed the beta version of this story, however this new release has taken it to extraordinary. I really love what the author has done with it.
A note on style: The author does not do any hand-holding or coddling of the reader. Expect to discover the world and the situation incrementally along with Sam (our protagonist). Some things don't make sense all at once, and they are revealed masterfully along the way, instead of just dumped on you.
The story is a technological/fantasy hybrid where magic and technology blend in a world that feels like it borrows equally from inspirations like the Matrix and Inception, but perhaps a little grittier.
So far the characters we've encountered are fantastic. Sam is our protagonist, trying to figure out what the heck happened to land her in this strange virtual/digital/quasi-real world. She suspects its a trap, but she's also relating to the other characters in a natural way.
A number of short flashback/memories have been introduced, slowly building a picture of a rich world and backstory. As they're revealed, we learn more and more about Sam's past which naturally fills in more and more details about what she must do in the present.
Madix's command of grammar and language are fantastic - no issues here. The prose flows well and is a delight to read. Also, a slight note, the computer/tech epigraphs at the top of the chapters are already providing subtle hints at a greater world. Well done!
StarWaltzRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
When I read a story on Royal Road and have gotten past Chapter 30, I know I'm invested. I can understand the MC from a somewhat lopsided sort of view and I just want her (and me) to be ok.
From a written aspect, I find the prose to not feel stale and robotic. Too often in stories on RR, I find my brain going dduuuhhhh but not here. Give it a try folks!
yagathaiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Interesting premise, solid character work, and if you're going to cram all this exposition down my throat I'm at least glad it goes down easy and at a reasonable pace. The numbers that go up, go up in a fun way. Book 2 seems like a very different beast than book 1, which is nice.
On the minus side, I feel like there's a lot of redundancy and repetition and redundancy in the story. Everything could probably be edited down by like 30% and leave a much stronger story. We get it. Patti wants to know who Sam wants to be. That has been made very clear.
storybookknightRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I'm not quite sure how to best sum this story up. One of the best stories I've read in a while that I didn't really care for, maybe?
Stylistically, the story is well-executed. The use of faux-CRT screen inputs and frequent textual cuts to flashbacks make it very clear that much more is going on in this story than shows on the surface, providing foreshadowing and depth to what at first glance is a bizarre dream sequence. Whether or not it's my cup of tea, it's well executed.
The actual plot so far is inventive. It's still quite early days for the story, but what I've seen so far is pretty good and it looks like that will continue. The grammar is likewise quite good.
However, what is currently hanging me up and preventing me from fully enjoying the story is the protagonist. It feels clear to me that the author is telling a story with a flawed protagonist, which is perfectly fine but there's a fine line between "flawed but likeable" and "why should I get invested in this person", and for me Sam, the protagonist, falls on the wrong side of that line. The story seems set up to further explore her trauma and grief as she's confronted with past mistakes and failures, and unfortunately what I've read so far doesn't really hook me enough where that sounds fun to read about. Maybe some more scenes where Sam interacts with NPCs who aren't subordinate to her would have helped? I'm not quite sure what the issue is, and to be fair, grief/regret themes aren't my first choice of reading material so it could just be a mismatch of genre and reader, aka an issue of personal taste.
Either way, it's a well written story that I probably won't continue reading but hope to see continue to do well!
Triangle TollRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
I believe I got Genesis of the Sacred Machine on my radar from an ad speaking of Dark Souls-esque approach to lore. Well, no. While I understand where this is coming from, there is more than one way to drip-feed context, and the one employed here is a lot more heavy-handed. And from it stem many woes I had reading this.
The lowest point would be the plot itself. Chapter one actual sets the simple objective of going from the throne in point A to the throne in point B. Chapter forty and one sees us halfway there. It matters little that the proverbial screentime is consumed mostly by action, pacing catastrophe is pacing catastrophe. I cannot fathom how LitRPGs keep doing that, but this story, like many others, devolves into a gauntlet of uniform fights despite MC not (yet) having the incentive to go grind. Moreover, I know for a fact that I’m not nearly done with that gauntlet because there’s at least one more fight that I’m sure will crown it. Let that sink in, a small novel’s worth of just fighting with minimal progress.
The style, while quite good in terms of the wording itself, plays right into the story’s weakness on a macro level. The flashbacks, repeating onto themselves, dilute the contents of the already bland story arc. They can be rather lengthy and frequent, often at the same time. I get the picture they’re supposed to paint, but it’s the case where cons outweigh the pros. Maybe with faster-paced story that’ll do. Not as it stands, though. The green-on-black stories within stories do provide some distraction and occasional food for theorising stuff ahead of time, although I’m not sure how easy they are to follow while not binge-reading.
Again I’m unsure if I’m missing something, but it seems that “MC with anger issues” is now an archetype in and on itself. I won’t dare to call Sam one-dimensional, but I’d appreciate having something other than misery porn thrown my way at some point. There should be something to this character other than past traumas and fu
Robert SpringerRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
Complex and confusing storyline, but elegant and comprehensive prose. I've read the first ten chapters and still don't quite know what's going on.
I've come back to try again and still don't really understand it.
Maybe it's just me but it's a whole lot of expose without any storyline I've been able to follow
Slug2448Royal Road
★ 1.0
this story has such an interesting premise but is so bog down by its wordiness I find myself loosing focus. The other problem is the constant flash backs they are so many and so long that the pacing is glacial(not in the slow burn sense but in the it feels like there is no plot progress).
I have tried to read all versions of the story but can never do so.
the story has potential, and I like the premise and what I can gleam of the whole plot but the execution is not for me. I recommend people give it a chance.