Totally Spiritual [Book 2 Stubbed]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Book 2 has been stubbed

Ryan is getting used to life in the big city, trying to juggle his part-time job, university exams, and spending time with his friends, all whilst trying to stay out of too much trouble. But that busy life was thrown out of balance when Ryan awakened, and his Class is... about taking care of a 20cm Knight?Now his schedule includes Dungeon Diving, avoiding Elven businessmen, working out with Minotaurs and Trolls, and becoming more Spiritual. All whilst stirring up a bit too much trouble than he'd like as he tries to uncover the truth behind his Class and the identity of the Knight.

What to expect:- An Urban Fantasy LitRPG set in a massive Metropolis with numerous different species living alongside each other- Combat and Conflict where the Main Character is not insanely overpowered, but uses his head, experiences, and just a sprinkle of luck to achieve his goals- A slow-paced, character-focused story that still has a constantly progressing and unravelling world and mysteries- The Main Character is not the centre of the world, but just lives within it according to the rules that are set out for him and everyone else- Expect this to be a long, long adventure

Chapters will be around 2500 words each.

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Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: Dice

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 1,373
Views: 219,941

What readers say about Totally Spiritual [Book 2 Stubbed]

“I've read up to Chapter 11 Style: I'm enjoying the narrative a lot. The sentence structure is varied, the vocabulary is interesting, very little repetition. The story reads well. Story: Story pace is snappy. Good balance of showing the interesting (spending…”
Matthew-McKayRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“Review based on chapters one to six. Before reading this story, I decided to take a look at the reviews first to kind of plateau my mind before diving into the meal. Someone imagined this story as one with magic and litrpgs elements set in a modern world, w…”
False CicadaRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

Matthew-McKayRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've read up to Chapter 11
Style:
I'm enjoying the narrative a lot. The sentence structure is varied, the vocabulary is interesting, very little repetition. The story reads well.
Story:
Story pace is snappy. Good balance of showing the interesting (spending words) and telling the mundane (saving words). Also, their are numbers that go up and provide my brain with excellent dopamine.
Grammar:
I'm American and not well read, apparently. All the grammatical issues I had were because of American verses British English rules. After googling many of them, I can say I wasn't able to find any spelling or grammar issues. I'll try harder next time.
Characters:
I don't have any favorites yet, except for the stoic Maximus. I hate that I can only rate in half stars because I don't feel this justifies a 4.5/5. Maybe a 4.9/5? The character dialogue feels very 'samey'. (Is that a word? I've no idea.) It wouldn't have bothered me except multiple characters use the same curse word. Actually, it's the only curse word used, I believe. I'm no prude, but my immersion blipped every time I saw another character of different; personality type, gender, background, age, race saying the same f-bomb in the same way.
A human much smarter than me once said something along the lines of:
Readers are good at telling when something isn't working, but they aren't good and telling how to fix it.
I'm sure you'll figure something out, or not, because maybe that's your style. (My money it's just your favorite curse word. Hey, I've got mine, you can have yours!)
Overall, it's a great read that's written very well.
4.875/5 - Would time machine and read for the first time again.
I'm pretty sure I was supposed to wait to post this (it started out as a review swap, but ended up as a regular review, I think? I don't know, I'm still new here and very confused is my default setting), but my story won't be out for a couple more months. And Dice doesn't deserve to have to wait for my slow ass in order to get a revi
False CicadaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Review based on chapters one to six.
Before reading this story, I decided to take a look at the reviews first to kind of plateau my mind before diving into the meal. Someone imagined this story as one with magic and litrpgs elements set in a modern world, where the author has done a great job with setting off the plot.
...They're right. Not only does the world already feel fleshed out, but it's inhabited by characters that all show depth and actual personality one would see fitting for a modern setting. Apart from many of the litrpgs on this site, this one genuinely feels immersive and unique, more so because of the Maximus figure we were introduced to in chapter two and his descreptive surroundings, as well as the qualities I mentioned before.
The story's progression is very nice as well. I'm a big fan of slow burn, but that also means the story should be written well enough to keep me interested. The author has done this seamlessly, so full stars for grammar, style and character.
I highly suggest anyone who is even mildly interested in the litrpg genre to give this story a try. It has a great cover that perfectly matches the vibe of the story. Really good stuff.
L.R. Monroe (Emrys)Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story takes place in an Urban Fantasy world. It's as if the author took the classic adventurer fantasy and transported it into modern times. Each person can awaken to a class. Sometimes this is a magic based class, sometimes it's physical, or at times it is unique.
The MC awakens to a unique class, and with it he gets a quest in which he makes for himself a little buddy.
We learn about the world a bit more as the MC talks with his friends, about his awakening, what it means for him and what his future may look like. He decides to explore dungeoneering and had to register for it.
The characters come through the page nicely, each having their own personality. There are also interesting fantasy races as well. Cyclops, giants, and other races are present in the world.
The grammar is fine, no noticeable issues. The MC is good, his excitement well written, his exploration of his new class makes sense.
There is a lot to the world and the author does a good job not dumping it on you all at once. In fact, you find yourself looking forward to learning more about it.
If you're looking for something fresh in the litRPG genre, this one might be for you. Especially because even though the story is fresh, there are familiar tropes that work and keep you reading.
Mister HandRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a good story. Like, really good. And it's very well told.
It sits on a firm foundation of tales about an awakened society, but introduces a lot of originality and style into it that makes it both comfortingly familiar and intriguingly original at the same time.
It's the little things that let you know you're in the hands of a craftsman. Like when there's nothing to stumble over in the writing, or when the exposition comes naturally through just enough dribs and drabs to leave you knowing where you are while still having enough questions to drive you to go to the next chapter. Or like when you're introduced to a coffee shop with a door that's been enchanted to grow to accommodate patrons of all sizes, and that's how you discover this is a world where such a thing is needed.
There's zero friction when reading this. No stumbling over poor grammar or odd narrative choices. It's all very smooth and the storytelling is professional. The craft is there, in a polished form.
The story itself is fun and interesting. The characters have dimensions and backstory. There are mysteries and surprises. If there was a more rigid rubric we used to grade stories than style, story, grammar, and character, this one would still check all the right boxes.
Kudos to the author. Looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
EmilbksRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Overall
I will preface this by saying that I've read more or less all of Dice’s other works (not on RR) and I can say with certainty that he's able to deliver.
Even in just the first seven chapters the world already feels incredibly real. The characters feel real and not really stereotypical.
The MC's power comes into play from chapter 2 and is quite interesting. It is a really nice twist on a beast taming power and sets up a lot of potential in the future.
Also, the MC does not keep his unique power hidden from his friends, so he actually has people to bounce ideas back and forth with (and people who can properly help him).
Style
Imagine that you had a world with magic, fantasy races, a litRPG system, and dungeon, but instead of stopping development in the medieval age, it actually advanced to the modern age. Then you have the world of this story, and it’s great. Unlike so many other litRPGs with dungeons set in the modern world where the world has just awakened, so everything is in chaos, the world here has grown with all of those aspects always as a part of it, so nothing feels out of place.
This also means that people are already trained in relevant skills and a lot of the world is already understood beyond what’s commonly seen in the world awakening + dungeon litRPGs stories. It also makes it such that there’s no need to suspend one’s disbelief at how quickly the world adapted to its changes, since it evolved alongside them instead.
Great care seems to have been taken in ensuring that the world can support the needs of the various different races, be they avian, barely a meter tall, or a three-and-a-half-meter tall cyclops. It is great to see.
Grammar
The grammar is quite good with few mistakes. The only reason that it’s not a full 5/5 is because of how a fair amount of the paragraphs are structured. Some of the paragraphs have multiple people speaking, which can be confusing/disorienting to keep track of and could easily be split into two smaller paragraphs in
KittyFloofRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
So far so good, it's engaging and the world feels real. The inclusion of the other races normally considered monsters as just another person is fantastic with humans dating cyclopes, and minitors with elf children. Even hints at some of the main supporting characters being gay or bi. Beautiful inclusivity, something I love to see. The story is interesting with a lot of potential and intrigue into the mysterys surrounding the main character. Can't wait to see what's in store next.
Ava of flowersRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The protagonist's class is really interesting, and I love the way he and the other major characters interact. They're very... Authentically new-adult? Their dialogue can be a bit clunky (and this is a problem for the story as a whole), but there are these really genuine moments mixed in that make me smile.
The main downsides for me are that the authority figures in the story feel more like plot vehicles than whole people, that the antagonist-plot is pretty meh and that the author often uses a lot more words than they need to. An action will be taken, then there will be two who paragraphs talking about why; or a sentence will repeat itself, or be completely redundant.
BimgbangboomRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Given the apparent humour in the summary I do want to call our a content warning.
The book deals a lot with sociopolitical issues of bigotry, discrimination, racism and LGBT.
If you are looking for escapism in a light hearted fantasy novel (like i was) you may struggle to find that among these heavy topics.
That said, it's a compelling read. And if you are OK with that disclaimer I do recommend it. The rest of the review, covering the star scores has criticisms, but to be clear. They are things that could be better, not that they are bad.
No faults with grammar I can recall and I cant really find fault with the characters either. The main cast have enough depth to be convincing enough to empathise with.
Style wise, I feel there are a lot of POV changes which can be controversial. They are well done and add to the experience, but feel a bit abrupt. Like multiple scene cuts during an event.
Second half star lost on style is from dubious character behaviour, trying to change reader experience. For example, a character gives some others safety gear. They do so without explaining why it's needed, leading to those characters being surprised by the cause and being in danger. Seems like this was done for the sake of a exiting reveal for the reader, but doesn't make sense in context. Surprise is the enemy of safety. That sort of "Just wait, you'll see" behaviour stands out to me. Heck, after a close call in that example, the same character does the same thing with another risk.
Overall story is probably the weakest category. Particularly the antagonists. We have goodies doing good things, because it's the morally correct thing. And we have baddies doing bad things because... They just like being bad ? We are in book 3 and while we have had details of their organisation and some members we haven't had any hints as to their motivations. They attack minorities with genocidal intent, just cuz.
There hasn't really been much progression on that central narrative and the MC and goo
ArockalypseRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Disclaimer: a story being labeled 'junior fiction' is by no means a statement about the strength of the story, just marking that the resonating audience ranges from teens to young adults (which this story undoubtedly falls under). Totally Spiritual doesn't lack from mature themes that would be present in great adult fictions.
A significant feature that separates decent/good junior fiction (especially those that deal with coming of age motifs) from truly great junior fiction is the depth of adult characters. A big part of why Percy Jackson and Harry Potter remain the titans of the genre is because they contain adult characters that are just as complex and personable as the younger main cast (something very difficult to do given the difference in screentime). Many decent/good junior fictions have genuinely incredibly well-developed and planned out teen characters (the main characters) only for the adults to fall flat.
Unfortunately, Totally Spiritual falls into this trap; Runar, Dimos, and Athina feel more like convenient strawmen to highlight how RIGHT Ryan is than actual people. Ryan so far has yet to get punished for how reckless and rigid he is, and I'm starting to question if they're meant to be flaws. For the record, those flaws are what make him interesting and what carry his personality, so DO NOT suddenly make him flawless; I simply point out that after 100 chapters the flaws have yet to manifest any significant consequences. Instead we only see how amazing his intuition is, how big his heart is, etc. His virtues OVERPOWER his flaws, and the story somehow needing him to be correct over Runar and Athina and Dimos is significantly harming the themes (and the interest I have).
Besides that particular issue, the world is a mish-mash of a lot of interesting things, and the three main characters (Ryan, Silvia, and Modak) are rock-solid when viewed in a vacuum. Ryan's summoned spirits have a decent amount of personality as well, especially for being nonverbal entiti
pelvicthrustingmywaytoheavenRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
Pacing’s to fast and character interactions is forced and kinda drab.
you need to do more world building and info dumps so we have a atleast an idea of how everything meshes together.
one thing I felt was kinda weird about the character interactions was between fay and the protagonist and his friend when they hugged her when they first greeted each other might just be me but I only hug close friends or family. That’s about it