Trials of Sky

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Book 1: Providence of Sky

Helianna was born and raised in the small town of Ash Hill in the middle of nowhere. When it is discovered that she is a null, her life is flipped on its head as she is conscripted into a secretive fighting force. To further complicate her life, she discovers that she is able to use magic as well, a combination that puts her freedom in jeopardy. Afraid to lose her autonomy, she must mask her secretive magic among her peers both in training and in deadly missions.

But as she trains to master her abilities, Helianna is drawn into a world where secrets are normal, and nothing is as it seems. With each revelation, the divide between right and wrong shrinks, forcing her to question everything she believes. As she fights for survival, freedom, and truth, Helianna must discover the true nature of her magic and her place in a world that is far more complex than she ever imagined.

Book 2: Stratagem of Sky

The blurb for book two is in the chapter just before I start the second book to avoid spoilers. You can either find that in the Table of Contents or just clickhere.

What to Expect:

Pacing:Slow Burn

This is a slower moving story that prioritizes character development and world-building

Genre:Gritty Fantasy

The story begins in an academy setting but quickly transitions into a very real and gritty fantasy setting, but calling it grimdark would be a significant stretch

Characters:Struggling

The main character is not a hero. The main characters are not overpowered and there are a lot of grey morals involved.

Content:Violent and potentially sensitive

The story contains visceral violence, but it's not a combat-heavy narrative. There are also occasionally some sensitive topics. When these occur, I will have warnings at the top of the chapters.

Romance:Minimal

There is very little romance. While there may be discussions or hints of relationships, it is not a central plot point.

A Slow Start:Learning Curve

This is my first book, and my writing has improved a lot since I started. The first few chapters are a bit slower, but the pacing and writing get better as the story goes on.

Updates:The story will be updatedonce a week. There will be a hiatus between books.

Cover Art by Emiya

Insta: emiya_illust

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2024
Author: Gettsenova

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 64
Views: 24,913

Reviews

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Community Reviews(4)

0_Dark CrowRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An impressive fantasy story with immersive worldbuilding and compelling character development.
This story stands out for its rich, meticulously crafted world and a protagonist you genuinely like. The worldbuilding is excellent, detailed, immersive, and delivered in a way that never feels overwhelming. From magical systems to political structures, everything feels organic and well thought out.
Helianna is a standout lead. Her journey from a naive girl to a complex individual navigating a morally gray world is both believable and deeply engaging. Her growth feels natural and earned, and the story does a phenomenal job of keeping her at the heart of everything. Her internal conflicts, powerful abilities, and the dangers they bring are portrayed with nuance and emotional depth. The side characters are equally intriguing, yet the narrative maintains an intimate focus on Helianna, allowing readers to see the world through her eyes.
The tone balances mystery, magic, and action beautifully, pulling readers in from the start. It begins as a familiar fantasy tale but quickly sets itself apart with unique twists by the later chapters. The writing style is nice and descriptive. It’s smooth, polished, and easy to read
Overall, this is a captivating and expertly written story with powerful themes and emotional depth. It’s clear that a lot of care went into every aspect—from the inclusion of a map to the diverse characters. I’m thoroughly impressed and definitely sticking around to see where Helianna’s journey goes next. This one’s earned a spot on my follow list.
Shadowlord4318Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The plot of the novel is a familiar one with the MC having a special ability which she hides from others out of fear. Helianna, the MC, is a null, which in the Trials of Sky, means she is not able to use magic. But here's the twist, she does have magic, only that it appears to be similar to a type of magic called Sovereign magic, except it wasn't. She is then taken from her family to the academy, a place for nulls like her where they are trained in combat and different professions. One thing led to another, and the MC was trained into the assassin profession. One thing I liked about the novel was the prologue at the start, that honestly seemed extremely vague at first, but it slowly starts to make sense as you read, making you intrigued as you want to know what exactly happened in the prologue. Atleast, that's how I felt.
I liked the writing style used for this novel, it was clean and easy to understand. I also found the grammar satisfactory with only a few minor errors found.
The characters are expressed very well. The MC, Helianna, is shown to be energetic and in possession of a naivety appropriate for her age at the age of 15. That slowly changed as the reality of being a null hit her and her life came crashing down, and her personality slowly changed. Socially withdrawn and more cold hearted as she is capable of killing with little remorse. Other characters in novel like Vir and Reina were given clear personality traits, like both Reina and Vir being more social than their other itherax squad members.
Overall, the novel was a very good read, with decent chapter lengths and well written story.
neetcrayonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is an excellent story with some of the best worldbuilding I've seen. It begins like a typical fantasy story before it goes on a very unique direction and that is delivered perfectly within the first ten chapters so you'll know what to expect moving forward.
The style is pretty descriptive and evocative, going in and out of mc's head, describing meticulous worldbuilding in ways that is easily digestible. It fits this story very well and this is one of its strongest points.
The story has a great premise, centered around a character that readers can root for from the beginning and the story will challenge those convictions as it goes along. It's not the feel-good brand of fantasy where there is black and white, there's a lot of grey in this world and it is fascinating to read how the characters navigate and struggle through it.
Character is the best thing about this story, it spends a lot of words to build Helianna as a character and it is glorious when it starts to pay off. She has great powers that puts her in grave danger, she is trained to be something she is conflicted about. There is a huge amount of character growth as this naive girl from nowhere meets the turbulent real world. She is shown inside and out and she feels like a real person as a result. The side characters are also intriguing but this story has a way of keeping Helianna front and center at all times, the readers see them as she views them. This is a uniquely intimate way of telling this story, and it nails this aspect well through strong characterization.
Grammar was fine for the most part, some awkward sentence per several chapters. Nothing that broke immersion. It is a very smooth read.
Overall, I'm impressed by the worldbuilding that I saw in this story, it was very comprehensive and It went into granular detail that very few goes into. I'm impressed by the raw themes and topics and I'm impressed by the character they were explored with. This earned my follow and I will be continuing to re
Lianne VailRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
If you’re looking for a story with rich worldbuilding, inventive magic, and a protagonist who grows into a complex antihero, Trials of the Sky is definitely worth checking out!
The world is meticulously crafted and that really shines through. The magic system is particularly engaging, full of creative powers and limitations that set up fun, tactical combat scenarios. The author has clearly put a lot of thought into the setting, even including maps at the end of chapters as a helpful reference.
The early chapters lean more heavily on explanation, with a lot of worldbuilding delivered upfront. While this slowed me down a little (since some of it isn’t tied directly to the characters at first), I can definitely see the appeal for readers who love diving deep into lore. For me, the story really started to pick up around chapter 8, when Helianna steps more fully into her role. From there, the narrative becomes much more dynamic and character-driven.
Helianna is an intriguing character, though it took me some time to really get a sense of her, but it's clear that she’ll be a fascinating antihero, and I enjoyed seeing her grapple with difficult circumstances. I’m interested to see where the author takes her journey going forward.
Overall, if you’re someone who enjoys expansive worldbuilding paired with inventive magic and steadily improving character arcs, this story has a lot to offer.
Style – 4/5
The prose in the early chapters leans a bit too heavily on showing without enough context, which slowed me down. There’s also some passive voice and occasional wording quirks that made the flow feel uneven at times. That said, once the story hits its stride, the writing becomes much smoother and more engaging. I really enjoyed the style in the later chapters.
Grammar – 4.5/5
Very few mistakes overall. The rare slip doesn’t impact readability. Paragraph breaks in dialogue occasionally made it unclear who was speaking, but once I adjusted to the style it read fine.
Story – 4/5
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