Underland

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Underland is now available onKindleandAudible!

Once, the sun shone brightly on Azlant. Until came the Whitemoon, to steal mankind's light and condemn it to eternal darkness.

Valdemar Verney is a sorcerer with a dream: to find a new world for his people to settle, one where the sky isn't a ceiling made of stone. But in the underground empire of Azlant, dissent is never tolerated. Brought before one of the undead Dark Lords, Valdemar is offered a choice he cannot refuse. Meanwhile, the swordswoman Marianne Reynard is given a mission: to investigate a dead cult with a few mysteries left to unravel.

Both are looking for the truth, though they might regret finding it; for many cultists, monsters, and cosmic horrors stand in their way. They'll just have to kill them all.

Cover byVitaly S. Alexius.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2021
Author: Maxime J. Durand (Void Herald)

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 4,107
Views: 225,476

Chapters(9 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

444.EXERoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you've read the author's other works, you know he does a fantastic job and that this is definitely going to be another amazing story that will make the top 10 (probably higher). If you haven't read it, then you're an uneducated reader, no offense.
As for this story, it is apparently about a necromancer and a swordswoman trying to figure out a way to find a "place". The setting of the story is literally the underworld, where necromancy is legal (but only by license) and many other types of magic usually relegated only to the villains of traditional fantasy fictions are approached in an innovative and intriguing way.
So go read it now!
AehsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I think it goes without mentioning the quality of the writing, considering Void Herald has been topping the charts with their fictions for a while now. However I am blown away by the originality and depth of the world of Underland. I love a good eldritch horror and this place is filled with them. Its such a breath of fresh air from all of the other generic fantasy worlds that flood RR, and its one of the only fictions that has had me at the edge of my seat with anticipation and dread at some of the more intese story moments. So if you're looking for something different by a good author here it is, hope you like it
Blind_WatcherRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I will be honest, I didn't immediately like this story. I am not sure why exactly, but it might be due to a general sense of cultural whiplash from reading The Perfect Run just before reading Underland.
Giving it another go, I have enjoyed it quite a lot. In fact, to get my only real 'problem' with the story out of the way, I would say that certain plot developments are so entertaining and engaging that I got annoyed or resentful when the perspective would shift to the other protagonist. That isn't saying that one character's perspective is worse than another, and that I didn't quickly get over it each time, but it is something to bear in mind when reading the story.
Void Herald's writing style lends itself well to the peculiar characters of Underland. With Dark Lords old enough to have gone senile many times over, it's important and appreciated that their dialogue and actions are written in such a way that amplifies their personalities. I tihnk Void herlad has done an excelent job in this respect. The world itself feels that much more alive and...wrong? (In the right ways).
In terms of story, as usual, I found myself actively engaged in the side story developments of the overall plot. The discussion of the Strangers and plot archs involving a certain Troglodyte were particularly nice to read and raised interesting questions. The primary plot is...Well, its always present but isn't forced into the narrative, which I appreciate. Technically, everything is in somewhat related to the primary plotline, but I really like how it is justified through organic dialogue or is only revealed to be relevant at a later point.
As per usual, grammar is pretty spot on or otherwise promptly corrected.
Characters...Hoo boy. Usually, when I read a story there are characters I love, characters I hate, and characters I love to hate. I honestly find all of the characters too interesting to dislike, even the repugnant ones. There is just too much about the world and the characters that are
Tribuo GrimmRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
An excellent start to a disturbing story; Void Herald has once again brought us to another world, with a different kind of normal. This one asks us how far are we willing to go, and what do we take for granted? Underhand is dark, cruel, and disturbing, and I'm looking forward to exploring it more.
cdr_whiteRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Another epic tale from Void Herald. Even though it is much darker than his other stories and I am not too much of a fan of the eldritch horror genre, he manged to draw me in. The main characters are interesting and way more complex than the average overpowered MC you find a lot around here. Every side character has some depth to it, whether ist a villain or a support. The world building is excellent and I would love to see some more short stories of that world. I also like the lack of the usual LitRPG blue boxes and stat walls. Being able to see the characters growing without numbers quantifying their growth gives the author much more flexibility and I, as someone lacking blue screens (apart from the ones Windows throws at me) can relate much better to them.
Even though, it was not a big finacial success oon patreon, I do believe, the will sell on KU (and maybe even as a paper book). Thank you for another good book and I am eagerly awaiting the next one.
hajakujaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's pretty good so far. I'm just filling this up so that I can post the reviews because I sincerely can't be bothered to write a longer explanation since all you need to know about the story is in the description and that the exceution of that premise is excellent. OK WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, just let me submit it please
Aria bloodbornRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The novel so far hasn't had any glaring spelling or grammer issues, and doesnt feel stilted like many do.
The premise of it is very interesting, and the author has set up a very unique and interesting story and setting, very much unlike others. I look forward to future chapters.
xXSB101XxRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The story revolves around valdemar who has a goal of achieving a way to Earth, a world where his Grandfather came from. Honestly, had that been clearer in the synopsis of this story, I would have tried reading this sooner. He doesn't achieve that by the end of the novel, but it was a fine story in of itself, albeit some parts did feel a tad rushed simply due to low page count. Overall, this is a good story for anyone interested in a darker world fantasy.
Self note, word count is 234,767.
FiniteVoidRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Underland isn't bad, but it's not good at what it's trying to be. I am not even talking about ending which I've heard is rushed, but the journey itself.
Underland is trying to be a lovecraftian horror which is supposed to capitalize on the fear of UNKNOWN. It is supposed to be unknown, not completely represented with very clear adjectives and adverbs and plethoras of infodumps. I usually don't mind dumps but this genre isn't meant for that.
I didn't feel much of horror or fear in 40 chapters, it just isn't represented right. I have a very clear picture of supposed entities in my mind and their horrors are mostly mentioned in histories and events that have happened already, opposite of show don't tell. There are a few good depictions but not consistently.
'My house of horrors' had my heart beating faster and my mind fearful with much simpler setting. And it's not that lovecraft isn't meant for quick rushes of fear, 'Lord of The Mysteries' blows it out of the park again and again throughout the novel with just the unknown.
This is more of an adventure story in a dark world where characters are interesting because of their past or their situation in the story, not because they are interesting human beings (or eldritch abominations with conscious).
Underland might've worked much better if narrative distance was pulled much closer to Valdemar (or some other character from time to time). There's just too much exposure too quick in a world supposedly full of unknown.
Perfect run was very dope and I am not one to judge a work based on it's predecessor. I just hope Void Herald can understand that he'll need to be more dynamic in his style to write in a genre not his own.
cucioRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
This was a decent 4-star cosmic-horror story until the author decided to insert some peculiar brand of comedy at chapter 31. The abrupt change of tone broke completely my immersion in the story, so I'm quitting here. It's a matter of taste, I'm sure many readers will enjoy this turn, but it's definitely not for me.
Best of luck, and thanks for sharing!