Vampire: The Masquerade - The Empty Embrace

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

The World of Darkness is a cruel and fickle mistress.

But as it turns out, Emerson Rivers is kinda into that.

Information

Status
Hiatus
Year
2022
Author
Procon

Tags

ACTIONFANTASYADVENTUREANTI-HERO LEADSUPERNATURALMULTIPLE LOVERSMALE LEADHORRORMULTIPLE LEAD CHARACTERSNON-HUMAN LEADURBAN FANTASYATTRACTIVE LEAD

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.5/ 5.0
Followers
326
Views
107,228

Chapters(31 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

  • srwoodsRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This story captures the ambiance of the world of darkness setting perfectly. The characters feel like they are part of the setting and the story is top notch. This is my favorite work of fanfiction on this I personally can't wait to see how this one goes.
    Style: The story is written in the third person and flows from scene to scene well. The changes in prospective are well done leaving no doubt as to who's viewpoint it's from.
    Story: There's a lot going on the first chapter starts with a section filled with information from the tabletop game to get readers up to date with the setting, I used to play years ago so i was able to skip that part, next we are given an overview of what is going on in the world during this time this story is set. This works out well and after the first chapter we get into the action without having to stop and explain who this person is or what in the world that saying means.
    Grammar: I didn't find any issues with the grammar.
    Character: This story has everything from overly attractive vampire women to out and out monsters, sometimes they are the same character. There's ghouls vampire thralls, and a few poor humans in the mix all of them are believable and well written. We don't meet who I assume to be the main character for a few chapters it works for the story, but some people may not like it.
    Overall I like the story and it leaves me wanting more I don’t follow many stories on here, I don’t have much time to read these days but this one is worth what little time I do have. I used to love playing this game back in high school this story makes me want to start playing again,
  • Blind_WatcherRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    By far the best Fanfic I have ever read. If it was recognised as canon by the IP holder in the future, I wouldn't be surprised.
    As a full disclosure, I was already reasonably familiar with the IP, so I didn't need any background information going into the story. I would argue, that since the majority of people seeking out Fanfic's are probably already at least somewhat familiar with teh franchise or IP that certain degrees of background information don't need explicit exposition.
    Fair warning, the prologue is quite large by RR standards, but it is definitely worth reading.
    Grammar: Arguably the weakest element of the story. There are some weird combinations of tenses in the same sentence sometimes. Not often, but enough that it's weird when you notice it. An editting pass would fix it easily enough, and like I said, it's not overly often. Corrections are made promtlly and in good humour, so the story will only improve with time.
    Story/Character: Going into a Fanfic, I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting the story, or characters to be any good.I have never been so glad to be this wrong. For all intents and purposes, you get the same vibe as the rest of the World of Darkness universe while Procon introduces a unique cast of their own characters. So while the background is what it is, the new characters really bring the story to life, leaning into established trends of the IP but not so much as to become overly predictable or by the numbers about it.
    Style: The writing style really emphasis the actions each cahracter is taking and draws focus to the darker elements of the story and IP, so it's definitely a good choice.
    9.9/10 overall, would definitely recomend.
  • DeathpacitoRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Some of the strongest writing I've come across on RR.
    STYLE: Exquisite, stylish, and confident. The prose paints a striking picture of the vampires' lives. This is one of those stories where the writing is a treat in itself. If I had to nitpick, sometimes the sentences get a bit too packed with information, and thus take a bit of effort to parse. But overall the style is a solid 5/5, the sort of stuff I'd expect from a polished, professional novel.
    GRAMMAR: It's pretty grammatical lol
    STORY: I've never read/played World of Darkness before, so I'm approaching the story as a newbie to the setting. The story allows itself time to build up and develop, so if you're into deep, atmospheric stories, this would be right up your alley. The story is immersive and does an excellent job of making vampires feel real and grounded. The stakes (heh) are believable. And so is the world and the stuff that happens within the world. Like someone else reviewed, this does give me a bit of Game of Throne vibes, in the sense that the world is so caringly and realistically constructed.
    CHARACTER: The caracters have been quite delightful. My favorite one so far is probably Percival, whose charm easily extends beyond the page/screen. He's nuanced, powerful, fearsome, and yet reasonable and alluring. So kind of what you might expect from an elite vampire, but excuted really, really well. Overall, the characters all feel pretty lifelike, matching the mature tone of the story.
  • DetroxRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I had no previous experience with the established title, so I am unable to review the quality of the fanfiction itself, and will rate it as if it was an original piece.
    The opening chapter brings us into a world of politics and secrecy, where a woman from lower ranked family is looking for employment under a head of very powerful vampire family, and shows us her use of previous planning, wit, and quick deduction to kickstart an interesting story.
    Style: Here, the style itself works, the author shows great expertise at describing small details to make the world more real, but my main problem as a mobile reader were long paragraphs and also a massive opening chapter, making it more difficult to read.
    Story: The story starts strong, showing both the depth of the characters, and also how proficient they are in a fight, but for this type of stories, to make a meaningful review, I would have to read much further in. So far though 5*
    Grammar: I've not seen a single mistake, easy 5*
    Character: This is so far the strongest part of the story, because every character seems fleshed out, having his own personality, quirks, and behavior. Great work here.
    Overall this is one of the easier 5* review, because the quality speaks for itself.
  • RoenzRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I don't know about the game this story is based on, but it seems to have a large background and intricate conflicts. The big picture is most likely to be about vampires, politics, fights, and blood. To be honest, it is a quite heavy theme for me.
    Style
    The story is written in exquisite prose and detailed description. Everything is explained to give the reader complete imagery of the complex world. Though it is certainly good, I feel it slows the pace down.
    Story
    The main conflict is yet to be clear since everything is still kept a mystery. It is opened with a long prologue that takes on a political theme, then the following chapter takes another point of view and tells about a female vampire involved in a fight. As the story moves forward, the PoV changes again to a medical staff. I supposed there should be something connecting them waiting in the upcoming chapter.
    Grammar
    As a non-native English speaker, I could give nothing but a perfect score on this part.
    Character
    The description of each character is remarkable to make them feel real. Their appearance, gesture, inner thought, and habit are deeply explored. I love Zoe as a strong female vampire. She is awesome!
  • Seeker_AkaRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This book is amazing. The author excels at creating a beautiful atmosphere with his words . it feels like I'm reading a VAMPIRE book filled with politics,lust,murder,blood.
    I'm not familiar with the original franchise the book is based on but the author makes the world shine through his writing.I'm hoping to see the more to come.
  • SniperkingRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This has been a great story so far. The initial prologue was a bit of an info dump but it gets much better after that. Not particularly a fan of vampire books, and I avoid fan fics like the plague, but this was surprisingly very entertaining. Much appreciation to the author for his grammar, there are little to no errors in that department. Currently, my only complaint is that there isn't more of it.
  • SummerRennaRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I began reading this as someone unfamiliar with the source material (this story is World of Darkness fanfiction), so it's definitely a testament to the writer's skill that I was able to both follow along with and thoroughly enjoy the story and characters thus far! I would one-hundred percent recommend reading this regardless of one's familiarity with the source material, as the story stands on its own very well, and the reader is supplied with a table at the prologue that fills in any terms the reader may be unfamiliar with. I will say that I rarely referenced the table, as (in my experience) the context clues in the story were typically enough to glean the meanings of the terms, but it was nevertheless a nice reference tool to have.
    Style: The writing is very strong. The writer excels at building up an eerie atmosphere. The dialogue is engaging and the humor lands. The descriptive writing is especially impressive.
    Story: Love the story! The pacing is quick and the plot turns are well-timed. I particularly enjoyed the prologue, which was structured in such a way that it was able to set up a lot of the story and characters without feeling dull or bogged down. It's fairly action-packed, and the action scenes are very well-written. Every new chapter adds intrigue to the story. There's a great sense of mystery and I loved glimpses of the political machinations within the vampire world shown thus far.
    Grammar: The grammar is fairly solid. I caught one or two minor errors in my reading, but other than those there are no major issues.
    Characters: The writer is highly skilled with his characterization. Even for characters that were only shown briefly, the writer is able to show the reader so much about who that character is within a few sentences. The characters are all distinct and interesting. This is a multi-POV story, and it does an excellent job of placing the reader inside the head of whichever character is in focus.
    Overall: This is a great story! I'm very excited to
  • Wandering Brain SpasmRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Wow. As someone who wasted a good portion of their youth reading cringey vampire books, I wish this had been around in that time instead.
    The prose is incredible, thought provoking, and walks the fine balance between beautiful and gruesome. I appreciate that the author left a note explaining the first few chapters are loaded with information, otherwise I might have been found it overwhelming.
    Without knowing the original source material, it's too early for me to tell where the plot is going. With that said, it doesn't matter. From the chapters I have read, it's obviously going somewhere and I'm simply along for the blood-riddled ride.
    The grammar is impeccable. My only tiny gripe is that sometimes I cannot tell who is talking. There are multiple instances where there are three seperate, untagged lines of dialouge all being stated by the same character. There are enough context clues to figure it out, but it does slow down my reading. This is very likely one of those 'me' issues and, as it's such a tiny thing, it's not enough to detract from the grammar score.
    There are lots of characters in this and I haven't read far enough to get a solid grasp on who is who yet. With that said, with the help of internal monolouges and the personal quirks presented during scenes, the characters have obvious weight and feel real. I especially like the different voices presented. Not one character talks in the same way as any of the others, which makes them come alive as I read.
    Overall, amazing read. I would recommend this not only to readers, but writers as well. It executes so many elements flawlessly.
  • AzkylonRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I don't claim to be an expert on the series, but I did play v:tm bloodlines. If the author had claimed this was an official entry in the franchise I would have believed it.
    What's written so far captures both the way in which narrative works and the overarching feeling incredibly well.  The writing style in general is well above the average publication here.