Varnoth: The Black Blade (A LitRPG Story)

Information

Status

Hiatus

Year

2020

Author

Lavelle Jackson

• Update on my future on RR...
  Sep 1, 2020

Reviews

Community Reviews(7)

• RadKatRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  It's addictive, and you can't wait for more. Even though it doesn't end in cliff hangers. You still want to read more, and anticipate the next chapter!
• RyuNagaRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This is my first review but I've been around this site for quite some time now. I fancy myself as a lover of fantasy if anyone one has followed the same stories I follow, so we all love a good start to a story with a character build up.
  For Varnoth, he is essentially an isekai hero placed into a world he is unknown to. The start of the story keeps you focused on the character and not so much as to the why but this simply the start to a worldly adventure. He isn't quite the overpowered MC as one would expect but he does fall into a couple of cliches that the author quickly hashes out but introduces some minor cliches which are acceptable in a grand adventure. The characters don't quite feel 2D and bland as they are developed through the chapters.
  Although the chapters are short the story is only beginning so I would highly recommend giving Varnoth a shot and maybe his tale can attract you enough to stay and join the journey to find out when he truly earns his title and why.
• booitsjwuRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This is exactly what I look for in a web novel: non-stop action and no annoying characters/sideplots. I dislike constantly switching POVs, I hate sycophantic side characters, and I absolutely loathe harems. If you feel the same way, give this story a try.
• mihaiRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Currently at chapter 6 , quite the addictive story even if a little hurried in my opinion. 5 stars for the big black cat .
• Mister BillRoyal Road

  ★★★★ 4.0

  Good story so far. It has a neat quest for a unique class, good MC, lots of action, and the MC has a different race, to boot. Well written and well worth reading.
• LordxlawRoyal Road

  ★★★ 3.0

  DNF (Did Not Finish) at Chapter 17. The bulk of this review is from my comment on that chapter, and contains most of my gripes and issues with the story as a whole. Minor spoilers ahead!
  Spoiler: Spoiler
  [My comment from Chapter 17]
  I am utterly baffled by this. Is Varnoth not going to go after Atlas at all to avenge Isabella and Geneva?? He is just doing random side quests for anyone with a mouth at this point. I was expecting him to at least feel some hatred and anger and malice towards the man who literally beat one of his friends to a pulp and cut out the eyeballs of the other, but NOPE! Gotta help Mrs. Canterbury now!
  What is the main questline of this story? Do you have a clear direction where you want this story to go? Or are you just writing blind and hoping things will work out in the end. It seems to me like you just created this character, threw him in this world, and are letting him run wild.
  Also, the endless Critical Hits have made me abandon this. At this point Varnoth is never going to be in any danger of dying or having his health bar depleted below halfway. He is super OP, the enemies are super under-leveled, and I just can't get invested in anything here. He still hasn't questioned how or why he is in Albatarra, if Albatarra is a game or an actual world, or how to return home. He has no personality except for saying Friggers whenever things go bad.
  I think the main issue with this story is the lack of focus. It needs a main plotline. The idea of him hunting down Atlas was a good change of pace because he actually had a goal in mind, but then you seemed to just abandon that in favor of more fetch quests.
  The dialogue can be very stilted and cringy at times, as well. You keep forgetting about the relationship point mechanic  you introduced a while back.
  I think you should focus on trying to piece this all together with a main questline. Who crucified Varnoth? Have him go looking for answers. Introduce powerful NPCs and heroes and bosses and villains
• GarrdorRoyal Road

  ★ 1.0

  This is a summary of all my comments I posted on chapter 18, it worked pretty well as a review though so I copy and pasted it here and just kept adding to it, mostly so people like me who see three vague 5-star reviews will have some warning before reading the story. There aren't any real spoilers cuz I don't get too specific (except when I do), but it is mostly just a list of complaints from the 18 released chapters, and it is not brief.
  Spoiler: Spoiler
  Amnesia vs gaming knowledge
  He acts far too familiar with the gaming elements if he is actually an amnesiac. Knowing how to apply his stats and for what purpose. Looting animals. Questgivers. Leveling before dungeons. Recipes and inventory. Towns and money and conventions of speech. Classes. His lack of curiosity about where he is, or why he woke up crucified with no memories of his past. Either he's an amnesiac and needs these things explained to him (or at least show him figuring them out), or he has basic knowledge of RPG mechanics, it can't be both.
  Real world vs a game world
  If this is a real world, it can't present itself like a game. Things like inventory and loot and and critical hits and damage notifications and cool downs and weapons doing set damage aren't things a real world would have, you'd need to invent aspects of a game that are also applicable in a real world. I may be generalizing about what you can and can't get away with in a "real world" litRPG, but this reads exactly like VRRPG except we're told it's not.
  The quest system is bizarre, he gets quests from people to do random stuff, something he just instinctively knows to do I guess, but the quests have arbitrary completion milestones that sometimes trigger when the system says so and sometimes when the guestgiver says so. Sometimes someone will say something and he'll get a quest not based on what they're actually saying, but just some of the information they said. Sometimes he doesn't even need another person to get the quest. With herbalism,