Warlock's Gate [DROPPED]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

In the empire of Orinthian, Fallon Gaumond, a young Warlock, is determined to be free from her father’s controlling demands and become a Sentinel. At her side, cloaked in shadows, is her Dementher familiar, Asmodeus, who is equally committed to seeing the Warlock grow to reach her full potential. But dealing with her overly hungry companion while keeping her secret, illegal visits to Highguard’s city dungeon hidden is the least of Fallon’s problems. As a Praeditus, she is expected to serve alongside her father and the rest of Highguard’s Praefecti to resolve the growing problem of refugees fleeing an adversary even the strongest Sentinel dare not face alone. TheGateswhich strike Orinthian with ever-growing frequency and pour upon these war-hardened cities merciless invading hordes of monsters from other dimensions who seek to pillage, burn, and slaughter everything that stands in their way.

Please Notethis is my first attempt at a litRPG. I also ask that you keep an open mind as I will be diverging, in my own way, from many of the litRPG stories I have read. For those of you who missed it, this is aMultiple Lead Charactersstory, hence the tag. I should also mention that this will getcrunchyas far as numbers go and please pay attention to theProfanitytag.

Information

Status: Cancelled
Year: 2021
Author: ShroudWolfe

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 819
Views: 129,950

Chapters(28 total)

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

ZephronRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Long time lurker dropping this review since comments are locked on the announcent.
Just wanted to put my two cents in that this story was a unique take on a overpopulating genre.
A slow burn with compelling characters interesting systems and chapters that always left me wonder what came next. The underlying polictal intrigue and subtle characterization will be missed and appreciated.
It is deeply unsettling that the author didnt feel welcomed in this community and a black stain on us all. I highly reccomend checking out their patreon for continued updates to this work and also thier other projects.
DraggarRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I don’t write reviews but I just have to say I’m really sad to see this story cut short! I absolutely loved the character, story and world building. While some feedback focused on what was not perfect (who/what is), I think some forget what RR is intended to do. While it’s a great platform for author to connect to readers, not every story fits perfectly in the traditional web novel format. I’ve read pretty much every litrpg story on RR and Amazon with any sort of decent reviews and this was one of the very few that was genuinely new and interesting (not the same old isekai or system world conversion set-up). The author does an amazing job on of character development were you both understand the motivations and actions of the characters. As part of that, the author uses multiple POVs which can be a challenge with some readers expecting a typical web novel, as we need to wait for weeks to learn what happens next. I actually love the additional context, which just builds upon the story. Yes, in the moment (when published) I would rather get a chapter which explains exactly what’s happening next, however the story the author was telling is better with context. For me, understanding character motivations is much more critical to me deeply engaging in the story/world than the various systems, magic or math which story is based on. I also appreciated how it’s clear the author has fleshed out the story and is building for the purpose which actually builds to a story climax (vs random fluff), we unfortunately won’t read here but I’m guessing we’ll see on amazon some time in the future.
I wish the author the best and look forward to what unique stories she comes up with next!
DraithRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
If you read no more of this review than this line, your take away should be, this is well worth reading.
The single greatest crime this fiction commits is making me wait for more chapters.
Each chapter doesn't feel like it's written for the immediate payoff and episode nature of some fictions. Instead, there's a gradual buildup of the world, characters and System. Well, not always gradual.
STYLE: Which leads to the minor crimes this story occasionally commits. Don't get me wrong. I love this story, and intend to keep reading. This does not mean it's perfectly aligned to my tastes, my fellow readers.
What are these minor crimes? The first is an occasional overexplanation of things that are already masterfully shown in the worldbuilding. Such as when Fallon, our main character... ah, but that would be spoilers. I don't do spoilers.
The second, is mostly related to the first. And depends on your perspective. The System is very crunchy, as has been mentioned in other reviews. This is for me a negative as it detracts from what is otherwise excellent flow for high paced combat scenes. But it's not such a major negative I can't just skim over these bits.
STORY: Now... as I said, I love this story. And I'd love to regale you with all the reasons why. But, as I said before, that'd be spoiling.
GRAMMAR: A few run on sentences are the only offence in this category. Not even a single misplaced there/their/they're. Pretty high standards for a published book, never mind some of the broken english we encounter here on RR.
CHARACTER: Our main character Fallon is... wait. Spoilers. She's interesting. And she's not the only character who feels fleshed out enough you could reach out and touch them. The characters here are good.
So please, do yourself a favour and dive into this rich world of magic, intrigue and stratified social systems.
Or don't. You're the one missing out.
DreyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've really enjoyed the story so far. It's a new take to the all known LitRPG genre. It also plays in a completly different society.
This Story brings new wind into a genre thats more often then not the same story with different names. You won't find any isekai here, nor will you find the normal "modern society after system apocalypse" anywhere on this page. It's great.
But this new wind attracted the ill will of many people. The author already has a community on patreon and publiced a unpolished draft here to read for free. Instead of being thankful, many people start being mean because this story doesn't fit into the other generic stories you will think of when you hear the word LitRPG. It has a different take on the system, on combat and the most important part: the damage calculation.
In the 28. entries ShroudeWolfe has written about how many people asked her/him to rewrite the system because they don't like it. An audacity I don't even want to understand. And now they did it. Well they reached an compromise. Instead of simply turning away from the story and reading another one, they managed to put the author off. ShroudeWolfe just dropped the story on royalroad and advised her readers to come to patreon if they want to continue reading.
Something I will personally will definitly do, as this story was one of my highlights of the week.
Many thanks again for posting this wonderful piece of art on this website and making me aware of it. I can and will only recommend it.
LotbynameRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really like this, the pov characters are all gripping even after only a chapter and the world building is really intriguing.
My only concerns are about whether it can carry on at this awesome level and perhaps a bit more exposition at the start to ease into it, as it took me a few chapters to be clear enough to really flow.
It's the first story I felt I had to review!
LuciaronRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
You should read this story if you like Litrpgs and good writing. The system is intriguing and shows depth from the get-go. The characters are are fun, fit in the story, and provide room for growth that I am looking forward to. The world bulding is some of my favorite of any story that's started in years. It all comes together to form a foundation that I believe can make Warlock's Gate one of the great long lasting Litrpgs like those at the top of Popular this week.
There are 2 main complaints in the comment section that I'd like to address becasue I believe they're overblown.
Combat damage is provided in log form similar to a combat log from WoW. Some people see it as too much and I personally end up only skimming it, but that is hardly a reason to not read the story.
There are multiple POVs. If this is something you absolutely can't stand I would suggest reading this on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. It would be a shame to miss out on a great story just because of the nature of online releases.
If anything, the writing quality alone makes Warlock's Gate an enjoyable read so give it a shot!
Nameless32Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Warlock's Gate is a rare breed of story on RR, mixing elements of dark fantasy, progression, and political intrigue into a cohesive and gripping whole. And let me tell you, the author doesn't say the litRPG is crunchy for no reason!
If you're the type that loves reading all those beautiful blue boxes in litRPG, you're going to have a blast with this one. All the fights are caked in a heavy drizzle of punchy stat screens, which are expertly placed so as to maximize their impact to the scene. Thus, while the litRPG is certainly heavy in scenes where it's needed, it's not needlessly padding out wordcount in the more character-focused scenes.
Speaking of, the characters are perhaps this story's greatest strength. The author expertly weaves character voice into the dialogue so that every new face feels distinct, and especially regarding the MC, you can tell each character choice was carefully thought out and in line with both rationality and (sometimes irrational) motivation. You aren't getting a robot, but you are getting a cunning warlock who isn't afraid of stealing kills and playing social situations to her advantage.
The MC's narrative voice is majorly enhanced by the sheer quality of prose, which imo is in the upper echelon of what you'll see on RR. It's more descriptive and vivid than almost anything else you'll see on this site.
Oh, and grammar's pristine.
All in all, if you enjoy crunchy litrpg and the grittier side of progression, definitely give this one a try! I can guarantee you'll see it climbing trending in a few weeks.
ProxificentRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is well written and well formatted, with interesting and tantalizing glimpses of a thought out world and strong, clear characterizations and motivations amongst our cast so far. I'm very interested to see where this one goes, and from what the author's said the system in this litRPG is going to be very crunchy, so if that's something that interests you it's worth a follow.
PunishedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I grew invested in the characters very quickly, really enjoyed the style of worldbuilding used, and just in general did not want the story to end. This could have certainly become one of my favorites, and I wish I could have read more. Good luck to you, Shroud. Please keep writing, you have a gift.
Traitorman (JM Clarke)Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Well this was a nice find.
This is a crunchy litRPG with characters that I liked, and it's offering a bit of intrigue too which is a nice change of pace. I went into this thinking it was going to be a nice battle junkie litRPG, but as it goes on, more intrigue has been introduced.
Style
The style is good, with it being nice and smooth to read. There's meat to the prose but it doesn't distract me from the story itself. The only issue I got is that the screens are a bit obtrusive for me. That's because I tend to read lighter litRPGs so that's a personal preference.
Characters
The characters are fun. I don't really focus on Fallon, the main character, as a singular entity because she and her dementher—Asmodeus—bounce off each other so well. The banter really sells it for me, and turns what might have been a drab solo adventure into a fun one as we contend with monsters and intrigue.
Story
It feels early, but the story is really getting going with its intrigue and awesome worldbuilding. It really makes the system not feel bolted on, but really PART of the world.
Grammar
Grammar is great, I noticed no issues.
Cheers, I look forward to more Warlock's Gate!