The Realm of Meriath. A world populated by four species: Humans, Beast Folk, Beasts, and the Undead. Four thousand years ago, the world almost ended as the intelligent species of Meriath knew it. They were on the verge of being overrun by the Undead hordes. It was only averted thanks to multiple figures rising above all else from both the ranks of Humans and Beast Folks. With their lead, they managed to push back and break down the Undead menace, working hard to reclaim their Realm.
When the Dark Ages ended, from those heroes of yore, only six remained standing. They were the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of their families, establishing the Six Houses of Meriath. Families that are, after 4000 years, are still present and still guard the Realm against the Undead. Their mission is to make sure they never rise back to the same frightening state as before, endangering every living being on Meriath.
The House of Amarin is one of these Six Houses. Situated in the most northern part of Meriath, they continue their mission of dealing with the Undead to this day. Lia, born to bear the name of Amarin, is only now starting to realize her own powers, but as the youngest daughter of the family, she is not exempt from responsibilities. A responsibility that nobody knew at the start what would entail regarding the future of not just the House of Amarin but the whole Realm of Meriath...
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Great stuff! I have really enjoyed reading this story through chapter 89. The setting and world building is great. Standard magic system that is easy to understand, consistent, and unobtrusive, and I really like the myth, lore, and history of the continent, spanning many thousands of years and kingdoms and civil strife and a world made up of medieval, modern, future and apocalyptic details. Still, the characters are the best aspect of the story. Lia is a kick ass MC, strong cute, smart, and competent, and she surrounds herself with awesome misfit companions and is from an epic family. I love her ancestors, parents and siblings, especially her sister Aurora and cousin Koa. Very entertaining.
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Interesting worldbuilding with a wide cast of unique characters. Have both serious and fun parts in a good balance, and while I rarely read this genre I like this one a lot, highly recommended.
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What no reviews yet? A great fun story. In the same vein as "Mad God" (read it if you haven't).
A well thought out world with a history and well apparently from the story a DESTINY.
Luke Luke it is your Destiny Luke! (ok just being goofy there)
But it is a fun ride and I recommend it to any. Also the other side novel "Detective Everlong" is a good read as well though completely different.
Of course, I may be drunk as well as inspired but don't let that stop you.
But I'm at chapter 64 and still going looking forward to it every day (minus sundays).
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House of Amaria easily became one of my favorite stories on this site.
The best part about this story to me is the realistic attitude the characters take. There's minimal dialogue in fights, because if you've got time to talk, you're not putting all you're focus into the fight.
People are proactive about problems. They don't give second chances or take risks when it comes to the undead. If someone tries to start some sh*t or has a serious grudge against one of the Houses (like they'll probably do whatever it takes to try and interfere with or get rid of them), they'll kill off their whole family to prevent the risk of any one of them trying to work with the undead. I hate it when characters push off problems or let people off the hook when you know they're gonna pull some insane sh*t to try and get revenge on them.
The world-building is great. It's well thought out and partially a mystery you're trying to puzzle together with Lia as the story goes on. I also love the accessibility it's power system has. It seems like a cultivation type system. I know the author's previous work was one, but it's done in a way that makes a lot of sense to me as someone who's dropped of few of these types of stories because it makes often makes no sense to me. And even though I don't really read them, the codex chapters offer more for those who want it without interfering with the main story.
The pacing is another thing I really appreciate. A surprising amount of stories here have a week last more than a few hundred chapters, and it gets very hard to follow once you catch up and have to read chapters when they come out. Most unnecessary things are cut out and you can feel the story flowing smoothly as time goes on in the story.
The grammar is decent. I don't think English is the author's first language, but it's still very readable. The author makes some errors which are more prevalent in newer chapters as they go back and fix what the comments point out. There're few contractions in the dialogue, which was a little odd at first, but it'd not that big of an issue. Some of the phrases the author uses are slightly off. For example: "scratched his/her throat" instead of "scratched his/her neck" and "cracked his/her throat" instead of "cleared his/her throat." It's confusing at first, but I think the somewhat off phrases can be funny to read.
The only possible inconsistency I have noticed in the story is Lia's age. She's mentioned as an 11-year old a month before the semester starts, and in the summer between 2 and 3 year (which should be a little under 2 years later, unless the break between school years is less than a month. I don't remember if the break's length was mentioned), Reyra says she's 14. There's never a mention of birthdays being celebrated in the story, so it's hard to keep track of ages. Maybe Lia turned 12 in the month before her first year and Reyra calls her a 14 year-old after her birthday just passed. It can still be explained away, so it's not a plot hole. Just a bit confusing.
I'm also not sure why tragedy isn't a genre. The feel the story gives off makes it seem like an important character will die at some point, but maybe Lia surprises everyone and become OP enough to never be bested by the undead. Or maybe they get ex-machina saved by one of the already OP mentor characters in the story and it's used as a lesson for them. (If this does happen I hope it's done in a reasonable way and not some bs plot armor, but I have faith in the author)
Overall, it's a great up-and-coming story. It has intriguing world-building, likeable and realistic characters, and the story direction so far makes you really want to see what happens next. I would recommend to anyone who was interested enough to read a review to give this story a try.
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