Skyclad (Fate’s Anvil #1)

One of the most well written stories on Royal Road, Skyclad is an an epic fantasy about a waitress (Morgan) falling into a litRPG world and trying to make it in one of the most dangerous wilderness areas on the planet. The main and side characters are well written, and Morgan\’s choices leading to her perpetual nakedness and the consequences are well thought through. She gains power quickly, but there\’s always something meaner and hungrier in the Wild lands, and powerful prey are the quickest way for anyone to level. One of the best parts of the story is the world building. I love how epic it is, and there seems to be a huge world with implied political/magical/economic complexities just around each corner. It feels real (for a given RPG magical world version of real). A lot of this is done from the viewpoints of the other Worldwalkers (others who fell through the cracks into Anfealt). Warning: there are a fair number of perspective shifts other than Morgan, so if you want all her all the time, you may not like the amount of other viewpoints. Overall this is one of my favorite stories (both from RR and in general) and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who likes litRPG and/or epic fantasy.

They say dont judge a book by its cover an that saying is fitting here. Cover art aside the premise of a nudist female main character could easily be used for cheap titillation. The author instead uses it as a unique gimmick to hook you in and tell a story with a strong female protagonist in an interesting world. This is a book with strong Characterization and its supporting cast make keep it from falling into the trope of OP MC and cardboard cutout side characters. The supporting cast is so well realized that you sometimes wish some of them were the main character. This story has strong undertones that suggest the author has been a member of the military and these themes truly serve to add flavor to what could have easily been your average, elves, dwarves, beastmen, evil empire trope fest. It really asks the question how would people with the sensibilities of our world interact with x type world. I couldnt help drawing comparisons to This is a book with strong Characterization and its supporting cast make keep it from falling into the trope of OP MC and cardboard cutout side characters. The supporting cast is so well realized that you sometimes wish some of them were the main character. This story has strong undertones that suggest the author has been a member of the military and these themes truly serve to add flavor to what could have easily been your average, elves, dwarves, beastmen, evil empire trope fest. It really asks the question how would people with the sensibilities of our world interact with x type world. I couldnt help drawing comparisons to Michael Chatfields Ten Realm series for military undertones and interaction between old an new world sensibilities. Though Browder mostly does this with the aforementioned side characters whereas for Chatfield it is the main focus. Definitely looking forward to book 2 and hope the Author invests in new cover art so more people will get hooked into this new fantasy epic.

When this book first popped up I read the blurb and passed it by. A little later I saw all the 5 star reviews and decided to give it a try. I am very glad I did, it is well worth the read. The concept is fairly standard isekai, the heroine (and others) from our world get transported to another and have to learn how to live. One of the nice things about this story is the \”bonus\” given to these world walkers is not horribly overbalanced (i.e. it gives them a moderate boost but doesn\’t make them massively overpowered or everything too easy). The other nice thing about this story is that while it relies heavily on LitRPG elements it doesn\’t immediately force the heroine into a permanent choice but allows her to grow into those choices organically, at least as far as the plot goes. In this case the heroine arrives with nothing but her loofah as she was transported while taking a bath and finds herself in one of the most inhospitable places possible for a weak low level human. This leads her to taking actions and choices that make sense from her perspective and set the stage for fun and slightly titillating choices in her future as she accepts the choices she made yet pushes back against the system that tries to constrain her based on those earlier unknowing decisions. Other reviewers have already mentioned the direction those choices lead her, assuming the title isn\’t enough to give it away, so I won\’t go into details but I liked how the character was emotionally strong enough to accept the path she ended up on without the story devolving into base humor or making stupid jokes about the situation (the time she finally meets other people was handled well).

Definitely a few plot twists on the transported to another world genre, but what made this gem stand out for me was the amazingly emotive imagery, most prominent during the class selection. The scene where a bard (of all classes!) made her choice, made me break down and cry a little in public.

This is an epic dungeon lit. story which I throughly enjoyed reading. There are many characters and various stories, not all of which intertwine in this volume. Im looking forward to reading the next book in the series when its available, (In the near future, I hope Mr Browder. Hint, hint!). Its all about choice. The System of the multiverse doesnt care about good or bad, kind or cruel. Everything that led you to be what you were, are now, or will ever become, is a series of choices that make up your story. And to the System, the Stories are All!! You may have only ever had shitty choices, (kill or be killed, submit or die, steal or starve), but theyre your choices to make. Four hundred years ago, the slavers of the Deskren empire invented the golden soul collars, which removes all choices from the wearer, as the victim of the collar is compelled to obey. And after four hundreds years of waiting for the other kingdoms of the world of Anfealt, to do something about this abomination, the system has had enough! So it selects a set of random people from Earth and drops them all over Anfealt to stir things up. Morgan was having bath when the System pulled the world out from under her and dumps her at the top of a tree in a forest of the Wildlands of Anfealt. Her adventure begins totally naked and alone, with nothing but a cast-iron clawfoot bathtub and a loofah to call her own. Both of which come to save her life. Due to a series of misadventures as she learns to weald magic while naked and unequipped, she must continue in this sky-clad fashion, or forfeit all the power and skills she has earned. When she travels the Wildlands, au naturel, towards civilisation and the other Worldwalkers from Earth, she encounter the Deskren empire and their soul collars for the first time and her fury at such filth is awoken. And her fury is a hellish and unforgiving thing!

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