The Warcrowned 1: An Archmage Progression Fantasy

by LostInTranscription

Marcus was born to be king. He’d rather devote himself to magic.

He saw magic when he first opened his eyes, and nothing else ever compared. But the king is old and he an only child. The throne is waiting—along with the weight of responsibility.

Out of options, Marcus tries running from his problems. Deep within the royal vaults, he finds a mysterious cube.
An artifact he should never have touched.

Trapped within a time loop, Marcus’s will is tested. His skills are sharpened. But, more importantly, his perspective changes.

After cycles of death and struggle, what kind of king will he become?

And will it be enough to stop what’s coming?

A prince’s journey to the pinnacle of magic and empire – perfect for fans of The Menocht Loop, The Beginning After the End, and A Practical Guide to Evil.

A top rated novel on Royal Road with nearly a million views, now professionally edited and available on Amazon and Audible narrated by Adam Verner. Buy a copy or read free with Kindle Unlimited!

Genres: Fantasy

608 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2026

Reviews

[M Hamed]

everyone is gay,women are in the army and police in enlisted and leadership roles (without magic )

In medieval setting

demented

[Youssef]

DNF. No rating because I don't feel like this is for me and it's mainly a matter of taste.

I liked the premise well enough at first, but I got increasingly bored with the loops. What started light hearted and somewhat silly turned very quickly bleak and depressing. MC doesn't grow, doesn't learn anything new and doesn't have meaningful interactions for the first quarter of the story. He also doesn't exhibit any particular cleverness or endearing qualities. He's just being tortured psychologically and physically in dull ways to the reader. If I push further I might come back to update this review.

Well, it turns out I don't like where the story goes after the loop ends either. This is just not for me.

[Andy Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The War Crowned 1

Marcus is the elderly king’s only child. The problem is that his only love is magic and he has no interest in anything else. Especially ruling. When the King tells him of his upcoming arranged marriage, Marcus has had enough. As he is gathering his things to run away, he finds a magical cube that puts him into a time loop that changes his entire life.

This was an exciting LitRPG! It bounces between war and academia settings. I really enjoyed the way Marcus grew as a character. He had a lot of room for growth at the beginning of the story. His betrothed is a great character and just about stole every scene she was in. I’m excited to read the next book! Adam Verner did an excellent job with the narration!

Content warning: language

[Maxmilimam · Rating 0.25 out of 5]

Yes the book is progressive the MC is Ace, people are gay and women are equal to men without the normal fantasy justifications of magic makes all equal. Now the actual book it's good. But for the ending. Ellie and Marcus are great.

Was 4,5 star until the very end and it all falls apart and everything is made pointless. Throughout the book the critics of the empire are surprisingly few despite it being a war mongering that uses the dungeon to justify all actions taken. However the end makes it clear why. The reader isn't suppose to hate the empire because the empire is correct everything is allowed in pursuit of the dungeons containment. No morals or principles it all goes away. Everything this book builds up is pointless because what happens was always going to happen. There was a prophecy that was just correct and there were no surprises nothing was ever at risk. The end should've been them rejecting the empire and standing strong building up the kingdom preparing for its fall in order to then take over the duties of the empire and rebuilding it with the values that Marcus and Ellie throughout the book showcase. What is the point how the mc being the king if he is just going to give up his independence and because the empire who are responsible for every hardship in his life and the death of his people offers him a deal. F this, it seriously ruins the entire book.

[Aniconomics]

Currently on chapter 9.

Loops are too easy. Time loop stories are meant to be brutally hard. The protagonist does not master the sword after completing his first loop. The second loop has him tinker with divination magic but its hard to say he learned anything new.

These loops are serving little purpose and are finishing too fast. Not to mention the artifact is breaking apart which means the loops are not infinite. He will either complete the loops or be kicked out at some point.

He pretended to be a hunter in the first loop. Why not make that true? He goes through thousands of loops until his combat skills are perfected. Maybe he finds a hunter hidden inside the loop and learns their skills.

What makes this protagonist different from the other potential archmage apprentices that have used this artifact in the past? Why am I interested in this person's story?

There is also modern elements inserted into the story that makes it jarring. Women in the army, male professor mentioning he has a husband and kids???

[Adam Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting spin on time loops.

This was an interesting spin on time loops. Normally in these kind of books the time loop takes up the whole book. But for this one the time loop is actually just part of the story, which does make a little more interesting for me. I also like the progression of the main character as he grows throughout the story and power, it feels like it is earned for the most part and not just handed to him by luck. Of course since he is a mage he's smarter than your average sword wielder lol. Which some people will definitely appreciate. I'm looking forward to book two and getting some more background details on the world hopefully and the situation that has led us to where it's at now.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I loved the intro showing how the main character grows out of his annoying noble phase and thought it was a creative way to approach that problem.

The interactions between the main cast are solid and don't feel stiff. They act friendly and sarcastic when necessary but are also serious with each other when needed.

The magic system wasn't explained to heavily but there is enough context clues that you get what's going on and generally how it works.

I felt there was on odd disconnect in the beginning since the main character says he doesn't know archmages existed. Afterwards he's extremely knowledgeable about them and acts like they were always there. I thought that was a little odd but maybe I misread it.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly Good!

Started off slow. I almost returned before finishing. The story pacing wound up bring just right. Fooled by the slow start and surprised by how good this book turned out to be!

[Richin109 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

This is one of the best books I have read in a while, with a great, extremely complex, and deep world; the end goal was obvious to me, but getting there was a great journey. I would highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the next one.

[Alex Conserva · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent

Started well. Bit boring in the middle. Strong ending. Several references to modern culture which are a bit immersion breaking.