Virtuous Sons

Virtuous Sons #1

by Ya Boy

The saying goes that when a man is born the Fates weave his destiny and swaddle him in it. Then one day the man dies, and the swaddle becomes a shroud. Heaven moves on.

It is audacity to question the Fates. Olympus is Olympus. The land of men is the land of men. To transgress that, to cross the line of divinity and scale Olympus Mons? To defy the Fates and cast off their threads?

That is hubris. It’s a mark that every philosopher bears plainly on their soul.

Genres: Fantasy

Unknown Binding

First published October 6, 2022

Reviews

[Kai Haakon Melberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute tragedy that this isn't more well known. Even in its relatively unpolished state, Virtuous Sons represents everything you want out of rational literature. A masterclass in dialogue, interesting characters, wordbuilding and interwoven philosophy. All characters have their own internal motivations. None are treated as purely plot devices. Sol and Griffon are both flawed characters, but the world never rewards them for it. They're tossed around by forces that work multiple magnitudes of power above them, yet the author still manages to make it feel as if the books direction is dictated by them.

The work explores thoughtful behaviour of people in honest pursuit of their goals, as well as consequences of their behaviour on the fictional world or the story's plot. It has a focus on intelligent characters solving problems through creative applications of their knowledge and resources. The world acts in accordance to itself, when rules are broken it's only because the world has a groove in place for that type of break in the first place.

“Wiser than you look,” the old woman said approvingly. “But what makes you think you’re worthy of my wisdom?”

I scoffed. “What makes you think your wisdom is worthy of me?”

Recommended to anyone that enjoys greek philosophy, ratfic, and beautiful prose.

[Daniel Du Toit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible.
Taking a western spin on the Chinese cultivation genre, Ya Boy manages to immerse, captivate and inspire in what I thought would be another generic webnovel.

This book's greatest strength is its philosophy. Its virtue. Somehow, every little aspect of the book - the story, characterization, setting - is all fundamentally linked with the various philosophies presented in the book.
Look no further than the two protagonists. You have Griffon - to whom cultivation is almost irrelevant; it doesn't matter where you stand between a philosopher and a hero, so long as you're true to yourself. Or at least that's what he seems to believe.
Then you have sol - to whom cultivation is a means to an end. He doesn't seem to want to better himself due to any grand aspirations of self-betterment: to him, cultivation simply means becoming strong enough to enact his revenge.
Fans of 'A Practical Guide to Evil' are in for a massive treat: the virtue based world of cultivation is quite similar to that of the Named in the aforementioned series, though not so similar that they aren't unique.
Please, please, please - read this.

[Samrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic to read on royalroad, and even better organized into a book. The characters are great and the story is compelling if opaque, but my favorite thing is how well the author reconstructs cultivation in a different context than the original.

[That Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic spin on the cultivation genre with Ya Boy skillfully weaving aspects of Greek philosophy and mythology into into the Epic of Griffon and Solus

[Ben Effinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring to be honest. Shame the author stopped writing. And the AUDACITY to post a new chapter saying “We rise” In the author note after 6 months, then back to complete silence.