u/CarelessAd3809

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The premise of Ether Atlas - The Hidden Grid is that D&D was a leaked survival manual.

In 1974, a stranger handed Gary Gygax the basic rules of D&D. Fifty years later, the world found out why. Turn out that ancient ruins aren't tourist traps they are pieces of infrastructure that has been patiently waiting for 35,000 years.

1. Over 105,000 words to binge on. Enough content to ruin your sleep schedule.

2. The protagonists are adults with actual careers. A structural engineer, a security consultant, and an archaeologist. All three bring their professional skills to bear when the System turns up. No teenagers learning they're special. Nobody becomes overpowered in a month. Progression is earned, not gifted.

3. Do you enjoy ancient conspiracies? Do you feel the need to scratch that Da Vinci Code or Indiana Jones itch? Ether Atlas is a conspiracy wrapped around a riddle with a sprinkle of ancient aliens. Every answer creates two worse questions.

4. Ancient history and delicious what-ifs. Every ruin in Ether Atlas is a real place you can Google. The party explores actual archaeological sites. Some readers enjoy the rabbit holes. Others hate that homework appeared in their power-fantasy escapism.

5. The party guide is an alien construct who is technically helpful and practically useless. It answers questions with clinical precision and absolute emotional vacancy and specializes in non-recommendations and selective disclosure. Some readers have called him their favourite character. He would not be flattered.

If any of the above sounds like it might be for you, the book is on Royal Road. Reviews have been pretty kind so far.

A reader comment got me thinking. They mentioned that “half the fun of reading was to look stuff up (online)”. Which took me down memory lane.

The first time I looked up “The last Supper” while reading Da Vinci Code or when I went down the Freemasons conspiracy rabbit hole after watching National Treasure.

Litrpgs/progression by the virtue of being set in fantasy worlds don’t lend themselves to google yet concepts in them sure do.

So the question - what was the last thing you googled because of a genre book and what did you learn that you weren’t trying to learn?

A reader comment got me thinking. They mentioned that “half the fun of reading was to look stuff up (online)”. Which took me down memory lane.

The first time I looked up “The last Supper” while reading Da Vinci Code or when I went down the Freemasons conspiracy rabbit hole after watching National Treasure.

Litrpgs/progression by the virtue of being set in fantasy worlds don’t lend themselves to google yet concepts in them sure do.

So the question - what was the last thing you googled because of a genre book and what did you learn that you weren’t trying to learn?

You think you'll feel great when you hit Rising Stars, yeah? Well, you will, but you’ll also feel fear, anxiety, and this weird giddiness, refreshing the rankings every 15 minutes.

When I launched Ether Atlas three weeks ago, I was afraid I’d be writing into the void. That didn’t happen, thankfully!!

The story hit RS, climbed, and now has over 600 followers. And I feel a sense of responsibility I didn’t anticipate. The book is no longer “my book.” Now it’s a community thing, and I can’t just disappear for three weeks on a whim. This feels amazing and terrifying in equal parts.

I don’t really have a big point. Just that I’ve been left humbled and stunned by the reception. The idea that strangers are invested in something I built is hard to fully put into words.

THANK YOU.

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When I launched on royal road I was anxious, thinking I'd be writing into the void. That is not what happened.

Two weeks ago I posted here because a few people had read my story, I got my first review, and it broke my brain a little. Since then, Ether Atlas - The Hidden Grid somehow ended up on Rising Stars, and I'm still not sure I've caught up mentally.

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I don't think I was prepared for strangers to care about something that lived in my head for years. And I was definitely not prepared for the sense of responsibility I now feel. For the longest time this was my book. Now it's a community thing. I can't just disappear for three weeks on a whim anymore.

This whole Rising Stars business makes me equal parts anxious and giddy, which feels like the correct emotional state for whatever this is.

I keep refreshing the page like it's going to correct itself.

So yeah. No big point here. Just a big thank you. For reading, for sticking around, for giving this thing a shot. You guys are the bestest.

I should get back to writing.