A Journey of Black and Red
by Mecanimus
- Gore
- Profanity
- Sexual Content
- Traumatising content
Where am I? What is this! I... I don't remember anything. I am in chains? Why am I in chains?! And why am I so very...
Thirsty.
This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.
Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco
Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Jemima, my patrons and you dear readers, for the support.
- Overall Score
- Style Score
- Story Score
- Grammar Score
- Character Score
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- Followers :
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- Ratings :
- 1,918
- Pages :
- 1,926
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worthy of being a professionally written novel
Reviewed at: 74. Vernissage
Note; don't get weirded out by the beginning of the story
As you can see from the score I find this story amazing, from the writing, the wit and the general plot, characters and action. This story is amazing.
The start can be off putting but I feel adds to the experience once you understand what is going on

Excellent work and story
Reviewed at: 70. Painful hearing.
The story of A Journey of Black and Red is very continuous, and connects plot arcs very well. It shows growth of character, detailed story, and has engaging combat, while not relying on any one of those for a sole support; rather joining all of them in a mixture to keep the story going.
Yes, there are errors, and yes, not everything is for everyone. I have parts I didn't like. But the vast majority of it I loved, and this was posted in-progress, as it was written. This shows that The author wrote well, and wrote engagingly enough that people would keep reading through the distasteful parts. And even then, if you look at it, even the parts I did not particularly like were well-crafted and interesting.

Amazing Story All Around
Reviewed at: 71. House Nirari
One of the best stories I ever read. The main character is touching, fun, and savage all at the same time. The world feel alive, gritty and well put together . The secondary characters are generally amazing and unique.
The story itself is great. There is combat, politics, Manipulation, Magic, Monsters, Humor but also just people being people. There are untones of Lovecraftian horror (as if I couldn't like this story) , half dread, half awe inspiring .
And no oversexualization which is a welcome first for a vampire story.
As a non English reader (French), it was easy to read, and it felt like really fluid writing.
Without a doubt my favorite on RR. Actually made me go on patreon because this is the kind of story that makes me laugh, dream and desperately wait for the next chapter.

Read now!
Reviewed at: Glossary.
A great journey trough XIX century America with Ariane, a newborn vampire coming to terms with her new reality.
The writing immediately draws you into this world, familiar yet different, managing to acomodate both great characters and an interesting plot, as Ariane struggles to find her place in it.

Delightfully refreshing.
Reviewed at: 3. False Haven
A delightfully refreshing story. Like a cold Coca-Cola on a hot summer day.
Man am I thirsty now.
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RR wants me to write 200 characters, so I guess I'll give it a go. This story is not your typical RR story. In an age of overt LitRPG, this story shines with its subtleness. The author doesn't tell us what time period it is, who the main character is, nor much else really. However, he shows us. Through vocabulary, sentence structure, mannerisms, and all sorts of subtle shenanigans.
Hats off. 5/5

Simply Phenomonal
Reviewed at: 28. Like Herding Cats pt. 1
This story is well deserving of all the praise and hype surrounding it. It is so rare to find a novel that has such a unique yet familiar setting an style. It somehow manages to draw out all of the romanticism of the early 1800's Americas while still presenting its flaws. It finds a way to mix the bloodthirst monsters of Dracula with our modern twist of the heroic villan in a way that (at least for me) wonderfuly blends all the most interesting traits of vampires archaic and modern alike.
Read this book. You will not regret it.

Vampires done right
Reviewed at: 26. Self-Discovery
Beautifully written, engaging, solid character-focused piece. Intense, passionate, pacing is excellent. Your take on the time period and supernatural elements are inspired. Some elements perhaps a little too into it for my tastes, but whatever.
Stumbled on this by Read Random, binged it, loved it. I look forward to your future work, and thank you for posting.

A delightful treat!
Reviewed at: Glossary.
The Journey of Black and Red is a story about a young girl named Ariane that has been turned into a Vampire. The story is a Dark Tale, and those trigger warnings are serious. The story churns your gut and makes you extremely uncomfortable in the first arc, yet that is the exact reason why I believe people should read this. It makes you connect to tragedy, to cruelty, and to the vicious nature that permeates Vampire society and it is oh so thrilling.
The First Arc is a survival story, and it is dark, gruesome, demeaning, and generally extremely uncomfortable as you watch her struggle against her fate. Yet, later on, when you see her succeed, the joy, the relief, the comfort, the victory is all the sweeter.
This story is weird in that it stars at the darkest moments the series has to offer, and the first arc is a struggle against your queasy gut to read through, yet, I implore you to read on, because the story is not about struggle itself, it is also about victory.
The second arc and onwards have a much more light tone and you get to explore the world with Ariane as she travels around the world on her escapades.
The World itself is 1800s Earth, and with the lifespan of a Vampire, we get to explore a lot of historical moments and how they translate into the fantasy setting. Personally I find myself excited for the 1900s and WW1 and WW2 to see how things will be when we get that far in the timeline (if we get that far in the timeline). Seeing the historical society mix in with our fantasy one I can only be in awe at the mastery with which it has been accomplished. No complaints there.
The Characters are one of the strongest points of the story: From the first page itself you will find yourself drawn in by the dialogue. With an extremely well fleshed out personality we get to see her struggle in accepting her new reality and how she changes over time. Growing, learning, improving. The side characters also have extremely interesting personalities and overall it is the force that drives the stories (along with a masterfully planned plot and exciting events of course).
The Way that Vampires were handled is also something I find myself taking points from. The Bestial nature, the unique language, the various unique body language, and traits bring to life a fantasy creature of the night in their full glory. I love how each vampire feels like a person of themselves and does not instead succumb to a stereotypical vampire role instead. That along with the struggle of the Thirst and her predatory nature as a vampire it is oh so well done and a treat to read.
The only thing I can think that I can complain about is that the pace feels off sometimes and that is very rare.
Overall a Must-Read for those that can handle the first Arc.
TL;DR Give it a try.

Fascinating, alluring and addictive
Reviewed at: 26. Self-Discovery
This story hits all the right places for me, but the best parts are the vampires and the protagonist. The vampires are portrayed as true monsters, they are mysterious and frightening in their nature, not just their supernatural powers.
The protagonist is lovable and believable. I found myself giggling reading her thoughts on her circumstances.
And the author’s style is unique and quite enjoyable.
To sum up, the story is great, the characters are fun, go read it :3

An Excellent Find
Reviewed at: 71. House Nirari
The first chapter read in a very stiffly structured manner and put me off initially, but rapidly improved after. I ended up rationalising it as her being in her drone state.
I binged this story in a couple days. Worth reading, especially if you're looking for a decent vampire story. So far no romance, thankfully, and if there is later on it seems unlikely to be a focus.
My only complaint would be how the main character seems to morph, personality-wise, immediately after her time in servitude in a way that felt a tad forced. I'm looking forward to following this story though.
Update: This story has been worth the Patreon subscription.