Starbonded
A Rising Stars Main List hit on Royal Road
Matthew hides a devastating secret—his starbond failed, the process hijacked by a voice he can't understand and now haunts him with nightmares.
When his family is attacked in a political purge, Matthew faces the terrible truth that in a world where starbonds give power to fight Dark Matter Spawn, his true threat are the monsters of men and before them, he is helpless.
Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Matthew finds himself trapped between a growing wall of anger inside him and the realities of survival. Fighting for life inside brutal conditions, he is ultimately left with one decision: die and allow those who hurt him to go unpunished, or make an eternal sacrifice. Matthew makes his choice, and when he does, a darkness inside his nightmares chooses him back.
Starbonded is a progresssion fantasy, dystopian, and grimdark LitRPG novel built for the Royal Road community and fans of the genre. It is a progression oriented novel, though I must say, the litRPG part comes much later than most would expect, defying some genre cliches which I am actually excited about because now the book’s best story beats drive progression rather than trying to force the reverse.
Starbonded launched in October and ranked on 9 Rising Stars Tags, and four Main Genre Tags for Rising Stars in Fantasy, Adventure, Action, and Tragedy before peaking in the top 30 books on Rising Stars Main in Oct. - Nov. 2026.