Cover Reveal: Reflections, Means of Egress by Livia J. Elliot

We at the Asylum are excited to host the cover reveal for both Livia J. Elliot‘s new novelette, Reflections, and her new novel, Means of Egress! These are interactive, choice-based stories that can be read through the mobile app, Unearthed Stories from April 16th, 2024.

Unearthed Stories is a free-to-play game for Android and iOS (iPhone/iPad) to read books with choices, also known as text-based interactive fiction. Most of the stories are free (except Herald and Means of Egress), fantasy or sci-fi only, and heavily thematic. Although there are some cozy books, they target adult readers.

You can install the app now and read the currently available stories. Reflections and Means of Egress will be released on April 16th (9 am AEST) through the updated titled Elusive Pathways. 

Make sure to update the app to access the new content!

Livia J. Elliot is a SFF writer, born and raised in Argentina and currently based in Australia. As a child, Livia enjoyed plucking her family’s library to immerse herself in different worlds. She read Sherlock Holmes’ adventures, historical novels, non-fiction, paranormal suspense, sci-fi and dystopian classics, Shakespeare, and anything she could find. She discovered fantasy realms with old, story-based videogames such as Shining Forces, until one day she found a copy of Dune… and that was her first start into sci-fi and fantasy.

Soon after, Livia J. Elliot began writing stories and, by the turn of the century, she had self-hosted blog where she published weekly chapters. Eventually, after some non-writing related degrees and a relocation around the world, Livia picked a mechanical keyboard and set to write once more… and here we are.

Connect with Livia

• Link
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Threads
• Goodreads
• YouTube

You can also subscribe to Livia’s newsletter for news and bookish discussions: https://liviajelliot.com/newsletter/web

Are

ฅʕ•ᴥ•`ʔ

you

＼ʕ◕ᴥ◕＼ʔ

ready?

⊂ ʕ•ᴥ•⊂ʔ

Cover design & artwork by the author. Editor: Fernando Gamboa (Prowess Games’ Developer).

At night, someone talks while weighed down by memories. Escaping, fleeing, running away… for no purpose, or so they say, but like an interminable sequence of repetitious steps. But is that all there is? Perhaps, you want to hear what this someone says. Perchance, only by remembering he will find a way forwards. This is a literary, philosophical coming-of-age where limited language bars emotional understanding.

A Wanderer awakens. A dungeon opens ahead. A quest to explore and survive. An almighty Dungeon Master of dungeon-twisting wrath. A path predefined by the League and the Nobleblaze lineage. A waltz of questions on the Wanderer’s mind—What do I want? What do I seek? What is my path? A chance to defy the Dungeon Master. This is a philosophical slow-burn dungeon-crawler, discussing the discovery of one’s purpose. Note: This story is presented like a continuous, non-stop single chapter due to plot reasons.

Reflections

This story has two particularities:

There are two points-of-view, which is unusual in books with choices. One PoV talks to you, but you only control the person asking questions… or so it seems.
This story remembers. You can complete it once, and after that, it will change forever. Doesn’t matter how many times you reset, the changes will remain.

Detailed content warnings:

This story is a literary discussion on the difficulties of verbally expressing (and understanding) complex emotions, their causes, and consequences. The narrator is in second person, and the discussions of specific events are non-descriptive but self-explanatory—which adds some degree of (intended) complexity to the reading. Although there are mentions to violence (physical and mental), there are NO mentions to sexual abuse or racism. The story reaches some dark points, but the ending is positive. Depression lurks near all of us. Seek help if you need it, and whatever you do, stay safe.

Means of Egress

Particularities:

Again, there are two points-of-view, one which you control, one which you do not. The latter may be a bit obtuse, a bit gaslighting, and utterly despicable.
This is the most complex and highly combinatorial story in Unearthed Stories (so far!). Livia did a bit of math, it may have 182 different ways of crossing the dungeon. Methinks, there are some caveats to that calculation.

Detailed content warnings:

The Dungeon Master gaslights the Wanderer by saying how they should feel about a situation, prescribing actions, and/or mocking their feelings. You will find mentions of wounds (this is a dungeon with traps and enemies), and a heavy set of expectations. At different moments, this story-game breaks the fourth wall, also relying on different narrators (the Dungeon Master starts in third person, and the Wanderer in first person).