It’s not every day you read a book with weapon-wielding dinosaurs on the cover, but it perfectly captures the bizarre, compelling blend of primal survival and lizards that defines this story. The Trial of Vivex appears to be a Royal Road web serial adapted into a novel format, published under the pseudonym Xyne. The author describes it as “The Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park,” which is surprisingly accurate, though I’d add that it feels like playing the video game Spore in book form, watching a creature evolve from vulnerable hatchling to apex predator.
This book is progression fantasy, a subgenre I’d never heard of before picking this up, but which apparently focuses on characters systematically gaining skills and power over time. What makes Vivex unique is that the entire story is told from the perspective of sentient dinosaur-creatures called Greenscales. Little in the way of humans appear directly. You’re fully immersed in a reptilian mindset driven by instinct, hunger, and ruthless competition, and honestly, it’s refreshingly original in a genre that can feel overstuffed with dragons and magical academies.
The story follows Vivex, the smallest and weakest hatchling in her brood, as she struggles through the Trial, a brutal rite of passage where baby Greenscales must prove they deserve to live. From the moment she hatches, Vivex is at a disadvantage: malnourished, undersized, and constantly bullied by larger siblings. A massive warrior named Tok serves as their Provider, bringing food and teaching culture, but he never intervenes to stop the violence. His philosophy is simple and terrifying: if you can’t survive, you don’t deserve to.
What I found particularly compelling is how Vivex survives. She doesn’t become the strongest or fastest. Instead, she becomes the smartest. Unable to compete physically, she learns to observe, adapt, and outthink her environment. She masters camouflage, studies predator behavior, steals food through misdirection, and learns when retreat is smarter than fighting. The book suggests that intelligence and adaptability can be just as valid as brute dominance, even in a world that worships physical power. It’s a great moral about beating the odds through cleverness rather than strength, and watching Vivex game the system while everyone around her relies on violence is deeply satisfying.
The action is relentless and visceral in this book. Every feeding becomes a desperate scramble. Every predator encounter could be fatal. Every act of bullying leaves scars. The relatively straightforward prose serves the story efficiently. You feel Vivex’s hunger, exhaustion, and pain. The writing reminds me of nature documentary narration crossed with grimdark fantasy: clinical in its brutality but never gratuitous. The only minor issue I found is the heavy use of italics for Vivex’s internal Instinct voice. The constant shifts between regular narration and italicized instinctual commands can be confusing, especially during action scenes when you’re already tracking multiple threats.
I particularly loved the small worldbuilding touches. Each chapter opens with an in-universe quote, aphorisms about survival and philosophical fragments. The brutal Greenscale society is vividly imagined. They believe weakness could doom the entire world to destruction. The book is also slightly philosophical for something this action-packed. It explores social Darwinism, how animals think, and whether tradition should be preserved when it causes harm.
That said, this is where the Royal Road origins show. Some sections feel repetitive as a novel, and the middle section could’ve been tightened without losing impact. It’s effective for immersion, making you feel Vivex’s grinding exhaustion, but it can feel like the same thing over and over if you’re binge-reading. The book is also relentlessly harsh. If you want comfort or a light read, this isn’t it. Hatchlings starve, get torn apart, disappear overnight. Vivex gets beaten bloody repeatedly. Some readers may find it exhausting rather than compelling.
I was also slightly confused by the formatting choices. Certain words are randomly bolded throughout the text without clear purpose, and there’s constant onomatopoeia (Thwack! Crack!) that feels more suited to a comic book than a novel. These stylistic quirks can make the prose harder to follow than necessary, pulling you out of otherwise gripping scenes. The writing is strong enough that it doesn’t need these distractions, and in my opinion a cleaner presentation and pacing could have made the story even better.
Character-wise, most side characters function as roles rather than personalities. This works since the Trial discourages individuality, but readers expecting interpersonal drama may feel unsatisfied. There aren’t many deeply explored characters beyond Vivex herself, which keeps the focus tight but may feel limiting for those who enjoy ensemble casts. The aforementioned Tok is the exception with his words of wisdom, “You all will prove you are worthy of life, as was decreed of old, or you will die.” But that’s not so much a criticism as warning, and fans of Tok will be delighted as apparently there is a spin-off prologue about him!
All in all, this book delivers exactly what it promises and does so with conviction. It’s smart, brutal, and genuinely original. For fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl who enjoy clever underdogs beating systems through wit, or readers who loved Watership Down‘s animal POV survival with philosophy, this is a must-read. It’s also perfect for anyone curious about trying progression fantasy. A unique, gripping survival story that proves intelligence can be just as deadly as strength. If you want fantasy with claws, brains, and no safety nets, this fun book deserves your attention.
Final verdict: A refreshingly original progression fantasy that delivers non-stop action and a page-turning survival adventure. Recommended for fans of Matt Dinniman, who like their survival stories brutal and utterly uncompromising. Just don’t expect anyone to hold your hand through it.
You can get your copy of The Trial of Vivex here, or read for free on Kindle Unlimited!
