The Knight from Nothing

An Epic Progression Fantasy Adventure (Hedge Knight, Book One)

De: J.Y. Song

Narrado por: J.Y. Song

For the powerless, desire is a curse.

Since he was a child, Helbram had only one wish: adventure. It was this dream that pushed him from the comforts of his village, determined to leave his mark in story and song.

Reality, however, is cruel.

Years of failure have smothered the flames of ambition, leaving embers wrapped in a shell of rusted plate and weathered mail. Some call him knight, but he knows it to be a false title. One he knew would never be true.

Yet still, Helbram walked, his feet carrying him into a land removed from those blessed by the gods, those guided by fate to greatness. It was here that his star would fade, returning to the nothing from which he came.

Or so he thought.

What should have been a simple mission to wipe out a band of bandits falls apart right at the outset, forcing the adventurer into a fight for his life alongside the stragglers of the failed expedition. In the chaos of their survival, something stirs within him.

And the fading flames of dead dreams spark anew.

Enter a world of epic fantasy with a progression of power from weak-to-strong using magical systems from traditional fantasy and cultivation inspired from Xianxia novels. Explore a setting inspired by the likes of D&D, Final Fantasy and Wheel of Time that focuses on detailed world building, character development and interaction, magical science, action, adventure, and some elements of slice-of-life.

Follow the tale of one shunned by the gods, of one abandoned by destiny. This is the story of Helbram Alligard, Hedge Knight.

©2025 J.Y. Song (P)2025 J.Y. Song

Good Story, characterization and beginings

I was given a code by the author to try out this book.  I will be making a fair review with both positive and negatives points.

The Knight from Nothing was an interesting book.I like the characters, the names of places and people and even some of the world building.  The part that really intrigued me was the backstory for an enemy species that became a hook for the lore of that species arrivel and hinted at other previosu events of the world and its gods.   That point is when I becaem really interested in this world.   But I grew up first reading books like the Belgaried by David Eddings and The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan so that should be expected, but the fact I'm comparing it to that shows that backstory planting has some potential.  The battles were detailed and i understood the action that was occuring which is where a lot of modern day authors fail.   The introduction is good and gets me liking the main character from the start.   

For me two things subtracted from the adventure story.  One had to be information about the main character, I knew his name, that he fought martialy, that he had trouble developing any supernatural powers like other adventurers and he had failed someone in the past.   Most of that I learned early on, and at the end of the book it was the same.  Most books should have a story that has a satisfying conclusion that should have a begining , middle and end with some satisfaction for the time put in even if you plan this to be the first book of a larger series, but this first book feels incomplete.

The second is pacing.
I think that this maybe a trend since so many books come to us from RoyalRoad, a great source for intersting stories, but it is published much like a web seriel like those chinese or korean web stories, so they aren'ty always written in a structure that would fit best for a story in a book format.

I'd say if you not like me and into intense and expansive boosk like the Wheel of Tme or The Expanse and want a more simple adventure story like you had around the D&D table with small story hooks setting you up for the next campain this might be the story for you.

A good book

This was a good book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I anticipate the next one will be just as good. All I can do is wait and see.

Fantastic book!

The Knight from Nothing is a fresh and exciting addition to the progression fantasy genre. J.Y. Song crafts a compelling underdog story with Helbram, a relatable hero who rises from obscurity through grit and determination. The world-building is rich, the pacing sharp, and the blend of classic fantasy with cultivation elements feels both nostalgic and new. I listened to the audiobook while reading the paperback, and absolutely loved the narrator’s voice—it brought the characters to life in the best way. A must-read (and listen) for fans of epic journeys, magical growth, and characters you can truly root for. Can’t wait for the next one!

It was a wonderful story, and very well written.

So I want to start with the good things, because this will be long. It is well written, with excellent prose, and very easy to understand. Along with that the events of the story work very well, and the world building is interesting. Most of the characters are likeable, and not only have a good reason for being there, but a good reason for staying there.

Finally, I want to talk about the voice acting. This is an author read story, but you would hardly notice. The line reading is done well, the characters all have different voices that make them easy to tell apart from one another, and the narration all sounds good. All in all I don't think you could get much better performance out of a professional reading of the book by a single performer.

So at last, I need to talk about the problem I had. This is going to be an excellent story, for someone else. The major conflict of the main character seems to have more to do with him feeling sorry for himself. He has a special power, that few on his world have, but his power is weaker than all others, so he spends a lot of his storyline feeling sorry for himself because he doesn't have as much power as everyone else. There are people trying to help him with getting better at using his very limited power, but he gets depressed because he can't do very much, which always ends up coming off as throwing himself a pity party, especially since he is shown to actually be very skilled and powerful, but in a different way.

None of this is to say that you shouldn't like this story, just that it wasn't my cup of tea. If it is yours I'd absolutely suggest you listen to it, but if not I also understand. It's not a badly written flaw in the character, just one that for me feels particularly grating.

I think even later books in this series would definitely be worth checking out, if and when they are available, and definitely any other project the author picks up next.