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A Necromancer on the run.

Tyron Steelarm, accompanied by the spirit of his mentor and friend, Dove, is desperate to realise his potential and change his destiny.

To achieve his aims, he must outwit and outrun the marshals who seek to track him down, and the slayers who want him dead. Worst of all, his own parents, renowned heroes of the realm, have been tasked with bringing him to justice.

For how long will they be able to delay fulfilling this cruel order, and what will happen when they run out of time? All Tyron can do is run, and fight.

Book 2 of the next hit LitRPG series from RinoZ, the author of Chrysalis. Book of the Dead takes on all aspects of Necromancy headfirst, from the tactical manuevering of skeletons, to what it's like spending so much time amongst the undead.

504 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2023

297 people are currently reading
108 people want to read

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RinoZ

24 books162 followers

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5 stars
1,038 (67%)
4 stars
366 (23%)
3 stars
101 (6%)
2 stars
16 (1%)
1 star
12 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
2,534 reviews72 followers
December 8, 2023
Meant to be a moral journey.

Fails miserably. This keeps the main character as a cowardly child doing what his parents expect of him. The first half is boring and drawn out. The second half is horrible decisions that make little sense. The ending is anticlimactic and truly makes the whole story pointless.
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,176 reviews82 followers
December 30, 2024
Book two

I have been reading this story over on Royalroad. It's one that I read when I have run out of other things to read. It's not boring and does hold my interest when I read it, but it is also one that I can put down for other stories.

7/10
Profile Image for Stanislas Sodonon.
480 reviews108 followers
January 15, 2024
A worthwhile follow-up to the previous volume, with a very satisfying ending.
Not much really happened plot-wise in this volume. MC is slowly leveling up, which is done rather tactfully. Dialogue is still of excellent facture, especially the banter. Audiobook narration is very competent, even if the voices lacks a bit of variety.

I had 3 issues with this volume.

1. The author has built up resource pool and minion scarcity as a check system. But they ignore the checks when it is inconvenient. MC complains about minions getting destroyed but never runs out somehow. Similarly, top-up crystals don't seem to affect him anymore, although we talk about how nocive they are...
Also, are the minions autonomous or not? The author should make their mind because they keep contradicting themselves.

2. It's becoming a pattern to have the MC being pincushionned and brought to the brink of death, just to walk away fine within a few pages. The author constantly wants to scare us with the potential of maiming, but the existence of omnipotent healing magic makes it fall flat. Oh yes, fight timing is a bit too flamboyantly Hollywood for me.

3. Random POV insertion is not helping the story in my opinion. Either the author commits to widening the scope so there's a sense of continuity with the new POVs, or we stop getting the perspective of randoes that actually don't progress the story in any way because the MC gets the info again anyway.

None of the above issues are grave enough to irremediably tarnish my enjoyment of the story. But they are recurring, enough that I do take notice.

I still want to get the next volume when it becomes available, but I really hope the main story starts progressing a bit.
Profile Image for Sunday Okafor.
127 reviews5 followers
February 5, 2024
rinoz has one simple problem, when he picks a particular power or skill for his characters he sticks with it and refuses to diversify.
I'm not saying it's bad to stay consistent on a particular thing but sometimes it's stupid to develop on just one thing.
The character Tyron is a necromancer, and it's common knowledge to only pick subclasses that supports his primary, but see there in lies the problem. it's also common knowledge that the best way to defeat a necromancer is to go after him directly, preferably after keeping his minions occupied. A necromancer is weaker and bad at close range battle, any sane person would pick a sub-class that covers that sore weakness, but not this guy, he insists that he can do without a defensive or an attack based class so long he has powerful minions. I read this book only because I wanted to relax and read some litrpg, I'm aware that most books in this genre are badly written but I tried this and it was ok, I was willing to ignore some poor writing choices in the book and revel solely on the progression aspect but when even that is subpar, it's quite hard to enjoy the book. It's infuriating to watch the character continue making poor choices while evolving his class.

This trend could be seen in his other book about some guy who reincarnated as an ant in another world. Though I haven't read that book, i discovered that the character chose to evolve continually as an ant, never choosing to adopt at least a humanoid appearance. This truly separates his book from most books with monstrous characters choosing to adopt a human appearance, but ask yourself this- if you were a human reborn as some animal but had the chance to evolve into something at least close to humanoid, would you take it?? or choose to remain an ant and hiding out underground?
631 reviews15 followers
January 7, 2025
To much moral

Way too much woe is me and guilty feelings, for someone so bright he was a complete idiot, I skipped a lot of pages to get to the end hope the third book is better
Profile Image for Russell Gray.
678 reviews135 followers
October 11, 2025
This was a great continuation of the series as Tyron further developed his skills, gained new insights into the powers behind the curtain, and dealt with the steadily escalating consequences of his actions.

There was a recurring theme of Tyron struggling with the morality of his choices in between bouts of feverish resurrections and skirmishing with groups of enemies. Many reviewers seemed to take issue with this, but I didn't. Tyron was a relatively sheltered kid who grew up in a small backwater village dreaming of becoming a genuine hero and saving the world like his parents, whom he idolized. I think we can expect some periods of self-doubt and reflection considering his path is taking him places he never expected and where he has to define whether the ends justify the means. Every regretful act puts additional pressure on Tyron to succeed and make it all worth it. Is it a hero's journey, or just a selfish delusion following the sunk cost fallacy? That's what we're here to find out.

If Tyron didn't have these bouts of moral sickness, he would have one less obstacle to overcome as a character. There are plenty of typical gamelit MCs who go all in on murderhobo mode, so I'm enjoying the gradual descent by necessity this story provides.

I think this is one of the best series for really grounding the magic with a sense of consistency. The author did a great job planning a framework for applying the game mechanics/magic system to the worldbuilding.

This book completes what would, for many characters, be their How I Became a Villain arc, so I'm curious to see how far he lets himself go now that specific lines have been crossed. There is still a fair amount of political movements happening behind the scenes to escalate things in future volumes and I'm excited to see where things go.
Profile Image for Daniel.
472 reviews17 followers
June 14, 2024
This had all the action the previous one lacked. That didn't make it better. I felt like there were no real challenges for the character. Also how is it that

' “Offed? Killed? Slaughtered? Laid to rest? Pushed off the mortal coil? Sent to the embrace of the Five? Torso-fucked with a sword? I’ve got more.” ' Had me dying.

' “I refuse to be stuck in this skull for the rest of my afterlife, kid. You agreed to set me free, remember? If it looks like you might lose, I want you to smash my skull and break the ritual. I will not be used as a desk ornament for a horny, murderous farmhand for the next dozen years, alright? So take me with you.” '

' “Do you expect a real god, a truly divine being, to fly down from the sky and ask for your devotion? To bargain like a street whore? Don’t be ridiculous. We worship them because that is what they deserve, and because they are beings of whim. There is no harm in currying favour with beings so much greater than ourselves.” '
Profile Image for Gareth Otton.
Author 5 books132 followers
April 3, 2025
Through the simple act of spending more time with the protagonist, this book fixes the most significant issue of the last novel: a lack of attachment to the main character. As a result, I am much more invested in the protagonist's story and this story on the whole... but this novel is not without its issues.

Before we get to that, let's discuss what's good with this book. The first thing is that with the main problem fixed, the story felt much richer. It also allowed all of the things that were good in the first novel to shine all the brighter because they were part of something much better. The well-rounded supporting cast, the well-written action, and the focus on developing a complex magic system were all highlights here.

I also like the larger story that is unfolding. While the pacing still feels a bit more 'slice-of-life' than epic fantasy, the stakes are certainly on the rise, and it's interesting to see how far this series might go.

Finally, I want to applaud the ending. This book finishes strong, making some bold choices that will shake things up going forward, and setting the stage well for the next novel to take us to new heights.

All that being said, this book suffers from one frustrating issue: a glacial pace.

A lot of people misunderstand what sets the pace of a novel. Some people think it's lots of action, but this book has plenty of action and still feels slow. Other people think it's consistent progression of the plot and characters, and those people are much closer, but still not quite right. The pace of a novel is set by meaningful progression of plot and characters.

This story is the perfect example of why the word 'meaningful' is so important. This book has plenty of action, the protagonist advances continuously throughout the story, and there is always forward progression in the plot. The issue is that none of these things are meaningful steps. The necromancy progression is the best example. The main character is constantly making breakthroughs, continuously doing things that he is hailed as a genius for having achieved. But in the grand scheme of things and its impact on the story, he barely moves forward from where he was at the end of book one.



Despite a surface-level increase in this character's power, his impact on the challenges he faces and his situation on the whole and the world he lives in have barely changed. At the most, it's maybe moved one step forward.

This is true for most of the story elements in this book. A lot happens, but very little is achieved. Things that probably should have occurred in the first novel don't happen until the very end of this novel. This drastically slows down the pacing and leaves the reader frustrated, as it feels like we're putting in a lot of effort but getting nowhere fast.

Overall, I continue to enjoy this series, and I really liked where this one ended. It shook things up a bit and made it so that this series can't rely on formulaic storytelling. I'm hoping that translates into big things for book three, and maybe the first five-star review of the series.
Profile Image for JustAGuy209.
70 reviews
August 30, 2024
Sacrifice (Book of the Dead #2) by RinoZ - 3/5 Stars

First and foremost, I want to state that I'm not an author. I don't know what it takes to write a book; this is just my opinion based on my life experiences.

I felt that "Sacrifice," the second book in the Book of the Dead series, was good overall. I appreciated the realism—or pseudo-realism—concerning necromancy, which added depth to the narrative.

However, I was a bit upset by the ending, particularly regarding the dynamics between the parents and their son.

Despite these frustrations, I think I'll read the next book in the series when it comes out.

I would rate this installment 3 stars out of 5. While I don't think I'll reread the series, I might pull some ideas from it for my next D&D game.

One aspect I wish had been developed further was the communication between the parents and the son. It would have been more impactful if they had met up sooner and had some form of dialogue throughout the book.
This book is clearly LitRPG, and aside from a couple of crude jokes, it's relatively clean in terms of explicit content.

5 stars - Exceptional, life-changing, or will reread multiple times
4 stars - Highly enjoyable, likely to reread, would recommend
3 stars - Decent read, might not remember long-term
2 stars - Not for me, struggled to finish
1 star - Poorly written or factually incorrect

Overall, Sacrifice earns 3 stars for its engaging elements, despite some narrative choices that didn't resonate with me.
Profile Image for Alesay.
282 reviews8 followers
December 5, 2025
Overall thoughts on Book 1 and 2.

4.85 stars. I’m really enjoying this series so far. The necromancy focus is fun to follow and I appreciate the steady and believable progression. The MC is talented, but he still has to work for everything, which makes his growth feel earned. His background gives his power a clear reason, so nothing feels random. He already shows glimpses of how dangerous he might become someday, but for now he is still vulnerable enough that the danger around him feels real.

One of my favourite parts is how his mindset starts to change. He keeps trying to do the right thing even when those choices don’t always benefit him long term, which is both interesting and a little frustrating. The story shows the cost of his decisions as the world treats him more unfairly. His friend and mentor was a great addition to balance that out since he often pointed out when the MC wasn’t being practical.

My only small complaints are that a couple emotional moments near the end could’ve been explored a bit more, and some reactions from others felt unfair without enough explanation. But the ending itself was a strong turning point that really sets up a darker and more exciting direction for the MC going forward.

Overall, this continuation has great momentum and sits solidly in the high 4 star range for me. I’m very excited to see what happens next.
2,353 reviews
December 29, 2023
The hand that the MC (Tyrone Steelarm) was dealt was an unfair one. Extremely unfair from the very beginning of Tyrone's adventure as all children at a certain age receives their gift from the gods! But the gods threw in a monkey wrench when it was time for Tyrone's turn and since the "gift" (think necromancer) is illegal. And he had just 2 choices, either turn himself in, and be stripped of his gift or run... and book 2 Sacrifice is a continuation of the first book. With all the action I craved. So yeah, Tyrone along with Dove's help, his spirit friend (think Bob from Harry Dresden but with a dirty mouth) gets stronger! Tyrone's goal is to get people to accept him as he is without the stigma associated with his illegal gift. He wants to show people that you don't hafta use the gift for evil. So he ends up fighting against the riftkin and even protecting villages from bandits. While the Marshals and Slayers are mounting their forces to hunt him down! Facing what seemingly looks like insurmountable odds Tyrone keeps on fighting. If you grab the book you'll be able to find out what happens! So leave it to rinoZ to write about a necromancer which was soooooooo interesting that it had me glued to my seat and hanging on to every word! Oh and Phil Thron does a bang-up job narrating the book.
4,389 reviews56 followers
May 10, 2024
Tyron continues his struggles and I continue to like him. He is a bit of a idealist in that he still wants to help people but his choices are more and more limited by being declared an outlaw before he even has ever done anything and the choices of skills as he levels up. He doesn't want to kill slayers because they are the good guys and the only thing that stands between the population and the riftkin which would destroy their world. But when he becomes their prime target what is he suppose to do. And even when he helps people they are quick to turn on him because of the skeletons that accompany him. But he does the best he can and there are a few revelations at the end that might just change how he sees the world.

Dove is a fun addition because he is such the antithesis of Tyron in his personality. Also, it would be a boring if there was no one else for Tyron to interact with. Yeah, I find the details of the evolution of the necromancer class interesting but the story really needs more than just one character since Tyron is pretty much shunned at every opportunity.

Anyways, a nice progression of the series with plenty of surprise reveals at the end.
Profile Image for Alex Cintron.
2 reviews2 followers
August 4, 2024
Gripping and exciting, excellent series!

I've been caught up in LitRPGs as of late. Lots of very good content and the classic progression fantasies readers of the genre love. This series takes a dark " illegal class" and gives it to a good-hearted young boy and lets the world around him respond. I say that because sometimes, with these LitRPGs, immersion gets tossed out the window for the sake of plot armor and progression.

Nothing in this series pulled me out of the story, and the stakes being weighed. It all felt real and appropriate. The characters felt authentic, and nothing screamed "FANTASY" to me the whole time. I was drawn in and craved the outcome, good or bad, for our protagonist.

I love how slowly through the course of the series we truly see the young boy become hardened by the world around him, and he becomes "used to" his struggle to survive.

I enjoyed this read thoroughly. Both books, in a few days! I'm definitely keeping an eye out for a sequel. Things have only just begun!
22 reviews
June 27, 2024
TLDR: This continues to be a well written but very slow story.

I've stopped reading around chapter 15, and finished my engagement with the last two chapters. Readig the end, I get to see that the story progresses in a good direction, at least. It's just unfortunate that it is so damn slow. I would have liked to see that level of progress in the first half of the first volume. Even if the author wants to be more detailed about certain parts of the progression, it should at least be interesting.

Another way this story peeved me was with the naive MC and his clishee "save the world" internal monologues. "Oh, I don't wanna die, but I have to save these villagers... Oh em gee, what am I going to do??" And so on. Trully boring stuff. I prefer to not consume pages and pages of this sophomoric moral philosophising. Even if he wants to be a hero cliche, just crack on with it.
897 reviews3 followers
January 7, 2024
This has quickly become one of my top progression fantasy / LitRPG series. The story is exciting and engaging, the MC's slow decent into villainy while still trying to maintain his conscious is fascinating and the magic / game elements are top quality. Also, its hilarious, especially Tyrion's interactions with Dove.

Profile Image for Reiji.
52 reviews
January 17, 2024
An improvement over the first book.
It still seems like the author has no idea what to do with the supporting characters and there are some puzzling story directions that could have been easily improved, for example
42 reviews
January 7, 2025
I cried like a little baby

This story is going to live on in my memories rent-free for a long time. I sat in my recliner on my day off work and just cried, and cried. What a fantastic story, though. I'm not just planning to read the rest of the series when I have time, interspersed with video games or other books. Now, I HAVE to know how it continues. I NEED to know. I'll be starting book 3 immediately and probably finishing the series in the next 2 days before I go back to work. This belongs on the shelf with all my other favorites, books that I'm proud to have read, and classics that are considered some of the best stories in human history, like Dune and The Hobbit. They should make this into a movie. It would be more popular than GoT.
Profile Image for Kevin.
1,710 reviews30 followers
April 13, 2024
Had this for a while, but avoided. Really did not like that character shift in the last half of the previous book.

I always find it amusing when people go looking for someone who is staying in their corner, not troubling anyone, and attack them. When the person defends themselves, the attacker's friends call him a murderer. They feel they can kill you in cold blood, and when you don't want to be killed, you are somehow worse than scum. It's the hypocrisy that gets me.

I'm glad the protag doesn't play the "woe is me" card anymore. I like this development. It's interesting to see where this will go.

Boney Boys for the win.
Add the enemies to his collection

3/5 Stars
Profile Image for Rob.
632 reviews20 followers
June 24, 2024
A great addition to the series. There is some additional world building that happens while Tyron battles to stay ahead of being captured and executed. The building series of challenges Tyron faces -- and how his character evolves through them -- is super interesting. The climactic ending is epic, and I thought about it for days after finishing the book.

In addition, the writing is just great. It's often funny -- darly funny, mind you! -- and surprising. The characters all have unique voices, and the author jumps point-of-view characters from Tyron to others judiciously. It's just well done, especially for this genre.

I eagerly await book 3.
1 review
December 20, 2024
I loved the book, and it feels like it is just setting up for what comes next. Yet the story itself is surprisingly focused and isn't meandering around.

Profile Image for Thomas Kung.
73 reviews1 follower
January 2, 2026
This still continues to be a pretty good series, although the MC spends the entire book on the edge of getting himself killed it seemed like. It did get a bit repetitive at times, and you could see the ending coming from a mile away. There was a little too much hand waving / lack of explanation between book 2 and the start of book 3 as well. I will still probably continue to read though, as I like the overall story, and book 3 seems like it will be a nice change of pace.
Profile Image for William Howe.
1,802 reviews88 followers
December 13, 2023
Strong ending

The start drops you right into where it left off. So abruptly…you *need* to read at least the last few chapters of book one before starting.

The narrative is like a slow developing avalanche. Not much seems to be happening for a while, then things get progressively more kinetic and urgent. The final scene was worth the wait.
22 reviews
December 13, 2023
hard waiting for third book now

Don’t usually leave reviews.
All I can say is that this book is very well written, and is good at bringing you into the story. Not over the top in any one area, and definitely keeps you captivated.

Definitely need to read these books if you are considering it!
8 reviews
December 15, 2023
This is so messed up and I love it!

Everything that I considered as lacking in the first book was delivered in this one: gruesome battles that keeps readers on the edge of their sits. The ending was bitter sweet but it opened up new doors and makes me want more. Highly recommended!
7 reviews
November 24, 2025
So good but so heartbreaking

I have not been able to stop reading this series. Discovered it yesterday and am already moving to book 3. The progression of the MC is great but it was such a heartbreaking way to end the book. Can’t wait to see him bring down the divine and avenge those who they wronged:
27 reviews
Read
December 7, 2023
Excellent second book

This is a great continuation of the series! I love the idea of a character trying to do Good with an illegal necromancer class and the inherent problems that presents. Really looking forward to the next one!
Profile Image for Dee.
513 reviews11 followers
December 11, 2023
whoa

I don’t think you ever get to experience the good guy turns slowly bad as you have experienced through these two books. The MC keeps wanting to do right and the world keeps knocking him flat. A great installment.

Rating: 5/5
Cover: 3/5
Narration: NA
Favorite Line: NA
8 reviews
December 17, 2023
Feels like the introduction to Tyron just finished in a spectacular way.

Really good second installment. Can't wait to read the third. Feels like the introduction has just finished and the training wheels have come off
754 reviews5 followers
December 19, 2023
Great book

Wow. I can say this book keeps getting better and better. Really, like the ending (not going to give it away), an ethical necromancer is a great concept. Love the progress of Tyron and the world he is in.
176 reviews3 followers
December 19, 2023
This book is an amazing sequel it addressed all of the flaws that I saw in the first book and also added some really cool and interesting developments. Interesting read and I can not wait to see what happens next.
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