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Beastborne Chronicles #7
Dunes of Midnight
Stranded in distant lands, Hal finds himself in a scorching desert of dark sands ruled by a tyrant and a mechanical army after any Founder's head.
Hal's triumph over the Tower of Blight should have left his settlement of Brightsong stronger than ever. Instead, it left them without a leader, and their strongest members were sent halfway across the world.
Trading frigid cold for unrelenting heat, the Dunes of Midnight are no less vicious than the Shiverglades. Beastmen attack the outskirts of civilization while the Adventurer's Guild falls to ruins.
Wanting nothing more than to return home before the tribes of the Shiverglades arrive on Brightsong's doorstep, Hal seeks answers in the metropolis of Dalmanii. Before he can even get his bearings, a sudden betrayal places him at the center of a plot brewing in the heart of the city.
His only way out is to navigate the ever-shifting alliances and shady dealings between the Guilds of Dalmanii. Hal and his friends will have to fight assassins, thieves, mages, thugs, and even the city's automaton peacekeepers if they want to see Brightsong again.
Hal's triumph over the Tower of Blight should have left his settlement of Brightsong stronger than ever. Instead, it left them without a leader, and their strongest members were sent halfway across the world.
Trading frigid cold for unrelenting heat, the Dunes of Midnight are no less vicious than the Shiverglades. Beastmen attack the outskirts of civilization while the Adventurer's Guild falls to ruins.
Wanting nothing more than to return home before the tribes of the Shiverglades arrive on Brightsong's doorstep, Hal seeks answers in the metropolis of Dalmanii. Before he can even get his bearings, a sudden betrayal places him at the center of a plot brewing in the heart of the city.
His only way out is to navigate the ever-shifting alliances and shady dealings between the Guilds of Dalmanii. Hal and his friends will have to fight assassins, thieves, mages, thugs, and even the city's automaton peacekeepers if they want to see Brightsong again.
- GenresFantasy
595 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2025
92 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
James T. Callum
20 books226 followersMy name is James T. Callum and I’m not going to talk to you in the third person or make it seem like I’ve got some publisher or editor who has a bio on me.
I'm always available to talk, connect with readers, fellow authors, and lovable book nerds:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JamesTCallum
Website: https://www.jamestcallum.com
Twitter: @JamesTCallum
This is just me, talking to you, the reader. I’m no different than you, I love reading and gaming just the same as everybody else.
In fact, I’ve loved reading for as long as I could remember. From the very first fantasy book I read, The Wizard of Earthsea, I was hooked.
For just as long I’ve also been an avid gamer and DND player (as well as other tabletop RPGs). Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Illusion of Gaia, and on through the years as stories and graphics became better and better.
You’ll be able to find hints of inspiration from all sorts of RPGs and video games in my works. From the Final Fantasy series to Warcraft, Age of Empires to Anno, and games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Because who doesn’t love a little cosmic horror thrown in for fun?
These games (and countless others) have inspired me ever since I was a kid, and they continue to serve as my muse now that I’m much older.
Writing has always been my greatest aspiration and with your help, I hope to make it a full-time job. At the time of this writing, I still work a day job like most people. It is only thanks to Patreon that I was able to dedicate some of my spare time to writing.
So, if you’d like to provide direct support and help me achieve my goal of writing full-time (so I can write even more stories for you awesome people!) you can hop on over to my Patreon page where you’ll find tons of content.
Patrons get access to advanced chapters of upcoming books, special discord roles and discussion channels, early releases of books before anyone else, maps, cover reveals, voting, and a lot more.
And if you spot a typo or error, shoot me an email at: typos@jamestcallum.com, and I will get it fixed and re-uploaded ASAP. I aim to provide the best possible reading experience and as soon as I find an error I fix it. Once it’s fixed and updated, your reading device should update automatically with the improved version.
I'm always available to talk, connect with readers, fellow authors, and lovable book nerds:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JamesTCallum
Website: https://www.jamestcallum.com
Twitter: @JamesTCallum
This is just me, talking to you, the reader. I’m no different than you, I love reading and gaming just the same as everybody else.
In fact, I’ve loved reading for as long as I could remember. From the very first fantasy book I read, The Wizard of Earthsea, I was hooked.
For just as long I’ve also been an avid gamer and DND player (as well as other tabletop RPGs). Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Illusion of Gaia, and on through the years as stories and graphics became better and better.
You’ll be able to find hints of inspiration from all sorts of RPGs and video games in my works. From the Final Fantasy series to Warcraft, Age of Empires to Anno, and games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Because who doesn’t love a little cosmic horror thrown in for fun?
These games (and countless others) have inspired me ever since I was a kid, and they continue to serve as my muse now that I’m much older.
Writing has always been my greatest aspiration and with your help, I hope to make it a full-time job. At the time of this writing, I still work a day job like most people. It is only thanks to Patreon that I was able to dedicate some of my spare time to writing.
So, if you’d like to provide direct support and help me achieve my goal of writing full-time (so I can write even more stories for you awesome people!) you can hop on over to my Patreon page where you’ll find tons of content.
Patrons get access to advanced chapters of upcoming books, special discord roles and discussion channels, early releases of books before anyone else, maps, cover reveals, voting, and a lot more.
And if you spot a typo or error, shoot me an email at: typos@jamestcallum.com, and I will get it fixed and re-uploaded ASAP. I aim to provide the best possible reading experience and as soon as I find an error I fix it. Once it’s fixed and updated, your reading device should update automatically with the improved version.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 22, 2025
Im really not loving these books. I like the world and most of the characters but we have got to start getting the conclusions on some of these story lines. This is Book 7 and we havent resolved anything
March 24, 2025
It gets worse and worse
This author clearly has no plan at all. Everything is some sort of slapstick, fanservice, joke of a story where characters don't develop, they just change arbitrarily. The main plot has barely moved in 6 books.
It's a bunch of overly verbose, repeating the same things over and over, paired with pop up side quests that take up whole books or more.
The main character is a mindless, empty caricature, with no will of his own, just following shinies as they appear in his vision.
I wish trusted my gut, instead of hoping this author would start caring about his story.
This author clearly has no plan at all. Everything is some sort of slapstick, fanservice, joke of a story where characters don't develop, they just change arbitrarily. The main plot has barely moved in 6 books.
It's a bunch of overly verbose, repeating the same things over and over, paired with pop up side quests that take up whole books or more.
The main character is a mindless, empty caricature, with no will of his own, just following shinies as they appear in his vision.
I wish trusted my gut, instead of hoping this author would start caring about his story.
June 11, 2025
Wow! And again, Wow! Soooooooo friggintastic! I love this book! Hal finally decided to crush the Tower of Blight in one final swoop, not give the Shadesblight a single repreve and kill it in his final rush to end it! And wow, getting out of the collapsing Tower proved to be more than tricky and when out they find themselves not even close to Brightsong, but in the Dunes of Midnight! In Dalmanil! And boy there's work to be done! But in this book it's time for Kow and Hermes the two aether magical Oppas, Asher and Hal's companions to shine! Since they had been left behind, they schemed! And found a way to be reunited, and their plans went without a hitch! They were shot out like a canyonball right into the arms of their respective companion! You know how much I love Companion Beast's! And Wow, do things get dicey for the Merchant Guild!
So grab the audiobook because you hadn't otta miss what happens! And for once the outlook is promising!
Here's some quotes for ya:
"Kow didn’t fully understand. She wanted him to see that the tribes were afraid of her, that much he could grok, but the rest was confusing."
"Hermes got a hold of his own piece of flaming candy. Licking it, some of his whiskers caught fire with a squeal of delight."
“That’s because the warden is a dango-dingo-bingo of a bonza that knows what’s what!”
So grab the audiobook because you hadn't otta miss what happens! And for once the outlook is promising!
Here's some quotes for ya:
"Kow didn’t fully understand. She wanted him to see that the tribes were afraid of her, that much he could grok, but the rest was confusing."
"Hermes got a hold of his own piece of flaming candy. Licking it, some of his whiskers caught fire with a squeal of delight."
“That’s because the warden is a dango-dingo-bingo of a bonza that knows what’s what!”
January 9, 2025
A fun change up from the Shiverglades
So going into this one, I expected a fairly quick foray into the Dunes. I was wrong, the entire book takes place there after the team get out of the Fathomways. And while I’d like to get back to finish off the whole Clan business, this was a fun change up. We get to see Hal really grow in power even more and get some interesting changes for the future, and there’s looking to be some fun things happening next book that got set up here.
Also the story keeps going back in the Shiverglades as the guild has to keep the Clans bamboozled into thinking Hal is there(and no Komachi to help!) so that’s entertaining! This could have felt like a waste of time, but I enjoyed it and I think it’s setting up some really good stuff next book! Hopefully by the end of that one everyone is back together.
So going into this one, I expected a fairly quick foray into the Dunes. I was wrong, the entire book takes place there after the team get out of the Fathomways. And while I’d like to get back to finish off the whole Clan business, this was a fun change up. We get to see Hal really grow in power even more and get some interesting changes for the future, and there’s looking to be some fun things happening next book that got set up here.
Also the story keeps going back in the Shiverglades as the guild has to keep the Clans bamboozled into thinking Hal is there(and no Komachi to help!) so that’s entertaining! This could have felt like a waste of time, but I enjoyed it and I think it’s setting up some really good stuff next book! Hopefully by the end of that one everyone is back together.
August 18, 2025
spoilers! but, well written
Okay, some spoilers to follow. Otherwise it’s like the others: well written, good pacing, good stat screens, all that. If you like the others you’ll like this.
Now for the spoilers:
This book has side quest-itis. The main party still isn’t back in Brightsong and isn’t even flipping done in the new city. C’mon, man. The series is about the new city in the Shiverglades! Why have all this stuff that, ultimately, won’t matter very much? Seems like it’ll be almost fluff in the end.
Yeah, advancement is good and all but a whole book just to get a bit further ahead and still not make your way back?
Okay, some spoilers to follow. Otherwise it’s like the others: well written, good pacing, good stat screens, all that. If you like the others you’ll like this.
Now for the spoilers:
This book has side quest-itis. The main party still isn’t back in Brightsong and isn’t even flipping done in the new city. C’mon, man. The series is about the new city in the Shiverglades! Why have all this stuff that, ultimately, won’t matter very much? Seems like it’ll be almost fluff in the end.
Yeah, advancement is good and all but a whole book just to get a bit further ahead and still not make your way back?
January 9, 2025
An unexpected but fun adventure
I'm was both curious and frustrated when I realized this book wasn't going to take us back to the Shiverglades for tribal politics. Instead we get a unique and fun adventure that shows off how much Hal and his friends have grown in the process of protecting their home.
The segments about Besal and Brightsong are also good. They give good insights into the minds of characters we know less about.
Overall, this book earns all 5 stars.
I'm was both curious and frustrated when I realized this book wasn't going to take us back to the Shiverglades for tribal politics. Instead we get a unique and fun adventure that shows off how much Hal and his friends have grown in the process of protecting their home.
The segments about Besal and Brightsong are also good. They give good insights into the minds of characters we know less about.
Overall, this book earns all 5 stars.
February 17, 2026
Enjoyed the book but felt like a filler
I enjoyed the read and the growth but it kinda felt like a filler. Not bad filler mind you but I would have like the main plot for the MC to move forward. I how the next book it's a bit longer and does that better.
The they have been talking about the other tribes arriving and when it finally happens the MC is not there and they are doing like mini games
I enjoyed the read and the growth but it kinda felt like a filler. Not bad filler mind you but I would have like the main plot for the MC to move forward. I how the next book it's a bit longer and does that better.
The they have been talking about the other tribes arriving and when it finally happens the MC is not there and they are doing like mini games
January 3, 2025
such a distraction
I really like this series and the characters. I was disappointed that the author decided to deviate from the main plot so much. It’s always frustrating when an author takes a perfectly good story and disrupts it by sending the MC on a random extended side quest.
I really like this series and the characters. I was disappointed that the author decided to deviate from the main plot so much. It’s always frustrating when an author takes a perfectly good story and disrupts it by sending the MC on a random extended side quest.
January 6, 2025
So great and not quite expected
I really enjoyed this change of pace. I was initially disappointed because who doesn't love that original story line but I liked the intrigue and new systems. This arc should be a fun one, seeing the new connections made and powers obtained. I love all of the crossover references and connections to the other books.
I really enjoyed this change of pace. I was initially disappointed because who doesn't love that original story line but I liked the intrigue and new systems. This arc should be a fun one, seeing the new connections made and powers obtained. I love all of the crossover references and connections to the other books.
April 2, 2025
Awesome LitRPG
The story line, the adventures, the twists upon twists. So much going on to keep one glued to this book from start to finish. Love it and looking forward to book 8. The story keeps getting better and better. Can’t wait to see Basel and Hal reunited. Can’t wait to see the team get back to Brightsong.
The story line, the adventures, the twists upon twists. So much going on to keep one glued to this book from start to finish. Love it and looking forward to book 8. The story keeps getting better and better. Can’t wait to see Basel and Hal reunited. Can’t wait to see the team get back to Brightsong.
November 11, 2025
An enjoyable side story but with no definitive conclusions to major plot points. I have greatly enjoyed the series so far but it seems like there is less and less put into each book. It feels as if the author is trying to drag the series out for as many books as possible without progressing the story to any significant degree.
January 13, 2025
I like the series
I was annoyed at first with the MC being transported with his party across the map, but it was well written and made for a great story. I'm definitely looking forward to book 8!
I was annoyed at first with the MC being transported with his party across the map, but it was well written and made for a great story. I'm definitely looking forward to book 8!
January 2, 2025
Awesome Stuff
This story of Hal and company going to another continent and being tricked into taking over a Adventure guild that’s in horrible shape was a fantastic read.
This story of Hal and company going to another continent and being tricked into taking over a Adventure guild that’s in horrible shape was a fantastic read.
January 6, 2025
2.1
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
January 9, 2025
Great series
The series continues to be a good one. I am defibately appreciate the way in which the main character's skills keep evolving as the story continues.
The series continues to be a good one. I am defibately appreciate the way in which the main character's skills keep evolving as the story continues.
January 10, 2025
Good book
Very good book ,can't wait for the next in the series. I'm looking forward to hal to get back home and build the city to new heights ,until the next book peace out
Very good book ,can't wait for the next in the series. I'm looking forward to hal to get back home and build the city to new heights ,until the next book peace out
January 18, 2025
Love the Beastborne series
The Beastborne series are Fantastic books! I am looking forward to reading the next one!
I have never been disappointed
Thank you!
The Beastborne series are Fantastic books! I am looking forward to reading the next one!
I have never been disappointed
Thank you!
March 17, 2025
Good Side Quest
I can't say I'm a big fan of taking such a huge detour in the middle of what felt like a pretty time sensitive story arc. But it's a good, interesting side quest.
I can't say I'm a big fan of taking such a huge detour in the middle of what felt like a pretty time sensitive story arc. But it's a good, interesting side quest.
July 22, 2025
Good stuff
Top 5 favorite series at the moment. Just binge read 3 in a row. Great story telling, real and compelling characters. Check em out! 'Machi!
Top 5 favorite series at the moment. Just binge read 3 in a row. Great story telling, real and compelling characters. Check em out! 'Machi!
January 30, 2025
Good, not as good as its predecessors
While Beastborne is one of my favorite series, there's a lot of errors in this book and some jokes that just... come off weird, at least to me-- e.x. actress saying some of cruelest people he knows are women. Some of the plot points tell and don't show, or come off a little contrived, like half reaction at the end of the book or such.
While Beastborne is one of my favorite series, there's a lot of errors in this book and some jokes that just... come off weird, at least to me-- e.x. actress saying some of cruelest people he knows are women. Some of the plot points tell and don't show, or come off a little contrived, like half reaction at the end of the book or such.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews