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The Sorrow Road
Action-packed ancient fantasy with Greek and Roman themes. A world of myths and legends awaits. Captured by Cyclopes and taken to a legendary hunting ground. There is no hope. Not even for heroes.
The Sorrow Road. A place of legend. Thousands have died upon it. Thousands more will.
Torben is no hero. He's a raider, a killer of families and destroyer of homes. A king's son born to lead, to fight men in battle, for the glory of his name.
Drust once marched under the eagle standards of the Rusi Republic, and committed atrocities he can no longer hide from. He's also a spellweaver, the sort of man most prefer dead.
Nysa was supposed to be getting married, securing her father a strong alliance, not running for her life, chased by giants in the mountains.
They must fight together to survive three hundred miles of mountains, rivers, forests, monsters, and magic.
Brontes, The Great Hunter, Rider of the Snow Bear, has hunted prey in the Sorrow Road for hundreds of years. He will not fail in his task to kill the manthings.
Let the hunt begin.
The Sorrow Road is a standalone adventure inspired by ancient history and mythology, and some of the old film greats like Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad, and Conan.
The Sorrow Road. A place of legend. Thousands have died upon it. Thousands more will.
Torben is no hero. He's a raider, a killer of families and destroyer of homes. A king's son born to lead, to fight men in battle, for the glory of his name.
Drust once marched under the eagle standards of the Rusi Republic, and committed atrocities he can no longer hide from. He's also a spellweaver, the sort of man most prefer dead.
Nysa was supposed to be getting married, securing her father a strong alliance, not running for her life, chased by giants in the mountains.
They must fight together to survive three hundred miles of mountains, rivers, forests, monsters, and magic.
Brontes, The Great Hunter, Rider of the Snow Bear, has hunted prey in the Sorrow Road for hundreds of years. He will not fail in his task to kill the manthings.
Let the hunt begin.
The Sorrow Road is a standalone adventure inspired by ancient history and mythology, and some of the old film greats like Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad, and Conan.
733 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 22, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 28, 2025
Mark Dunstan’s The Sorrow Road is an ambitious and sprawling piece of fantasy that successfully fuses mythology with a gritty survival narrative. The world-building is compelling, quickly establishing a brutal, unforgiving landscape where the line between ancient legend and dangerous reality is constantly blurred. If you're looking for a challenging adventure story filled with primal forces and desperate human ingenuity, this book delivers.
The story quickly grabbed my attention, especially once the main characters began their desperate journey to reclaim their freedom. I found, however, that the initial momentum and pacing lagged slightly at the halfway point before picking up again for a powerful conclusion.
If you enjoy epic fantasy and gripping survival themes, I think you’ll enjoy this book.
The story quickly grabbed my attention, especially once the main characters began their desperate journey to reclaim their freedom. I found, however, that the initial momentum and pacing lagged slightly at the halfway point before picking up again for a powerful conclusion.
If you enjoy epic fantasy and gripping survival themes, I think you’ll enjoy this book.
July 11, 2025
Actual Rating 2.5
Torben is a raider, the son of a king, and seeking glory for his family’s name. But when he’s leading a raid against tribes, he finds himself a captive of the cyclopes. He and the other surviving human prisoners are taken to the Sorrow Road, a place soaked in blood where the cyclopes hunt and slaughter their captives. But if the humans can make it to the fortress at the end of the road, they’re allowed to survive. Can Torben and his fellow captives survive, or will they just be more casualties of this bloodied land?
This is an interesting work of fantasy that’s inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, including some of their lore and monsters. I loved the inclusion of fantastical creatures like centaurs, satyrs, and cyclopes, just to name a few. This added much to the world. The author also did a great job describing the setting and including it meaningfully throughout the story. I liked that the POV alternated between the hunters and those being pursued, and was a good way to add some tension and allow the monsters more page time.
The writing did take me out of the immersion. In many places it’s written casually, using phrases like “a lot” in the exposition. This is something I especially dislike in fantasy works as it makes it feel more modern overall. There were also long asides and/or flashbacks scattered throughout scenes that were otherwise action heavy, which unfortunately broke up the action/tension and made the work feel unbalanced regularly.
There were a few things relating to choices made regarding the characters that I didn’t like. The backstory for the main female character (and only female character, for quite a while) was that she was being forced into an arranged marriage, was looked down on for not doing “traditionally female” things, and wasn’t like other girls. Something else was that there was only one character mentioned as being Black, and their backstory was that they were formerly enslaved. These aren’t things that break a book, but it's disappointing to see these tropes used in modern fantasy. The beauty of a fantasy world is that the author can do literally anything with their characters rather than falling back on tired tropes/stereotypes, unless those tropes can be used to meaningfully discuss or analyze something. Again, this didn’t majorly detract from my enjoyment and may not bother many readers, it’s just something I noticed.
If you like combat-heavy fantasy works that focus on survival and chases, then you’ll probably enjoy this one. My thanks to the author for providing a copy of this work for me to read. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Torben is a raider, the son of a king, and seeking glory for his family’s name. But when he’s leading a raid against tribes, he finds himself a captive of the cyclopes. He and the other surviving human prisoners are taken to the Sorrow Road, a place soaked in blood where the cyclopes hunt and slaughter their captives. But if the humans can make it to the fortress at the end of the road, they’re allowed to survive. Can Torben and his fellow captives survive, or will they just be more casualties of this bloodied land?
This is an interesting work of fantasy that’s inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, including some of their lore and monsters. I loved the inclusion of fantastical creatures like centaurs, satyrs, and cyclopes, just to name a few. This added much to the world. The author also did a great job describing the setting and including it meaningfully throughout the story. I liked that the POV alternated between the hunters and those being pursued, and was a good way to add some tension and allow the monsters more page time.
The writing did take me out of the immersion. In many places it’s written casually, using phrases like “a lot” in the exposition. This is something I especially dislike in fantasy works as it makes it feel more modern overall. There were also long asides and/or flashbacks scattered throughout scenes that were otherwise action heavy, which unfortunately broke up the action/tension and made the work feel unbalanced regularly.
There were a few things relating to choices made regarding the characters that I didn’t like. The backstory for the main female character (and only female character, for quite a while) was that she was being forced into an arranged marriage, was looked down on for not doing “traditionally female” things, and wasn’t like other girls. Something else was that there was only one character mentioned as being Black, and their backstory was that they were formerly enslaved. These aren’t things that break a book, but it's disappointing to see these tropes used in modern fantasy. The beauty of a fantasy world is that the author can do literally anything with their characters rather than falling back on tired tropes/stereotypes, unless those tropes can be used to meaningfully discuss or analyze something. Again, this didn’t majorly detract from my enjoyment and may not bother many readers, it’s just something I noticed.
If you like combat-heavy fantasy works that focus on survival and chases, then you’ll probably enjoy this one. My thanks to the author for providing a copy of this work for me to read. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
June 12, 2025
This is a fantastic standalone fantasy book that’s worthy of your attention. I thoroughly enjoyed the world building in The Sorrow Road. It’s a world built with inspiration from different ancient civilizations and mythos. I loved that there was swapping of different POVs of the humans, then to the Cyclopses. It really helped build the stories tension between prey and predator. Learning little snippets of lore through the POVs about the cyclopses hierarchy and political landscape in their culture was interesting and I’d love a small story or something about some of their history.
There are a lot of characters to navigate but Mark does a great job at making them all feel different and like real people with personal quirks and challenges. Some of my favorites are Durst, Jarvy, Brontes, Hommen and Torben. I may or may not have teared up in the end due to how I felt attached to some of these characters Marc has written. There is even a sprinkle of romance in it between a few characters but this is not a Romantasy by any means. Surviving The Sorrow Road is priority number 1 for the characters.
The different monsters he pulled inspiration fun were well written and even scary at some points. The battles with these monsters are descriptive and all feel interesting and different. The battle at the end was a really fun and intense battle.
My only gripe with the book is that some of the chapters range from like 40-60 minutes. This is a personal issue of mine but there are a lot of different breaks in the chapter when it swaps to a different character so it is manageable.
Overall this a great fantasy book that’s worthy of spending your time. I would recommend if you like Percy Jackson, Ancient Greece or enjoy well written fight scenes.
There are a lot of characters to navigate but Mark does a great job at making them all feel different and like real people with personal quirks and challenges. Some of my favorites are Durst, Jarvy, Brontes, Hommen and Torben. I may or may not have teared up in the end due to how I felt attached to some of these characters Marc has written. There is even a sprinkle of romance in it between a few characters but this is not a Romantasy by any means. Surviving The Sorrow Road is priority number 1 for the characters.
The different monsters he pulled inspiration fun were well written and even scary at some points. The battles with these monsters are descriptive and all feel interesting and different. The battle at the end was a really fun and intense battle.
My only gripe with the book is that some of the chapters range from like 40-60 minutes. This is a personal issue of mine but there are a lot of different breaks in the chapter when it swaps to a different character so it is manageable.
Overall this a great fantasy book that’s worthy of spending your time. I would recommend if you like Percy Jackson, Ancient Greece or enjoy well written fight scenes.
June 9, 2025
As a fantasy 5/5, as a normal book 4/5. Set in a fantasy world inspired by our own ancient history and myths, Sorrow Road was a great diversion from my normal reads of mystery and horror. A little slow to begin with, but really gets going as soon as our cast of characters are running for their lives across the sorrow road to try and escape being hunted down by the Cyclopes hunters chasing them. Mark Dunstan adds layers of depth to a story that could be one dimensional by delving deeply into the lore of his world, with a variety of different Hellenic-style human cultures and even the Cyclopes culture feeling fully fleshed out. The action scenes are brilliant and probably where Mark writes best, but the characters themselves are for the most part very compelling and by the end, I was really hoping for my favourites to survive (spoiler, not everyone is making it out of this story in one piece). All in all, great characters, brilliant action scenes, lots of interesting lore, and even antagonists that feel human (even if they are Cyclopes).
October 3, 2025
Heavily inspired by Greek mythology but set farther north, The Sorrow Road is the tale of people from different nations being kidnapped by Satyrs and Cyclopes to travel The Sorrow Road, a sort of Hunger Games, where those carted away have a chance to earn their freedom if they can make it to the end of the Road before being hunted down by hounds, bears, satyrs, and Cyclopes.
The main group that we focus on, some of whom were enemies before they were abducted, don't believe that the Cyclopes will let them live so they set off cross-country through the mountains. Apparently, this has been done many times before because the Cyclopes mention it. And others figure out the same thing because the run into many others.
The format allows for some of the original travelers to be killed off because more will be added later. Unfortunately, by the end, so many are added that you never really get to know many of the characters or even care about them. You also wonder, considering how Brontes the Cyclopes is tracking Torben and his group, believing that they are exceptional prey, you wonder how so many survived to make it to the abandoned city.
If you like fantasy novels with big climatic last stand battles with mythical creatures, where no one has any plot armor and you wonder who will live or will they all get slaughtered, then you might enjoy this book.
I, on the other hand, thought it started off a bit clunky, but it picked up steam. I was all set to give it another star, but the final battle just went on way too long after too much prelude. Any good editor would've cut 100 pages from this book, split before and during the final battle. (A good editor would've handles some of the grammar problems, too.) Too many character stories are set up that deserve some kind of resolution, but there's only death. And, honestly, some of the death could have been avoided if the author just didn't decide to kill the character. I don't like plot armor, but I don't like going out of your way to kill people either. (Also, two characters appear to have died but it turns out by some miracle they survived! They are immediately killed again in a scene that adds nothing to the narrative. They didn't kill anyone or change the course of any events. They could've just stayed dead.)
And for all that, there's barely an epilogue to cover what happens after, even though years pass, and the little we get isn't satisfying for such a long trek.
I was determined not to DNF this novel and to see it through to the end. I was not rewarded for this.
The main group that we focus on, some of whom were enemies before they were abducted, don't believe that the Cyclopes will let them live so they set off cross-country through the mountains. Apparently, this has been done many times before because the Cyclopes mention it. And others figure out the same thing because the run into many others.
The format allows for some of the original travelers to be killed off because more will be added later. Unfortunately, by the end, so many are added that you never really get to know many of the characters or even care about them. You also wonder, considering how Brontes the Cyclopes is tracking Torben and his group, believing that they are exceptional prey, you wonder how so many survived to make it to the abandoned city.
If you like fantasy novels with big climatic last stand battles with mythical creatures, where no one has any plot armor and you wonder who will live or will they all get slaughtered, then you might enjoy this book.
I, on the other hand, thought it started off a bit clunky, but it picked up steam. I was all set to give it another star, but the final battle just went on way too long after too much prelude. Any good editor would've cut 100 pages from this book, split before and during the final battle. (A good editor would've handles some of the grammar problems, too.) Too many character stories are set up that deserve some kind of resolution, but there's only death. And, honestly, some of the death could have been avoided if the author just didn't decide to kill the character. I don't like plot armor, but I don't like going out of your way to kill people either. (Also, two characters appear to have died but it turns out by some miracle they survived! They are immediately killed again in a scene that adds nothing to the narrative. They didn't kill anyone or change the course of any events. They could've just stayed dead.)
And for all that, there's barely an epilogue to cover what happens after, even though years pass, and the little we get isn't satisfying for such a long trek.
I was determined not to DNF this novel and to see it through to the end. I was not rewarded for this.
November 1, 2025
Sorrow Road by Mark C. Dunstan is a long, stand-alone novel that has many significant characters and switches between the points of view of many of them. It is a very combat-heavy fantasy with Ancient Greek and Roman aspects.
The book begins by introducing one character, then switching to another location to introduce another, then introducing more characters. There are cyclops and they like hunts, so they take prisoners and offer them the chance at life if they can make it to the end of Sorrow Road. The main characters who have been introduced so far are among those who have been taken prisoner. We gain more characters from among the prisoners. These characters end up together in one of the groups trying to survive the arduous trip to the end of Sorrow Road. More significant characters are introduced along the way. The story also has cyclops’ point-of-view. Characters die throughout, some that you will be sad about.
I thought it was an enjoyable book and the world seems interesting. I liked the inclusion of multiple mythological creatures. The combat scenes are described in detail. However, there are places it could be better written. I received this book for free via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
The book begins by introducing one character, then switching to another location to introduce another, then introducing more characters. There are cyclops and they like hunts, so they take prisoners and offer them the chance at life if they can make it to the end of Sorrow Road. The main characters who have been introduced so far are among those who have been taken prisoner. We gain more characters from among the prisoners. These characters end up together in one of the groups trying to survive the arduous trip to the end of Sorrow Road. More significant characters are introduced along the way. The story also has cyclops’ point-of-view. Characters die throughout, some that you will be sad about.
I thought it was an enjoyable book and the world seems interesting. I liked the inclusion of multiple mythological creatures. The combat scenes are described in detail. However, there are places it could be better written. I received this book for free via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews