12 Miles Below VII: Path of the Mitespeaker

12 Miles Below #7

by Mark Arrows

Traveling through the strange lands of the Odin, Drakonis and Keith stumbled upon bizarre discoveries in their quest to return back to their the long-lost Icon of Stars, an AI from the golden era, possessing all the power and abilities of that time.

And an ominous infestation—the remnants of a biological weapon unleashed by the Relinquished against humanity during one of her many attempts to wipe humanity from the world.

A threat held back by the Odin in a slowly losing war of attrition.

To make matters worse, To'Orda, the third Feather, has arrived. Sent by To'Avalis to hunt down and eliminate Keith, he is determined to do so... in the manner that would take the least effort.

Now that he has Drakonis as his hostage, anything is possible.

Their first confrontation ended in a draw, but their next encounter may not be so clear-cut...

Book 7 of a Progression Fantasy Epic set around a pseudo-medieval society clinging to existence on frozen post-apocalyptic Earth. Impossible odds, weak-to-strong progression, dungeon-delving, epic battles, scavenged tech, prophecy, magic, and mystery—12 Miles Below has something for everyone. Grab your copy today!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

660 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2025

Reviews

[David U. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a great series

Overall I would say this series has been one of the greatest finds this year. I literally blitzed through 7 books this week. This one in particular was a bit more wacky when compared to the previous ones so admittedly I didn’t enjoy it quite as much; however, the side character development, the world building and expositions, as well as the direction the MC is taking was … chef’s kiss. I’m heading straight to royalroad to continue reading ASAP. 4.2/5

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but definitely the weakest entry so far

This book still offers the great fight, solid world building and interesting character moments the series has consistently delivered. What it doesn’t offer however, is much in the way of plot progression or any kind of high stakes or tense character conflicts.

Between this book and the previous entry, the storyline has essentially been stuck on a 1.5 book side story with little to no relevance to the overarching plot. It’s an interesting side story, but ultimately feels like we’re getting nowhere, which is very disappointing to read.

This book also contains some pretty egregious moments that ruin the threat of the main antagonists. When half a chapter is about the current arcs antagonists playing Mario kart and sending memes to each other and one of our protagonists in the equivalent of a discord call, it’s hard to take the threat they pose seriously. If the author isn’t going to take their characters seriously, then how are the readers supposed to do so? And I shouldn’t have to say how ruining the seriousness of an antagonist is a bad idea, it seriously makes it feel like the stakes couldn’t possibly be lower.

Hoping for less of this in the next entries and more plot progression and character conflict. Keep the comedic moments to conversations between characters that aren’t actively attempting to kill each other.

[Chris Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a great series, but needs the attentions of an editor

Still a great series. Though I'm a bit bothered by the significant shift in tone between earlier books, somewhat book 6, and now predominantly book 7.

(Spoiler Alert) Whereas earlier books in the series were serious with an undercurrent of snark, sarcasm and cynicism to keep it light, 6 & 7 have gone overboard in depicting the feathers as childish. From full incorporation of me-emojis and personalized GIFs in their internal communications, to processor downtime being spent on Mario Kart races. As a mention or one-off, a bit weird but okay, but there are entire chapters devoted to these immersion breaking moments that really serve no purpose in driving the narrative forward that hasn't already been accomplished by other means.

There are also many areas that stand out in need of editing, and not just from a storytelling perspective. Improper word usage, misspellings, formatting errors etc. only serve to break up the otherwise excellent writing.

I have watched Mark grow significantly as a storyteller on this journey through the stratum, and I eagerly await every next book in the series.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, and while I think it's perhaps one of the weaker current volumes its still got all the good stuff I've come to expect from the author. Why do I say I really enjoyed this one, its because we get so see some rather entertaining new characters, more odin, more T'orda and his new pet, a crazy musician, and a digital grandma.

Overall just a little weaker in terms of story progression, but filled with lots of entertainment and a rather epic conclusion in my opinion.

Looking forward to the next volume in the future.

[Reinaldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, what now? No books left to read and looks like we will have at least 3 or 5 more until the main story finishes.

Great read, I'll look to buy the paper books now to have as trophies and celebration for this wonderful world full of history and religion and conflicts and different characters.

Waiting impatiently for the next ones.

[Tiuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still an amazing series but this one is not my favourite of the series. I love the bits with Keith, Drakonis and the Odin, which feature both great characters and world building. I did not really enjoy the bits about the feathers. I look forward to the next one.

[Jayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Series

Love this series, somehow every book manages to keep me very engaged which unfortunately leads me to wallowing with misery waiting for the next to come out. Supremely looking forward to next one

[Max T · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is just the same scenes viewed by different point of views.
There's at least 2 change of point of view within the same chapters without any indication.
And lots of spelling mistakes.

Was that even edited?

[Chris Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just keeps getting better and better

Both this book and this series are amazing. I love how it is progressing. Can't wait for the next book!

[Scott H Mesmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I've got to wait for the 8th book

Darn it. Read them all up to now. Very disappointed that I have to wait. Great job enjoyed the book like the rest

[Florian · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book, excited for Part VIII