What do you think?
Rate this book
Not-So-Savage Barbarians #0.5
The Unexpected Barbarian
Prequel for the Not-So-Savage Barbarians series
ebook
Published January 1, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Read
September 11, 2025For everyone wondering where to get this, go to the author's website and scroll down to the section about free prequels on the main page and tap on the cover image to get taken to the bookfunnel page for it.
October 10, 2025
2.75⭐, but I'll round it up, because I'm hopeful for this series.
This prequel is promising, but also really, really lacks. How about all the world building? Yeah. It just isn’t there.
Where even are we? Another planet? What town is this? Who are these barbarians? How did they come into this world? And the humans, what kind of towns do they live in? Is this more like a medieval era town or something else? Nothing, absolutely nothing is told.
For a short novella, this could've set up this world in just a few sentences, so even though I really liked the main couple, the writing and the intimate parts, I feel like the author left out a lot.
🔵 A big, gentle giant barbarian / a bookstore clerk
🟢 Substantial size difference
🟡 Humans given as tributes
🟣 Language barrier
🌶️ Non-con at first, they have to do it to save the human; both virgins; just penetrative; kissing; gentle; t/b
The story follows one of the human towns that gives an annual tribute to the barbarians. We find out almost at the end that the barbarians can’t have female children, so they take human women instead. The women think they’re being sent to hell, but most of the clans actually treat them really well.
Except for the clan Briar, a young man wrongfully accused of murder, ends up with. These guys are cruel and abusive toward their tributes. This time, though, they took a male human which is something that’s never happened before.
Briar is given to Khrull as a joke. Khrull is a big, quiet, gentle guy who doesn’t fit in with the rest of his clan. He’s not a brute and hates violence, so he has no intention of hurting Briar. He also doesn't get how he's supposed to have sex with him.
Briar and Khrull can’t understand each other, but their first encounter goes surprisingly well, all things considered. Even though Briar doesn’t clearly give consent for sex that's about to happen, Khrull makes sure Briar’s safe and comfortable. The scene is well written and it's the only time you'll get them together on-page like this.
Around 40% in after that scene the story suddenly skips ahead a few weeks and this is where it went downhill for me. Khrull's clan starts to notice how close Briar and Khrull have become, so they try to separate them. At 50% in both escape and find safety with a rival northern clan that’s kinder to humans and welcomes them both in and that's the clan that's in the rest of this series.
The novella doesn’t really give you Briar and Khrull’s relationship development on-page. It just skips it, gives you a few short sentences before moving them to a new location. Suddenly, Briar learns the barbarian language and they’re building a new life together, traveling to human towns to trade and convince people that the barbarians aren’t all bad.
At first, the book really pulled me in, I was excited because I really liked the setting, I liked both main characters and wanted to see them get to know each other more and live together a little, and they did, I just didn't get to experience that intimacy on-page.
Briar's character wasn't as fleshed out and you don't get much from his POV, but I honestly thought it was going to develop more as their story progressed.
Briar and Khrull were very comfortable and intimate with each other, so I'd have liked to at least get a couple more scenes that showed their chemistry, how they're connected and how they're falling in love, but instead, we get a bunch of side characters, no real explanations and barely any focus on the main relationship.
I’ll keep reading the series, but I’ve already started the next book, and it’s the same problem, there's still no real world building, and it just starts with another guy being taken.
This prequel is promising, but also really, really lacks. How about all the world building? Yeah. It just isn’t there.
Where even are we? Another planet? What town is this? Who are these barbarians? How did they come into this world? And the humans, what kind of towns do they live in? Is this more like a medieval era town or something else? Nothing, absolutely nothing is told.
For a short novella, this could've set up this world in just a few sentences, so even though I really liked the main couple, the writing and the intimate parts, I feel like the author left out a lot.
🔵 A big, gentle giant barbarian / a bookstore clerk
🟢 Substantial size difference
🟡 Humans given as tributes
🟣 Language barrier
🌶️ Non-con at first, they have to do it to save the human; both virgins; just penetrative; kissing; gentle; t/b
The story follows one of the human towns that gives an annual tribute to the barbarians. We find out almost at the end that the barbarians can’t have female children, so they take human women instead. The women think they’re being sent to hell, but most of the clans actually treat them really well.
Except for the clan Briar, a young man wrongfully accused of murder, ends up with. These guys are cruel and abusive toward their tributes. This time, though, they took a male human which is something that’s never happened before.
Briar is given to Khrull as a joke. Khrull is a big, quiet, gentle guy who doesn’t fit in with the rest of his clan. He’s not a brute and hates violence, so he has no intention of hurting Briar. He also doesn't get how he's supposed to have sex with him.
Briar and Khrull can’t understand each other, but their first encounter goes surprisingly well, all things considered. Even though Briar doesn’t clearly give consent for sex that's about to happen, Khrull makes sure Briar’s safe and comfortable. The scene is well written and it's the only time you'll get them together on-page like this.
Around 40% in after that scene the story suddenly skips ahead a few weeks and this is where it went downhill for me. Khrull's clan starts to notice how close Briar and Khrull have become, so they try to separate them. At 50% in both escape and find safety with a rival northern clan that’s kinder to humans and welcomes them both in and that's the clan that's in the rest of this series.
The novella doesn’t really give you Briar and Khrull’s relationship development on-page. It just skips it, gives you a few short sentences before moving them to a new location. Suddenly, Briar learns the barbarian language and they’re building a new life together, traveling to human towns to trade and convince people that the barbarians aren’t all bad.
At first, the book really pulled me in, I was excited because I really liked the setting, I liked both main characters and wanted to see them get to know each other more and live together a little, and they did, I just didn't get to experience that intimacy on-page.
Briar's character wasn't as fleshed out and you don't get much from his POV, but I honestly thought it was going to develop more as their story progressed.
Briar and Khrull were very comfortable and intimate with each other, so I'd have liked to at least get a couple more scenes that showed their chemistry, how they're connected and how they're falling in love, but instead, we get a bunch of side characters, no real explanations and barely any focus on the main relationship.
I’ll keep reading the series, but I’ve already started the next book, and it’s the same problem, there's still no real world building, and it just starts with another guy being taken.
September 3, 2025
This is more of a side story than a prequel as I think it fits best between books 3 and 4. It's about a cinnamon roll barbarian in one of the rougher clans and the tribute he is given as a joke. Briar, is a sweetie too and these too were so cute together. It could have easily been a full novella like the rest of the series and I would definitely have liked more, but it was still a fun read.
April 10, 2026
To anyone wanting to read this, it shouldn't really be book 0.5, it should probably be 3.5. The world building and character development needed, are i the first few books.
This series is great for just switching your brain off and escaping reality.
This series is great for just switching your brain off and escaping reality.
September 26, 2026
3-⭐
I can't take the cover seriously. It's certainly similar to the others in this series but those covers at least have humans in them, this is exactly like some late 90s video game character. Might play the game, tbh.
Anyway, I quite liked the 1st book in this series even though it definitely wasn't epic fantasy or anything, and wanted to continue the series. This is a prequel book, which I don't really agree with. I might be pedantic, but to me a prequel is not just a short story introducing a series, it's a later published work, which is set chronologically earlier than the first publication. But whatever, I'm not going to die on this hill, just moan about it once in a while.
As a prequel (or an introductory short story) this book is not very good. The Barbarian's Tribute doesn't give us too much about this world: it's in the past somewhere, probably not in our world, with a fantastical premise of the barbarians only having male offspring. I didn't really mind that the world is a bit vague, it was described enough for the purpose of the story. But this one doesn't give us any new insight to anything, it even seems slightly contradictory.
As a romance this one had potential. Khrull, the gentle giant, has to claim his tribute immediately or lose him, which would mean the more violent tribesmen would abuse him. But they don't even have a common language. So there's a real titillating dubcon scene starting this relationship. Unfortunately after that the rest of the story gets sped up and jumps over things. It is a bit interesting, but smells mostly of lost opportunity. Khrull is a bit dense character but I chuckled that they hadn't even managed to learn each others names after a couple of weeks, but I guess they were just too busy fucking. 😂
Still, for the big kind barbarian, I liked it well enough, and don't feel disheartened to try out book #2. This was a freebie from the author's website. (Requires a newsletter subscription.)
I can't take the cover seriously. It's certainly similar to the others in this series but those covers at least have humans in them, this is exactly like some late 90s video game character. Might play the game, tbh.
Anyway, I quite liked the 1st book in this series even though it definitely wasn't epic fantasy or anything, and wanted to continue the series. This is a prequel book, which I don't really agree with. I might be pedantic, but to me a prequel is not just a short story introducing a series, it's a later published work, which is set chronologically earlier than the first publication. But whatever, I'm not going to die on this hill, just moan about it once in a while.
As a prequel (or an introductory short story) this book is not very good. The Barbarian's Tribute doesn't give us too much about this world: it's in the past somewhere, probably not in our world, with a fantastical premise of the barbarians only having male offspring. I didn't really mind that the world is a bit vague, it was described enough for the purpose of the story. But this one doesn't give us any new insight to anything, it even seems slightly contradictory.
As a romance this one had potential. Khrull, the gentle giant, has to claim his tribute immediately or lose him, which would mean the more violent tribesmen would abuse him. But they don't even have a common language. So there's a real titillating dubcon scene starting this relationship. Unfortunately after that the rest of the story gets sped up and jumps over things. It is a bit interesting, but smells mostly of lost opportunity. Khrull is a bit dense character but I chuckled that they hadn't even managed to learn each others names after a couple of weeks, but I guess they were just too busy fucking. 😂
Still, for the big kind barbarian, I liked it well enough, and don't feel disheartened to try out book #2. This was a freebie from the author's website. (Requires a newsletter subscription.)
October 12, 2026
«I became addicted to my bondmate. I couldn’t get enough of him. It wasn’t just sex, either. The sex was amazing, and I wanted more every time we finished, but it was more than that. Feeling him wrapped in my arms as we slept, or curled in my lap as we ate meals together. Gazing into his pretty brown eyes as he spoke to me. We couldn’t understand each other, but that didn’t stop me from falling for him.»
La historia entre Briar y Khrull es corta pero tierna; aunque el inicio es algo complicado por la diferencia en sus idiomas y el consentimiento dudoso, ellos lo hacen funcionar. Su desarrollo como pareja es realmente lo mejor que se puede obtener bajo el contexto en el que se encontraban, y a pesar de eso, vemos a Krull ser tan atento, considerado y amoroso, que fue inevitable que Briar (y yo) nos encariñáramos de él.
La historia entre Briar y Khrull es corta pero tierna; aunque el inicio es algo complicado por la diferencia en sus idiomas y el consentimiento dudoso, ellos lo hacen funcionar. Su desarrollo como pareja es realmente lo mejor que se puede obtener bajo el contexto en el que se encontraban, y a pesar de eso, vemos a Krull ser tan atento, considerado y amoroso, que fue inevitable que Briar (y yo) nos encariñáramos de él.
August 5, 2026
Lacked world building. I’ll still give book one a try since I’ve seen some raving reviews from people I trust.
June 1, 2026
4*
Just to emphasize: this is not a prequel. It's probably best placed somewhere around book 3.5 in the series. Because of that, if someone reads it before starting the series, the story simply won't make much sense at all. I definitely wouldn't recommend reading it before at least finishing the first book.
As for the novella itself, I enjoyed the story. It was interesting to read about a barbarian from a different clan, but unfortunately it was too short for me to develop a deeper connection to the characters. Still, as a short novella, I found it quite enjoyable.
Just to emphasize: this is not a prequel. It's probably best placed somewhere around book 3.5 in the series. Because of that, if someone reads it before starting the series, the story simply won't make much sense at all. I definitely wouldn't recommend reading it before at least finishing the first book.
As for the novella itself, I enjoyed the story. It was interesting to read about a barbarian from a different clan, but unfortunately it was too short for me to develop a deeper connection to the characters. Still, as a short novella, I found it quite enjoyable.
September 27, 2026
This is meant to be a prequel, but it doesn't exactly read like one. Because in book one of the series, Finn is referenced several times as being the first male tribute, but when Briar and Khrull move to the same clan Finn and his bondmate are part of, no one is surprised that Briar is male. Also, we never see Briar in the first three books of the series, So, these are all the reasons that this book doesn't feel like a prequel at all.
Note: I find it interesting that this story is in the omnibus edition of the series and placed between books 4 and 5 rather than before book 1. So, take that as you will.
Note: I find it interesting that this story is in the omnibus edition of the series and placed between books 4 and 5 rather than before book 1. So, take that as you will.
October 7, 2025
Good prequel to the Barbarians series
I read The Unexpected Barbarian when it was available before the series started. It set up everything very well. It is a lot longer than free prequels usually are and it drew me in from the start. Khrull and Briar were so sweet together, I couldn't help but love them and they made me impatient to meet all the rest of the Barbarians and their bondmates. I re-read it again today before writing this review and fell in love with them all over again.
All the books in the series do stand alone but they follow each other chronologically and the same characters appear so you would get more out of them if read in order.
I read The Unexpected Barbarian when it was available before the series started. It set up everything very well. It is a lot longer than free prequels usually are and it drew me in from the start. Khrull and Briar were so sweet together, I couldn't help but love them and they made me impatient to meet all the rest of the Barbarians and their bondmates. I re-read it again today before writing this review and fell in love with them all over again.
All the books in the series do stand alone but they follow each other chronologically and the same characters appear so you would get more out of them if read in order.
December 7, 2025
What in the everloving fuck. I am so fucking disgusted right now. This was straight up rape. I don't care what kind of excuse this author thought she came up with, what she wrote was 100% rape and I have never been so fucking disgusted. I am honestly fucking livid that I unknowingly read that filth. What the absolute FUCK. I mean I've read some bad dubious consent before but this is on a whole different level. Honestly, fuck this author and anyone else who thinks rape makes for an acceptable plot. I'll never read this author again.
April 8, 2026
3 stars... and tbh, I probably would have rated this lower if I didn't have the context of having already read (and loved) the whole series. It's too short to be truly satisfying and the opening sex scene would NOT have worked without the full series context, but since I *have* read it and *do* have that context, I found it an enjoyable little glimpse into more of the barbarian's world. Khrull is just as sweet as the other barbarians, Briar feeling so safe with him is very on brand, and it was actually refreshing to have a story - or snippet, really - from another clan.
September 9, 2025
Definitely needs to be marked as 3.5 in the series as that matches the timeline of the series more accurately. It was a good view into life of the other clan and how much better our not-savage clan are in the world. It was short but good. I hope to see these guys in the rest of the series too
March 9, 2026
Short and sweet, a prequel that probably doesn't work as a standalone. I would at least read the first book before this one. Khrull and Briar get a brief mention in the final book of the series. This is their backstory.
April 12, 2026
Ouch, this was really dissapointing. I loved the Barbarian’s Tribute but for some reason I just couldnt connect with this one. Might have been because this one was even shorter than the Barbarian’s Tribute and I already thought that one was a little short, didn’t change me loving it.
Want to Read
August 22, 2026Book 0.5 - The Unexpected Barbarian - tbl
Book 1 - The Barbarian's Tribute - tbl
Book 2 - Saved by a Barbarian - tbl
Book 3 - Seducing a Barbarian - 3 stars - 8/21/26
Book 4 - The Barbarian's Claim - tbl
Book 5 - The Physician's Barbarian - tbl
Book 6 - Prince of the Barbarians - tbl
Book 1 - The Barbarian's Tribute - tbl
Book 2 - Saved by a Barbarian - tbl
Book 3 - Seducing a Barbarian - 3 stars - 8/21/26
Book 4 - The Barbarian's Claim - tbl
Book 5 - The Physician's Barbarian - tbl
Book 6 - Prince of the Barbarians - tbl
September 2, 2025
great introduction to a new series. I liked it
November 1, 2025
A cute read, started out so sad but turned happy very quickly
January 3, 2026
⭐️✨ Well I didn’t really like that at all. I hate dubious consent most of the time and I hated it here. What a weird way to start a series
August 28, 2026
Definitely read as book 3.5! Short with not much real content but I was glad to read about the "bad' clan and what happened to them.
April 18, 2026
Rating: ⭐️⭐️1/2
Enjoyment: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Enjoyment: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews