Warmaster 8: Charnel Keep: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure

Warmaster #8

by Melissa McShane

Orcs, or humans--who is the more deadly foe?

The war with the orcs has reached its peak, and Aderyn must use every Warmaster skill she has to defeat their violent, relentless onslaught. But when a former enemy appears with new information about the Fated One quest, Aderyn’s loyalties are keep her promise to lead the human armies, or travel deep into the Blighted Range to find and destroy the orcs’ stronghold of Charnel Keep?

When events take the choice out of Aderyn’s hands, she and her team must tackle the greatest challenge they’ve faced so far. Accompanied by new companions she can’t trust, the increasingly personal guidance of the system that governs her world may be all that protects her from betrayal and death.

Continue the adventure today with WARMASTER 8: CHARNEL KEEP!

Genres: Fantasy

455 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Melissa grew up a nomad, following her family all over the United States, and ended up living in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains with her husband, four kids, and three very needy cats. Her love of reading was always a constant during those uncertain years, and her love of writing grew out of that. She wrote reviews and critical essays for many years before turning to fiction, and was surprised at how much she liked it. She loves the fantasy genre and how it stretches the imagination.

Reviews

[Sherwood Smith]

I really enjoyed this entry in the series. So very much. Unfortunately almost anything I could say would be a spoiler, so this will be a much shorter review than the book deserves. But I'll try to talk around it.

Character arcs. Everyone continues to grow and change, or change, and one arc in particular . . . gpt to me. And another ended with a very deservedly, uh, end.

The system voice is more intriguing by book, and the end . . . just blew all my expectations.

To sum up: though I don't see myself getting into LitRPG as my story needs go in other directions, I follow this series eagerly because the characters are not one-note cardboard cut-outs there for the adventure. Some of the monsters are, sure--I think that's a given in this type of story--but even others among the adversaries are well fleshed out.

[Melissa McShane]

I pushed this one out the door very fast because the cover designer was unusually slow, and the release had already been delayed by a month. And I was in the US and busy when it did come out. So I forgot I hadn't reviewed it until a couple of days ago.

This is the second half of the Southlander duology. Originally, I meant the war with the orcs to take up one book, but when I couldn't resolve the Ruan and Suveer subplot in a single volume, my plans changed. So--this is where we learn more about the brothers who are following the Fated One quest chain, and things come to light that Aderyn never expected.

I still am not great at writing wars. I like very narrowly focused, character-driven stories, and whenever I set out to write a war story, I feel like I pull away from that. If this war story works (and I hope it does) it's due as much to luck as skill.

In this book, I mostly cared about getting the team back to doing what they do best, adventuring and dungeon-delving. This time, they have a couple of tagalongs in Ruan and Suveer. I was extremely surprised to find how many advance readers HATED Ruan. Like, visceral, cheering his gory death hatred. Yes, I meant him to be unpleasant and someone you love to hate, but still...

And Suveer: Suveer was meant to seem like he was changing his attitude and growing to like Aderyn, only to betray her at the end and die with Ruan. That obviously did not happen, but I didn't expect for him to die the way he did. Everything about his character changed the more I wrote. It was probably inevitable that he would break with his brother just at the moment Aderyn needed him to, but his intervention when Aderyn is buried alive was completely unexpected, to me, anyway.

There are two books left in the series. The ending of this one steers the action toward the final resolution. My thanks to my friend Jay for pointing out that the system saying only "I never spoke to Suveer" was way more effective and chilling than the additional explanation originally included. Book 9 and 10 were also meant to be a single volume, but I'm glad I split it, because it gave me scope for a truly massive final dungeon in book 10. Book 9, though, is something I waited five books to be able to write...

[June Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa McShane's latest volume in the Warmaster series is Warmaster 8: Charnel Keep. The war of humans against Orcs continue, with Female Main Character Aderyn elevated from second in command to commanding general about half-way through the book, when the Orcs capture her superior. This launches the team on their inevitable attack on Charnel Keep, a dungeon that doubles as the headquarters of the Orcs. A nasty group of monsters delay but never stop them in their quest to destroy the Orc leader and defeat the dungeon and the Orc army. There are some terrifying monsters here, especially if you are afraid of spiders.
As usual, human opponents give the team a good deal of grief too. I really enjoyed this book even though parts of it made me acutely uncomfortable. I share with Aderyn a fear of enclosed spaces. Being buried alive thus becomes the direst fate of all.
If you like fantasy adventure stories, and particularly if you are a gamer, this book is a must read, as is the entire series! Highly recommended!

[Lisa Venerussi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep saying this in my reviews of this series: I like each book better than the last! But it’s true. I was not a litRPG fan prior to reading this series, and haven’t done any gaming for years, but once I got used to the format I fell in love with the characters, and now I’m extremely invested in their lives. I feel like this book is in many ways a “partner book” to “Warmaster 7”, as the two books tell the story of the team’s involvement in the Orc-Human war in the Southland. As usual, there’s a dungeon for the team to surmount - quite an unusual one - as well as the resolution of some encounters from the previous book. The mysterious “system” grows even more mysterious, and some questions about the “Fated One’s” quest are answered. All in all, a very enjoyable read!

[Nicole N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa McShane does it again with her latest installment of Warmaster: Charnel Keep. This is the next to last book in a fantasy series. The character interactions and environments the story takes place in have such great detail you will imagine yourself there. Wonder how the series will be wrapped up!

[Anne V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satisfying

This series is fun to read and deeply satisfying. The characters develop deeper bonds with each other and work together as an enviable team. They’re also likeable as individuals, which makes each arc of the story more appealing.