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Throne Hunters #5
Throne Hunters #5
To claim the power needed to save Flutic, Harald must burn away everything he's fought to become.
Driven into the dungeon's depths as the demon queen closes her grip on the city above, Harald is offered a bargain that will strip away his strength, his levels, and his very sense of self—and become something colder and far more dangerous.
The abyss has never been closer. And as Sam watches the man she loves descend into it, she begins to wonder whether what will eventually emerge will still be Harald at all.
Driven into the dungeon's depths as the demon queen closes her grip on the city above, Harald is offered a bargain that will strip away his strength, his levels, and his very sense of self—and become something colder and far more dangerous.
The abyss has never been closer. And as Sam watches the man she loves descend into it, she begins to wonder whether what will eventually emerge will still be Harald at all.
- GenresFantasy
580 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2026
About the author
Phil Tucker
50 books1,383 followersThanks for visiting my page! I'm Phil Tucker, a Brazilian/Brit who currently resides in Asheville, NC, where I resist the siren call of the forests and mountains to sit inside and hammer away on my laptop.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 23, 2026
Inconsistent details, author maybe forgot some of the details he laid out in previous books. i.e. Lady Hammerfall's thrones. Makes things a bit confusing.
Harald has learned he can't do it alone in every book about 5 times and yet the majority of this book he is still doing it alone and making unilateral decisions for everyone. Harald rarely listens to his friends and often flex's his stats on them to influence them. If the author isn't going to abide by this not going it alone junk, he should stop mentioning that Harald is doomed if he tries to do it all by himself. Its frustrating at this point, he immediately forgets the lesson he just learned constantly, it doesn't seem to be a plot point, just the author not being cognizant of what he's putting on the page.
Book 5 asks me to care about a reset and then repeatedly ignores the consequences of that reset.
Harald's de-ranking is extremely poorly handled.
I don't know why his low level abilities are now doing things they didn't do previously after his reset unless I missed something. Aura of the Aching Depths was a simple debuff, not a lethal drain, not a drain at all, this is even explained earlier in the book. He didn't keep his combined ones going back to level 1 so he shouldn't have a lethal drain. So I guess the actual abilities don't matter now, just how the character believes he should be able to use them which I'm not sure I like, that's just inviting even more convenient plot armor deus ex moments than this book series already has and it has a lot. The skills cease having real meaning when you take this approach. Unless it is literally that the author didn't bother checking/remembering the details of his own books.
Dexterity / strength / constitution is suddenly less important after Harald de-ranks. He was presented as extremely weak/slow in previous books. This would be true even if he had sword skills, his stamina/staying power should be incredibly bad, but he's breezing through multiple dungeon floors when hes in a body that cant run 1 block or hold a sword more than a few minutes. Regardless of experience that should be crippling. He is reset back to his weakest point in the series he shouldnt even be able to hold a sword after a few minutes.
Harald should have enormous advantages in tactics, efficiency, timing and understanding, while still being brutally constrained by his body. That actually could have made the tower descent considerably more interesting.
When books like these start breaking their own rules it puts me off. The whole point of these systems is to have a set of rules that the magic/ability system works by and sometimes the MC break or bends things slightly for their special person advantage.
The whole climb down the tower was completely pointless it was unassailable plot armor for multiple chapters. No tension or new information, just filler for multiple chapters. You could have just skipped it all and said 1 week later Harald made it to level 33 even stronger than before.
I generally bounce off series when things get messy like this it's usually an indication of the series going off a cliff in terms of quality. There's only 1 more book, so I may check it out but man I hated the majority of this one.
Harald has learned he can't do it alone in every book about 5 times and yet the majority of this book he is still doing it alone and making unilateral decisions for everyone. Harald rarely listens to his friends and often flex's his stats on them to influence them. If the author isn't going to abide by this not going it alone junk, he should stop mentioning that Harald is doomed if he tries to do it all by himself. Its frustrating at this point, he immediately forgets the lesson he just learned constantly, it doesn't seem to be a plot point, just the author not being cognizant of what he's putting on the page.
Book 5 asks me to care about a reset and then repeatedly ignores the consequences of that reset.
Harald's de-ranking is extremely poorly handled.
I don't know why his low level abilities are now doing things they didn't do previously after his reset unless I missed something. Aura of the Aching Depths was a simple debuff, not a lethal drain, not a drain at all, this is even explained earlier in the book. He didn't keep his combined ones going back to level 1 so he shouldn't have a lethal drain. So I guess the actual abilities don't matter now, just how the character believes he should be able to use them which I'm not sure I like, that's just inviting even more convenient plot armor deus ex moments than this book series already has and it has a lot. The skills cease having real meaning when you take this approach. Unless it is literally that the author didn't bother checking/remembering the details of his own books.
Dexterity / strength / constitution is suddenly less important after Harald de-ranks. He was presented as extremely weak/slow in previous books. This would be true even if he had sword skills, his stamina/staying power should be incredibly bad, but he's breezing through multiple dungeon floors when hes in a body that cant run 1 block or hold a sword more than a few minutes. Regardless of experience that should be crippling. He is reset back to his weakest point in the series he shouldnt even be able to hold a sword after a few minutes.
Harald should have enormous advantages in tactics, efficiency, timing and understanding, while still being brutally constrained by his body. That actually could have made the tower descent considerably more interesting.
When books like these start breaking their own rules it puts me off. The whole point of these systems is to have a set of rules that the magic/ability system works by and sometimes the MC break or bends things slightly for their special person advantage.
The whole climb down the tower was completely pointless it was unassailable plot armor for multiple chapters. No tension or new information, just filler for multiple chapters. You could have just skipped it all and said 1 week later Harald made it to level 33 even stronger than before.
I generally bounce off series when things get messy like this it's usually an indication of the series going off a cliff in terms of quality. There's only 1 more book, so I may check it out but man I hated the majority of this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2026
So, we're up to book five in Phil Tucker's Adventures of Harald and his Merry Crew and the series remains as awesome and unpredictable as ever.
If you're already a reader of the series and want to know if this is just as good as previous volumes, it is - go and get it.
If you have somehow stumbled on this without having read the series before, it's awesome - go and get volume 1!
This is around the time that the wheels start to fall off in a lot of other progression/Lit RPG series. The weak but plucky protagonist has overcome many of their original handicaps and is now Powerful with a capital P. This often leads to pages and pages of stats and abilities, old powers and abilities that were previously go to moves falling by the wayside, and plot and character development being dropped in favour of lore dumps and torturously long explanations of new powers.
That is not what happens in this book. Tucker finds a way to deal with power scaling that is extremely simple and elegant and serves to both keep things grounded in what we've become familiar with, while at the same time ratcheting up the power and stakes exponentially. All of this is done while keeping a firm grasp on the core relationships and overarching motivations that have made the series such a joy so far.
I never know where the plot is going to go next, but the twists and turns are always earned and make sense within the internal logic of the story.
My only nitpick (or maybe 'Vicpick'?) is that Tucker didn't seem to know what to do with Vic in this book. He's always been the acerbic wit with hinted at hidden depths and trauma, but in this book he's reduced to comedic light relief and his quips favour quantity over quality. He's a shadow (pun intended) of his former self and feels like a bit like an extra toe as far as the party is concerned. Maybe there's something going on that will be resolved in the next book. I hope so.
Anyway TL;DR - Awesome next step in the series and I can't wait for the finale.
If you're already a reader of the series and want to know if this is just as good as previous volumes, it is - go and get it.
If you have somehow stumbled on this without having read the series before, it's awesome - go and get volume 1!
This is around the time that the wheels start to fall off in a lot of other progression/Lit RPG series. The weak but plucky protagonist has overcome many of their original handicaps and is now Powerful with a capital P. This often leads to pages and pages of stats and abilities, old powers and abilities that were previously go to moves falling by the wayside, and plot and character development being dropped in favour of lore dumps and torturously long explanations of new powers.
That is not what happens in this book. Tucker finds a way to deal with power scaling that is extremely simple and elegant and serves to both keep things grounded in what we've become familiar with, while at the same time ratcheting up the power and stakes exponentially. All of this is done while keeping a firm grasp on the core relationships and overarching motivations that have made the series such a joy so far.
I never know where the plot is going to go next, but the twists and turns are always earned and make sense within the internal logic of the story.
My only nitpick (or maybe 'Vicpick'?) is that Tucker didn't seem to know what to do with Vic in this book. He's always been the acerbic wit with hinted at hidden depths and trauma, but in this book he's reduced to comedic light relief and his quips favour quantity over quality. He's a shadow (pun intended) of his former self and feels like a bit like an extra toe as far as the party is concerned. Maybe there's something going on that will be resolved in the next book. I hope so.
Anyway TL;DR - Awesome next step in the series and I can't wait for the finale.
July 6, 2026
I've genuinely enjoyed this series. Very gritty and mostly realistic character reactions up until this book.
This one felt a little divergent from the rest; the main characters behaved differently from how you would anticipate. Add that I don't like the Harald/Sam pairing because of their complicated past and lack of true chemistry post-book 1; yet it's central to this book. Everything about it felt forced in this book. It also feels like Sam's hiding a lot - maybe we'll know about it in later books, but it seems contradictory to her otherwise morally transparent behavior. The other characters (Vic, Nessa, Karsek) took a backseat for the most part - Vic's storyline felt underwhelming, Karsek has always felt underutilized, but truly didn't have much to do in this book, and apart from Nessa's breakthrough, there wasn't much.
The pacing also struggled. The first part and last part were action-packed and plot-moving, but the middle part was slow. I loved the decision that Harald made to risk it all for more power, but the following scenes of dungeon fights were beyond boring. They felt wrote and you knew nothing bad was going to happen. It was almost made up for by the ending; the plot progression was downright ridiculous, but the abrupt ending killed some of the momentum.
Most series have a book like this that acts as a transition. Books 3-4 might have moved more slowly than Tucker initially planned, so he used this one to speed things up to the endgame. Still looking forward to the next books.
This one felt a little divergent from the rest; the main characters behaved differently from how you would anticipate. Add that I don't like the Harald/Sam pairing because of their complicated past and lack of true chemistry post-book 1; yet it's central to this book. Everything about it felt forced in this book. It also feels like Sam's hiding a lot - maybe we'll know about it in later books, but it seems contradictory to her otherwise morally transparent behavior. The other characters (Vic, Nessa, Karsek) took a backseat for the most part - Vic's storyline felt underwhelming, Karsek has always felt underutilized, but truly didn't have much to do in this book, and apart from Nessa's breakthrough, there wasn't much.
The pacing also struggled. The first part and last part were action-packed and plot-moving, but the middle part was slow. I loved the decision that Harald made to risk it all for more power, but the following scenes of dungeon fights were beyond boring. They felt wrote and you knew nothing bad was going to happen. It was almost made up for by the ending; the plot progression was downright ridiculous, but the abrupt ending killed some of the momentum.
Most series have a book like this that acts as a transition. Books 3-4 might have moved more slowly than Tucker initially planned, so he used this one to speed things up to the endgame. Still looking forward to the next books.
July 26, 2026
I've been a fan of Phil Tucker for years, since his crowdfunded "Deathmarch" series. He's one of the small number of authors where I actively look out for new books. Phil is a master of "progression fantasy" in which a focus is characters increasing in power and skill over time.
"Throne Hunters" is not the most inspiring of titles and it wasn't until I started on book one that I realised that the thrones were not literal thrones for a ruler to sit on, but a kind of level marker.
As with all of Phil's books once you start reading it's very easy to get sucked in and pulled along for the right - his characters are interesting and fully realised people, not stereotypes and the plot never has a dull moment.
So, book 5 - has Phil managed to maintain the interest and momentum that started back in book 1? In a word: yes. It's fun to see the characters overcome the adversities that are thrown at them and see how they develop in the process. Just when I thought things were become straightforward Phil found a way to add another twist to make this book materially different and not just a simple linear progress.
Would I recommend this book? Yes!
I'm already waiting for book 6.
"Throne Hunters" is not the most inspiring of titles and it wasn't until I started on book one that I realised that the thrones were not literal thrones for a ruler to sit on, but a kind of level marker.
As with all of Phil's books once you start reading it's very easy to get sucked in and pulled along for the right - his characters are interesting and fully realised people, not stereotypes and the plot never has a dull moment.
So, book 5 - has Phil managed to maintain the interest and momentum that started back in book 1? In a word: yes. It's fun to see the characters overcome the adversities that are thrown at them and see how they develop in the process. Just when I thought things were become straightforward Phil found a way to add another twist to make this book materially different and not just a simple linear progress.
Would I recommend this book? Yes!
I'm already waiting for book 6.
August 10, 2026
Phil Fucking Tucker. I love this series but I hate Harald's and Sam's relationship. Sam is up there with Professor Umbridge and Regal Farseer on characters I detest. Give yourself a pat on the back. You do a great job of writing a "better than though" religious character who is so accidently condescending and is at risk of causing greater harm then good due to her own blindness for what is deemed the greatest good. Vic is most likely right; it's two sides to the same coin. Harald is right, you have to push the status quo to enact change and we all know religion only protects itself. Thanks for dredging up religious trauma I thought I dealt with. Nessa and Harald deserve each other. They have work on consolidating their past (something Harald and Sam don't do) and understand each other's now. Sam's stuck in the past and worried about the future. The future doesn't matter if you can't get through the now.
July 10, 2026
To quote the great Brandon Sanderson, the best endings are both surprising and inevitable. Phil Tucker really delivered on that principle here. I just hope he is also able to do so for the series conclusion.
That said, there are a lot more loose threads in this series than in his other works. It's safe to say we won't see what a demon seed extraction ritual looks like or how artifacts are created...Actually, now that I have read every one of Phil's books, I have to say that is probably my biggest frustration with him: he's a worldbuilding tease.
That said, there are a lot more loose threads in this series than in his other works. It's safe to say we won't see what a demon seed extraction ritual looks like or how artifacts are created...Actually, now that I have read every one of Phil's books, I have to say that is probably my biggest frustration with him: he's a worldbuilding tease.
July 11, 2026
Crescendo
This is the part of the series that I describe as a crescendo that builds up to the climax. We see our main character, slowly, accumulating power, understanding the underpinnings of his fractured society, and trying to make changes without regard to the cost.
Meanwhile, his friends try to act as a balance to what he has become, and through it all, we see strife, success, and some high-quality writing in this genre.
I highly recommend anyone who’s a fan of this author’s work or otherwise to give this series and this latest installment a shot!
This is the part of the series that I describe as a crescendo that builds up to the climax. We see our main character, slowly, accumulating power, understanding the underpinnings of his fractured society, and trying to make changes without regard to the cost.
Meanwhile, his friends try to act as a balance to what he has become, and through it all, we see strife, success, and some high-quality writing in this genre.
I highly recommend anyone who’s a fan of this author’s work or otherwise to give this series and this latest installment a shot!
July 30, 2026
Phil Tucker has a pattern of writing what's basically body horror disguised as progression fantasy, and Throne Hunters has continued this trend. I've previously compared this to Elric (thematically, at least) for a modern age and I don't think that was totally off base now that I'm caught up and waiting for the final book; this one leaves Harald at a precipice and without spoilers I must say I can't wait to see what happens next!
July 4, 2026
one of the best series out now
Phil continues to work wonders. Throne Hunters is one of the best ongoing series in the genre currently, and Phil one of the best authors as well. Highly recommend the series to all who are fans of the genre, Will Wight, etc. eagerly looking forward to book 6!
Phil continues to work wonders. Throne Hunters is one of the best ongoing series in the genre currently, and Phil one of the best authors as well. Highly recommend the series to all who are fans of the genre, Will Wight, etc. eagerly looking forward to book 6!
July 12, 2026
Bigger and better
If you liked the first four books, you’ll love this one. It takes a couple of turns that I initially questioned, but later came to love. Phil keeps churning out page turners!
If you liked the first four books, you’ll love this one. It takes a couple of turns that I initially questioned, but later came to love. Phil keeps churning out page turners!
July 13, 2026
Thoroughly Enjoyable
One of the best LitRPG series (and authors) out there. Great characters, interesting conflicts, and a very fun read. Four stars is an excellent score from me, I reserve five stars for truly life-changing books.
One of the best LitRPG series (and authors) out there. Great characters, interesting conflicts, and a very fun read. Four stars is an excellent score from me, I reserve five stars for truly life-changing books.
July 18, 2026
Some big changes here!
Talk about flipping the board! The team really up the stakes here! And holy cow what an ending! I really can't wait for book six now! The Celestial War is about to really heat up!
Talk about flipping the board! The team really up the stakes here! And holy cow what an ending! I really can't wait for book six now! The Celestial War is about to really heat up!
July 19, 2026
Oh my gosh
Well just when I thought Phil couldn't get any better he delivers this. I seriously can't wait for book six. This is a great story with amazing characters. What a wild ride.
Well just when I thought Phil couldn't get any better he delivers this. I seriously can't wait for book six. This is a great story with amazing characters. What a wild ride.
July 24, 2026
still much of the same
Still a pretty enjoyable book with cool world building and powers, but the series is beginning to get a little stale. Good thing the end is on the horizon however and I expect it to finish strong
Still a pretty enjoyable book with cool world building and powers, but the series is beginning to get a little stale. Good thing the end is on the horizon however and I expect it to finish strong
August 17, 2026
A strong instalment, but the ending was rushed. Tucker should have squeezed the middle and given more pages to the ending.
The second issue is to give one of the weakest characters such an important plot element.
The second issue is to give one of the weakest characters such an important plot element.
July 5, 2026
sensational
As always these books grip you from the start as they pull you on an absolutely insane adventure every time. It is truly a treat to read each entry to this amazing series. Highly recommend
As always these books grip you from the start as they pull you on an absolutely insane adventure every time. It is truly a treat to read each entry to this amazing series. Highly recommend
July 5, 2026
nice
Brutal. I still need 19 words. So i guess ill just say whatever comes to mind. Cats are good thespians
Brutal. I still need 19 words. So i guess ill just say whatever comes to mind. Cats are good thespians
July 6, 2026
Great read
Another exciting chapter to the throne hunters series; fast paced with some good Twists. Can't wait to read the next one!I
Another exciting chapter to the throne hunters series; fast paced with some good Twists. Can't wait to read the next one!I
July 6, 2026
Amazing
Wasn’t able to put this down, I just had to keep reading. Phil Tucker delivered yet again. So keen for book 6.
Wasn’t able to put this down, I just had to keep reading. Phil Tucker delivered yet again. So keen for book 6.
July 10, 2026
Awesome
I have engulfed this book faster than any i have read in years phil tucker writing in this series is outstanding. This is a must read hurry up and write book 6
I have engulfed this book faster than any i have read in years phil tucker writing in this series is outstanding. This is a must read hurry up and write book 6
July 12, 2026
top tier
Love this series and every book gets better, can’t wait for the next. Different then your standard litrpg book series.
Love this series and every book gets better, can’t wait for the next. Different then your standard litrpg book series.
July 13, 2026
I could not put this series down and can't wait to read the last book.
July 13, 2026
Fantastic as always!
Another home run for Mr. Tucker! Such a wild ride and can’t wait for the next! If you haven’t read any of throne hunters, stop waiting and do it now!
Another home run for Mr. Tucker! Such a wild ride and can’t wait for the next! If you haven’t read any of throne hunters, stop waiting and do it now!
July 28, 2026
Excellent read!
Insanely interesting read. Don't forget to read all of the prequels.
I highly recommend this series if you even remotely like epic fantasy.
Insanely interesting read. Don't forget to read all of the prequels.
I highly recommend this series if you even remotely like epic fantasy.
August 22, 2026
Great
An entry that really gets things moving, I was unable to put it down through the second half. Looking forward to the next one!
An entry that really gets things moving, I was unable to put it down through the second half. Looking forward to the next one!
August 6, 2026
We matter. We are as nothing against the infinite vastness of time, but that endless scope itself is constituted by infinite moments such as this one. We are nothing, yet we are all. If you can believe that, you will find in yourself an infinite source of strength that no setback will ever undermine.
Amazing moment in an amazing book. It's why I read these kinds of writing because I want to feel empowered to deal with reality.
Amazing moment in an amazing book. It's why I read these kinds of writing because I want to feel empowered to deal with reality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2026
another banger
I will never stop reading this series. Inject it directly into my veins please. Can’t wait for the next installment.
I will never stop reading this series. Inject it directly into my veins please. Can’t wait for the next installment.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews