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Stone Eye and the Fourth Apocalypse: Labyrinths and Loot, Book 1
When you've seen one end of the world, you've seen the lot.
Meet Stone Eye. Veteran of three apocalypses, wielder of a magical spade, and a man with one to be left alone with a decent pint.
When a prophecy refuses to respect his retirement, Stone Eye flees to The First and Last inn — the kind of place even destiny has trouble finding. It finds him anyway. And waiting there is an old friend - Hypolaika the holy thief -who has forgotten who she is. Something that matters more than either of them knows.
Because the world is forgetting itself too. Things are losing their purpose. And somewhere in the gap between who the thief was and what she has become lies a secret that may have already doomed the Moons of Morning.
The only way to save her — and the world — is to tell the tale of the escapade they once shared. The story of how Stone Eye assembled a cut price band of underqualified adventurers — a minotaur, a fallen angel, a wild witch and a hippo priest, oh, as well as a wizard and his mum - and led them into the Lightning-Struck Tower to face the Ghost King.
Stone Eye — reluctant, retired, and deeply suspicious of anyone whose ambition is to end up in a story — is the only one who can tell the tale.
Narrated by Gunnar Cauthery and perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Dungeons & Dragons, Stone Eye and the Fourth Apocalypse is a hilarious, heartfelt adventure for anyone who ever suspected the chosen one was just the poor sod who couldn’t get out of it.
Meet Stone Eye. Veteran of three apocalypses, wielder of a magical spade, and a man with one to be left alone with a decent pint.
When a prophecy refuses to respect his retirement, Stone Eye flees to The First and Last inn — the kind of place even destiny has trouble finding. It finds him anyway. And waiting there is an old friend - Hypolaika the holy thief -who has forgotten who she is. Something that matters more than either of them knows.
Because the world is forgetting itself too. Things are losing their purpose. And somewhere in the gap between who the thief was and what she has become lies a secret that may have already doomed the Moons of Morning.
The only way to save her — and the world — is to tell the tale of the escapade they once shared. The story of how Stone Eye assembled a cut price band of underqualified adventurers — a minotaur, a fallen angel, a wild witch and a hippo priest, oh, as well as a wizard and his mum - and led them into the Lightning-Struck Tower to face the Ghost King.
Stone Eye — reluctant, retired, and deeply suspicious of anyone whose ambition is to end up in a story — is the only one who can tell the tale.
Narrated by Gunnar Cauthery and perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Dungeons & Dragons, Stone Eye and the Fourth Apocalypse is a hilarious, heartfelt adventure for anyone who ever suspected the chosen one was just the poor sod who couldn’t get out of it.
Audible Audio
Published August 27, 2026
About the author
Mark Barrowcliffe
14 books25 followersAka M.D. Lachlan.
He grew up in Coventry and studied at the University of Sussex. He worked as a journalist and also as a stand-up comedian before he started writing his first novel, Girlfriend 44. He lives and writes in Brighton, England and South Cambridgeshire. Ron Howard secured the film rights for Girlfriend 44 and Infidelity for First Time Fathers is in development with 2929.
Barrowcliffe achieved early success in the late 1990s as part of the Lad Lit movement, although his writing has little in common with other writers who were bracketed under that heading. He is nearer to Terry Southern, Jonathan Coe and Martin Amis than he is to Nick Hornby or Mike Gayle.This is more than likely a matter of presentation, as most of the British versions of his novels have appeared in the candy-coloured covers favoured by lad and chick lit publishers.
Barrowcliffe's early work was noted for its cynicism and black humour, although Lucky Dog strikes a lighter tone, that of comedic magic realism.
At his best Barrowcliffe can be irreverent and very funny. Rugby, for instance, is described as 'a game invented by the English public schools in order to encourage homosexuality'. Of a woman who has had a tough time and put on weight, he says 'her life had hit the crash barriers and it looked as though an air bag had gone off inside her face'. He is also insightful. Lucky Dog, for instance, says a lot about how we cope with death, our own and those of the people we love.
Sometimes, though, particularly in his first novel Girlfriend 44, Barrowcliffe can be long winded in his comic diversions.
The Elfish Gene is a memoir of growing up uncool, confused, and obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games.
Barrowcliffe is certainly one of Britain's more original and interesting new writers but it remains to be seen if he can survive being labelled as part of the Lad Lit fad.
He grew up in Coventry and studied at the University of Sussex. He worked as a journalist and also as a stand-up comedian before he started writing his first novel, Girlfriend 44. He lives and writes in Brighton, England and South Cambridgeshire. Ron Howard secured the film rights for Girlfriend 44 and Infidelity for First Time Fathers is in development with 2929.
Barrowcliffe achieved early success in the late 1990s as part of the Lad Lit movement, although his writing has little in common with other writers who were bracketed under that heading. He is nearer to Terry Southern, Jonathan Coe and Martin Amis than he is to Nick Hornby or Mike Gayle.This is more than likely a matter of presentation, as most of the British versions of his novels have appeared in the candy-coloured covers favoured by lad and chick lit publishers.
Barrowcliffe's early work was noted for its cynicism and black humour, although Lucky Dog strikes a lighter tone, that of comedic magic realism.
At his best Barrowcliffe can be irreverent and very funny. Rugby, for instance, is described as 'a game invented by the English public schools in order to encourage homosexuality'. Of a woman who has had a tough time and put on weight, he says 'her life had hit the crash barriers and it looked as though an air bag had gone off inside her face'. He is also insightful. Lucky Dog, for instance, says a lot about how we cope with death, our own and those of the people we love.
Sometimes, though, particularly in his first novel Girlfriend 44, Barrowcliffe can be long winded in his comic diversions.
The Elfish Gene is a memoir of growing up uncool, confused, and obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games.
Barrowcliffe is certainly one of Britain's more original and interesting new writers but it remains to be seen if he can survive being labelled as part of the Lad Lit fad.
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