Runic Awakening

The Runic Series #1

by Clayton Taylor Wood

Runic Awakening is the first book in the Runic series, a contemporary epic fantasy series set in the world of Doma, where magical engineers called Runics rule the land. They are equaled in power only by Weavers, men and women that can manipulate the very fabric of the universe with their wills. Kalibar is the greatest of the Weavers, magic-wielding soldiers who defend the Empire. Long retired, he is content to spend his final days studying magic in solitude. So when he finds a boy named Kyle bleeding to death on an abandoned road, Kalibar is reluctant to take him in. That is, until he discovers that the boy has incredible magic potential. There's only one problem...Kyle claims to be an alien from another planet. A planet he calls Earth. With no idea how Kyle got here, and no way to get him home, Kalibar takes the boy under his wing. Eager to train Kyle to use his incredible powers, Kalibar has no time to do it. Lethal assassins calling themselves Death Weavers are trying to kidnap Kyle. Led by a ruthless undead immortal known only as the Dead Man, the assassins plan to use Kyle's incredible abilities to destroy the Empire. Time is running out...and Kyle may be the only one powerful enough stop the Dead Man. If he fails, the Empire will fall...and Kalibar will suffer a fate worse than death!

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

410 pages, Paperback

Published October 13, 2016

About the author

Clayton Wood is the author of six fantasy series. He's been a computer programmer, graphics designer, martial-arts instructor, and now works in the medical field.

Writing was always Clayton's passion, but it wasn't until the birth of his first son that he found the inspiration necessary to finish his first book. Five years later, he published Runic Awakening, the first entry in the Runic Series. With eleven books published, he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon!

For updates, check his blog or his website.

To contact Clayton, email author@runicseries.com.

Reviews

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (3/4/2020)! 🎁

[Lukas Lovas]

Not bad at all. Kind of original, humorous in some places, rather disturbing in others in regards to bodily harm....I am a bit confused about some things that happened here, as they seem plot breaking and I am curious to see the explanation. That said, I enjoyed reading this book and I laughed out loud a few times too :)

[Lurino]

It was supposed to be a fun read, then it grew heavier

What started off innocently as a typical young adult novel with coming-of-age theme grow twisted gritty with each passing page. Then, when you thought you had the plot figured out, it took another twist to something closer to a hero story, with a different hero than the one when the story started. Looking forward to read the next books, hoping that there would be more interesting developments with the Empire

[Moira]

18.4.2018 - 4*
Důvod, proč jsem tomu stáhla hvězdičku, nejspíše bude žánr sám. Obvykle se dokážu držet standardů žánru docela dobře a od YA neočekávám to stejné jako od epické fantasy. Ale autor to v tomto příběhu míchal tak podivně (místy to bylo vážně jak kopnutí do zubů), že jsem to vnímala jako super fantasy (jelikož magie, svět, místy brutalita, intriky, my my ^^) s mladistvým hrdinou, který byl navrch strašpytel. Klobouk dolů pro Wooda, Kyle nebyl chodící klišé a dokonale vystihoval mladého klučinu. Což ale byl problém sám o sobě, aspoň pro mě. *smích* Přesto skvělý příběh. :)

[Amanda Kern]

Picked up on whim

I picked this book up on a whim. I could not put it down. Now I Ryan would like the next one. There are so many unanswered questions. I like how it builds up a f I enjoyed the twists in the book.

Highly anticipating the next book.

[Ron Brown]

A good read

I have to admit this book was a pleasure to read. I look forward to reading to next book of the series.

[Elinor]

I enjoyed reading this book, but it is a very confused world. The magic just doesn't make sense. I know, I know, it's magic, what do you expect? It's just that there seem to be so many crazy things happening that do not line up with each other. The unexplained events at the end where everything is magically better. Tada! There was one point where the main character was grieving for someone who died, who he hardly knew, and the author points out another character comforting them, that the second character didn't know the dead person. But they both had exactly the same amount of familiarity with the dead person. Made no sense. Also, this is a coming of age story, but it has disturbing violence, so be warned, it is not for kids. The things that made it enjoyable were that it was unpredictable, did not use the standard plot for coming of age and the pace was quick. It certainly kept me hooked. I'm debating whether to read the next book or not. I kind of want to know if the author explains the magic a little more.

[Ezekiel Alvarez]

Wonderful Writing

Classic coming of age story, with great prose and world building. This is a worthy read, looking forward to more very soon hopefully. New ideas and real life grit give a age old storyline everything you want to keep you captivated!

[patricia a. folks]

Very good.

Quite the enjoyable book. I'd say it can be safely read by children 10 and up although it does have some darker elements.

[Mike Cross]

Gruesome, heart rending, inspiring story.

I was read another book, by chapter 6 it was clear that it was not working, so i switched.

This story captured me in the first 2 pages, and it didn’t let me go. Wow, what a story, it may be easier to lost what it doesn’t have....there is politics, adventure, torture (very gruesome but very well done), love, loss, sacrifice, humour, good vs evil, gods vs humans, really it is the Swiss Army knife of adventure.

I thought this was a random one off purchase, nope, I’m in the the entire series...

[Stéphanie]

3.5/5.

This one was randomly chosen by a friend in my tbr. It was on there for quite some time now and i'm really glad I've finally read it! The story was great and quite original. I was really interested by the magic and the history of this new world. Though, some parts of the story felt a little too heavy with informations and some felt a little too easy for the characters. It's the first one in the series so it's fair in my opinion. I'm intrigued where this story is gonna go!

[Logan Horsford]

Started OK with a family being murdered and all but then the focus turns to some kid who the author is doing his best to make weak, ineffectual and unlikable. All of the normal stereotypes are chained to this kid - geeky, bullied, can't talk to a girl, has one best friend - it's like the author went down a check list of 'most over used school tropes'.

Gave up because another paint by numbers 'coming of age story' is unneeded.

DNF.

[Daniel]

Got about 60% through and I'm done.
It felt like a mix of the worst parts of the grittiness of an adult book with the whiny part of a teenager main character. His lack of a spine is annoying to read about. Like, I get it, it's more realistic that a teenager necessarily wouldn't have the quickness and courage to call people on their BS or to stand up for himself even if it meant taking an ass kicking, but that doesn't make it fun to read about.

[Helen Mansfield]

Finally! This is what I'm talking about!

This is the kind of book I want to read, knew the author had it in him. Glad I wasn't put off by the Chauncy rubbish, they were good stories but peurile at times. This is what I want to read, couldn't put this down, got the rest of them to enjoy.

[lorikayhorsfall]

Wonderfully entertaining .😁

This book took you on a magical journey of an intensely disturbing trip to a world of dangerous magic . With both good and evil and heroes to boot . All centered around a confused young boy .

[Natalie H]

Good start, fast paced with flashback/dreams and plenty of violence. Lost me a bit at Dead man. It’s kind of a not again feeling. Interest quickly regained after that up to the end. Looking forward to reading the next one. Favourite character would probably be Darius.

[Christopher Johnson]

Kept my interest for the most part. Not a bad read by any means, the writing is a tad repetitive for my liking. Not sure if I will continue the series. The characters are all very fleshed out as well as the world, just hard to get through with the writing style

[Cristian]

Can't wait for more

This was intense, mind bogglingly awesome. The characters are well written and full of surprises. The main character has grown considerably and can't wait to see more of him and his second family

[Kay Davis]

Intriguing story

This book kept me turning pages! Going to get the next one immediately! So glad I took a chance and read this.

[Jeremy Lawrence]

Amazing Portal story!

What a great read! True adventure and great character building. Cool world and magic system. Really looking forward to finishing the series.

[Amith Somasekharan]

Good concepts of magic and excellent world building but the main character is incredibly annoying.
One of the problems I have with a young protagonist is the fact that they often become a hindrance to action and plans rather than an asset, and this was the case with most if not all of Runic Awakening.
Kyle is an underpowered and really young character who is the supporting cast insist has more power than anyone else in the rest of the world, but this power is never given any time to manifest as the plot is rushed forward to conclusion. Maybe the powers will be better showcased in later books, but I feel the way the author held back that plot point for later books affected this one negatively.

[Jeremy Patrick]

Not terrible

This book had its fun parts. It kept me on the edge of my seat waiting for the MC to grow a pair.... which doesn't really happen. He gets a little lippy but never really DOES anything. A decent distraction.

[Steven]

Good story. I liked that it was clean and that it wasn't a carbon copy of other stories of this type. The downside was that the main character seemed a little weaker than I would have preferred. Definitely worth reading.

[Dave Wolfe]

Great story

Well developed good twists. Fair amount of character development. I enjoyed the way the author related magic and runes together.

[Michael Wood]

Very Good Sword & Sorcery Novel

Clayton Wood (no relation) has written a very good Sword and Sorcery novel as his first published book. If the next two books are as good as this, it promises to be a very good series!

I particularly enjoyed his concept of magic practiced by two different groups: Weavers, who could directly, mentally weave magic; and Runics, who could create magic by writing runes with magical properties.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS: SWORD & SORCERY/COMING OF AGE NOVEL