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The Realms #1
Barrow King
A BETRAYED SPY TURNED NOOB HERO.
The First Book in the #1 Bestselling LitRPG Series.
Betrayed by those closest to him, Finn Caldwell thought he’d escaped his life of violence and deception.
But when a frantic message from his estranged sister draws him into The Realms, a strange game-like world of magic and wonder, Finn is forced to embrace his deadly skills once more.
Armed with a mysterious artifact known as a Godhead, Finn becomes the warrior-mage Gryph. Yet, things are not as they seem and to save his sister, he must escape a sentient dungeon by defeating its master the Barrow King.
Barrow King is the first volume in the #1 Bestselling Epic LitRPG Saga The Realms, a book that is “mind blowing and flawless in its execution.” -- Ray Johnson of the LitRPG Audiobook Podcast.
WARNING: Welcome to the world’s most addictive genre.
LitRPG/GameLit is a genre that incorporates gaming elements from tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder with epic RPG video games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and MMO’s like World of Warcraft and sets them in a fantasy or science fiction setting. It has leveling, stat tables, character sheets and skill progressions. If you’re new to LitRPG or GameLit, then The Realms is the perfect place to start. The Realms will take you back to the days when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and The Elder Scrolls were new.
Embrace the adventure and prepare yourself to lose sleep! You have been warned!
Barrow King is also available in print and as an audiobook narrated by Armen Taylor.
Perfect for fans of The Land: Chaos Seeds, Viridian Gate Online and The Good Guys.
The First Book in the #1 Bestselling LitRPG Series.
Betrayed by those closest to him, Finn Caldwell thought he’d escaped his life of violence and deception.
But when a frantic message from his estranged sister draws him into The Realms, a strange game-like world of magic and wonder, Finn is forced to embrace his deadly skills once more.
Armed with a mysterious artifact known as a Godhead, Finn becomes the warrior-mage Gryph. Yet, things are not as they seem and to save his sister, he must escape a sentient dungeon by defeating its master the Barrow King.
Barrow King is the first volume in the #1 Bestselling Epic LitRPG Saga The Realms, a book that is “mind blowing and flawless in its execution.” -- Ray Johnson of the LitRPG Audiobook Podcast.
WARNING: Welcome to the world’s most addictive genre.
LitRPG/GameLit is a genre that incorporates gaming elements from tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder with epic RPG video games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and MMO’s like World of Warcraft and sets them in a fantasy or science fiction setting. It has leveling, stat tables, character sheets and skill progressions. If you’re new to LitRPG or GameLit, then The Realms is the perfect place to start. The Realms will take you back to the days when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and The Elder Scrolls were new.
Embrace the adventure and prepare yourself to lose sleep! You have been warned!
Barrow King is also available in print and as an audiobook narrated by Armen Taylor.
Perfect for fans of The Land: Chaos Seeds, Viridian Gate Online and The Good Guys.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2018
2249 people are currently reading
2511 people want to read
About the author
C.M. Carney
20 books242 followersAfter reading an editorial claiming Dungeons and Dragons drove kids to worship dark forces in the sewers, C.M. Carney's mother immediately bought it for him. He was ten, and it's probably a good thing he was afraid of sewers. Since then he has been obsessed with reading, writing and playing all things fantasy and science fiction.
After spending nearly two decades working as a creative executive for an animation and SFX studio, C.M. decided to pursue his lifelong dream of writing and publishing novels and short stories.
He writes sci-fi, fantasy and LitRPG that run the gamut from epic to humorous. His first novel Barrow King: Book One of The Realms was published in February 2018 and has become a #1 Bestseller in Norse and Viking Myths and Legends and a #1 Bestseller in Role Playing and Fantasy Games.
He loves hearing from fans, like minded thinkers and anyone else who shares his dislike of sewers.
Facebook Group: C.M. Carney's Book Room (https://www.facebook.com/groups/15527...)
Email: chris@cmcarneywrites.com.
Website: www.cmcarneywrites.com. Keep up with new releases, other news and the occasional freebies.
After spending nearly two decades working as a creative executive for an animation and SFX studio, C.M. decided to pursue his lifelong dream of writing and publishing novels and short stories.
He writes sci-fi, fantasy and LitRPG that run the gamut from epic to humorous. His first novel Barrow King: Book One of The Realms was published in February 2018 and has become a #1 Bestseller in Norse and Viking Myths and Legends and a #1 Bestseller in Role Playing and Fantasy Games.
He loves hearing from fans, like minded thinkers and anyone else who shares his dislike of sewers.
Facebook Group: C.M. Carney's Book Room (https://www.facebook.com/groups/15527...)
Email: chris@cmcarneywrites.com.
Website: www.cmcarneywrites.com. Keep up with new releases, other news and the occasional freebies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
July 17, 2020
This was an OK LitRPG story that never quite managed to develop into the sort of story I felt like it had the potential to be. What we got was still decent enough if a tad familiar for regular readers of the genre. The focus of this LitRPG was all on the action and adventure aspects of the tale as well as the LitRPG game mechanics.
The story was standard stuff but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Finn Caldwell has been living in hiding since leaving the army and the schemes of his father behind him but is lured into the VR world of The Realms when word reaches him that his estranged sister is in trouble. Finn might not be much of a gamer but he was experienced at kicking-ass in the real world so was confident he had what it takes to save his sister (who was stuck in game) in the game world.
Finn was a little bland and forgettable but he was likeable and easy to root for and was not your typical LitRPG lead so that was a big plus for the story. A negative for the story was the fact that while we met a lot of secondary characters over the course of the story none of them managed to make much of an impression on me. A few characters did have promise but did not get much chance to shine in this instalment.
The other big plus for the tale was the fact that C.M. Carney's world seemed like an interesting one. The Realms was a fairly standard LitRPG fantasy setting but the Gods felt a bit more interesting than is typical in similar such stories. We also got a chance to learn a bit about the "real world" before Finn dived into the game and it seemed like a cool place. We glimpsed some cool stuff such as the banners (Advanced AI like Alexa and Siri that helped their humans) and advanced tech that upgraded the internet to an internal neural network. The only negative was the fact that this element of the story never got a true chance to develop before Finn dived into the VR world. It was also a negative that Finn got separated from his banner as soon as he hit the Realm. At least there is the potential for Finn to be reunited with his prototype banner AI in the sequels.
The big negatives for the story was the obsession with the game mechanics and stats and the whole dungeon crawl Barrow King story arc. The stats got boring quickly as there was just too many of them and there was such an obsession with the game mechanics that it all felt a bit confusing and needless at times. The dungeon crawl was just a bit of a bore and it must have taken up a good 65% of the story. The Realms seemed like it had the potential to be a fun place but all we seen of it was a boring dungeon. It was too much like watching someone play a boring computer game and not enough like reading an exciting fantasy adventure! Since Finn had the ability to respawn there was zero feeling of tension in the dungeon battles which made them feel like a bit of a chore to get through as they dragged on and on.
I feel like the story had the potential to be a lot more fun than it actually was as the building blocks are their in the worldbuilding to deliver an exciting fantasy tale. It was hinted that The Realms is a real magical place as well as just a VR world and the NPC characters, which was most of them, had only the one life so that should have added an element of danger and tension to the story but it just never did as despite the game characters being presented as real people with their own personalities, motivations, and backstories I still never quite managed to connect with any of them enough to care about their actual fate. It was a real pity!
I think it is worth noting that I listened to this one and ended up doing a lot more multi-tasking than usual while "reading" this story so I've no idea if that ended up having a negative effect on my feelings about it. This was an OK tale so I'll press onto the second instalment of the series and try to give that a bit more of my full attention. Hopefully that will help improve things a bit!
Rating: 3 stars
Audio Note: Amren Taylor gave a decent performance of the audio.
The story was standard stuff but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Finn Caldwell has been living in hiding since leaving the army and the schemes of his father behind him but is lured into the VR world of The Realms when word reaches him that his estranged sister is in trouble. Finn might not be much of a gamer but he was experienced at kicking-ass in the real world so was confident he had what it takes to save his sister (who was stuck in game) in the game world.
Finn was a little bland and forgettable but he was likeable and easy to root for and was not your typical LitRPG lead so that was a big plus for the story. A negative for the story was the fact that while we met a lot of secondary characters over the course of the story none of them managed to make much of an impression on me. A few characters did have promise but did not get much chance to shine in this instalment.
The other big plus for the tale was the fact that C.M. Carney's world seemed like an interesting one. The Realms was a fairly standard LitRPG fantasy setting but the Gods felt a bit more interesting than is typical in similar such stories. We also got a chance to learn a bit about the "real world" before Finn dived into the game and it seemed like a cool place. We glimpsed some cool stuff such as the banners (Advanced AI like Alexa and Siri that helped their humans) and advanced tech that upgraded the internet to an internal neural network. The only negative was the fact that this element of the story never got a true chance to develop before Finn dived into the VR world. It was also a negative that Finn got separated from his banner as soon as he hit the Realm. At least there is the potential for Finn to be reunited with his prototype banner AI in the sequels.
The big negatives for the story was the obsession with the game mechanics and stats and the whole dungeon crawl Barrow King story arc. The stats got boring quickly as there was just too many of them and there was such an obsession with the game mechanics that it all felt a bit confusing and needless at times. The dungeon crawl was just a bit of a bore and it must have taken up a good 65% of the story. The Realms seemed like it had the potential to be a fun place but all we seen of it was a boring dungeon. It was too much like watching someone play a boring computer game and not enough like reading an exciting fantasy adventure! Since Finn had the ability to respawn there was zero feeling of tension in the dungeon battles which made them feel like a bit of a chore to get through as they dragged on and on.
I feel like the story had the potential to be a lot more fun than it actually was as the building blocks are their in the worldbuilding to deliver an exciting fantasy tale. It was hinted that The Realms is a real magical place as well as just a VR world and the NPC characters, which was most of them, had only the one life so that should have added an element of danger and tension to the story but it just never did as despite the game characters being presented as real people with their own personalities, motivations, and backstories I still never quite managed to connect with any of them enough to care about their actual fate. It was a real pity!
I think it is worth noting that I listened to this one and ended up doing a lot more multi-tasking than usual while "reading" this story so I've no idea if that ended up having a negative effect on my feelings about it. This was an OK tale so I'll press onto the second instalment of the series and try to give that a bit more of my full attention. Hopefully that will help improve things a bit!
Rating: 3 stars
Audio Note: Amren Taylor gave a decent performance of the audio.
August 19, 2018
1) the company making the game is evil
2) there's a snarky/sarcastic/stupid sidekick/AI
3) the MC isn't a gamer and must be forced by outside forces to play the game
I've read this book several times already. Maybe at some point all the authors writing the same thing will get together and just use the same template directly, use ctrl+f to swap out character names. Far more efficient.
2) there's a snarky/sarcastic/stupid sidekick/AI
3) the MC isn't a gamer and must be forced by outside forces to play the game
I've read this book several times already. Maybe at some point all the authors writing the same thing will get together and just use the same template directly, use ctrl+f to swap out character names. Far more efficient.
March 20, 2018
I liked:
- The supporting cast like cute gnomes, drunken doctor, bisexual assassin. Even when a character had only a short appearance I had the feeling that he was interesting to know more about and had a back story.
I disliked:
- The MC is supposed to be a military guy (ranger and some special ops) but fights like a hysterical girl in a horror movie. You know, when she hits the serial killer with a pan, takes him down, but then runs away. The killer gets up again and the chase continues.
- The MC throws a guy into a portal, then he runs to same portal, tumbles and crawls ... Do you know the phrase "I trust him as far as I can throw him". The phrase exists for a reason, you can't throw people so far that you have to run for a while to catch up to them and if you learn one thing in the army it is to crawl fast. => If you imagine a scene happening in your head like most readers do you disconnect from the story because the scene can't happen this way. This occurred to me multiple times and was the main reason I disliked the book.
- A pet peeve: You shouldn't drink your precious health potion after a fight when you have a healing ability. It is even stated that his manareg is as fast as the MC can heal. That's wasteful.
It isn't a bad book, but I disliked it.
- The supporting cast like cute gnomes, drunken doctor, bisexual assassin. Even when a character had only a short appearance I had the feeling that he was interesting to know more about and had a back story.
I disliked:
- The MC is supposed to be a military guy (ranger and some special ops) but fights like a hysterical girl in a horror movie. You know, when she hits the serial killer with a pan, takes him down, but then runs away. The killer gets up again and the chase continues.
- The MC throws a guy into a portal, then he runs to same portal, tumbles and crawls ... Do you know the phrase "I trust him as far as I can throw him". The phrase exists for a reason, you can't throw people so far that you have to run for a while to catch up to them and if you learn one thing in the army it is to crawl fast. => If you imagine a scene happening in your head like most readers do you disconnect from the story because the scene can't happen this way. This occurred to me multiple times and was the main reason I disliked the book.
- A pet peeve: You shouldn't drink your precious health potion after a fight when you have a healing ability. It is even stated that his manareg is as fast as the MC can heal. That's wasteful.
It isn't a bad book, but I disliked it.
March 5, 2019
Seldom such forced storyline
The idea is good and the intro is wellwritten, allowing me hope in another good read.
Sadly as soon as the magic world is entered, the whiplash writing starts. It seems the author feels free to invent anything out of thin air(it’s magic after all he seems to think), without respecting consistency. Almost every fight MC is about to loose and then something outside of his purview or control happens, and the fight is won.
Also MC quite often does something stupid, (stepping on a bone which cracks or sneezes etc.) which is not inline with his character of a badass operator, but is needed to further the story.
This really makes it hard for the reader to enjoy the flow of the book, as it does not seem to matter what went before, what will happen next is not dependent upon the past.
As a famous director once said, the start of a movie can combine any wild combination of possibilities, what follows after should be consistent (He made movies like „Some like it hot“). The same goes for a book.
The idea is good and the intro is wellwritten, allowing me hope in another good read.
Sadly as soon as the magic world is entered, the whiplash writing starts. It seems the author feels free to invent anything out of thin air(it’s magic after all he seems to think), without respecting consistency. Almost every fight MC is about to loose and then something outside of his purview or control happens, and the fight is won.
Also MC quite often does something stupid, (stepping on a bone which cracks or sneezes etc.) which is not inline with his character of a badass operator, but is needed to further the story.
This really makes it hard for the reader to enjoy the flow of the book, as it does not seem to matter what went before, what will happen next is not dependent upon the past.
As a famous director once said, the start of a movie can combine any wild combination of possibilities, what follows after should be consistent (He made movies like „Some like it hot“). The same goes for a book.
November 5, 2023
7/10
No es el primer libro de LitRPG que leo y ya sabía de que iba el tema, pero eso no quita que el inicio y el trasfondo me gustaran bastante y el primer tercio puedo decir que lo devoré. El inicio me pareció muy prometedor y a pesar de tener que explicarte como funciona el tema de las subidas de nivel y demás se hizo muy ameno.
El problema es que pasado ese primer tercio la narrativa pierde fuerza y no diré que el resto es un más de lo mismo, pero si que la historia y el ritmo decaen sin llegar a aburrir ni mucho menos, pero al final se queda en una lectura bien, cuando podría haber sido un notable alto.
Lo mejor ya lo he comentado, el trasfondo por el que llegamos a esta historia, en otros libros similares simplemente te metían en mitad de un mundo de fantasía sin explicarte nada y aquí te dan motivos para ello. Por otro lado, a partir de la mitad del libro la narrativa pierde ritmo y el final sin ser malo podría haber sido mejorable.
Solo lo recomendaría a aquellos que gusten del género.
No es el primer libro de LitRPG que leo y ya sabía de que iba el tema, pero eso no quita que el inicio y el trasfondo me gustaran bastante y el primer tercio puedo decir que lo devoré. El inicio me pareció muy prometedor y a pesar de tener que explicarte como funciona el tema de las subidas de nivel y demás se hizo muy ameno.
El problema es que pasado ese primer tercio la narrativa pierde fuerza y no diré que el resto es un más de lo mismo, pero si que la historia y el ritmo decaen sin llegar a aburrir ni mucho menos, pero al final se queda en una lectura bien, cuando podría haber sido un notable alto.
Lo mejor ya lo he comentado, el trasfondo por el que llegamos a esta historia, en otros libros similares simplemente te metían en mitad de un mundo de fantasía sin explicarte nada y aquí te dan motivos para ello. Por otro lado, a partir de la mitad del libro la narrativa pierde ritmo y el final sin ser malo podría haber sido mejorable.
Solo lo recomendaría a aquellos que gusten del género.
September 30, 2018
Quit at 30%
The part that I read was over dramatized and just plain stupid.
Everyone just happens to 'sense' things and the MC vacillates between not knowing anything to having unearned knowledge. Then there is the utter stupidity of the MC stabbing a mob in the brain with a spear haft, and it didn't kill the mob or slow it down at all.
The part that I read was over dramatized and just plain stupid.
Everyone just happens to 'sense' things and the MC vacillates between not knowing anything to having unearned knowledge. Then there is the utter stupidity of the MC stabbing a mob in the brain with a spear haft, and it didn't kill the mob or slow it down at all.
August 15, 2019
Notes:
Armen Taylor is a great narrator and he makes the story more interesting/engaging. I'm not sure if I would have tried this book if it was narrated by an unknown narrator.
Armen Taylor is a great narrator and he makes the story more interesting/engaging. I'm not sure if I would have tried this book if it was narrated by an unknown narrator.
Want to read
August 15, 2019🎁 FREE on Amazon today (8/15/2019)! 🎁
March 2, 2024
4.0 Stars
This is my first LitRPG (Literary Role Playing Game)/GameLit book. I downloaded it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. I've never been into role-playing games, and reading this won't make me start. For someone who knows nothing about role-playing games or massively multi-player online gaming (MMO), this was still relatively easy to follow.
The author went into detail when it came to showing character game stats and leveling up perks and whatnot. It's a good thing that paying close attention to the did not impact the story very much because it was a bit much.
The premise of this series is for Gryph/Finn to save his sister who is trapped inside this virtual game. In trying to save his sister, Gryph is sent on other quests. That being said, at the end of this book he is nowhere near saving his sister. The author is going to draw this series out (already set for 7 books). I hope the author has Gryph make progress in his main quest over the course of these books. If not, I can't say I will finish this series.
This is my first LitRPG (Literary Role Playing Game)/GameLit book. I downloaded it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. I've never been into role-playing games, and reading this won't make me start. For someone who knows nothing about role-playing games or massively multi-player online gaming (MMO), this was still relatively easy to follow.
The author went into detail when it came to showing character game stats and leveling up perks and whatnot. It's a good thing that paying close attention to the did not impact the story very much because it was a bit much.
The premise of this series is for Gryph/Finn to save his sister who is trapped inside this virtual game. In trying to save his sister, Gryph is sent on other quests. That being said, at the end of this book he is nowhere near saving his sister. The author is going to draw this series out (already set for 7 books). I hope the author has Gryph make progress in his main quest over the course of these books. If not, I can't say I will finish this series.
September 22, 2025
I have to admit it. I am a true fanboy of the LitRPG scene and the epic game systems it handles. I truly enjoyed this adventure of Gryph, and will definitely be reading the next installments of his epic adventure to save that someone
September 4, 2019
This was the first CM Carney audiobook that I’d listened to. The story was enjoyable, and I could visualize the storyline easily (it even reminded me of WoW at times). We see Finn go off in search of his sister, Brynn and he enters the Realms.
Brynn had become trusted by some powerful people and had discovered something that was going to cost her, and she hoped that Finn would enter the game to help free her mind, and had rigged it to help him, by sending allies who would be there to help him. It doesn’t go to plan and Finn ends up in the Barrows with no help and his entrance has awoken something old.
The Barrows is a dungeon that doesn’t normally allow people to succeed and leave, as the many rotting corpses in the tunnels prove.
The skill descriptions were in-depth, and there was a good level of detail with the ‘in-game pop-ups’ which helped Finn, sometimes this felt a little bit much, but it helped understand the quests and Finn’s dilemma’s during his dungeon run.
It’s certainly made me want to read more of the Realms and to find out more about the characters.
The story was overall enjoyable, and I will be checking out the next book in the series.
Brynn had become trusted by some powerful people and had discovered something that was going to cost her, and she hoped that Finn would enter the game to help free her mind, and had rigged it to help him, by sending allies who would be there to help him. It doesn’t go to plan and Finn ends up in the Barrows with no help and his entrance has awoken something old.
The Barrows is a dungeon that doesn’t normally allow people to succeed and leave, as the many rotting corpses in the tunnels prove.
The skill descriptions were in-depth, and there was a good level of detail with the ‘in-game pop-ups’ which helped Finn, sometimes this felt a little bit much, but it helped understand the quests and Finn’s dilemma’s during his dungeon run.
It’s certainly made me want to read more of the Realms and to find out more about the characters.
The story was overall enjoyable, and I will be checking out the next book in the series.
July 4, 2020
Read the book in one sitting
I am relatively new to the litrpg genre. But I have been reading them nonstop for the last three months. This book was really a great opener and I look forward to book 2.
I am relatively new to the litrpg genre. But I have been reading them nonstop for the last three months. This book was really a great opener and I look forward to book 2.
February 25, 2021
Good Read Highly Recommended
Very good book! If you have little to no knowledge about LitRPG,like me, this is a good book to start down that path. Although the stories are intriguing and as enjoyable as any fantasy book it took me awhile to get used to the style differences in LitRPG and the fact that the players can die and be reborn. The main character is a good example of someone who is not a gamer and so is learning about the system kind of like the reader. Now granted, Gryph is no fool and of course probably understands more about the realms than I do, but I felt like I could better understand this book since everything is explained to Gryph like a newbie. I appreciated not feeling like a dummy. I did really enjoy the story and have already hooked up to book 2 and 3 if that tells anyone how much I liked this book! The characters are exciting and the realms seems like a place where there is always something exciting going on so you are constantly engaged with the story. Of course, I really want to find out if Gryph kills off the God Aluran and saves his sister, but the battles, etc... will keep me reading long into the wee hours!
Very good book! If you have little to no knowledge about LitRPG,like me, this is a good book to start down that path. Although the stories are intriguing and as enjoyable as any fantasy book it took me awhile to get used to the style differences in LitRPG and the fact that the players can die and be reborn. The main character is a good example of someone who is not a gamer and so is learning about the system kind of like the reader. Now granted, Gryph is no fool and of course probably understands more about the realms than I do, but I felt like I could better understand this book since everything is explained to Gryph like a newbie. I appreciated not feeling like a dummy. I did really enjoy the story and have already hooked up to book 2 and 3 if that tells anyone how much I liked this book! The characters are exciting and the realms seems like a place where there is always something exciting going on so you are constantly engaged with the story. Of course, I really want to find out if Gryph kills off the God Aluran and saves his sister, but the battles, etc... will keep me reading long into the wee hours!
May 24, 2022
Loved it
Honestly I couldn't put this book down, as a lover of fantasy nd a gamer the level of story telling and attention to detail crafted in this book sucked me right in. From the imagery to the character building I was hooked from the jump. Illegal definitely be reading all of these.
Honestly I couldn't put this book down, as a lover of fantasy nd a gamer the level of story telling and attention to detail crafted in this book sucked me right in. From the imagery to the character building I was hooked from the jump. Illegal definitely be reading all of these.
July 28, 2018
Finn had been swept away into a world of military, following in his father's steps, his one relief was he believed his sister had avoided becoming one of the colonel's minions. He had been wrong. She had infiltrated and become trusted by some very powerful people, and during this time discovered something which cost her dearly. The game world, the Realms, was not a game at all, and Alistair had exploited the system to conquer and become a god. Brynn too had ascended, but lost everything she was in the process, forever trapped. Her only hope was Finn, entering the game and rescuing her mind. She rigged the system to aid him, sent allies who would be beside him in the starter of town of... Error. Damn that wasn't right. Where was his aid, where was his starting town? Finn is alone in The Barrows, no help, no allies, and something old has awakened, and it can taste the rare item Finn has in his possession. The Barrows were feared, a sentient dungeon, can he use his instincts to survive, escape, and save his sister, or will he become another rotting corpse upon the dark tunnels if this twisted warren?
The Barrow King is a litRpg by C.M. Carney. If you're the type of reader who favours a more system orientated read with in depth skill descriptions then this will certainly tick that box. Of all the litRPGs one read to date this one spends a good portion with the 'in game' pop-ups, they help the character make skill choices and guide his path. The Barrow is a sentient dungeon, so whilst there is other things occurring, side quests, potential allies, etc, it focuses mainly on the dungeon aspect as Finn, in game name Gryph, works his way through hoping to find am exit, his enemy, and tries to find his sister. He encounters unlikely allies, new enemies, and even help from unexpected sources.
I read this in Ku, I gave this a solid four / four and half stars because while it is a great read, I found the balance between the system alerts to be too on the heavy side for my own personal preference, but I know other readers will love and embrace this aspect.
The Barrow King is a litRpg by C.M. Carney. If you're the type of reader who favours a more system orientated read with in depth skill descriptions then this will certainly tick that box. Of all the litRPGs one read to date this one spends a good portion with the 'in game' pop-ups, they help the character make skill choices and guide his path. The Barrow is a sentient dungeon, so whilst there is other things occurring, side quests, potential allies, etc, it focuses mainly on the dungeon aspect as Finn, in game name Gryph, works his way through hoping to find am exit, his enemy, and tries to find his sister. He encounters unlikely allies, new enemies, and even help from unexpected sources.
I read this in Ku, I gave this a solid four / four and half stars because while it is a great read, I found the balance between the system alerts to be too on the heavy side for my own personal preference, but I know other readers will love and embrace this aspect.
December 29, 2019
LitRPG has become one of my favourite genres to read, and I have read quite a few series of this genre but I must admit this first book in The Realms series has blown me away. For a start I love the intro to the story about a noob called Finn who is asked to save his sister Brynn by entering into the latest and most interactive game there is, which she insists is not a game at all and Finn takes up the challenge and though never a gamer ventures into the game. He finds himself in the barrow, a dark and evil place where he encounters many dangers which he has to overcome if he is to survive to save his sister. He also finds out that he has a Godhead embedded in him and though he does not know the power this could give him, he realises that others do, and he becomes a target. The dungeon known as the barrow is sentient, it is run by the Barrow King and is in fact the barrow king himself. Furthermore there seems to be no exit to this horror of a place. But Gryph as he is known in game, is courageous to a fault and never one to back out of a fight, he struggles on and meets others who he befriends and teams up with, namely Ovrym, Wick and Tifala and using their cunning and wit they do their utmost to kill the Barrow King and exit the vile dungeon. I loved the banner Lex, who was his side-kick but did not partake much in this story, I do hope he makes more of an appearance in the following books as I loved his sense of humour. This story is packed with action, great characters both heroic and evil and a Great God, Aluran and his pantheon of Gods who run the realms. Aluran thinks he is all seeing and knowing, but this noob is a threat to him and he knows it! Dying to read book 2 as this I am sure is going to be a fantastic series.
October 8, 2018
*Review of Audible version.*
A Bond/Bourne-esque military man jumps into a virtual game world to save his sister. The set-up had a good ratio to the rest of the story and it wasn't less plausible than other books in the genre. The main character is over-powered, but so are his enemies so it makes sense. I admit I prefer a slower build to power and less skills because I got a bit overwhelmed by all the sudden increases. However, the game system convinced me that it was logical and fair, and those are the most important points in my opinion. The pacing of the story was very fast and action-packed, but it doesn't actually get that far. Many threads are left totally alone for later books. Still, the book has a clear and satisfying ending of enough threads for it to feel like a book in a series and not just the first part of one big book.
What made me really like this book was the main character. I liked many of the choices he made when pushed and how he acted when facing imminent death. He's a lost soul, but a good one.
A Bond/Bourne-esque military man jumps into a virtual game world to save his sister. The set-up had a good ratio to the rest of the story and it wasn't less plausible than other books in the genre. The main character is over-powered, but so are his enemies so it makes sense. I admit I prefer a slower build to power and less skills because I got a bit overwhelmed by all the sudden increases. However, the game system convinced me that it was logical and fair, and those are the most important points in my opinion. The pacing of the story was very fast and action-packed, but it doesn't actually get that far. Many threads are left totally alone for later books. Still, the book has a clear and satisfying ending of enough threads for it to feel like a book in a series and not just the first part of one big book.
What made me really like this book was the main character. I liked many of the choices he made when pushed and how he acted when facing imminent death. He's a lost soul, but a good one.
August 8, 2020
Great litrpg
Great litrpg I would recommend to any litrpg or fantasy fan I listened to this one on audible I really enjoyed the narration I cannot wait to see where this one goes
Great litrpg I would recommend to any litrpg or fantasy fan I listened to this one on audible I really enjoyed the narration I cannot wait to see where this one goes
March 11, 2018
While this is a very good book, the lack of proofreading makes it a frustrating read. Here again we have the ever present word through being spelled without the letter R … every single time, mad instead of man, and multiple spots where the word "to" was left out completely. Running a spellcheck doesn't catch such errors, yet it seems very few LitRPG authors take the time to proofread the final draft to find such errors. This leads to excellent books being rated as average, and the LitRPG genre obtaining a reputation for being useless trash, and that is very sad, because it means that many people won't read more than a handful of books in this genre, because they don't want to be vothered with bad grammar and typos. And they miss out on all the wonderful stories just waiting to be discovered here.
This was one of the best LitRPG books I've read, but giving it more than an average rating would encourage sloppy work, and I just can't do that.
Great story, and I look forward to another one in the series. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys gamelit or LitRPG, as it is a very good story and one that will leave you wanting more in this world.
This was one of the best LitRPG books I've read, but giving it more than an average rating would encourage sloppy work, and I just can't do that.
Great story, and I look forward to another one in the series. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys gamelit or LitRPG, as it is a very good story and one that will leave you wanting more in this world.
May 14, 2018
Not too bad
My main gripes are about the main character.
Minor spoiler warning*****
He's supposed to be a paranoid, highly trained soldier or something as well as not know anything about RPGs but that doesn't come across from his actions at all. He understands all the game jargon and interface without much of a tutorial and he does a really stupid, not cautious thing at the beginning of the game despite someone telling him not to and the presence of the main antagonist in the room.
Despite the weakness in writing as it pertains to the main character, the other characters are somewhat interesting, as is the setting. It's more than readable.
My main gripes are about the main character.
Minor spoiler warning*****
He's supposed to be a paranoid, highly trained soldier or something as well as not know anything about RPGs but that doesn't come across from his actions at all. He understands all the game jargon and interface without much of a tutorial and he does a really stupid, not cautious thing at the beginning of the game despite someone telling him not to and the presence of the main antagonist in the room.
Despite the weakness in writing as it pertains to the main character, the other characters are somewhat interesting, as is the setting. It's more than readable.
February 20, 2021
Not bad
The story moves pretty well. The prose is clean and the grammar is good.
Overall I liked it.
My criticism is more about progression. The MC repeatedly gets huge advantages and somehow uses them to kill creatures *far* above his level. He’s not OP, but he survives things that he really shouldn’t. And it breaks reality because of it.
Still gonna read the next book.
The story moves pretty well. The prose is clean and the grammar is good.
Overall I liked it.
My criticism is more about progression. The MC repeatedly gets huge advantages and somehow uses them to kill creatures *far* above his level. He’s not OP, but he survives things that he really shouldn’t. And it breaks reality because of it.
Still gonna read the next book.
January 4, 2020
First jump into GameLit audiobooks. This is a story about an ex-special forces thrown into a game he knows nothing about to save his sister. Definitely a reluctant but willing hero. Despite being highly skilled in real life MC must learn the game and choose wisely as he levels up as stats are limited. He finds companions along the way and definitely feels like the beginning of an epic adventure to save a princess.
Check out if you're into:
Semi-immersion
Real life prowess reduced to noob in game
Hero trapped in a dungeon
Complex but limited skill tree
Straightforward hero action adventure.
Check out if you're into:
Semi-immersion
Real life prowess reduced to noob in game
Hero trapped in a dungeon
Complex but limited skill tree
Straightforward hero action adventure.
October 8, 2021
if you are to be a god, you have a lot of work to do
The story has the main character jumping into a new world with very few expectations, other than searching for (rescuing?) his sister from the unknown “trouble” she is in. There are some flashes of their shared history and hints that the story’s major antagonist has been in their lives for a long time.
The main character gains power very quickly. Maybe too quickly? But there are some interesting scenes and discoveries in this first book of The Realms.
The story has the main character jumping into a new world with very few expectations, other than searching for (rescuing?) his sister from the unknown “trouble” she is in. There are some flashes of their shared history and hints that the story’s major antagonist has been in their lives for a long time.
The main character gains power very quickly. Maybe too quickly? But there are some interesting scenes and discoveries in this first book of The Realms.
March 28, 2018
Great litrpg
Very good litrpg! Can’t wait for the next. He made some good characters and the plot is great.
There be spoilers ahead!
The main character is coming along well ending the book at level 14 but able to fight well outside his weight class. Dropping level 40+ arboleths and a level 67 lich! He can do this with some sweet magical gear and possessing a godhead super divine artifact that makes him well...a god...but a baby one for now.
Very good litrpg! Can’t wait for the next. He made some good characters and the plot is great.
There be spoilers ahead!
The main character is coming along well ending the book at level 14 but able to fight well outside his weight class. Dropping level 40+ arboleths and a level 67 lich! He can do this with some sweet magical gear and possessing a godhead super divine artifact that makes him well...a god...but a baby one for now.
November 10, 2019
Audible:Excellent book!Armen Taylor does a wonderful job narrating this book.There are so many characters and he has a voice for every one of them.Finn is in the game looking for his sister,but he finds so many more things in there!I don't know much about gaming,but this makes it sound like fun...and horror. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'
July 18, 2020
This was my first time getting into LitRPG genre, and I’m so glad I did. This book encompassed a “unbeatable” main boss that helped to push through the entire book, while also added some current battles and feats that needed to be accomplished within this one book. Loved the location, the battles, and I completely agreed with the logic of Gryph. His acknowledgments and skill pathways were taken in the same path that I would have
April 2, 2018
Amazingly well put together!
Hey the storyline and mechanics were very well done, the only thing that I could suggest is to keep skill usage non-linear so that the characters can do thierown thing and actually raise real life skill usage. Im hoping that the realms are further explained as actuall and not make believe. Great stuff you have here! Looking to pre-order the next one.
Hey the storyline and mechanics were very well done, the only thing that I could suggest is to keep skill usage non-linear so that the characters can do thierown thing and actually raise real life skill usage. Im hoping that the realms are further explained as actuall and not make believe. Great stuff you have here! Looking to pre-order the next one.
June 10, 2018
Just awesome
I absolutely loved this book. A great plot in the litRPG genre. I have also read book 1.5 in this series and then came back to let you know that if you are considering whether this is worth your time?... I say Yes Absolutely.
Well paced, inventive and humorous.
Can't wait for book 2. Errr 1.6? Whatever...
I absolutely loved this book. A great plot in the litRPG genre. I have also read book 1.5 in this series and then came back to let you know that if you are considering whether this is worth your time?... I say Yes Absolutely.
Well paced, inventive and humorous.
Can't wait for book 2. Errr 1.6? Whatever...
July 22, 2019
Fantastic first book
Well, I'm definitely picking up the next book in the series, this was great.
I love the setting, story, and the characters! This book turned away from where I expected it to go pretty quickly, and I appreciated it.
Here's hoping the rest of the books keep it going!
Well, I'm definitely picking up the next book in the series, this was great.
I love the setting, story, and the characters! This book turned away from where I expected it to go pretty quickly, and I appreciated it.
Here's hoping the rest of the books keep it going!
October 21, 2019
This book quickly made its way into my top ten books of all time. I could not stop thinking and talking about it. When I was 75% of the way through, I became worried because there was so much more story to tell. I was so relieved to find that it was part of a series of 5. I can't wait to read them all.
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