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Kargaroth: A Tale of the Great Onion Knighthood
Centuries have passed since Elzaniru stripped the gods of their powers and sealed them away, ending forever the war of Light and Dark. In the absence of their divine wills, mankind has thrived. Great military nations have arisen and technology has advanced, the new gods of the land. But when one man unearths Kargaroth, the Unholy Blade, the spectre of the old gods will rise once more as Elzaniru's children battle for the future of Morolia.
When rumors fly of a demon terrorizing the forest surrounding the nation of Felthespar, Atheme Tethen is called upon for help. But instead of a demon, he discovers only a wanderer using battles to find his place in the world. Atheme finds sympathy for the young warrior and gives him a home, and soon finds Abaddon Daemon his closest friend.
When he begins to suspect that Abaddon's strength is unnatural, he discovers that his new friend is actually a powerful mystic. Using this to his advantage, Atheme calls upon the powers of the mystic to aid Felthespar in its wars. Abaddon's successes mount rapidly and his name becomes legend, and soon he is turned to face the rival nation of Revian. But as the war there worsens Abaddon turns to darker powers for aid. He draws upon Kargaroth, an unholy power forged by the lost civilization of the Cainites.
Soon Kargaroth seizes control of Abaddon, and Atheme finds himself pitted against a human weapon of his own creation. As Abaddon ascends into a new dark god, Atheme is forced to make the decision between saving his best friend, or killing him for the safety of his people--and possibly his world.
When rumors fly of a demon terrorizing the forest surrounding the nation of Felthespar, Atheme Tethen is called upon for help. But instead of a demon, he discovers only a wanderer using battles to find his place in the world. Atheme finds sympathy for the young warrior and gives him a home, and soon finds Abaddon Daemon his closest friend.
When he begins to suspect that Abaddon's strength is unnatural, he discovers that his new friend is actually a powerful mystic. Using this to his advantage, Atheme calls upon the powers of the mystic to aid Felthespar in its wars. Abaddon's successes mount rapidly and his name becomes legend, and soon he is turned to face the rival nation of Revian. But as the war there worsens Abaddon turns to darker powers for aid. He draws upon Kargaroth, an unholy power forged by the lost civilization of the Cainites.
Soon Kargaroth seizes control of Abaddon, and Atheme finds himself pitted against a human weapon of his own creation. As Abaddon ascends into a new dark god, Atheme is forced to make the decision between saving his best friend, or killing him for the safety of his people--and possibly his world.
- GenresFantasy
582 pages, ebook
Published January 3, 2019
14 people are currently reading
858 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 20, 2019
I am a big fan of fantasy (I want to emphasize only the best one) and Kargaroth by Mark B. Frost and Andrew Bunny amazed me! I just could not tear myself away! The authors managed to create a huge, unique magic world that exists according to its own laws. In addition, the characters of this novel are well thought out, their characters develop in parallel with the development of the plot. The plot is just great!! I strongly recommend to get acquainted with the unique world of this book! I look forward to the new books by Mark B. Frost and Andrew Bunny! Certainly and absolutely deserved - 5 stars !!!
January 20, 2019
Wonderful book! Highly recommend!
January 21, 2019
Very interesting and well written book. The author has their own unique style. Kargaroth: A Tale of the Great Onion Knighthood by Mark B. Frost is one of the best books I've read lately!
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October 20, 2020DNF.
I won't be rating this book because I didn't finish it, but I was not having a great time. I've read a lot of fantasy and this felt very repetitive. The fight scenes were blow by blow sequences that tired me out and made it difficult to care about what was going on. I didn't feel any attachment to any of the characters, yet another factor that made it tough for me to keep going.
The very beginning made me really excited because it sounded like I was being told an old myth or story passed down through generations, but then it lost that charm for me. I think this would be a good fantasy book for someone else, but it just didn't fit my reading tastes.
I've tried to come back to it time and time again but I just can't get myself to read more than a handful of pages before I lose interest again.
Thank you to goodreads and the author for providing me with the ebook of this book.
I won't be rating this book because I didn't finish it, but I was not having a great time. I've read a lot of fantasy and this felt very repetitive. The fight scenes were blow by blow sequences that tired me out and made it difficult to care about what was going on. I didn't feel any attachment to any of the characters, yet another factor that made it tough for me to keep going.
The very beginning made me really excited because it sounded like I was being told an old myth or story passed down through generations, but then it lost that charm for me. I think this would be a good fantasy book for someone else, but it just didn't fit my reading tastes.
I've tried to come back to it time and time again but I just can't get myself to read more than a handful of pages before I lose interest again.
Thank you to goodreads and the author for providing me with the ebook of this book.
August 31, 2020
Kargaroth was a fun, rambly epic fantasy. It pulls in various elements from Fantasy subgenres, managing to stay middle of the road. There's a little dark here, a little silly there, a bit epic over all, definitely sword & sorcery. Parts of it felt like a long D&D campaign, other parts felt like a fight scene straight out of Dragon Ball Z. If you like any of those things, then this would probably be a fun book for you.
The main quest doesn't appear until well into the book. The story rambled up to it and greets it like an old drinking buddy. The heroes head off on their main quest and bump into various distractions. Some of these were fun and some were distracting. I really wanted them to just stay on task, tackling that main quest. However, the side quests do bring in some interesting characters.
Among a large cast of characters in Kargaroth, we do have a few females. I liked that they were real characters with their own motivations instead of just being romance interests. I can't recall any of the ladies talking to each other but I will chalk that up to there being so few of them. I would have liked more of a gender balance as epic fantasy is well known for lacking in female characters. I know this is a silly side note, but our main character, Atheme, his name is pronounced like the ceremonial athame blade, which is associated with witchcraft. For me, I often picture a woman wielding it, so I like to think Atheme is in touch with his feminine side.
The fight scenes were crazy. Sometimes I was cheering our heroes and sometimes I was laughing at how silly or over the top they were. There's also not much consequence for our injured characters. They recover right away and head off on to the next thing. because there were no serious consequences, I never really worried about our heroes, and that took the drama out of it. There were even a few slumps in the tale where I zoned out a bit.
Over all, Kargaroth was an entertaining companion to house chores. 3.5/5 stars.
The Narration: William Turbett gave us a decent narration. His skills improve over the length of the story as well. Turbett has distinct voices for all the characters and his female voices are feminine. While his voice was appropriately dramatic for the fight scenes, during the slumps his voice was a little monotone. That said, he also did a great job with the characters's various emotions. The pacing was a little slow for me, but I easily dealt with this by slightly speeding up the playback speed. There were no tech issues on this recording. 4/5 stars.
The main quest doesn't appear until well into the book. The story rambled up to it and greets it like an old drinking buddy. The heroes head off on their main quest and bump into various distractions. Some of these were fun and some were distracting. I really wanted them to just stay on task, tackling that main quest. However, the side quests do bring in some interesting characters.
Among a large cast of characters in Kargaroth, we do have a few females. I liked that they were real characters with their own motivations instead of just being romance interests. I can't recall any of the ladies talking to each other but I will chalk that up to there being so few of them. I would have liked more of a gender balance as epic fantasy is well known for lacking in female characters. I know this is a silly side note, but our main character, Atheme, his name is pronounced like the ceremonial athame blade, which is associated with witchcraft. For me, I often picture a woman wielding it, so I like to think Atheme is in touch with his feminine side.
The fight scenes were crazy. Sometimes I was cheering our heroes and sometimes I was laughing at how silly or over the top they were. There's also not much consequence for our injured characters. They recover right away and head off on to the next thing. because there were no serious consequences, I never really worried about our heroes, and that took the drama out of it. There were even a few slumps in the tale where I zoned out a bit.
Over all, Kargaroth was an entertaining companion to house chores. 3.5/5 stars.
The Narration: William Turbett gave us a decent narration. His skills improve over the length of the story as well. Turbett has distinct voices for all the characters and his female voices are feminine. While his voice was appropriately dramatic for the fight scenes, during the slumps his voice was a little monotone. That said, he also did a great job with the characters's various emotions. The pacing was a little slow for me, but I easily dealt with this by slightly speeding up the playback speed. There were no tech issues on this recording. 4/5 stars.
July 24, 2019
In this Epic fantasy, Atheme is in control of the great nation of Felthespar, a mighty warrior region. Abaddon, nicknamed the Daemon, becomes best friends with Atheme as they fight together and work towards strengthening Felthespar and weakening her enemies together. The two go through many difficult trials throughout their years together, bringing the province of Vantrisk back under Felthespar’s control, dealing with the border nation Revian, entertaining the citizens of Felthespar with tournaments, bartering with mercenaries, and eventually coming together to attempt to defeat the power of the legendary sword, Khargaroth. Along with these two main characters are also the local legend Cildar and his Cainite friend, Myris. Additionally, Kinguin, one of the smartest minds and most crafty sorcerers in the world, uses his skills to Felthespar’s advantage. All serve vital roles in the wars and battles to come, and each friendship is tested to its breaking point. Who will triumph, and who will perish?
In the beginning of this novel, there is a LOT of frontloading of information. There are a ton of names, of characters, places, and magic systems, that is a bit overwhelming at first. The map in the front of the book definitely helps, and eventually as you get farther into the novel, you begin to associate each name with its proper place/person/thing. Part of what makes this book so great is the unique world that it is set in, and thus the frontloading is somewhat necessary. The magic system is unique, relying on two different planes of existence for two very different types of magic, which each creature has their own individual strengths in. One thing that bothered me a little bit about this magic system was the fact that it was not explained how it worked until almost the end of the entire novel… So I was left guessing and confused throughout most of the novel. That should have been something frontloaded! However, I did find some pleasure in trying to puzzle out the magic myself, and then was adequately satisfied when I did finally come upon the real explanation.
Another big part of this novel is its politics and battle strategy. Atheme runs Felthespar, and as such, he has to come up with ways to keep himself in power while balancing the interests of all the different factions of the city. Additionally, he also has to wage war with his enemies as they attempt to usurp Felthespar’s power. As such, it is a very delicate dance that Atheme and his advisors follow, building up both the characters and the reality of the world. I find it very intriguing!
The character building as well as worldbuilding, as slightly discussed above, are both absolutely phenomenal. Each character has their own unique set of beliefs and humor, and it shows through their interactions with others as well as their own thought processes. What makes this work so well is the multiple POVs within the book. We readers do not just follow Atheme and Abaddon, but also many of the other main characters as well, such as Kinguin Peet, Cildar, Myris, and Serene. These multiple POVs allowed me to really get into the minds of each of the characters, as well as built suspense when I knew something that one character knew, while another did not.
One thing that irked me about this book was that there tended to be no lasting consequences. The characters would be in a battle and would suffer grievous wounds, and yet would be fine on the next page or chapter. They would be exploded, stabbed, burned with dragon fire, thrown 50ft into a tree or a wall, etc., and yet would simply get up, dust off their tunic, and continue their fight. Or it would seem that a character would perish, and then they would miraculously recover. Some of this is due to the fact that many of the characters have healing abilities due to magic, but it made the story just a little less intense/emotional for me. I stopped caring about the fighting, because I knew that the good guys would win, and no one would be seriously hurt for long. I just wish there had been some consequences that were fatal or even just permanent, to keep the suspense.
Going along with this thought, I also felt that many of the battles were EXTREMELY overdone, what with the characters always flipping around each other and jumping a thousand feet into the air (perhaps an exaggeration…). I know that gray magic helped the characters enhance their strength and physical prowess, but I just could not quite follow the battles when they got so over the top. It lost its reality and became something too showy. It seemed like rather than fighting, the characters were simply showing off/performing. Wouldn’t it have been more efficient for a character to simply lunge and stab rather than flipping four times then landing in front of their target and then stabbing? I understand that perhaps the flipping adds a degree of surprise and unpredictability when fighting, but it seemed so inefficient and unnecessary.
Overall, I LOVED this book. It was long, and I wish that it had been made more into a trilogy, with each main plot arc a bit more fully developed (as it seemed like the book moved too fast at times, especially when going from one main plot point to another). I think that would have benefited the story rather than simply plugging each arc into one giant book, but I still enjoyed it! The world building and character building were detailed and consistent, the writing flowed very nicely, and the plot was engaging. I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys epic fantasies! I will definitely be following along with this series!
Not quite related to the book per se, but I also wanted to take a bit to talk about the cover. When I first got the book, I had VERY low expectations after seeing the cover art. Not to bash the artist, but it looked like a weird manga with a superficial plot. The artwork was just not for me, and it tainted my initial view of the book. HOWEVER, the novel completely blew my expectations out of the water and I am so glad that I actually read this book, despite my hesitation! Well worth it!
Additionally, I also found the title “A Tale of the Great Onion Knighthood” to also be offputting, as it sounded almost like a children’s book or comedic skit. BUT again, even with my low expectations (from both the cover art and the title), I started reading, and almost immediately those expectations disappeared. The first chapter was enough to show me that I was going to love this book.
In the beginning of this novel, there is a LOT of frontloading of information. There are a ton of names, of characters, places, and magic systems, that is a bit overwhelming at first. The map in the front of the book definitely helps, and eventually as you get farther into the novel, you begin to associate each name with its proper place/person/thing. Part of what makes this book so great is the unique world that it is set in, and thus the frontloading is somewhat necessary. The magic system is unique, relying on two different planes of existence for two very different types of magic, which each creature has their own individual strengths in. One thing that bothered me a little bit about this magic system was the fact that it was not explained how it worked until almost the end of the entire novel… So I was left guessing and confused throughout most of the novel. That should have been something frontloaded! However, I did find some pleasure in trying to puzzle out the magic myself, and then was adequately satisfied when I did finally come upon the real explanation.
Another big part of this novel is its politics and battle strategy. Atheme runs Felthespar, and as such, he has to come up with ways to keep himself in power while balancing the interests of all the different factions of the city. Additionally, he also has to wage war with his enemies as they attempt to usurp Felthespar’s power. As such, it is a very delicate dance that Atheme and his advisors follow, building up both the characters and the reality of the world. I find it very intriguing!
The character building as well as worldbuilding, as slightly discussed above, are both absolutely phenomenal. Each character has their own unique set of beliefs and humor, and it shows through their interactions with others as well as their own thought processes. What makes this work so well is the multiple POVs within the book. We readers do not just follow Atheme and Abaddon, but also many of the other main characters as well, such as Kinguin Peet, Cildar, Myris, and Serene. These multiple POVs allowed me to really get into the minds of each of the characters, as well as built suspense when I knew something that one character knew, while another did not.
One thing that irked me about this book was that there tended to be no lasting consequences. The characters would be in a battle and would suffer grievous wounds, and yet would be fine on the next page or chapter. They would be exploded, stabbed, burned with dragon fire, thrown 50ft into a tree or a wall, etc., and yet would simply get up, dust off their tunic, and continue their fight. Or it would seem that a character would perish, and then they would miraculously recover. Some of this is due to the fact that many of the characters have healing abilities due to magic, but it made the story just a little less intense/emotional for me. I stopped caring about the fighting, because I knew that the good guys would win, and no one would be seriously hurt for long. I just wish there had been some consequences that were fatal or even just permanent, to keep the suspense.
Going along with this thought, I also felt that many of the battles were EXTREMELY overdone, what with the characters always flipping around each other and jumping a thousand feet into the air (perhaps an exaggeration…). I know that gray magic helped the characters enhance their strength and physical prowess, but I just could not quite follow the battles when they got so over the top. It lost its reality and became something too showy. It seemed like rather than fighting, the characters were simply showing off/performing. Wouldn’t it have been more efficient for a character to simply lunge and stab rather than flipping four times then landing in front of their target and then stabbing? I understand that perhaps the flipping adds a degree of surprise and unpredictability when fighting, but it seemed so inefficient and unnecessary.
Overall, I LOVED this book. It was long, and I wish that it had been made more into a trilogy, with each main plot arc a bit more fully developed (as it seemed like the book moved too fast at times, especially when going from one main plot point to another). I think that would have benefited the story rather than simply plugging each arc into one giant book, but I still enjoyed it! The world building and character building were detailed and consistent, the writing flowed very nicely, and the plot was engaging. I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys epic fantasies! I will definitely be following along with this series!
Not quite related to the book per se, but I also wanted to take a bit to talk about the cover. When I first got the book, I had VERY low expectations after seeing the cover art. Not to bash the artist, but it looked like a weird manga with a superficial plot. The artwork was just not for me, and it tainted my initial view of the book. HOWEVER, the novel completely blew my expectations out of the water and I am so glad that I actually read this book, despite my hesitation! Well worth it!
Additionally, I also found the title “A Tale of the Great Onion Knighthood” to also be offputting, as it sounded almost like a children’s book or comedic skit. BUT again, even with my low expectations (from both the cover art and the title), I started reading, and almost immediately those expectations disappeared. The first chapter was enough to show me that I was going to love this book.
September 26, 2020
DNF. I will. This book and was super excited since I rarely win fantasy books, a genre that I love. This book could use some serious edits before I try it again. Too many of the words used repeatedly. “Commonplace” shows up 3 times in one paragraph. Capitalization conventions are off. I just put the book down since it’s already to messy to read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews