Demon Quest: Portal Hunter Chronicles Book 2

Portal Hunter Chronicles #2

by Craig Askham

The Stillwater Project. Earth to Vangura in the blink of an eye. Portal-based vacations, with all the medieval you could possibly need...

...as long as you prove yourself worthy, that is.

Rafferty Barnes is a washed-up actor who used to have the world at his feet, until the pressures of fame – not to mention an impressive drink and drug habit – brought his career crashing down around him.

Now, instead of treading the boards in London’s West End, he’s stuck as a live-action role-play character on a medieval planet, somewhere on the other side of the universe, where the locals remain blissfully unaware of their otherworldly visitors.

For a hefty price, ‘gamers’ can step through Stillwater’s portals and take part in all manner of fantasy quests; from hunting down rogue demons, to simply drinking as much ale as they can in the many, many taverns that Vangura has to offer.

But before Stillwater lets these gamers loose on the big, wide world – and the thousands of painful ways to die that it quite literally provides – they must first prove themselves capable of being able to survive past the first five minutes of their trip. In order to do that, they must complete a series of carefully-controlled quests that will allow them to ‘level-up’.

That’s where Rafferty steps in. Currently playing a minor role as a wandering bard, singing bawdy ballads and basically getting paid to be drunk, he’s coasting along quite happily, despite secretly yearning to rebuild his career as a bonafide thespian.

So when the actor playing the role of a famous demon hunter suddenly phones in sick, and the lead role in one of these controlled quests is reluctantly offered to him, he’s more than a little afraid of not being up to the job.

Will he manage to pull himself together in time to put on a performance worthy of his heyday, or will he fluff his lines and ruin the experience for all involved?

Join Rafferty as he brilliantly blunders his way through his unique interpretation of the quest, trying desperately not to get himself killed by a determined gamer – who seems to think he’s a demon hunter for real – along the way.

Throw in a director who hates his guts more than life itself, as well as a wig-wearing Stillwater agent whose job it is to keep their presence a secret from the locals, and the result is a fast-paced portal fantasy adventure set on two incredible worlds.

Perfect for fans of Westworld, Game of Thrones, and Stargate, this book can either be read as part of The Portal Hunter series, or as a standalone story in its own right.

263 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 25, 2019

About the author

Welcome to my author page! Thank you for finding your way here. Come in, grab a seat in front of the fire, and let me pour you an ale.

Keep an eye on your weapons, though; it gets rowdy in here so you should probably keep them close to hand.

Right. Let’s do this. You may have noticed I’m writing this in first person. Hope you don’t mind, but I’m not writing on behalf of the author; I am the author, so writing a bio in third person feels…insincere.

My name is Craig Askham. I live in the UK with my wife and two football-mad kids. That’s soccer, to you Americans!

If you like Westworld, Stargate and Game of Thrones, and think the three of them could be blended into a rather nice smoothie, then I think I could be the author for you.

I write portal fantasy, you see. You’ve heard of it, right? Narnia, Wonderland, The Magicians; that kind of thing.

Now imagine a tourism company that sells trips to a medieval planet, where you can do pretty much whatever the hell you like. That company is Stillwater. All you have to do is step through one of their portals, and you’re there. Just like that. Other side of the universe. Only the brave need apply.

I won’t lie; it’s dangerous. You might die. Seriously, there’s no way to save and reset. So watch your back.

Oh, and come back. That’s important. Stillwater don’t offer an emigration package so, if you decide you want to stay for good, you’d better run and find a damn good hiding place because Stillwater have bounty hunters, and they haven’t let anyone escape yet. They’ll bring you back, by hook or by crook.

Even in a bodybag, if necessary. Remember that. It links quite heavily with the previous part, about staying alive.

So that’s it, in a nutshell.

Watchman’s Quest is Book One of the Portal Hunter Chronicles; at only 20k words, it’s the perfect way to dip your toe into the portal without too much of a commitment.

Demon Quest is Book Two, and about 32k words. I’m still breaking you in at this stage. Minimal time investment on your behalf, until I’ve hooked you and reeled you in.

Dragon Quest is Book Three. 45k words, or thereabouts. You should be nicely warmed up by now, and ready for something longer in Book Four. Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can do.

Now, this part is important.

Books One, Two and Three can really be read in any order. They’re all linked, but you can read them in reverse if you like. It’s totally up to you.

When you get to Books Four and Five, though (watch this space), you just need to make sure you’ve read those first three. Otherwise it won’t make much sense. Got it? Awesome!

Reviews

[The Mysterious Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Westworld with a side of Stargate, and generously drizzled with Game of Thrones sauce” is actually a pretty darn good description of Craig Askham’s Demon Quest: Portal Hunter Chronicles Book 2. I got this book off of a freebie site (I don’t even recall which one) as it looked like fun. I’ve not read book 1 (that’s now on my to-do list) but this one worked perfectly well, though I’m sure I missed things that were covered in book 1. Ok, now let’s bottom line this: it’s a great book. Rafferty Barnes is a well-crafted, complex and really interesting character and the concept and world (universe/dimension) building here is great. What made the book for me though is that it had great story-telling. I’m always a sucker for that. Frankly, but for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed, I could go on and on with praises. The book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

[The Mysterious Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Westworld with a side of Stargate, and generously drizzled with Game of Thrones sauce” is actually a pretty darn good description of Craig Askham’s Demon Quest: Portal Hunter Chronicles Book 2. I got this book off of a freebie site (I don’t even recall which one) as it looked like fun. I’ve not read book 1 (that’s now on my to-do list) but this one worked perfectly well, though I’m sure I missed things that were covered in book 1. Ok, now let’s bottom line this: it’s a great book. Rafferty Barnes is a well-crafted, complex and really interesting character and the concept and world (universe/dimension) building here is great. What made the book for me though is that it had great story-telling. I’m always a sucker for that. Frankly, but for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed, I could go on and on with praises. The book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

[OldBird]

A bit of an odd one this. I liked the idea, but it's the tone that didn't do it for me. There's an uncomfortable sort of dark guy-humour running through the narration that made every character an absolutely horrible person.

Also, despite the first 3 novellas said to be readable in any order, it took until about 30% of the way through before we got to any sort of explanation of what was going on with portals and the like. Even then it didn't help much with the situation which is far more complicated than just a planet full of actors playing out medieval fantasy scenarios for rich, aggressive cosplayers - the planet has it's own society who aren't aware (and mustn't become aware) that they're being used as real-life NPCs. This detail was in the blurb for book 1, so my fault - I guess it would be an easier read to actually have started there.

The writing is snarky, dark and slightly stomach-turning. If that's something you might like, go for it as it's by no means badly written. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

-I received a free copy of this ebook via a giveaway-

[Elizabeth McDaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Givrok is still protecting Vangura and her aliens from the gamers. But the plot gets even more dicey and exciting in this second book of this series. The gamers are still coming and going.... but at what price? Interesting and intriguing as the story continues

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.