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Iconoclasts #0.5
Barrowlands
No one enters the doom-haunted Barrowlands without royal sanction.
But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first
But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first
Audiobook
First published January 1, 2018
About the author
Mike Shel
38 books438 followersNEW BOOK: WEST OF THE WORLD IS AVAILABLE. Purchase here.
Mike was born in Detroit and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, oldest of three boys, the son of a firefighter and homemaker. He has practiced as a psychotherapist for nearly 30 years. He lives in central Indiana with his wife Tracy, son Leo, and dogs Tilly and Bobo. Mike began freelancing for Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder Roleplaying Game in 2010. He released his first novel, Aching God, in 2018. Its sequel, Sin Eater, followed in 2019. Idols Fall, released in 2021, is his third novel and completes the Iconoclasts trilogy. His latest next novel, set in the same world, more than 200 years after the events of Iconoclasts, WEST OF THE WORLD , is out now. He's working on its sequel, THOU UNCLEAN SPIRIT,.
Indie authors depend on word of mouth. If you enjoyed this novel and its predecessors, make the howling hellscapes that are Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook a force for good and chat them up. And as always—always—make sure to post ratings and/or reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, r/Fantasy, Audible, or on that SFF review blog you keep telling everyone you’re going to start.
Peace, love, and kindness to all.
Mike was born in Detroit and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, oldest of three boys, the son of a firefighter and homemaker. He has practiced as a psychotherapist for nearly 30 years. He lives in central Indiana with his wife Tracy, son Leo, and dogs Tilly and Bobo. Mike began freelancing for Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder Roleplaying Game in 2010. He released his first novel, Aching God, in 2018. Its sequel, Sin Eater, followed in 2019. Idols Fall, released in 2021, is his third novel and completes the Iconoclasts trilogy. His latest next novel, set in the same world, more than 200 years after the events of Iconoclasts, WEST OF THE WORLD , is out now. He's working on its sequel, THOU UNCLEAN SPIRIT,.
Indie authors depend on word of mouth. If you enjoyed this novel and its predecessors, make the howling hellscapes that are Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook a force for good and chat them up. And as always—always—make sure to post ratings and/or reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, r/Fantasy, Audible, or on that SFF review blog you keep telling everyone you’re going to start.
Peace, love, and kindness to all.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 25, 2022
Fabulous entry to the Iconoclasts series! The writing is absolutely fantastic, with some excellent prose and turns of phrase, and brilliantly vivid characters even in the brief amount of time we spend with them. Visceral descriptions and perfect pacing.
Simon Vance is such a spectacular audiobook narrator. Absolutely one of my all time faves!
Listening to this has pushed Mike Shel's writing very high on my TBR list!
Simon Vance is such a spectacular audiobook narrator. Absolutely one of my all time faves!
Listening to this has pushed Mike Shel's writing very high on my TBR list!
April 2, 2021
A fantastic introduction to Shel's Iconoclasts series. Made even better with Simon Vance's narration :D
October 31, 2021
Notes:
Currently on Audible +
While this short takes place before the first book of the series, I think the short would be more appreciated after reading the first book. It was ok, but didn't leave enough of an impression by itself.
Currently on Audible +
While this short takes place before the first book of the series, I think the short would be more appreciated after reading the first book. It was ok, but didn't leave enough of an impression by itself.
April 2, 2024
Michael (redacted) Shel chews sand and Spitz glass, he makes depression sad and anxiety think twice about messing with him. Iconoclasts is criminally underrated and unappreciated.
Fair waring, can cause whiddle babies such as myself to call a friend halfway through becasue your afraid to be alone.
Fair waring, can cause whiddle babies such as myself to call a friend halfway through becasue your afraid to be alone.
January 13, 2024
This was a dark delight. I was only recently made aware of its existence!
Filled with all the fantastic prose that has made me such a fan of Mike Shel. His unnerving mysterious and disturbing world continues to pull me right in.
In fact his Iconoclast series is my favourite self published series that I’ve ever read.
A true star of the genre.
I read this in short story in Lost Lore: A Fantasy Anthology.
Filled with all the fantastic prose that has made me such a fan of Mike Shel. His unnerving mysterious and disturbing world continues to pull me right in.
In fact his Iconoclast series is my favourite self published series that I’ve ever read.
A true star of the genre.
I read this in short story in Lost Lore: A Fantasy Anthology.
August 18, 2022
I picked this up as a freebie on Audible not too long ago. Iconoclasts has been on my radar for awhile and I've yet to get around to starting the series. I thought this would be a good introduction into the series and Shel's work. When I grabbed this it was labeled as a novella but it's even shorter than what I could consider a novella. This was definitely a short story. We are really told a single story or scene in this one.
The story itself had a vibe of a Dungeons & Dragons storyline which for me isn't a bad thing. Shel's descriptions of the world and the action are written very well. The narration is typical top notch effort by Simon Vance as well. I do still hope to get into Aching Gods over the next few months if I can find time to work it in. This was just a small sample that other than what I mentioned above with the written style for descriptions it doesn't let me know too much about the over all pacing, character development or world building in the bulk of the series. Only time will tell on those!
The story itself had a vibe of a Dungeons & Dragons storyline which for me isn't a bad thing. Shel's descriptions of the world and the action are written very well. The narration is typical top notch effort by Simon Vance as well. I do still hope to get into Aching Gods over the next few months if I can find time to work it in. This was just a small sample that other than what I mentioned above with the written style for descriptions it doesn't let me know too much about the over all pacing, character development or world building in the bulk of the series. Only time will tell on those!
May 1, 2021
3.5/5
I think this was an amazing read for the short story it is. It's a start of something good, that's the feeling I had when I finished this.
I think this was an amazing read for the short story it is. It's a start of something good, that's the feeling I had when I finished this.
March 9, 2022
OK prequel novella.
February 7, 2022
I was thinking about reading this series, and saw this novellette/novella (not sure how long it translates to because there wasn't a print version of the book) was available, and with the excellent Simon Vance as the narrator. I'm sure glad I did - the author describes both events and places well, action and stillness, humanity of trauma and greed, writing with good style and prose. I went straight to the first book of the series, Aching God, and am starting it today.
August 8, 2021
A cracking introduction into Mike Shel's Iconoclasts series, to enter the barrowlands is a death sentence with out a Royal decree, Our main protagonist Hesk has just done that and with some unsavoury characters bent on getting rich, when they stumble across a Saruk Agent with his colleagues head in his sack, what can possibly go wrong, haunted barrows, hidden treasures, a multi limbed monster and a talking head, fantastic little short story, I will definitely checking out the series after this little gem of a read, a great narration from Simon Vance, just brilliant, highly recommend....😁
March 31, 2021
Loved this short audiobook. Got me hyped for Idols Fall.
March 27, 2022
This is an Iconoclasts prequel novella (can you see where I’m at this March?) and another Podium Audio that’s currently included on audible. This is a real short one, probably bordering right on the line of what you’d consider a novella. It’s almost the length of a prologue in a lot of fantasy novel.
With this one being so short, it kind of lacks all descriptors. Not much in the way of world building or lore, which typically isn’t always a bad thing. However in this one, it’s solely a single story, almost a single instance. It goes right from introductions to the climax, and that left me wanting. I guess the thought process is it entices you just enough to pick up the first book…
The story follows some seedy characters as they treasure hunt in the Barrowlands, which cannot be entered without permission…needless to say these guys don’t have it. The climax takes place in a tomb, which I thought felt more The Mummy (1999)–think the scarabs in the wall—than Lara Croft. I was definitely digging that!
The covers of the series intrigue me, but I’m not sure I’ll continue just yet.
With this one being so short, it kind of lacks all descriptors. Not much in the way of world building or lore, which typically isn’t always a bad thing. However in this one, it’s solely a single story, almost a single instance. It goes right from introductions to the climax, and that left me wanting. I guess the thought process is it entices you just enough to pick up the first book…
The story follows some seedy characters as they treasure hunt in the Barrowlands, which cannot be entered without permission…needless to say these guys don’t have it. The climax takes place in a tomb, which I thought felt more The Mummy (1999)–think the scarabs in the wall—than Lara Croft. I was definitely digging that!
The covers of the series intrigue me, but I’m not sure I’ll continue just yet.
October 16, 2022
More a short story than a novella, but regardless of its designation, this was a decent introduction to the world of the Iconoclasts series.
The plot was unfortunately derivative, but the execution of the familiar story beats was done well. For such a short story, the characters got just the right amount of development and were engaging enough to sell the tense moments. The glimpse into this world's magic and lore was a nice teaser for the main books, but you'd be hard-pressed to classify this as a must-read if you're planning on delving into the series.
The plot was unfortunately derivative, but the execution of the familiar story beats was done well. For such a short story, the characters got just the right amount of development and were engaging enough to sell the tense moments. The glimpse into this world's magic and lore was a nice teaser for the main books, but you'd be hard-pressed to classify this as a must-read if you're planning on delving into the series.
December 9, 2021
Barrowlands is a creepy and atmospheric short story that acts as a prequel to the main Iconoclasts series as three rogues, to put it kindly, encounter a bloody Syraeic league agent wandering in the mysterious barrowlands which are supposedly full of dangerous wonders. This short story adds a bit of depth to the backstory some characters from the Iconoclasts series but would also work well enough without the context from the main trilogy.
December 16, 2021
If you don’t have royal permission then you can’t enter the Barrowlands.
Hesk (the MC) enters the Barrowlands without permission with a handful of criminal types who are up to no good. They come across a man with a talking severed head in a bag. What could possibly go wrong, right?!
Gloriously narrated by Simon Vance.
Nice little intro to the Iconoclasts series by Mike Shel. Now …. Will this be a series I read in 2022?!
Hesk (the MC) enters the Barrowlands without permission with a handful of criminal types who are up to no good. They come across a man with a talking severed head in a bag. What could possibly go wrong, right?!
Gloriously narrated by Simon Vance.
Nice little intro to the Iconoclasts series by Mike Shel. Now …. Will this be a series I read in 2022?!
November 26, 2022
I found this on Audible when I searched for works narrated by Simon Vance, one of my favorite voice actors. The story, combined with Vance's narration, was tremendously entertaining. I'm tempted now to work through the entire series.
It is an hour long sword and sorcery fantasy, and its dark and frightening.
It is an hour long sword and sorcery fantasy, and its dark and frightening.
January 26, 2022
Gets the courtesy of being my first audiobook, which is a very different experience. I found my mind wandering a few times as I was listening in the car and at the gym, but that's more due to the format than anything, so that's something to work on.
November 10, 2022
A quick little audio novella that gives readers a nice taste of the Iconoclasts world, tone and writing style. I'll be sure to check out the full series in the near future. Simon Vance as the narrator was a really nice surprise to have as he's a favorite of mine.
August 2, 2021
⭐️3.5/4⭐️
Audible : Narrated by Simon Vance
Audible : Narrated by Simon Vance
December 26, 2021
Would be interested to read more at some point.
January 15, 2022
Solid little story. Good Narration. Intrigued me enough to go onto the main series eventually.
February 10, 2022
Damn Auric! back at it again with the staggering trauma
March 8, 2022
This gritty story by Mike Shel hits the spot once again. This Author does not miss if you want that grim dark fantasy sword swinging action.
March 20, 2022
Brilliant
Read
April 11, 2023Good intro to the series
December 10, 2023
3.5 stars. A good taste to make you interested in reading the series
December 12, 2023
I liked the author's style and found the novella quite enjoyable. It has pique my interest on the series.
June 2, 2026
read both "Barrowlands" and "Final Word" on a van trip to Kruja - first time I got my Kindle out in the wild!
preferred "Barrowlands"
preferred "Barrowlands"
October 5, 2021
Yeah, good, but short. I am looking forward to reading the series.
July 12, 2021
This story is included in the free Fantasy anthology Lost Lore.
It takes place before Aching God and features Hesk, who returns in Book 3, and Auric.
It's worth reading if you're reading the trilogy but if you're reading it as an introduction to the Iconoclasts trilogy or Mike Shels oeuvre, you have the realize the trilogy is much better. I gave this 3 stars but 4 and 5 for the trilogy!
It takes place before Aching God and features Hesk, who returns in Book 3, and Auric.
It's worth reading if you're reading the trilogy but if you're reading it as an introduction to the Iconoclasts trilogy or Mike Shels oeuvre, you have the realize the trilogy is much better. I gave this 3 stars but 4 and 5 for the trilogy!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews