[EWG]⇒ Read The Barrow eBook Mark Smylie

The Barrow eBook Mark Smylie

Download As PDF : The Barrow eBook Mark Smylie

The Barrow eBook Mark Smylie

THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!!!!!!

This book, a stand alone prequel to the author's sadly abandoned adult comic book series Artesia, is an incredible read. It begins with a dark and realistically detailed classic Dungeons & Dragons style dungeon crawl. The crawl ends up in a recreation of the demonic statue altar from the legendary 1ST EDITION ADVANCED DUNGEONS&DRAGONS PLAYERS HANDBOOK(you know...the round, ruby eyed demon statue holding a giant brazier bowl)complete with the adventurers prying the ruby eyes out! Albeit with a gruesome NC-17 addition to the demon's anatomy). This scene then erupts into an incredible fight sequence that concludes with a demonstration of why you should follow an old RPG standard rule: KILL THE WIZARD/PRIESTESS BEFORE THEY COMPLETE THEIR SPELL/CURSE-even if they're already dying!

From there the story shifts to the city of Therapoli and its numerous denizens and overlords of its criminal underworld. It shows how hard it is to possess an ancient, forbidden, magical map full of dark magic that promises to show the way to an incredible treasure. It also shows how hard it is to put together an expedition for said treasure after your last expedition yielded up a near TPK(Total Party Kill)and a respected, veteran senior thief was among them.

Then the story literally goes uptown to Therapoli's, gleaming, rich upper class nobles.Fans of Artesia will love seeing the scandals, military events and social circles referred to in the series (e.g. Porloss the Rebel Earl and the campaigns against him, etc.). Our viewpoint characters in that world are a once popular Tourney Champion Noble Knight and his loyal companions, now tainted by a scandal, ten years in the past but still fresh in the minds of too many of the city's rulers. The last person to be connected to the machinations of a band of disreputable thieves and rogues until events force them together.

When the expedition does happen it is the result of several unexpected, disastrous events that spring from the seeming loss of the map. What follows is a kind of classic RPG campaign turned on its head where the experienced adventurers and their rogue hirelings have to drag along the household of a fallen Noble family(Knights, Squires, Servants and Hand Maids...Oh My!) as they head into the dangerous, deadly wilderness. Into the Barrow of the title and toward a final, incredible twist.

Mark Smylie is an even greater and more detailed world builder than GRRM(THAT'S RIGHT! I SAID IT!). He's also capable of showing even more graphic sex scenes(a magically assisted sexual performance in a brothel would probably send even veteran porn fans fleeing). So be warned. He's even better at combat scenes(a final duel between two characters is incredibly realistic). Some reviewers claim the book is slow. I personally wonder if those reviewers are just too used to R.A. Salvatore books where a ninja fight breaks out every five paragraphs. The Barrow is a worthy read and a true representation of adult fantasy adventure.

When I was a kid, I would see an adventure movie and wish it would keep going after the quest's end. I felt this again at the end of the book. As it doesn't look like Smylie will ever renew his Artesia comic book series, i had high hopes that he would return to his Known World in print. Sadly, it looks like the promised next book in this prequel series, BLACKHEART, isn't going to arrive any time soon. So, if I have any complaint it is that I simply WANT SOME MORE!!!


Tags : The Barrow - Kindle edition by Mark Smylie. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Barrow.,ebook,Mark Smylie,The Barrow,Pyr,Fantasy - Epic,FICTION Action & Adventure,FICTION Fantasy Epic,FICTION Fantasy Epic.,Fantasy,Fantasy - Epic,Fantasy fiction,Fantasy fiction.,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction-Fantasy,GENERAL,General Adult,SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,bisacsh,epic fantasy;adventure;science fiction and fantasy;adventure books;epic fantasy books;survival;fantasy novels;fiction;novels;fiction books;books fiction;survival fiction;fantasy books for adults;action adventure;fantasy book;fantasy fiction;fantasy novel;fantasy;magic;dragons;epic;war;romance;fantasy books;demons;science fiction;elves;mythology;steampunk;wizards;urban fantasy;supernatural;alternate history;witches;trilogy;mystery;vikings;dragon;angels;sci fi;paranormal;military;historical,magic; military; fantasy books; science fiction; science fiction books; fantasy; science fiction and fantasy; dark fantasy; sword and sorcery; fantasy science fiction; epic fantasy; adventure books; adventure; war; epic; epic collection; dragons; sci-fi; action; trilogy; action and adventure; romance; demons; coming of age; high fantasy; pirates; military books; movie books; books made into movies; fantasy fiction; omnibus; english; wizards; horses; paranormal; fantasy series; military fantasy; science fiction books fantasy books,FICTION Action & Adventure,FICTION Fantasy Epic,Fiction - Fantasy,Science Fiction And Fantasy,bisacsh,Fiction,Fantasy

The Barrow eBook Mark Smylie Reviews

This is a fantasy heist tale, revolving around a group of thieves out to steal a long lost magical sword. It features an abundance of characters, several interesting, most of low morals. I note issues with the worldbuilding - witchcraft, for example, is a crime punishable by death (if the witch is a woman) - yet multiple characters openly employ magic without penalty. There are also places where the worldbuilding infringes upon the story.
An unusual band of adventurers sets off to raid a wizard's barrow and retrieve a mythical sword. It's a nice, simple premise for a standalone fantasy novel. But The Barrow strives to be something more.

Mark Smylie can write. At times, the story just chugs along and is a joy to read. At times...

While there's a good solid story here, it is too often bogged down by paragraph after paragraph (or sometimes page after page) of needless world building. I appreciate the obvious thought put into the world, but those details would have been better explored in future books or appendices rather than dropped into the exposition. These details made the book unpleasant to read. I just don't care about the Earl of Whosis' brother who was descended from the Baron of Somewhere. The book felt something like the Peter Jackson Hobbit adaptation. A nice, simple adventure tale is bogged down by extraneous stuff that waters the whole down.

Smylie has supposedly been working on a sequel/second book set in the same universe. When/if it comes along, I'd likely give him a second chance. But jeeze, I hope he cuts down on the extraneous stuff.

*The Barrow is related to Smylie's comic series. However, the book is sold as a standalone and it did work as a standalone tale.
I'm a fan of Marks work, I really enjoyed his Artesia graphic novels, so when I found he had written a novel set in the same world I was really anxious to read it. But there are issues some people may have with this book that may turn them off. I will explain.
World building
I enjoy gritty fantasy like George RR Martin that is well written and has an amazing world as its backdrop. Mark does a great job at world building. His dialog and writing style are great, and I find his background information on the world interesting and intricate. Imagine a 14th century world mixed with ancient greece and celtic myth. Sorcery, gods, demons, fae, and undead are realities and still have influence in the daily activities of the world and culture.
So you have a 14th century technology minus gunpowder and religions that control and influence the lives of the people and their cultures. This is what causes most of the chaos and wars in this world.

Graphic xxx sex
THis involves most of the characters. The cultures in this world are reminiscent of ancient greek and celtic culture and most of the characters are Bisexual, and sex in this world is more open and accepted with both genders culturally. Orgies are common things in this world, with that said the graphic nature of the sex in this book may be too far for most readers but it gets even more graphic.Most of Marks characters in the book are the cutthroats and back alley men. Criminals who prey on other people for money and shady deals and aren't very redeemable. Most are out for their own success, even though they may be allied with various thieves guilds and gangs. There is incest, abuse, and even yes a bit of beastialty!! A group of religious zealots wanted a brothel owner to recreate an ancient ceremony of powerful magic with a bull and a woman to promote a powerful spell. Said brothel owner facilitates these cultists for his own perverted pleasure to use them. This bothered me, and it was pretty disgusting. I'll move on.
Storyline
This book was one that was hard to put down. I was interested in seeing how the novel played out. The main character is Stjephan a royal cartogropher and kind of tomb raider indiana jones type character, Erim a swords woman duelist, Stjephan's companion for hire. The other characters come and go and are friends of Stjephans from his academy days. The story revolves around finding a map to an ancient tomb long forgotten to retrieve a magical sword from the age of Legends called Gladringer. A sword of kings. The characters find the map only to have it taken from them and begin a race to recover it and make it to the tomb before their rivals and cultists get there first. Demons, bound ghosts, cultists and backstabbers abound in the barrow mounds of the Manion Mole and the adventure is both creepy and action filled and the ending is surprising.
I enjoyed this story except the debauched disgusting adult content. Some doors I don't like opened and saying that I do respect the writer and artists ability to write what they want but I also have to think does it really add to the story to go there? I think not, but the man will write what he wants. Read it for yourself and judge.
THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!!!!!!

This book, a stand alone prequel to the author's sadly abandoned adult comic book series Artesia, is an incredible read. It begins with a dark and realistically detailed classic Dungeons & Dragons style dungeon crawl. The crawl ends up in a recreation of the demonic statue altar from the legendary 1ST EDITION ADVANCED DUNGEONS&DRAGONS PLAYERS HANDBOOK(you know...the round, ruby eyed demon statue holding a giant brazier bowl)complete with the adventurers prying the ruby eyes out! Albeit with a gruesome NC-17 addition to the demon's anatomy). This scene then erupts into an incredible fight sequence that concludes with a demonstration of why you should follow an old RPG standard rule KILL THE WIZARD/PRIESTESS BEFORE THEY COMPLETE THEIR SPELL/CURSE-even if they're already dying!

From there the story shifts to the city of Therapoli and its numerous denizens and overlords of its criminal underworld. It shows how hard it is to possess an ancient, forbidden, magical map full of dark magic that promises to show the way to an incredible treasure. It also shows how hard it is to put together an expedition for said treasure after your last expedition yielded up a near TPK(Total Party Kill)and a respected, veteran senior thief was among them.

Then the story literally goes uptown to Therapoli's, gleaming, rich upper class nobles.Fans of Artesia will love seeing the scandals, military events and social circles referred to in the series (e.g. Porloss the Rebel Earl and the campaigns against him, etc.). Our viewpoint characters in that world are a once popular Tourney Champion Noble Knight and his loyal companions, now tainted by a scandal, ten years in the past but still fresh in the minds of too many of the city's rulers. The last person to be connected to the machinations of a band of disreputable thieves and rogues until events force them together.

When the expedition does happen it is the result of several unexpected, disastrous events that spring from the seeming loss of the map. What follows is a kind of classic RPG campaign turned on its head where the experienced adventurers and their rogue hirelings have to drag along the household of a fallen Noble family(Knights, Squires, Servants and Hand Maids...Oh My!) as they head into the dangerous, deadly wilderness. Into the Barrow of the title and toward a final, incredible twist.

Mark Smylie is an even greater and more detailed world builder than GRRM(THAT'S RIGHT! I SAID IT!). He's also capable of showing even more graphic sex scenes(a magically assisted sexual performance in a brothel would probably send even veteran porn fans fleeing). So be warned. He's even better at combat scenes(a final duel between two characters is incredibly realistic). Some reviewers claim the book is slow. I personally wonder if those reviewers are just too used to R.A. Salvatore books where a ninja fight breaks out every five paragraphs. The Barrow is a worthy read and a true representation of adult fantasy adventure.

When I was a kid, I would see an adventure movie and wish it would keep going after the quest's end. I felt this again at the end of the book. As it doesn't look like Smylie will ever renew his Artesia comic book series, i had high hopes that he would return to his Known World in print. Sadly, it looks like the promised next book in this prequel series, BLACKHEART, isn't going to arrive any time soon. So, if I have any complaint it is that I simply WANT SOME MORE!!!