The Barrow, Mark Smylie
The Barrow, Mark Smylie
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

The Barrow

Author: Mark Smylie

Narrator: Michael Page

Unabridged: 21 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/25/2014

Categories: Fiction, Fantasy, Epic


Synopsis

When a small crew of scoundrels, would-be heroes, deviants, and ruffians discover a map that they believe will lead them to a fabled sword buried in the barrow of a long-dead wizard, they think they've struck it rich. But their hopes are dashed when the map turns out to be cursed and then is destroyed in a magical ritual. The loss of the map leaves them dreaming of what might have been, until they rediscover the map in a most unusual and unexpected place.

Stjepan Black-Heart, suspected murderer and renegade royal cartographer; Erim, a young woman masquerading as a man; Gilgwyr, brothel owner extraordinaire; Leigh, an exiled magus under an ignominious cloud; Godewyn Red-Hand, mercenary and troublemaker; Arduin Orwain, scion of a noble family brought low by scandal; and Arduin's sister Annwyn, the beautiful cause of that scandal: together they form a cross-section of the Middle Kingdoms of the Known World, united by accident and dark design, on a quest that will either get them all in the history books or get them all killed.

About Mark Smylie

Mark Smylie has worked as a writer, illustrator, editor, and publisher for over a decade. His epic military fantasy comic book Artesia was published in 1999. He was nominated for the Russ Manning Award for Best Newcomer that year and for an Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition. He also designed and illustrated a role-playing game based on Artesia that won the Origins Award for Role-Playing Game of 2006, as well as three Indie RPG Awards, and he was nominated for six Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards. Mark founded Archaia in 2002 as a self-publishing home for his graphic novels and still serves as the company's chief creative officer.


Reviews

Goodreads review by mark on September 20, 2014

this heavy tome apparently weighs 1.7 pounds. here's how I would sum up its parts: 0.5 pound Dungeons & Dragons treasure-hunting adventure + 0.8 pound dense, George RR Martin-style details + 0.2 pound spiky, Joe Abercrombie-style snark + 0.2 pound extremely nasty hardcore porn 1.7 pound slab epic fantasy......more

Goodreads review by Holly Hearts Books on August 24, 2019

Even though this was dirtier than a frat boys shower mat, it was a SOLID fantasy and I freaking loved it. Watch my full reaction to this book in my reading vlog! VIDEO: [URL not allowed] CHANNEL: [URL not allowed] Personal rating: 4.5......more

Goodreads review by Gavin on August 21, 2015

The Barrow proved to be an unusual and enjoyable read. It had the familiar feel of a grimdark epic fantasy tale while also managing to feel like a straight up horror story at times. On the surface this tale followed a disparate group of adventurers as they indulged in a bit of treasure hunting and gr......more

Goodreads review by Mike (the Paladin) on November 12, 2021

Well, this isn't too bad. It's going to be sort of a been there, done that got the t-shirt for some of you, it was for me. Of late "gritty" and "dark" fantasy has become all the "rage". So the shelves are now running over with books that have covers in shades of gray, dark brown and ochre red. They o......more

Goodreads review by Nathan on May 19, 2014

5/19/14 -I got a chance to interview Mark Smylie and ask him about the sexual nature of the story, his take on some of the more controversial scenes, and more. Read it at Fantasy Review Barn You know those prologues that are long info dumps full of information that won’t have anything to do with the......more