Rune Seeker Audiobook By J.M. Clarke, C.J. Thompson cover art

Rune Seeker

A LitRPG Adventure

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Rune Seeker

By: J.M. Clarke, C.J. Thompson
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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About this listen

The Everfail will rise. His enemies will fall.

Hiral is the Everfail, the weakest person on the flying island of Fallen Reach. He trains harder than any warrior. Studies longer than any scholar.

But all his people are born with magic powered by the sun, flowing through tattoos on their bodies. Despite having enormous energy within, Hiral is the only one who can’t channel it; his hard work is worth nothing.

Until it isn’t.

In a moment of danger, Hiral unlocks an achievement with a special instruction: Access a Dungeon to receive a Class-Specific Reward.

It’s his first—and maybe last—chance for real power. Just one problem: all dungeons lay in the wilderness below the flying islands that humanity lives on, and there lay secrets and dangers that no one has survived.

New powers await, but so do new challenges. If he survives? He could forge his own path to power.

If he fails? Death will be the least of his problems.

Don't miss the next progression fantasy series from J.M Clarke, bestselling author of Mark of the Fool, along with C.J. Thompson. Unlock a weak-to-strong progression into power and a detailed litRPG system with unique classes, skills, dungeons, achievements, survival and evolution. Explore a mysterious world of fallen civilizations, strange monsters and deadly secrets.

©2023 J.M. Clarke and Carter J. Thompson (P)2023 Recorded Books
Action & Adventure Cyberpunk Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Adventure Progression Fantasy Island LitRPG
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What listeners say about Rune Seeker

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    502
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

Liked the story and the world building. Plot is slow paced because of constant fighting which I understand and it didn’t ruin the story for me.
Narrator was hard to get used to with not a lot of difference in character voices

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Alright I guess...

I'm about 3/4ths through the book and I felt like making a review now as I don't think it will change much at the end. The narrator is okay, I have a tough time distinguishing which character is talking at times which hampers the story. Also, the MC has really taken a back seat at times in the overall narrative which took away from my initial impression. They became too meek in my opinion, and the rest of the party talks over them all the time. It's them talking their decisions, They truly lack the drive and hunger I want to see in a fighter/academic.

Also I love in dangerous moments,... They. Keep. Talking. like if you're trying to be stealthy, yes, please keep discussing the issues or grievances instead of being quiet. It is minor, but really is a pet peeve for me,

I like the idea for the world, the power system, and dungeons, and I think they really should have double downed on that. I don't know if I'll buy the sequel.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A good idea ruined by grimdark.

This is a weak-to-strong story, so you expect a certain amount of bullying/abuse of the main character at the start, but at some point the MC finds out that there Really. Is. Something. Special. (tm) about them, and they start developing powers that rapidly makes them super-human. The first of these new powers is odd (and a bit off-putting), but it fits in with the world building, and that world building is really the only strength the story has.

Ultimately, the failure of this book is that despite all the MC's advancement, they are placed up against an impossibly difficult nemesis near the end of the book, and the resulting conflict decimates the small group of friends that the MC was finally able to make over the course of the story. It is a sad truth that the MC would have been better off never starting the progression of the story, leaving the reader wondering why they bothered.

DNF with about 1.5 hours left.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating Start to a new series

This is a really good beginning to a new Progression Fantasy series. I would have given it a 4.5 but have rounded up based on its potential.

Pros:
1. A likeable and compelling main character who has a major deficit to overcome but has stubbornly refused to give up even in the face of failure for more than half his life. It has left emotional scaars, but he remains a decent guy.
2. The magic system is cool and varied. It also has some really unexpected twists and makes the reader want to see how it grows and develops.
3. The world seems inexplicable in some ways, but the story reveals it's secrets a bit at a time and keeps the reader engaged in trying to fit the pieces together as we and the characters in the book attempt to understand it all.
4. It builds tension extremely well with an enemy no one understands--or even previously new existed--and, like the world and magic system, is revealed in bits and pieces that the characters and we have to slowly figure out.
5. This first book does a good job of engaging my interest and curiosity so that I really want to know what will happen next.
6. Except for a few passages here and there, I liked the writing and didn't find it overly wordy or opaque.

Cons:
1. The number of characters involved in the main action grows very quickly and it's sometimes hard to keep them straight or even remember their names.
2. Other than Hiral, we seem to get glimpses into other characters' personalities only through banter before, during, or after fights. It is possible to get some insights into the other characters through such moments, but only in two dimensions for the most part.
3. This is a small matter, but based on the spelling I expected Hirl's name to rhyme with "spiral", so the pronunciation in the audiobook threw me off. I've been reading this book on Royal Road so my exposure to the name has been far greater than just the Publisher's Summary and it took a lot of getting used to while listening.
4. This is strictly a matter of personal taste, but I would have liked less fighting and more character development, but the nature of the story pretty much forces a virtually unending stream of fights.

I like the narrator and he did a good job overall, but he didn't do as good a job of differentiating character voices as I would have liked... it would have helped in telling all the characters of the group apart.

Generally, I really enjoyed this reading experience and recommend this for those who like Progression Fantasy and uniquely interesting magical systems. I look forward to what comes next.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I liked the story but the narrator doesnt have enough versatility in his voice and everyone just sounds the same.

6/10 needs a narrative that can add more personality to the characters so they dont all sound the same.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

well that's a story about a complete Mary Sue.

if you like a main that is the best at everything all the time and the only flaw is he can't use the same power as others because he has a more powerful magic no one else even knows of...

if you like a main that is stronger, faster, smarter, tougher, luckier, and all around better then everyone before getting a broken powerful power set...

this Mary Sue story is for you. it's a simple story with easy comprehension. before the first half the book out 'hero' goes from almost as strong as higher level characters to the strongest man in town. maybe by the 2nd book he'll be standing on gods... not that I'm going to bother trying to sit through another of these... soo drawn out trying to be a LitRPG stuck on the game style, been done better in other books and been done worse in some books... so it's ok. mid rate story overall, better only because the narrator reading it is good at his job!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing!

Same author as Mark of the Fool and since I loved his books so much I decided to try his other series despite it being a LitRPG. This one actually focuses more on the story and the game side is presented as that world's magic. The first LitRPG I listen to was awful but I am enjoying this one a lot and adore the characters. I will admit the technical game stuff is a bit hard to follow and remember at the start. Great story cannot wait for more.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Story started well, but the twist was more scary than expected.

Loved it, until the enemy was revealed. Too scary for my taste. Maybe it’ll get less scary in the sequel.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good story and will read the next.

If you enjoy combat this is definitely the book for you. The plot was very interesting but for me personally the combat just would drag on and on. Some of the decisions the characters make were very frustrating but overall I found myself invested.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Lackluster Writing, Good Narration

The story gets lost in action sequences that take 3-4 times as much writing as they should, while the plot is very forced by unexplained deus ex machina events. The character development suffers from jarringly abrupt spurts of sudden growth.

That said, for about 30% of this story JM Clarke's style shines through; the little pieces of world building are there, and the dialogue has good moments. Just... overall the second writing style in this book takes it from a 5 to a 3.

Ralph Lister is, as always, a fantastic narrator. While I don't always agree with his tone selections for characters, he plays them very well indeed and puts genuine effort into his craft --and it shows. His voice acting is top notch.

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