by J.M. Clarke, Carter J. Thompson
Release Date: March 24, 2026
2026 Atheon: Vault (Previously published independently by author)
Hardcover ARC & Ebook Editions; 704 Pages
ISBN: 978-1638493242
ASIN: B0CBSQZMW4
Audiobook: B0CDMVD1YM
Genre: Fiction / LitRPG / Fantasy
Source: Review copy from publisher
4.25 / 5 Stars
Summary
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 Access a Dungeon to receive a Class-Specific Reward.
It’s his first—and maybe last—chance for real power. Just one 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.
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 Access a Dungeon to receive a Class-Specific Reward.
It’s his first—and maybe last—chance for real power. Just one 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.
My Thoughts
Rune Seeker is the first book in the Rune Seeker series and it's one of those series I've been meaning to read, but just haven't had the time to start, so when the publisher reached out and offered me copies of the first three books when they are available, I jumped at the chance. This book probably dropped on my lap at the right time as I found it addictive and I had trouble putting it down, but still found the character development to be somewhat one-dimensional. The pacing however, kept me entertained and I really enjoyed the dungeon elements quite a bit.
Hiral is the main character and the story is told from his viewpoint. Hiral struggled growing up as he seemed to have a lot of potential, but simply could not unlock it despite the efforts of his parents and the intense training regimen he put himself through. Because of his struggles, he developed relationship issues with his mother, something I feel will be addressed in future books, but I hope the author doesn't make Hiral accept anything from her simply because he has unlocked his powers. I am always amazed when parents don't support their children because they don't turn out the way they want them to be. As a result of his issues growing up, he has trouble trusting himself in situations as well as trusting others. While he could come across as sulky at times because of this, I think it does ring true to his character and the issues he had growing up.
The secondary characters were actually quite interesting, but weren't fully developed in this book. I am looking forward to learning more about them as the story progresses.
The plot and the pacing are two of the reasons why character development was sort of shunted to the background as both of these were relentless in this book. As soon as something happened, then was resolved, something else came up almost immediately. I didn't mind this too much as the 'battles' were actually quite creative and used the leveling up system as well as the magical system in an interesting way. There were a couple of things that weren't fully explained however, and I do have questions, questions that I hope will be answered in future books. I love dungeon-based reads, but I love it when there are big mysteries and ancient secrets much more, and this one hints at the discovery of some of those ancient mysteries in the future. And the sword inked in Hiral's back. Can't wait to discover how that one plays out.
Verdict
Rune Seeker was a fun read and I enjoyed it tremendously. There was an issue with character development and I did feel like the authors glossed over some things that happened or did not take the time to explain them when they occurred perhaps knowing the issue will come up in future books or thinking the reader would not notice. In any case, the pace was relentless and very action-heavy, but I didn't mind. Because I am anal and have to read to the end of any chapter, that posed a problem in this book as the end of each chapter was written in a way that made you want to read the next chapter, something I did often until the wee hours of the morning. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
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