The Runesmith's Trials

The Secrets of Giantskarl Mountain, Book 1

By: Andrew Karevik

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

This is it, the day I take over my father’s adventuring shop!

Set at the base of Gianskarl mountain, where lies a vast and mysterious dungeon, this is the perfect spot. Many adventurers come to try their hand at the Karl in the hopes of hitting it big. And it’s up to me now to sell them the equipment they’ll need to face the dangers that await them.

But where my father was content selling trinkets for a pittance, I want to turn this modest shop into the industry leader. Heck, I want to make a fortune out of it so I can help grow my poor village, Karlton, into a thriving city and accomplish my dream of building New Valley.

To help me in this endeavor, I can count on my skills as a Level 1 Runesmith. My plan is simple enough: inscribe the items I sell with various enchantments to improve their stats and command higher prices. There’s just one tiny little problem. See, my shelves are pretty much empty. I have no inventory and I also miss the scrive I would need to create the runes in the first place. To add insult to injury, that scrive ought to be fashioned from a magical beast’s body parts; the more magical, the better. And I just happen to know exactly where to get such a rare find: in the boneyard of Giants, resting within the dungeon.

Yep, seems like the only way for me to kick start my new venture is to delve into that death trap in search of items to sell and the magical bone for my scrive. But there’s a reason no one from our village dares to enter the foreboding place. As I’ll soon find out, the Karl is home to all manner of strange creatures and spirits that will not hesitate one second to turn you into their next lunch. One thing is certain, I will need all the skills I learned as an apprentice Runesmith to succeed in my mission and come back alive.

But hey, who said the life of a shopkeeper was a peaceful and uneventful one?

©2023 LitRPG Freaks (P)2023 Podium Audio

Mixed Feelings

I have to agree with the other reviews in that the sex scenes where wildly unnecessary, but thankfully not overwhelming gratuitous. They were just unnatural and felt forced, so much so that it wouldn’t hurt to hire a consultant before trying to write a scene like those again.

Puerile sex scenes / romance plot

What was a pretty decent book got painfully derailed by sex scenes that sounded like they were written by a 14 year old boy. Aside from the ridiculousness of the *how* he got the millennia old “girl” there’s the scenes themselves which had to have been squeezed in with a crowbar. Awkward and I feel sorry for the narrator … also, if this is the final draft, it’s a little scary to think about what got edited out.

solid book

only complaint is some transitions to a different scene were abrupt. other than that it was a good listen.

the magic system is very interesting and the characters feel alive.

The rune magic is very interesting and I like the world so far. the characters are well written and feel real

Everyone blew the sex scenes out of proportion.

The romance isnt at all overbearing like in some books that completely focus on a side character who adds nothing to the plot. The sex scenes werent evern that overbearing. I think this is the next best form the author. As always you can expect some decent town building, character development, and stats. This is an awsome book and definately a new sieries im going to be following closely.

good read, solid narration...

been reading Andrew's 📚 now for a while, he has the ability to give life to his characters... this book was no exception.. looking forward to the next book in the series 😀

could have done without the sex But it's still go

Great story the whole sex thing was unnecessary In the way that he did it but otherwise great stories that are driven driven by the characters will be interesting to see what happens in the next one

way to much is waisted on romance scenes.

The story would of been many times better if there was no sex scenes, they are boring unrelatable and unrealistic. the mc spend so much of the book horning for his "lover" that I got to the point when they f meet I would skip until I didn't here her voice again to try and not get pulled from the story. The story itself is okay not great not bad if you ignore the sex scenes. The Narrator as usual made this story palatable. He brings the world alive and adds so much to it that I was able to finish it thanks to him.

Just terribly awkward

character interactions are so forced it's cringy I honestly really enjoyed the story up until it turned into someone's sexual fantasy of a dommy mommy and everything is so easy for the character literally has to do no work to get anything

this should be called "A Merchants Tale" or something

for a litrpg, there's really none of that in it. sure there are levels. but there are no stats. just feats and skills. it's pretty lame compared to others in the genre. the narrator is great. but the story is crap. I have a few hours left in this book, but I can't bring myself to finish it. this could be good to others, but this is not what I was expecting at all..... .it's all perspective, from mine this is shyte.