The Barrow is the exciting and provocative dark fantasy/horror hybrid debut by Mark Smylie that’s filled with dungeon crawls, perilous quests, ancient cults, mysterious rituals, and necromancy! The story begins with a gripping prologue that details the beginnings of a dangerous treasure hunt that accurately sets the tone for the rest of the book. We follow a group of coarse, rapacious, and morally-gray, but engaging, characters as they embark on an adventure to recover a sword of myth. Smylie’s worldbuilding is plentiful and impressive and often goes on saturate you in vivid detail. At times the info dumping could be a bit overwhelming and unneeded, but the story as a whole is one of the most fun and strange experiences I’ve had with a fantasy book in a long while.

I must point out that this story will not be everyone’s cup of tea - the ~600 pages are filled with lots of brutal, gratuitous violence, swearing mercenaries, and graphic, depraved sexual encounters. If the previous sentence doesn’t deter you, look forward to some great, pulse-pounding action, interesting character dynamics, and a dark humor that successfully breaks up the, at times, disquieting content. This story is weird and wonderful and I’m (im)patiently awaiting the sequel.