Fantasy Review: The Book of Names: A Novel By D. Barkley Briggs

(Book I of Legends of Karac Tor)

“You have been chosen for a life of great purpose. Adventure awaits you in the Hidden Lands.”


Hadyn and Ewan Barlow are two brothers caught up in a painful new life after tragedy strikes their home – their mother passes away while they are only in their teens. They try to adjust to their new life and a new home when they not only find a runestone, or, more precisely, an arch inscribed with runes which have been hidden for countless years, but are also called to the Hidden Lands of Karac Tor.

Soon they not only have to learn to cope with the pain they carry, but help save a whole world from falling into darkness. They must also fight the darkness and despair within themselves. Love, friendship, loyalty and faith are challenged when the Book of Names is found to be blank and the young of Karac Tor are plunged into mindlessness and despair.

I must admit that it was the book’s cover and the Norse elements thereon which made me first pick it up. Briggs weaves a wonderful tale with elements from the Norse and Celtic mythology reinvented or reapplied to fit the world and legends of Karac Tor. It is quite believable that the legends that exist in Karac Tor have been changed in retellings to form the Norse mythology we know on Earth – but you do not need to know the mythology to enjoy this work.

What if sorrow was a doorway,
And memory, a gate?
What if we never passed through?
What worlds would go unfound?

On a personal note, this book has really meant a lot to me as I first read it about three months after my own mother passed away. The heart in the books, I am sure, also comes from the fact that Briggs at first wrote the book for his own children after the passing of their mother and his descriptions of the children’s and the father’s pain are truthful and deeply felt by the reader. But do not expect a somber tale bereft of comedy or a dark tale without hope or a renewed faith.

I completely agree with GP Taylor – “Magic and folklore at its very best – well worth a read.”

Look out for: Book II, Corus the Champion

Author Website: www.hiddenlands.net

Publisher of Book I: www.NavPress.com