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The Book of Names (Legends of Karac Tor #1)
It’s Thanksgiving Break and chores are being handed out. Hadyn, nearly 16 and the oldest of the four Barlow brothers, is told by his father to clear the back acres of their new farm. Hadyn resents life. After losing his mother to cancer and relocating away from the only home he’s ever known, he misses his friends and his Mom. While hacking through a briar patch, a strange...more
Paperback, 381 pages
Published
March 15th 2011
by Living Ink Books
(first published June 20th 2008)
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Normally, I wouldn't have picked this book up because I don't like to read a fantasy that starts in our modern day world where you are then whisked away to another, fantastical world. But I did and I am glad I did. The characters felt real, the story is tight, the prose is well-written. I couldn't help but feel a little too much like Narnia in the beginning, but once the story is in motion it flows well and takes on a life of its own. I will be reading the rest in the series.
In The Book of Names, by D. Barkley Briggs, two brothers, Hadyn and Ewan Barlow, stumble upon a portal to another world. The land of Karac Tor is in grave danger, and they are destined to play a role in its saving. Identity is everything in Karac Tor. The Book of Names contains the names and deeds of everyone born there. Evil forces want to erase those identities and plunge the land into a nightmare of despair and meaninglessness.
Hadyn and Ewan are reluctant to accept the task thrust upon them,...more
Hadyn and Ewan are reluctant to accept the task thrust upon them,...more
Just as you think that our society is too futuristic, author D. Barkley Briggs spins a great tale of today’s life intermingled with fantasy. If you don’t believe that a regular young man like you could end up in a fantastic adventure and transported to another dimension it is because you have not read this book…
It involves two brothers that moved to a country setting after the death of their mother. The young men are the oldest of four boys with a younger set of twins. The oldest of them is Had...more
It involves two brothers that moved to a country setting after the death of their mother. The young men are the oldest of four boys with a younger set of twins. The oldest of them is Had...more
Feb 28, 2013
Annie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
1st-in-series,
2000s-release,
christian,
fantasy,
fairies-of-some-sort,
high-fantasy,
male-pov,
meh,
owned-books
First Look: This looked pretty interesting. Mainly because I like fantasy and am rather partial to brother-brother stories. Perhaps because I wrote one myself.
Setting: First off, why does every book character hate moving to the country? I live in a rural area, and I love it. I rather like not being hedged in by people on all sides. But it seems that book characters are only capable of liking to live in the city. Why does this happen?
Anyway, Karac Tor. It actually confused me a little. I could ne...more
Setting: First off, why does every book character hate moving to the country? I live in a rural area, and I love it. I rather like not being hedged in by people on all sides. But it seems that book characters are only capable of liking to live in the city. Why does this happen?
Anyway, Karac Tor. It actually confused me a little. I could ne...more
Reactions:
This book is an awesome beginner for a sure to be awesome series! While reading it, I kinda felt like it was a cross between The Door Within and then Beyond the Reflection's Edge. It's not that they have similar plot twists and stuff, it's just that the style of writing is similar and both have a lot of suspence!
In this story, there are technically four brothers but only two join the adventure this time round (Which means there will be more!!). The two borthers get sucked into another...more
This book is an awesome beginner for a sure to be awesome series! While reading it, I kinda felt like it was a cross between The Door Within and then Beyond the Reflection's Edge. It's not that they have similar plot twists and stuff, it's just that the style of writing is similar and both have a lot of suspence!
In this story, there are technically four brothers but only two join the adventure this time round (Which means there will be more!!). The two borthers get sucked into another...more
Jun 04, 2013
Kessie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy-scifi,
young-adult
I had a hard time getting into Book of Names. Almost nothing happens in the first few chapters, except everyone whines about their dead mom and too much info is dumped. I didn't like the characters at all until I was halfway through. So much whining.
The other problem was the capitalization. I don't know if this was a Kindle issue only, but at least one sentence in every paragraph starts with a lowercase letter. Also the world name is written karac Tor, which annoyed me to death.
The characters ne...more
The other problem was the capitalization. I don't know if this was a Kindle issue only, but at least one sentence in every paragraph starts with a lowercase letter. Also the world name is written karac Tor, which annoyed me to death.
The characters ne...more
Review by Jill Williamson
Hayden and Ewan recently moved to rural Missouri. Their mother recently passed away, and they are grieving her loss and the loss of their old home. Hayden has been assigned the job of clearing the briar patch, and Hayden, for fun, has been clearing it by cutting tunnels into it. His brother Ewan offers to help one day. As they are working, four ravens approach carrying something. The birds drop their cargo in the briar patch and vanish. Hayden and Ewan discover four tube...more
Hayden and Ewan recently moved to rural Missouri. Their mother recently passed away, and they are grieving her loss and the loss of their old home. Hayden has been assigned the job of clearing the briar patch, and Hayden, for fun, has been clearing it by cutting tunnels into it. His brother Ewan offers to help one day. As they are working, four ravens approach carrying something. The birds drop their cargo in the briar patch and vanish. Hayden and Ewan discover four tube...more
Oct 17, 2012
Ji Mei ^_^
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adventure-fiction,
fantasy-fiction
This book is similar to the Chronicles of Narnia, with hints of Lord of the Rings to it. Though it is quite similar, there is enough originality that you let that slide. The writing is simple to understand (no weird Old English references that make you read the sentence 10 times before you understand it), clean, and detailed. There are humorous parts and characters, especially since you have modern teenage boys with their sarcasm. It was shaky at first, but as I read on and read the many riddles...more
This young adult fantasy was an very good read. It reminded me of a mixture of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and "The Lord of the Rings" with a Celtic twist. I enjoyed the characters and they seem to be developing well. Since this is the first book in the series, I think the pacing is perfect - getting glimpses of backgrounds of some and still holding mysteries of others.
The storyline was good and used traveling to a different world where there is strife and evil. It contained everythin...more
The storyline was good and used traveling to a different world where there is strife and evil. It contained everythin...more
It's always such a pleasure to find a new (to me) author who is able to craft compelling stories with rich backgrounds, real characters, and original settings. There is a depth to Mr. Briggs' writing that reminds me a bit of the usual suspects in this genre - Tolkien and Lewis - in that one senses there's much more to the history of Karac Tor than we're getting spelled out on the page. I haven't read the second book yet, so I can't speak for the continuation of the series, but at least in this f...more
This book was a little hard to get into but once the action begins the story will consume you until the last page, beyond that actually because this book is the first in a series.
As with Narnia this book begins with the four Barlow brothers who have just moved from the city into a new house in the country. In their new back yard lies an ancient portal to another world. A world which they have been called to save. If you realy like Fantasies then that is all the information you should need in ord...more
As with Narnia this book begins with the four Barlow brothers who have just moved from the city into a new house in the country. In their new back yard lies an ancient portal to another world. A world which they have been called to save. If you realy like Fantasies then that is all the information you should need in ord...more
Nov 09, 2008
mari
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to mari by:
Bostick Communications
Shelves:
fantasy,
young-adult
Ewan and Hadyn Barlow have just moved to a farm in Missouri with their twin brothers and father after the death of their mother. While clearing away a briar patch they find a stone arch carved with ancient runes. They discover that the arch is a magical portal to another world, the world of Karak Tor. Here they learn that they have been called to be Champions and save the world from evil and darkness brought by The Devourer and the witch, Nemesia. The boys, on their journey to find a way home, m...more
This book would have been an interesting enough story, had I not lost interest after the first three pages. Any more, if I pick up a fantasy and find it's about a teenager, my interest starts to wane immediately, unless something indicates this teenager is going to be different from every other teenage hero in the fantasy genre. And this teenager certainly showed no promise; grumbling about his life pretty typically and only especially blatantly. And he did nothing later to set him apart from th...more
I found the story to be labored and simplistic, and it didn't seem to connect very smoothly. Interesting premise, just without any pizazz for me. It's just too close to Madeleine L'Engle's series.
D. Barkley Briggs has penned a rousing fantasy packed full of Norse and Celtic mythology with a hearty dose of Arthurian legend. With a wide range of emotions, he moved me from the sadness of loss to the giddiness of comic relief, all the way to the excitement of heart-pounding tension. Strap on your armor, pull out your sword, and get ready for an adventure.
The fantasy and adventure were very good but I felt the book was a bit long and I didn't really conect with any other character except the main two. The other side characters all seemed to have similar personalities. But, I think the series can have some more interesting situations and adventures and I think I will be reading the other books.
This is part one of a trilogy of books written by my classmate Dean Briggs. I really enjoyed it and cant wait for the next one.
Pretty good.
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"Dean Barkley Briggs has worked in radio, marketing, and new product development. He also pastored for eleven years. After losing his beautiful wife at an early age, Briggs decided an epic fantasy adventure might help his four boys live courageously through their loss. The five books in The Legends of Karac Tor is the result, with Books 1, 2 and 3 releasing Spring and Fall of 2011. Briggs has sinc...more
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