Betrayal at Goliath Gate

Arcane Renaissance #2

by Tim Paulson

The sharpest blade is the one in your back.

After just barely surviving her ordeal at the Veil Institute, Mia's had enough of Faustland. There's just one last obligation she has to see through before she takes Adem and moves on. She might return home to Miran or sell her services elsewhere, but wherever it is, it'll be far away.

Christine, Baroness of Aeyrdfeld, has a plan to recapture her stolen lands. It'll be risky, but that's never stopped her before and she won't let it this time either. With Mia, Liam, Harald and Aaron, she knows it can be done. The only thing that matters is the mission, losses are to be expected.

Neither of them know that Chester Buckley has survived and made a pact with an ancient creature of power with only one goal on its mind: Revenge. It doesn't care about anything else and neither does Buckley. Christine and Mia will pay.

377 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2020

About the author

I am Tim Paulson, writer of fantasy and science fiction.

I'm currently writing the Bone knight litRPG series. It's fun to revisit the game worlds I enjoyed when I was young. I grew up with Final Fantasy, Mechwarrior, Dragon warrior (known to many as Dungeon Quest), and X-COM. These games, along with a whole lot of movies and books, have informed what I think is cool: Impossible odds and grave decisions with monumental stakes.

Bone knight book nine, the finale for the series, is currently underway. After that is complete, I have a new litRPG series already planned that should come out in time for Christmas 2022.

Also: Audiobooks are on the way and a Boneknight RPG game is currently in development.

If you've enjoyed my books, please leave a review.

Thank you!

-Tim

Reviews

[Margaret Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you made it through book #1, you might as well read this one. We got several more characters added as well as new adventures for the existing characters. Mia travels with Adem, hoping to get the demons out of him. We find out that the giant robots call goliaths have their consciousness contained in a core that can be shuffled between bodies. There are battles and bodies all over this book. I found it a bit confusing, but maybe you will get a better take on it.

[Tianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betrayal At Goliath Gate is another overwhelming yet exciting ride. There are tons of characters and no shortage of action. There is a lot of “meat” in the story. I think it could be a stronger read with less characters and a max of two stories going on. The back and forth with the multiple characters and different action going on made it hard to remember where I was and what was the goal here. I also would leave a character in a sticky situation and know I would have to wait quite awhile to find out what happened. I would be like Darth Vador screaming “NO!!!!” when that would happen and be tempted to skim the other stories to get back to where I was.

However, I really do appreciate that the plot kept moving. You never have a scene of characters standing around talking without anything happening. There are multiple storylines, which isn't my favorite type of thing, but I do like that everyone’s story is continuously going and will connect to the other ones in the end. Like in Path and Ruin, I did have my favorites and ones that I just sorta of skimmed. However, I still enjoyed the whole book and was frantic to figure out where we are going next.

One thing I have noted is that nobody truly stays dead in this series. There is always a fail safe. Always a fine print. If all else fails, Harald can do a healing or some magic mumbo jumbo to save the person’s life. On one hand that is kind of nice since I don’t worry about characters too much. But on the other hand...Wait a minute! Where is Henri? Where is my favorite character? I figured he would pop back in for Betrayal at Goliath Gate. I figured even though it was “unlikely” he survived, I thought he was coming back. So...what is going on here! The lack of Henri killed me. I liked his patience, calmness and overall goodness. The developing relationship with him and Mia was amazing and I wanted to see it happen! Ah! I’m still hopeful he’s coming back no matter what. I need to believe it.

Mia really stood at center stage for me without Henri. I would never describe her as soft, but we see some major character growth with her in this book. She has moments where she realizes that her life doesn’t have to be the way it has always been. She can be different, have a family. Mia, Harald and Celia are my favorites. The three of them are blunt, kick butt and hilarious. Celia is almost mean she is so rough verbally, Mia has a dry humor and Harald is constantly poking and making fun of people. I just love it and there were quite a few times I was smiling or laughing. Thira is a new character that is slowly climbing up into favorite territory too.

I won’t ruin the story by talking details about the plot, but it was enjoyable. The end, ah oh my god. Didn’t see that coming. I won’t ruin anything but what a strong finish. I totally recommend it if you like fantasy with lots of action. Think Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

[Maurice Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can only sum up ARCANE RENAISSANCE,part two as a "rolling ball of action" There are many main characters in this novel,and author PAULSON finds a way to involve all of them separately,and collectively! Each chapter leaves you on the edge,as he shifts to the plight of another character to another for a nail-biting delight! I'm having so much fun with these novels,and you will too.

[Michelle L. Reeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy moly! This second book in the series is fantastic! Swords, sorcery, mechs, humans, animals, crosses between, it’s all there in this one book. Fast paced and packed with action from start to finish. Loved the characters!

[Debby Cash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story.

Powerful, enthralling and builds wonderfully on the story in book one. The characters are excellent and you can go from relief at one point to despair at others without warning in this roller coaster of a story. Looking forward to seeing what comes next