A Hard Truth and An Unwise Decision

Bone Knight #3

by Tim Paulson

When might fails, dark magic calls.

Airship stolen and twice betrayed, Max remains in a city filled with enemies. His countdown continues, recording every waning moment until his final doom. Victory over the paladin and his endlessly reviving soldiers isn't just fleeting, it's a liability, causing more problems than it's solved.

A new item will provide access to a powerful new class if Max has the stomach for it, but he'd better figure out something, and quickly. As he's learned, in this world, there are many fates far worse than death. Perhaps it's time to try something different, something... arcane.

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2021

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

[Grim]

A great addition to the series, although still very short in length. I highly recommend this book. Good character progression, nice world building, interesting twists to the typical LitRPG stories.

The Paladin’s been killed by Max twice now. He’s been regenerated again and he’s not only furious and mad as hell, now he’s desperate and needs a quick vengeance before he’s held accountable by his superiors. He shuts down access to the city to buy himself time as he throws everything he has into hunting down Max and Raeg. Max upgrades from Brawler to Gladiator, and finally has enough stats to open Dark Mage. Spiders spiders spiders (for the authors 827 spider children) Mytten the giant spider makes her debut appearance, but isn’t so greatly featured as in the later books where she is truly awesome. The fight for Dark truly begins and a Herald from heaven joins the fight. Max starts to seriously level and begins to acquire awesome items.

I really enjoyed this book and I whole heartedly recommend anyone who likes LitRPG, awesome fights, a great under dog story, and some truly awesome characters, reads this book. It won’t disappoint you.

I read books 1 - 7 in 7 days. Every book is better than the last. This goes from good to awesome as the books progress. The author is a genius, and the books an absolute pleasure to read.

[Tianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot of fun in this story and it shouldn't be skipped. Just when I was thinking that Max should change his class, he does...and the one I would have picked for him too! Just when I am looking for action....it happens. The book moves at a very fast clip with a revolving door of new characters and old faces. This isn't my favorite book in the series but it still contains witty dialogue and battles not going in the direction you expect.

Trina is now becoming a main character, but it still feels like a third date to me. I don't really know her and haven't connected with her yet. I am still bitter over her betrayal too. I don't doubt Paulson being able to endear her to me though.

Max and Raeg (just the two of them) are my favorite. I look forward to watching them mess up in battle, be snarky back and forth and grow as a partnership. I laugh out loud at some of the stuff Max says to him. When Max references something that is commonly known to us (indoor plumbing) and Raeg doesn't get it, that is always a fun time.

I am curious to see where Paulson takes us next. We are left with a small cliffhanger and I am excited. I am hoping this means the big quest is finally going to come to a head.

[Rubin Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good it warms your bones

I've been reading these books back to back as they are quite short.
The humour is a little childish but very funny, the bone puns are numerous.
Max The Boneknight is a likeable character as are all the ones you are supposed to like.
Also, there are spiders.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book three

Mistakes: For such a short book it had to many mistakes. One sentence made no sense. All mistakes I found are listed on Goodreads.

Plot: Time to shrink down and visit another town.

Characters: Levels grow, they don't.

5/10

[Troy Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Good!!!

The story continues to flow really well. Each book is its own story but seamlessly intertwines to make a great story that just keeps going and invites you to read the next book. And so that what I’m gonna do!

[Joseph Mahn]

A tiny bit better than most books

Still a fun twist on good vs evil. Max is as crazy courageous as ever. Raeg eats like he fights. Enjoy the twists and turns, but most especially the puns!

[Ben Greenwald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thank you

For the author, thank you for the spiders. I hope all of your multilegged children are well. I am looking forward to more books.

[Terry Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the strongest of the series so far but overall a enjoyable read.

Having the books short and relatively punchy enables Paulson to lean into humour that may drag in a longer book.

Very much look forward to the next in the series.