Tomb Divers

By: Robyn Bee

Narrated by: Mandy McCullough

There’s no money in the study of history, not unless one gets a little … creative.

Ashura is an empire of monuments, of Grand Ziggurats and obelisks of pale stone. The tombs of long-dead necromancer-kings rise like labyrinthine fortresses above the desert sands. Cruel traps and legions of undying guardians watch over fortune-filled treasure chambers, the wealth of dynasties awaiting those with the cunning to survive the taking of it.

Yet there are those who dive for secrets, rather than gold.

Naroh is a tomb diver, a brilliant, reckless, and oftentimes penniless historian haunted by Ashura’s greatest mystery. From atop a scorpion bred for war, he’s spent the last ten years crisscrossing the empire, digging up and gathering the fragments of its forgotten past.

Then, a plundered artifact leads him to Eshi, a savagely beautiful girl with a hyena’s grin. Scattered clues become a path and, together with an elf who sings to spirits, they set out to find the millennia-lost tomb of Ashura’s greatest conqueror.

A necromancer whose might was such that even the gods took notice.

Tomb Divers is an ancient Egypt/Mesopotamia-inspired, slow-burn harem fantasy adventure.

©2025 Paul Keenan (P)2025 Paul Keenan

Well that was pretty good

Haven’t read any of the prior work from the author but this was quite enjoyable. Sequel please?

A good start.

The novel was a great start to what I hope is a series. The characters are well written, and the action scenes have a thrilling sense of desperation. I will say that the harem elements feel a bit lacking to me, though that is mainly due to some personality quirks of the characters, rather than a lack of planning or poor romantic sense.

overall, I enjoyed the story and look forward to more.

Deep World building and high details.

I was intrigued by this concept. I'm an avid consumer of this genre but I haven't come across one with such a focused Egyptian / Mesopotamia theme. I'll start with the good.

Very deep world building. Tons of background and insights into the characters that really give them depth. A very fun play on classical Egyptian mythology and merging with fantasy races in (elves, beast folk and so on). The spicy scenes are well done but not the main point of the book which I appreciate. The relationships feel like they build naturally, this isn't a spice first book, story is key. The voice actress is wonderful. She does a great job giving life to the characters and giving them uniqueness.

The negatives:
As much as I enjoy the world building, at times the number of details is overly cumbersome. There is also a lot of receptiveness in the descriptions. I swear the phrase "scavengers grin" is used 200 times (possibly an exaggeration but it's a LOT). Some of the details feel forced, almost as if the author couldn't think of something better so they continue to use the same phrases over and over or are worried about a lack of detail (which there isn't) and tries to overly detail things which make parts feel bulky/clunky.

Overall though a very good, I am excited to see this author continue to develop and am equally excited for more of this story.

Great world building

really good romance between the 2 LI. good world building. love the ancient Egyptian vibes

Good potential, but missed the mark in men’s romance

This book had a lot of potential, and I genuinely wanted to like it - especially since I listened to the audiobook version. Unfortunately, it fell short in several key areas.

The MMC was particularly disappointing. At many points, he came across less like a confident adult and more like a giddy high school girl. This issue was made worse by the narration. While the voice actor did an excellent job with the female characters, her portrayal of the male lead made him sound like a pre-pubescent boy with a screeching tone, which was distracting and took me out of the story.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the book was the constant repetition of a specific phrase. It was used so frequently that it became irritating and hard to ignore, ultimately detracting from the overall experience.

Although this book was under “romance for men” and harem fantasy, it was written with a women’s romance style. The main female character’s BRATTINESS and the heavy emphasis on DRAMA devalued this story. The story was jam-packed with emotional turmoil, which may appeal to some readers, but for me, it became exhausting rather than engaging. Most men do not want drama.
Overall, while the premise showed promise, the execution—especially in characterization, drama, narration and excessive repetition—made this book a disappointing read.