LitRPG Podcast 193- Ruins Of Majesta 2.1, Tales of Dungeons, Shadow Sun Rebellion, Death's Mantle, Resurrection of Adventure
LitRPG Podcast 193- Ruins Of Majesta 2.1, Tales of Dungeons, Shadow Sun Rebellion, Death's Mantle, Resurrection of Adventure
Oct. 4th, 2019
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 193 of the LitRPG podcast. For the full show notes visit us at: https://litrpgpodcast.com/litrpg-podcast-193
I’m Ramon Mejia. I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. I have 5 new reviews just for you.
I want to thank Abtist for becoming our latest Patreon supporter. Thank you for your help in keeping the podcast going.
https://www.patreon.com/geekbytespodcast
New Releases and Reviews:
Ruins Of Majesta: Vol. 2.1 - Creatures and Cupcakes (08:23)
Liked book 1 a bit more, but still entertaining
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Tales of Dungeons (13:12)
Most are good, one is great
Overall Score: 7.2 out of 10
Shadow Sun Rebellion (Shadow Sun series - Book 3) (20:52)
Continues to satisfy
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Death's Mantle (23:38)
Death gets a gamer UI
Score: 7.1 out of 10
No hero here
Score: 7.4 out of 10
(Play Music 2)
LitRPG News
On his website and on Facebook, Luke Chmilenko announced recently that he has to delay the release of next Ascend Online novel. He already has 245,000 words and expects the final novel to be over 340,000 words before editing begins. This will push the release date past his initial Dec 2019 estimate.
Luke apologies for the delay but also released some commissioned artwork titled “The Siegebreaker” to tide you over.
https://lukechmilenko.com/ascend-online-glory-to-the-brave-update/
Author Interview with Cameron Milan, author of the popular LitRPG series The Towers of Heaven and the Desire series.
https://litrpgpodcast.com/litrpg-podcast-192
Just a quick congrats to Jonathan Brooks for the success for the 2nd book in his Dungeon Crafting series, it’s almost Amazon’s Top 100. Which is really good and shows there is a solid fanbase for the novel. If you haven’t given the series a read and you like dungeon core novels, definitely do so. We enjoyed book 1 and gave it a 7.6 out 10 review score.
The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2)
Mountaindale Press is celebrating their anniversary as a publishing company and are giving away audiobooks and ebooks. Go to their Facebook page and follow the rules for the giveaway. Giveaway ends Oct. 5th
https://www.facebook.com/MountaindalePress/photos/a.422720204889382/676813389480061/?type=3&theater
Out Now!
Fairyed: A LitRPG Adventure (Monsters, Maces and Magic Book 4)
Quest for Power: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 2)
Darkness Found (dARkness: Online Book 2)
Dark Legacy [Transformation. Book III] LitRPG series
The Crafter's Defense: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 2)
Team Newb (Sun & Shadow Online Book 1)
Dungeon Maker
https://amzn.to/2nTc3Fm
New LitRPG Audiobooks
The Time Master: Interworld Network Series Book 1
Varnoth: A LitRPG Story (The Black Blade, Book 1)
God of Gnomes - God Core, Book 1 (A Dungeon Core LitRPG Series)
Upcoming LitRPG:
Resurrection Quest 1 (Oct. 15th, 2019)
*New LitRPG series from Daniel Schinhofen*
Dungeon Dive: A LitRPG short story (Tales from the Gods' Game Book 1) (Oct. 16th, 2019)
Second Story Man: A GameLit/LitRPG Adventure (The Bad Guys Book 2) (Oct. 17th, 2019)
Universe ICS: Keymaster. LitRPG Series. Book 2 (Oct. 17th, 2019)
Deadman's Retinue (An NPC's Path Book #3): LitRPG Series
(Oct. 21st, 2019)
A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5): LitRPG Series (Oct. 23rd, 2019)
Silver Peak: (Sky Realms Online Book 2): A LitRPG Series (Oct. 29th, 2019)
Varnoth: The Black Blade: Book Two (A LitRPG Story) (Oct. 31st, 2019)
A Dark Path: Grimdark LitRPG (Forsaken Talents Book 1) (Nov. 1st, 2019)
RiftWorlds Online: Book 2 - Raiding Fantasy: a LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Nov. 1st, 2019)
The Way of Deception (World of Karik, Book #2, Part 1): LitRPG Series (Nov. 4th, 201)
Avatar of Light (Interworld Network Book #2): LitRPG Series
(Nov. 7th, 2019)
The Last Time Loop, Book #1: LitRPG Series (Nov. 11th, 2019)
Dragon Heart: Blood Will. LitRPG wuxia series: Book 3 (Nov. 22nd, 2019)
Level Up: Update (The Knockout Book #2): LitRPG Series
(Dec. 9th. 2019)
The Wastes (Underdog Book #2): LitRPG Series (Dec. 23rd, 2019)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
(Play Music 3)
New Releases and Reviews
(Picture 1)
Ruins Of Majesta: Vol. 2.1 - Creatures and Cupcakes
Mayah, Grax, and Margaret, better known as The Royal Death Claws, have just entered the prize dungeon they won in the paladin’s tournament. Now they just have to survive in the bowels of a sprawling, massive underground world filled with dangers around every corner, and under every leaf. It’s a gamers paradise, but there’s one small problem.
Our tiny heroine, Pretty Princess Cuddle Fluff, is still stuck in the expansive VR game world of Majesta. It isn’t half bad until Grax and Margaret log out and she gets reminded that her life is on the line.
With her logout button inoperable and a malicious AI searching for her in-game, she’s struggling to get as strong as possible to survive the inevitable clash for her survival. Because in the dungeon her chances of dying have just risen significantly.
This novel contains big hammers, cats, enchanting, snark, grenades, necromancy, leveling, fetch quests, beeps and boops, misunderstandings of the deadliest kind, olfactory and gustatory offenses, grandmothers, Evil sentient computer viruses, truces, crafting, duels, getting gear, friendship, Happiness and sweet, sweet XP.
Safe for the kids. Great for the adults.
This book Is: GameLit / LitRPG and contains very visible RPG, video game mechanics, and fights that are integral to the story. No blood or cursing, though. Style: serial slice of life.
My Opinion: 821 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
I enjoyed the story but not as much as the 1st book. Parts of dungeon dive felt like they went on too long and it started to feel like a grind to read. The brother’s story, while funny and interesting in its own right, didn't feel connected with the MCs story. I felt the same about the villain POV story. Very interesting stuff but unrelated to this book and likely a setup for future novels.
The Author Note at the end of the novel acknowledges some of the story decisions. The author notes why he decided to include the main character’s brother, in this book rather than give him a seperate one. Also that MC storyline may feel anticlimactic, even having characters make a joke about that. He notes her dungeon arc isn't done and that Book 2.2 will hopefully be out by Christmas to finish up that storyline.
I absolutely respect the author’s decision to setup his story the way it is for whatever reason he chose. While I didn’t like it as much as book 1, I still enjoyed the crafting and the good funny banter and dialogue. The main character still shines as a plucky heroine making intelligent decisions and not taking any guff from anyone while maintaining her heart of gold.
Score: 7.3 out of 10
Ruins Of Majesta: Vol. 2.1 - Creatures and Cupcakes
Tales of Dungeons
This an anthology collection of Dungeon Core stories created by authors both new and old.
It is in the dungeons where adventures begin and end. Where brave adventurers, orphaned children with grudges, shady protagonists, and fools dive into seeking power, wealth, and sating their blood thirst. Dungeons come in many shapes and sizes, with each holding their own adventure within and stories of past glories. Here, some of the stories can be found, taken from the deep, dark depths of imagination and horror found within us all.
Welcome, to the dungeon. Good luck escaping.
My Opinion: 204 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
This is a collection of stories that revolve around a dungeon in some way or form. Some are dungeon dives, others dungeon core, others are dungeon adjacent. Some are also LitRPG, but not all. Like many short story collections, not every story is going to be a favorite, but over all the collection was entertaining. Individual reviews below.
Core Laws by Michael Harrington
The last stand for the remaining dungeons against a crusade against them. There are some decent fights and traps but I never really cared about either side. The big twist in the story is about how several dungeon rules came about as humans and dungeons negotiate for peace. Kind of a miss for me.
-Score 6 out of 10
Depths of Buzzing by Damion Spearman
This one was a bit hard to read because of some early technical writing issues mixing present past tense alot. Other than that it’s a pretty straight forward dungeon run by a group.
-Score: 6 out of 10
Ficklehook's Revenge, Part 1 by Antony W.F. Chow
A defeated goblin dungeon core reincarnates as a human and seeks his revenge, gaining a class, training, and leveling skills to do so. He runs into a small goblin clan while on his way to the city.
It's a pretty good story that has a nice mix of world building, character development, and action. Plus there are plenty of story threads to develop later.
-Score: 7.6 out of 10
The Human Dungeon by Stuart Grosse
A short story about a bard/rogue falling for the enticements of a trio of hot ladies and ending up the sacrifice to make a dungeon core. It’s funny, and while there is a little sexuality there’s no graphic sex, but there is some rather interesting world and character building.
-Score: 7.5 out of 10
Nature vs Nurture Necromancy by Raymond Johnson
The absolute best short story in the collection. It starts as a kind of good buddy dungeon story that has humor, plenty of summarized monster evolutions and then a twist that makes it great.
-Score: 8 out of 10
Proving Grounds by Nick Tesauro
The longest of the short stories, it’s really a very long water themed dungeon dive. Nice variety of monsters and each adventurer gets at least a few paragraphs for backstory. Not amazing, but decent. It also reminds me why I never liked water levels in video games.
-Score: 7.1
Sword and Claw: The Lost Dungeon by Miles Trombley
Two girls playing an MMO get an early lead on a hidden dungeon but end up helping an NPC villager get revenge on the demon that destroyed his city. I’m not sure if there is even an actual dungeon here. More of a straight adventure with a couple of traps and a fight with an end twist. Dialogue a bit stilted sometimes. Nothing bad and it had a few cute moments but didn’t do anything to keep me engaged.
-Score: 6 out of 10
The Space Within a Space by Zachary Ude
The shortests of the short stories in the collection. I'm not sure what this one is. However, it’s definitely not a dungeon core story or a dungeon dive. I suspect it may be the start of a dungeon core novel that was submitted. It’s entertaining, but feels like a tease for a longer story.
-Score: 7.1 out of 10
Ghosts of the Past by Jeffrey “Falcon” Logue
This one also feels like the start of a longer story. It has good world building and action but no actual dungeon here either. Still, I’d like to read the longer story this belongs to.
-Score: 7.4 out of 10
Overall Score: 7.2 out of 10
Shadow Sun Rebellion (Shadow Sun series - Book 3)
The one year Stabilization period has ended, and the aliens are colonizing earth! Allistor and his people have prepared as well as possible, and now they'll find out if it was enough.
In this third book of the Shadow Sun series, Earth's survivors continue to fight for their lives, and to reclaim as much of the earth as they can for the human race. More than one alien faction threatens their existence, while others prove to be staunch allies. Allistor and company learn more about the system, its mechanics and politics, and take the first step in bringing the fight to their enemies off-world!
My Opinion: 500 pg ??, $5.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
Another really fun novel in the Shadow Sun series. The group continues to expand their holdings on earth while trying to fend off alien attacks now that earth’s safe period is over. There are fewer survival elements as the story has moved well past that, but there is still the tension of that kind of story with conflicts over trust, reputation, and resources. The action is just as good as it has been in the previous books, with monsters, aliens, and still other humans to fight. While the story universe is getting bigger and bigger, it still maintains that core group intimacy that I enjoyed from book 1. Overall, an action-adventure LitRPG story that continues to satisfy.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Shadow Sun Rebellion (Shadow Sun series - Book 3)
Death's Mantle
Lucian North is supposed to be dead.
Suffering from a rare heart condition that doctors say should have killed him over a year ago, Lucian is playing a video game when Death finally comes.
Rather than give in, Lucian pulls a gun on the Grim Reaper.
As the two stare each other down, terrible demons known as injuresouls swarm into the room in pursuit of Death.
Summoning courage he never knew he had, Lucian comes to Death's aid. And for his troubles, he is awarded Death's Mantle.
Transported to a spiritual world he could have never fathomed, Lucian finds that he is instantly powerful, able to conjure weapons from scratch and perform incredible feats. He introduces game mechanics to his new role, develops a carefully curated inventory list, and modifies a HUD system that allows him to better track his targets.
It isn’t easy being Death, and Lucian will need just about everything he can get as he faces off against fallen angels, appalling parasites, demon-born injuresouls, and savage Death Hunters.
Regardless of his sudden strength, his newfound enemies, and his gamer ingenuity, Lucian can't communicate with the living, which wouldn't be a problem if he hadn’t discovered something terrible about his family...
Lucian’s brother is scheduled to die, and only Lucian has the power to do anything about it.
Death’s Mantle is a dark fantasy GameLit novel that LitRPG, metaphysical fantasy, occult sci-fi, and thriller readers will love. Death’s Mantle is written by Harmon Cooper, bestselling GameLit author of Way of the Immortals, House of Dolls, Cherry Blossom Girls, The Feedback Loop and Monster Hunt NYC. It was inspired by the anime Parasyte, the comic book series Sandman and Spawn, the books On a Pale Horse and the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
My Opinion: 541 pages, $4.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Full Disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review.
This is an entertaining look at how a new grim reaper uses his gamer experience to become more powerful. The story has a light power progression mechanic. As he kills various parasites that attach themselves to humans extending life or causing various vices, he gains death points that he can use to create powerful weapons or powers. The story has a goal for the main character but it mostly explores the idea of death being similar to the shinigami of the death note or bleach anime with a gamer interface thrown in the mix. It questions what role death has and why they're opposed by other spiritual factions. A bit of it is almost philosophical in that it explores the morality of the system.
An interesting read but too light of the progression system for me to get a better score.
Score: 7.1 out of 10
Resurrection of Adventure (Book 1)
LitRPG Series
He was killed on earth in a deadly street fight. Just because he was trying to survive on the streets by running a con. Chrix finds himself in a world full of action and adventure. To his excitement, he finds that this world is full of magic and monsters. But he has to start out with no combat or magical skills. So this would be conman has to fake it too survives. This leads him into a dangerous situation that nobody would normal survive.
The following is an extract from the book:
She shouted, “You’re a dirty rotten cheat! You’ve been playing us all along.”
As she shouted, the rest of the group backed off. They had clearly been expecting an explosion from the woman. I just sat in my chair with a calm smile on my face, looking her directly in the eye. She had one of her daggers in her hand and threw it directly in between my eyes.
Just as her dagger was about to penetrate my temple, the shield I had been preparing all day flashed into existence with a blue wave of energy.
The dagger froze in place as the man from the guild muttered, “Magician,” with some fear.
I was still looking into her eyes as I had not flinched or blinked, but was still smiling as if nothing had happened.
The dagger dropped to the floor with a clang and I said, “Fire magician, actually.”
One of the man’s pipes had fallen to the ground during the ruckus so I picked it up and relit it with a small flame. Passing it to the trembling man, I said in a dangerous tone, “I insist that we continue.”
This had been my real gamble. After being burned by a fire magician and left for dead, I guessed that nobody wanted to suffer that fate. I’d been charging my magical shield all afternoon and hoping that it would be enough for one blow. Luckily, it was. If she had thrown a second time, I would have been dead - or whatever it is that happens to me in this world.
My Opinion: 168 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
The novel description and cover art don’t adequately describe some of the highlights of this slice of life story. It starts out with a fairly common if character revealing death of the main character (MC) on our world and his transportation to a fantasy RPG world by cheating and conning death himself. From there, the MC explores and figures out the rules of this new RPG world where he makes money by continuing to con and scam the medieval communities. While this doesn’t sound that great, it’s rather more detailed and interesting than I thought it would be. There’s a good use of body language study and the skills a good grifter would use. There’s also some good internal dialogue where the MC questions and explores the way this world is different from our own and the logical consequences of the information he’s gradually learning. While there is little combat, there are other kinds of conflict, including social and economic ones.
One of the few things I didn’t like about the story is that it’s actually shorter than it says it is. The last 20% is filler and a chapter from a different book.
Overall, while the story doesn’t have a plot, it is an interesting slice of life story with a non-hero MC looking to take advantage of those around him with quick hands, a charming smile, and an intelligent mind. It was fun to read about that kind of character and the way he builds his RPG skills.
Score: 7.4 out of 10
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(Music 4)
Music Credits
"Blip Stream" "Mighty Like Us" "Big Shift" "Vivacity"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/