LitRPG Podcast 214 - The Crafter (Book 2), Nomad Core, Annex, Dungeon Core Academy 3, Castle of the Noobs, and more
LitRPG Podcast 214 - The Crafter (Book 2), Nomad Core, Annex, Dungeon Core Academy 3, Castle of the Noobs, and more
Feb. 21st, 2020
Hello everyone, welcome to episode 214 of the LitRPG podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia. I’m here to bring you the latest LitRPG news, reviews, and author interviews. We have 7 new reviews just for you.
New Releases and Reviews:
The Crafter (Book 2): Trench Warfare (09:33)
A good sequel
Score: 7.7 out of 10
Nomad Core (Core Control Book 2) (15:25)
Hard for me to get into
Score: 6 out of 10
Ian’s Picks Of the Week
Annex: A Divine Dungeon Series (Artorian's Archives Book 3) (20:28)
Well spoken MC
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Dungeon Core Academy 3 (A Dungeon Core LitRPG series) (23:18)
He might not have graduated
Score: 8.1 out of 10
The Land of Diarrhea Online: A LitRPG Parody of GameLit (24:16)
What did I just read?
Score: 7.4 out of 10
Pearl of the South (World of the Changed Book #2): LitRPG Series (26:14)
Hell on earth
Score: 8.1 out of 10
Castle of the Noobs: Noobtown Book Three (27:39)
Jim of the unfortunate name
Score: 8.2 out of 10
Vainqueur the Dragon (28:43)
For the hoard!
Score: 8.6 out of 10
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LitRPG News
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The amazing Dakota Krout, author of the Divine Dungeon series and Completionist Chronicles and head of Mountaindale Press, was featured on the local North Dakota news. They highlighted his success story as well as his works and it was just so cool to see him on TV. Go check it out!
https://www.valleynewslive.com/video/?vid=567943792
Dakota Krout has bundled all five Divine Dungeons into a boxed set and added a short story about the Master - 560,000 words for only $2.99 for a limited time. Grab it at this incredible discount, roughly 90% off, or pick it up on Kindle Unlimited here
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This is a reminder that the Fantasy Book Fest in Anaheim, Ca is Apr 17 at 8 AM – Apr 19 at 5 PM and is still selling tickets and that a number of LitRPG and GameLit authors are attending. There are panels, educational workshops, a D&D game night, the S’mores and Stories event, and of course, the Fantasy Ren Faire cosplay signing! Apparently there was even an impromptu nerf gun fight last year between authors. So it looks to be a fun time.
Some of the LitRPG/GameLit authors include: Domino Finn, Apollos Thorne, James Hunter, and R.A. Mejia.
https://www.facebook.com/events/411882156047605/
Out Now!
Axestorm: (Sky Realms Online Book 3): A LitRPG Series
Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book II
The Game of Gods 3: Fragments - A LitRPG / Gamelit Dystopian Fantasy Novel
New LitRPG Audiobooks
Queen of Nowhere: A LitRPG Adventure
A Game of Villains - World of Karik, Book 1
Upcoming LitRPG:
Inheritance: A LitRPG Space Adventure (The Last Enclave Book 1) (Feb. 25th, 2020)
The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) (Feb. 27th, 2020)
Temper: An Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (Red Mage Book 2) (Feb. 28th, 2020)
Gods of Ash and Amber: A Gamelit Novel (Seeds of Chaos Book 4) (Feb. 29th, 2020)
Path of Soul: BlackFlame Online Litrpg/Gamelit Universe (Glory of Formation Emperor Book 3) (Feb. 29th, 2020)
The Last Time Loop: Max of the Rebellion (Volume 2): A Time Travel LitRPG Series (March. 2nd, 2020)
Neon Dark: A LitRPG Adventure (Zero.Hero Book 1) (March 3rd, 2020)
Journey Never Ends: A Dystopian GameLit Adventure (Project Chrysalis Book 5) (March 3rd, 2020)
The Incarnator (Project Stellar Book 1): LitRPG Series (March 9th, 2020)
Viridian Gate Online: Insurrection (The Alchemic Weaponeer Book 3) (March 10th, 2020)
Traveling the Dungeon (Dungeon Travels Book 2) (March 14th, 2020)
The Hive [LitRPG series:The Beetle] Book 2 (March 17th, 2020)
Darkworlds Paris: A Cthulhu LitRPG (March 19th, 2020)
The Dark Continent (Underdog Book #3): LitRPG Series (March 20th, 2020)
The Starlight Sword (Rogue Merchant Book #1): LitRPG Series (March 23rd, 2020)
Quest for Freedom: A LitRPG Saga (Hero Online Book 5) (March 30th, 2020)
Sentenced to Troll 3 (April 1st, 2020)
Noa in the Flesh (World of the Changed Book #3): LitRPG Series (April 2nd, 2020)
Eastbound and Town: A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure (The Good Guys Book 8) (April 2nd, 2020)
Expedition Newb (Sun & Shadow Online Book 2) (April 10th, 2020)
Dragon Heart: Sea of Sorrow. LitRPG wuxia series: Book 5 (April 15th, 2020)
Resistance (Disgardium Book #4): LitRPG Series (April 29th, 2020)
Player Reached the Top. LitRPG Series. Book III (April 29th, 2020)
Warsinger: A LitRPG Dragonrider Adventure (The Archemi Online Chronicles Book 4) (May 1st, 2020)
Aberrant Quest: The Blood Crown Book 2 (A LitRPG Adventure) (May 5th, 2020)
Path of Alchemy: BlackFlame Online Litrpg/Gamelit Universe (Glory of Formation Emperor Book 4) (May 31st, 2020)
Onto New Releases and Reviews
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New Releases and Reviews
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The Crafter (Book 2): Trench Warfare
Wick was promised his fate would come in equal portions of bad luck and good luck. Branded as an eleven year old criminal of the Empire, he is sent to the war front to endure seven years as an indentured servant with no influence, no allies, and worst of all, no money.
As far as he can tell, there is no good luck in sight. And yet... faced with the worst luck he's ever been dealt, Wick hungers for more than survival. Nothing will stop him from wanting it all.
So, he must turn to the one power he has neglected, his Legacy as The Crafter.
Follow Wick as he finally unlocks the mysteries of the Misonian's Legacy and his ambitions devour anyone foolish enough to get in the way.
Story Does Contain: Lots of Crafting, Male Lead, Fast Pace, Slightly Overpowered Protagonist, Greedy Protagonist, Right of Passage, Multiple Magic Systems, Mystery
Story Does NOT Contain: Harem, Ultraviolence, Horror, Mopey Protagonist
My Opinion: 215 pages, $5.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
An interesting sequel. It has all the good storytelling from book 1, more actual crafting as the main character (MC) starts to make stuff, and good action. The RPG skill progression isn't a major part of the story as much as what the MC does with his unique skills and talents. I wish there were more hard numbers but it is what it is.
The story itself is almost a reset as the both the setting and cast of characters are almost completely replaced. Now the MC is an indentured worker digging trenches on the front lines of a war he wanted nothing to do with. He has to figure out a way to save the investment he's made in Scout and deal with new threats without revealing his powers. Otherwise he risks being sent to fight the enemy. It's a good mix of tension from internal group threats and the MCs need to grow his greedy pile power.
Overall, a good story with the notable and surprising issue of semi regular small technical errors. Like at least one or two small spelling or word omission errors per page. Still, really good storytelling.
Score: 7.7 out of 10
The Crafter (Book 2): Trench Warfare
Nomad Core (Core Control Book 2)
Life can be good when your enemies think you're dead.
But Wynne has traded one set of foes for another, and a hunter in oldtech armor wants him for sinister purposes.
Neither fully man or machine, it's up to this new bunker core to rise up against all odds, using his wits and technology to prevail against twisted animal-folk, shining mutants, and threats literally from out of this world...
My Opinion: 281 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
It was a lot harder to get into this story for me. Even though it's a book 2, it's also a reset. In book 1 the story was more traditionally a dungeon core story with enemies attacking a base that had traps and was upgraded and defended by a core and its AI assistant. Book 2 loses a good bit of that. The original dungeon is gone, the big enemy is off to the side, and a really big loss for me, even if temporary, was the loss of the AI companion in the early story. It seems silly but the conversations that the MC had with it in book 1 were funny and broke up the internal dialogue of the core. It made it harder to get through the first half of the novel.
Also there's less focus on the expected dungeon core stuff: base building, traps, and fending off waves of enemies. Instead there's more exploration as the dungeon core becomes more mobile and the tribe he's with try to make a new place to live while dealing with local enemies. Because I wasn't really invested in that tribe, it made what they were doing less interesting. It's really not till mid story that you even get a good antagonist either.
On the game mechanic side of things it's mixed. There's nothing wrong here as all the upgrade mechanics from book 1 carry over. But they feel less impactful, especially in the first half of the story. I mean, I get that inventory and mobility upgrades are important but they were frankly not exciting. Not like the murder traps I was used to seeing in dungeon core stories.
Overall, though the writing was solid and things got a bit more exciting mid and late story, it was just too hard to stay interested in the novel. I think if you've read book 1 more recently or don't mind the loss of certain elements from book 1, you may like this more.
Score: 6 out of 10
Nomad Core (Core Control Book 2)
Ian’s (Eye-Ann) Picks of the Week
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New Segment from Ian Mitchell a long time LitRPG community member who reads and reviews as much as me. He was nice enough to agree to join the LitRPG Podcast family as a new reviewer.
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Annex: A Divine Dungeon Series (Artorian's Archives Book 3)
Well spoken MC
Honestly, the beginning was challenging and a bit rough. Futzing around in the dark. A bit trippy. After that things get moving and there's some good action and finagling by the elder MC. Required a bit more thinking than my normal fare, I enjoyed it.
Score: 7.8 out of 10
Annex: A Divine Dungeon Series (Artorian's Archives Book 3)
Dungeon Core Academy 3 (A Dungeon Core LitRPG series)
He might not have graduated
Beno is a fun character. Not always the smartest. But he takes care of his people (monsters). No respawns here. I very much liked this dungeon story and am hoping for many more to come.This dungeon is a character. Sometimes the humor gets a bit much for me. I found it very good reading.
Score: 8.1 out of 10
Dungeon Core Academy 3 (A Dungeon Core LitRPG series)
The Land of Diarrhea Online: A LitRPG Parody of GameLit
What did I just read?
Trying to match up authors and characters in the book was an interesting puzzle. I was a bit amused to find that I had a no dialogue cameo. Rambling and a bit rushed, the biggest puzzle of the book was trying to guess the identity of the author. Seeing Orson Scott Card and Ernst Cline doing a Bill and Ted act was funny. I think my favorite was the diarrhea curse Allen King suffered from. Probably more fun for people who follow the online squabbles of the various authors regarding the future of LitRPG and GameLit.
Score: 7.4 out of 10.
The Land of Diarrhea Online: A LitRPG Parody of GameLit
Pearl of the South (World of the Changed Book #2): LitRPG Series
Hell on earth
Well written. Mark Derwin continues his quest to save his sister. I like all the problem solving in the story as Mark moves from one tough situation to another. It had a really great action movie vibe for me. One of the more intense books I've read recently.
Score: 8.1 out of 10
Pearl of the South (World of the Changed Book #2): LitRPG Series
Castle of the Noobs: Noobtown Book Three
Jim of the unfortunate name
A lot of great humor. Some parts made me cringe. Many goblins and trolls were harmed making this story. Some with wonderful explosions. Jim gets injured in numerous ways. It was a lot of fun. Book 3 and still going strong.
Score: 8.2 out of 10
Castle of the Noobs: Noobtown Book Three
Vainqueur the Dragon
For the hoard!
I had a great time reading Vainqueur. He, Victor, the kobold rangers all made for great characters. Silly and fun. This reminds me of two of my favorite series on royal road: Everybody loves large chests, and The wandering inn. As long as the story moves, nor everything needs to be explained. An excellent fun read. I hope it gets a sequel.
Score: 8.6 out of 10
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Thanks for hanging out with me today. Until we can hangout again, remember to go read some LitRPG!
(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