Audible Book Review: Dungeon Born by Dakota Krout

This is an interesting view of LitRPG as it is from the view of the dungeon!

Dungeon Born
By: Dakota Krout
Narrator: Vikas Adam

Series: Divine Dungeon Series, Book 1
Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
Release date: 03-28-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: Fantasy, LitRPG, Teen & YA, Sci Fi 

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
A powerful dungeon. A sheep-herder turned Noble. Their path to ascendance through cultivation.
Conquering dungeons and using them to grow has long been the most efficient way to become a powerful adventurer. The only thing keeping the process from being easy is the Beasts that inhabit these places. Questions plague those entering this particular place of power: Where do the "rewards" of weapons, armor, and heavy gold coins come from? Why is a fluffy bunny charging at me? For abyss-sake, why are there so many monsters?
Cal has all of the answers to these age-old questions for a very simple reason. He is a Dungeon Core, a soul forced against his will into a magical stone. With the help of an energetic friend, Cal grows a dungeon around himself to bring in new sources of power.
When a threat he doesn't fully comprehend bares its many teeth, Cal is determined to survive the attempt on his life. Unfortunately for adventurers, the only way for him to achieve his goal is to eat anyone that enters his depths. ©2016 Dakota Krout (P)2017 Tantor

Review:
“Cal” was human before his soul was forced into a magical stone by a necromancer. When Cal wakes up, he doesn’t remember his former life except to know that he hates necromancers. Cal begins to stretch with his magic when he is able to ‘eat’ surrounding stones and moss, but he has no idea of the extent of his abilities. A senior magical source assigns a Wisp to help the young dungeon grow and level up. Wisp Dani names Cal for the calcium that surrounds his pretty gem.

Dani then begins to instruct Cal on how to eat and share the essence of his surroundings and how to build and expand the dungeon. Dani also helps Cal develop monsters, even if the first set are created from fluffy bunnies. The dungeon monsters are modified to have skills and even poisons to fight intruders. Cal learns how to pattern items of the intruders to create ‘loot’ of trinkets, coins or weapons to reward those who survive their visit in the dungeon. Occasionally Cal makes mistakes threatening his own existence, including earthquakes and uncontrolled monsters.

Dale is the sole survivor of the first treasure hunters to investigate the dungeon. Realizing the importance of this find, Dale manages to purchase the surrounding lands. Thus, begins Dale’s journey of growth towards a dungeon warrior and mage who will face Cal several times.

In LitRPGs you usually become, or follow, a hunter into the dungeon to face monsters, seek rewards and progress in levels. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that this was a story describing how the dungeon was developed. Cal grows in ability and in strategic planning to entice hunters with enough adventure and loot to keep them coming back. I found this clever and fun. Most of the story is told of Cal and his sidekick, Dani, but bits also follow Dale and his growth. I appreciated that the battles are active but not overly graphic. The tone is light and contributes to making this entertaining. I may not rush to get the next book right now, but I have it saved to my wish list as a future choice. I do recommend this to fans of LitRPGs and Dungeon fantasy.

Audio Notes: Vikas Adam does a fine job with the narration. He is able to express the naïve wonder and eagerness of Cal and the playfulness of Dani. Adam also captures the various human characters. I enjoyed the audio and will look forward to listening to more in the series.

Source: 1/27/18 Sale for 2017 Audible Daily Deals $3.95. This qualifies for 2020TBR and 2020Audiobook goals.

Audible Book Review: Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

I did get to really enjoy this story with a nice dragon who has to prove his worth.
Nice Dragons Finish Last
Heartstrikers, Book 1
By: Rachel Aaron
Narrated by: Vikas Adam


Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 11-18-14
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Studios
Genre: Cyberpunk, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
Audie Award, Fantasy, 2016
As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don't cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience. Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ - a vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old Detroit - Julius has one month to prove he can be a ruthless dragon or kiss his true shape goodbye forever. But in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons are considered monsters to be exterminated, he's going to need some serious help to survive this test. He only hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons....
©2014 Rachel Aaron (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Review:
Julius is the youngest and smallest dragon of the Heartstriker clan. He has stayed out of the limelight for his 24 years, hiding in his room, trying to stay out of the way of his tyrannical mother and playing online games with humans. Dragons are magical predators who don’t mix well with humans. But Julius is not aggressive and has no inclination to seek domination over humans. His mother, Bethesda, has had enough. She binds his wings with magic and drops him in the middle of the DFZ, ruins of Old Detroit, where dragons aren’t welcome.

Fortunately, Julius has many brothers and sisters, some of whom are willing to give him a little direction and help. Jessica provides at least a place to sleep for the first night. The eldest, rather strange brother, Bob, who is the clan sear, sets up a bank account with almost $100.00 bucks in it, provides a cell phone and provides advice for the day. His extremely successful brother, Ian,
then offers Julius a job. He is tasked to locate and return a young runaway dragoness, Katya, from a rival clan.

As Julius waits to locate Katya he is approached by a human mage who offers her services to help Julius. Julius hesitates but soon realizes that he can help Marci and maybe she can help him. With illusions provided by Marci’s skills, the pair visits a mage party trying to locate Katya. Before they get to Katya, Julius is threatened by his sister, Chelsie, the very scary clan enforcer, and gets help from his clutch mate, Justin, who is a large warrior dragon. And all along, crazy Bob shares cryptic advice. Even with help from some of his family will Julius be able to pass his mother’s test and stay alive?

I had a little trouble getting unaccustomed to an underachiever protagonist. However, once Marci joined the team, their camaraderie and collaboration pulled me into the story. I liked how Julius revealed his worth in a different way from his clan. I was impressed with the clever, creative imagination Ms. Aaron brings to her characters, world-building and the plot. There is a good mix of humor and danger that make this a good story. I plan to pick up more in the series and recommend this to readers who enjoy a fun, urban fantasy.

Audio Notes: Vikas Adam does a good job with this narration. He provides seamless shifts from the mild voice of Julius, the imperious arrogance of Bethesda, the nervous eagerness of Marci, the craziness of Bob and all of the others. I enjoyed the audio entertainment and will get the next books on Audible too.

Source: 10/30 Audible Daily Deal $4.95. This qualifies for 2020TBR, 2020Audiobook and 2020Alphabet goal.