The Reluctant Dungeon
Monster Haven, Book 1
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The Reluctant Dungeon
Buy Now for £11.99
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Narrated by:
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Judy Alice Lee
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By:
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J.D. Astra
About this listen
Transforming into a monstrous dungeon couldn’t be all that bad, right?
Dolli had a very hands-off approach to ruling her once booming village. She preferred to use her alchemical skills to brew a nice cup of tea and keep whiny petitioners off her lawn with Wendigo repellant. But she pays the price for her apathy when her neglected village transforms into a Dungeon, making it fair game for any Hero with a lust for loot.
It doesn't take long for one such Hero from Dolli’s dark past, Keegan Plague Ender, to arrive with his sword ready to be bloodied. The villagers are evolving into powerful Dungeon denizens who can respawn if they're killed—or they could if a mated pair of wyverns hadn't turned the seat of the dungeon core into a brood nest. Now, with one swipe of the Hero's blade, the former townsfolk could be lost to the Lifestream forever.
Despite her curmudgeonly nature, Dolli can't let that happen. Can she rebuild the confidence of her people to roust the wyverns and reinstate respawns? Even if she can, will the young Dungeon hold out against the storm of raiding Heroes?
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Shadow Alley Press Inc (P)2022 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
I starting listening to the first book, as it’s free with a subscription and I was waiting for my next credit for another book in the same genre.
Positives:
- As others have said, the focus on NPCs is original and it is interesting to see the point of view of the people who you wouldn’t usually think about much.
- The narrator has a good variation of voices and you can easily tell which character is speaking at any one time.
- Each book has its own story and although they follow on from one another, I felt that a satisfying conclusion is met at the end of every book.
Negatives:
- Based on the length and lack of vocabulary, I assume this is aimed at a younger audience. That’s ok if you are part of that crowd, but unfortunately, I’m not.
- I didn’t feel invested in the characters, as there wasn’t really any character development. At all. The only ambition the main character had was to sit and have a cup of tea. I like tea too, but I wouldn’t say that tea defines me (even though I am British!).
- There were some descriptions of the environment, but this could have been explored in a lot more detail. To add to not caring about the characters, I also didn’t feel fully absorbed in where the events were taking place.
- Most of the time the characters can respawn after dying and because of this, there wasn’t really any doubt about if anyone was going to survive, because it was impossible not to. Despite this, the characters (especially the main character) was desperate to live and many situations could have been escaped by just suiciding.
- I felt like the action scenes weren’t in a great amount of detail and I ended up getting bored. Also, the same spells were used in all situations. Usually when I miss a few words in a book I end up skipping back to hear what I missed, but the same can’t be said for these books.
- Although the narrator had a good range of voices, there were a few poorly pronounced words with English accents at least and she could sometimes be a bit ‘breathy’.
- I don’t know if it’s just me, but the elf accents were very irritating.
- when each spell was spoken in the middle of an action scene and mid-sentence, it took me out of the experience, as it’s spoken in a monotone voice.
If it weren’t for all of the books being free, I would have definitely stopped after the first book. Book 2 and 3 were slightly better, but I still would not recommend. Having said that, if you listen to the first book and like it, then go for the trilogy!
Good to kill some time
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interesting twist on the dungeon concept
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does rely on knowledge and basic understanding of dungeons and dragons, but gives a really good account of how works, really enjoyed
d and d viewpoint from npc
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What you expect
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I would have liked to hear it without the sounds effect though, and every time an ability is used it went back to menu voice, which to me was distracting, but still, I did enjoy it
Good short book to keep you distracted
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