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Rise of Kers #2
City in the Clouds - A Dungeon Core LitRPG story
Despite his victory against the Guild, Kers soon learns that there is now an even greater target upon his cloudy back.Typical.Then there’s the small matter of Marwan, the Dark Lord who wants to take over the world, and the Jade Citadel sortie that is on the verge of collapsing. Not to mention the fact that he now has to ‘get along’ with his neighboring core and deal with a mysterious orca-like monster that has started flying nearby…Oh, and he also has a new floor to generate and fill with fresh challenges and mobs. Yes, creepy dolls that wear your friends’ faces will be included. Also, mastodons.Will Kers learn to fly and save those who plumb his… erm, heights? Or will he crash and burn, a victim of those he cares for?Two things are certain; Selena will get her pizza and Kers will only get weirder.
- GenresFantasy
588 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2023
116 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 3, 2024
Insultingly Bad Ending. Avoid.
These idiot amateur writers THINK they're writing cliffhangers to keep the readers wanting more. That might work if you're releasing a first book and a pre-order on the same day. But we're in Book 2 now, the audience was already on board. What Bad End cliffhangers actually do is devalue the climax (which was poor enough already) and rob the reader of the catharsis of denouement.
That is why *I'm* done, and I will not be continuing with this series.
But while I'm criticizing, I'll be thorough. This book breaks verisimilitude every three chapters because the author thinks it builds tension. It takes a while to notice, but whatever rules the protagonists have to play by, the antagonists do not. Army size? Good guys are limited, bad guys pull them out of their pockets. Mana capacity? Good guys are limited, bad guys never run dry. Conspiracies? The good guys are interrupted mid-plot by an omniscient authority figure, bad guys plot and scheme and assassinate with impunity and supposedly overpowered authority figures are none the wiser. It's cheap. The reason it's cheap is because all stories are explorations of truth, and fiction simply explores a hypothetical scenario. When an author breaks the rules to build tension, even merely by making characters unaware of things they would otherwise know, the author is lying about the world to manipulate the audience, and the audience disconnects from the story as soon as they realize it, because it's no longer an exploration of truth.
And that's why *you* should skip this book.
These idiot amateur writers THINK they're writing cliffhangers to keep the readers wanting more. That might work if you're releasing a first book and a pre-order on the same day. But we're in Book 2 now, the audience was already on board. What Bad End cliffhangers actually do is devalue the climax (which was poor enough already) and rob the reader of the catharsis of denouement.
That is why *I'm* done, and I will not be continuing with this series.
But while I'm criticizing, I'll be thorough. This book breaks verisimilitude every three chapters because the author thinks it builds tension. It takes a while to notice, but whatever rules the protagonists have to play by, the antagonists do not. Army size? Good guys are limited, bad guys pull them out of their pockets. Mana capacity? Good guys are limited, bad guys never run dry. Conspiracies? The good guys are interrupted mid-plot by an omniscient authority figure, bad guys plot and scheme and assassinate with impunity and supposedly overpowered authority figures are none the wiser. It's cheap. The reason it's cheap is because all stories are explorations of truth, and fiction simply explores a hypothetical scenario. When an author breaks the rules to build tension, even merely by making characters unaware of things they would otherwise know, the author is lying about the world to manipulate the audience, and the audience disconnects from the story as soon as they realize it, because it's no longer an exploration of truth.
And that's why *you* should skip this book.
November 16, 2024
Interesting story and system absolutely marred by (perceived) major issues... :(
First the good -- the main characters of Kers and Selena are relatively believable though most of the supporting characters are less fleshed out. I rather enjoyed Vex and even Medusa for all that they had more limited screen time. The system is interesting and Kers's powerset is fun to read as he develops stuff, though the obligatory battle scenes where the heroes encounter the dungeon and mobs are perhaps drawn out too much.
The bad, however, outweighs the good of Kers, Selena, and their relationship with the City in the Clouds.
First, the obvious villain -- The Dark Lord -- is basically "evil for the sake of being evil" without real / believable motivations. The initial Jade Army encounters throughout the middle of the book felt drawn out and just an inconvenient way to get inhabitants from one city to another.
Additionally, the whole of the story is filled with meaningless character deaths that do not contribute to the story. This does not include the heroes/adventurers that die in the dungeon. There's also a rather high death count for characters whose deaths _do_ contribute to the story.
Not a fan of corruption arcs even if there is a redemption, though YMMV. Quite a few other arcs or plot threads never get resolution.
But the absolute kicker is the horrid way the book ended. Not just a cliffhanger -- bad enough already, let's have books in a series be self-contained stories, please -- but we have the overdone trope of "the god of good is actually evil and malicious" (or, at least, the appearance thereof) as well as leaving Kers and Selena -- and others -- in a MUCH worse position than the story started with, fundamentally voiding all the progress they made and making a mockery of the struggles they overcame to get to the last chapters.
Definitely WILL NOT be continuing reading this story. The ending did not inspire "I want to see how they overcome this bad situation" but rather "I'm going to pretend the ending didn't happen and the actual story ended before the final chapters.
First the good -- the main characters of Kers and Selena are relatively believable though most of the supporting characters are less fleshed out. I rather enjoyed Vex and even Medusa for all that they had more limited screen time. The system is interesting and Kers's powerset is fun to read as he develops stuff, though the obligatory battle scenes where the heroes encounter the dungeon and mobs are perhaps drawn out too much.
The bad, however, outweighs the good of Kers, Selena, and their relationship with the City in the Clouds.
First, the obvious villain -- The Dark Lord -- is basically "evil for the sake of being evil" without real / believable motivations. The initial Jade Army encounters throughout the middle of the book felt drawn out and just an inconvenient way to get inhabitants from one city to another.
Additionally, the whole of the story is filled with meaningless character deaths that do not contribute to the story. This does not include the heroes/adventurers that die in the dungeon. There's also a rather high death count for characters whose deaths _do_ contribute to the story.
Not a fan of corruption arcs even if there is a redemption, though YMMV. Quite a few other arcs or plot threads never get resolution.
But the absolute kicker is the horrid way the book ended. Not just a cliffhanger -- bad enough already, let's have books in a series be self-contained stories, please -- but we have the overdone trope of "the god of good is actually evil and malicious" (or, at least, the appearance thereof) as well as leaving Kers and Selena -- and others -- in a MUCH worse position than the story started with, fundamentally voiding all the progress they made and making a mockery of the struggles they overcame to get to the last chapters.
Definitely WILL NOT be continuing reading this story. The ending did not inspire "I want to see how they overcome this bad situation" but rather "I'm going to pretend the ending didn't happen and the actual story ended before the final chapters.
November 20, 2023
very interesting story- cliffhanger at end
Very interesting story, just not fond of cliffhangers and was hopping for a little more epilogue and Kers not losing certain friends.
Very different take on dungeon lit and cities
Looking forward to next installment
Very interesting story, just not fond of cliffhangers and was hopping for a little more epilogue and Kers not losing certain friends.
Very different take on dungeon lit and cities
Looking forward to next installment
May 6, 2024
Really good sequel. It took me a little to remember what was going on because I read book 1 a while ago. Once I caught up to speed the book took off. It is a unique dungeon core novel with a touch of isekai. There was a ton of action with foreshadowing of more to come.
December 6, 2023
Great book
Stellar work once again from Daniel Weber. Lots of action and adventure, dungeons and magic. Looking forward to the next one!
Stellar work once again from Daniel Weber. Lots of action and adventure, dungeons and magic. Looking forward to the next one!
February 22, 2024
amazing book and nail biter
I can’t wait for the next book and Ker’s ascension to mythical power. Though will want to see more action from his patron next book.
I can’t wait for the next book and Ker’s ascension to mythical power. Though will want to see more action from his patron next book.
February 27, 2024
Good
So overall the story is a great continuation from book one. Not entirely sure how I feel about the ending though. Will plan to get the next book when it comes out.
So overall the story is a great continuation from book one. Not entirely sure how I feel about the ending though. Will plan to get the next book when it comes out.
May 4, 2024
This was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the new upgrades, and the progression of the story is so good. I can't wait for the next book overall, this is a must-read.
May 7, 2024
The MC has not progressed and behaves like a very stupid child who whenever its overseer, guardian or handler - take your pick of descriptor - isn't present does absolutely idiotic braindead things.
The sort of stupid where said child doesn't learn from having touched a hot plate. but repeats said action and then doubles down again. The MC is irrational absurd and totally unbelievable as far as I am concerned.
The only thing the MC has to do is stop being an absolute idiot. This goes for more or less all the other goody goody set of characters. I found myself nauseated all to often due to the nonsensical behaviour of the characters and various story twists that make no sense the way they come about.
But in the end its not the characters that need to stop with the nonsense its the author. Who in his attempts at drama takes things to far and just harms his own story. Obvious in your face solutions just ignored over and over. It just annoyed me from instance to instance until the books end, there was no let up.
It truly is even more an issue here than in the first book.
I am going to pass up this authors works for a time - something like 5 years - and if he is still writing stuff at that time I will give his stories/books another try.
If you are reading this and find what I have mentioned above to be a no go problem for you, then stay away from this book. Do not waste your time hoping that my and all the other 1-3 rated, so called critical reviews, are exaggerations.
The sort of stupid where said child doesn't learn from having touched a hot plate. but repeats said action and then doubles down again. The MC is irrational absurd and totally unbelievable as far as I am concerned.
The only thing the MC has to do is stop being an absolute idiot. This goes for more or less all the other goody goody set of characters. I found myself nauseated all to often due to the nonsensical behaviour of the characters and various story twists that make no sense the way they come about.
But in the end its not the characters that need to stop with the nonsense its the author. Who in his attempts at drama takes things to far and just harms his own story. Obvious in your face solutions just ignored over and over. It just annoyed me from instance to instance until the books end, there was no let up.
It truly is even more an issue here than in the first book.
I am going to pass up this authors works for a time - something like 5 years - and if he is still writing stuff at that time I will give his stories/books another try.
If you are reading this and find what I have mentioned above to be a no go problem for you, then stay away from this book. Do not waste your time hoping that my and all the other 1-3 rated, so called critical reviews, are exaggerations.
February 19, 2024
Was good till the trope of an ending
I liked the system, I liked the dungeon, l Iiked the battles but I did not like the troupe of having not only one of the supporting kidnapped with no hope of immediate rescue only to have it repeated in the epilogue to an even more important main character.
I liked the system, I liked the dungeon, l Iiked the battles but I did not like the troupe of having not only one of the supporting kidnapped with no hope of immediate rescue only to have it repeated in the epilogue to an even more important main character.
February 11, 2025
I would love to see this book animated someday. The insane creatures, the inventive magic system, and the massive battles would all translate perfectly. Sadly, works like this seem to get overlooked at every turn with the animation industry desiring to focus on characters reincarnated into vending machines instead. Oh well, a guy can still dream...
February 18, 2025
fun
I got so wrapped up in the story and so mad at the ending that I don’t remember all that happened.
The dungeon expands, gets a city, makes a portal network, goes to space, gets a dragon, and fights the Dark Lord. He wins and as a reward his fairy gets arrested.
It’s a fun story and world. I’m enjoying it
I got so wrapped up in the story and so mad at the ending that I don’t remember all that happened.
The dungeon expands, gets a city, makes a portal network, goes to space, gets a dragon, and fights the Dark Lord. He wins and as a reward his fairy gets arrested.
It’s a fun story and world. I’m enjoying it
November 6, 2025
Still enjoying this excursion into Dungeon core. It's managing to keep the exterior politics/game relevant and interesting to the dungeon itself and still spends significant time on the dungeon itself. That isn't always the case, so that's nice. The ending epilogue is harsh but kind of could be expected.
November 3, 2024
This was a meh.
I think there was too many supporting cast. I just wanted the dungeon trying to survive. All the other persons, and happenings elsewhere didn't really interest me.
I don't know if I will pick up a sequel.
3/5 Stars
I think there was too many supporting cast. I just wanted the dungeon trying to survive. All the other persons, and happenings elsewhere didn't really interest me.
I don't know if I will pick up a sequel.
3/5 Stars
December 27, 2023
More interlude than story
As the title says there's more interludes in this book than there is the actual story. It is so bad I'm surprised that this book was even published.
As the title says there's more interludes in this book than there is the actual story. It is so bad I'm surprised that this book was even published.
February 1, 2024
Good
A good entry into the book series, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book released.
A good entry into the book series, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book released.
May 15, 2024
It got a 3 only because the other characters sort of made up for how much of a temper tantrum throwing, self-absorbed stubborn toddler the dungeon character was at times… and of course dragons!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 11, 2024Note to future me:
Remember this was a DNF after the first chapter or so. Don’t fall for it again.
Remember this was a DNF after the first chapter or so. Don’t fall for it again.
November 23, 2023
This has had all the fun bits removed.
Everything that made book one fun and interesting has been taken away. This is a boring slog with a tedious battle at the end. The set up for the next book falls flat. Just disappointing.
Everything that made book one fun and interesting has been taken away. This is a boring slog with a tedious battle at the end. The set up for the next book falls flat. Just disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews