The thrilling isekai adventure series delves ever deeper as a sentient dungeon core—once human—continues to grow in size, scope . . . and danger.
It seems like a lifetime ago that Thedeim was a mortal man. After a fatal accident, he was transported to a strange realm to begin again as a living, low-level dungeon. But he didn’t stay small for long. With a powerful will, he built his dungeon self into a force to be reckoned with, full of minions, creepy crawlies, and a hedge maze to die for.
Except Thedeim isn’t a place where delvers die. He’s a different, friendlier kind of dungeon, which suits both him and his many allies just fine. But being a nice dungeon means taking on some not-so-nice entities.
Now, an enemy of monstrous design is plaguing the realm—and requesting Thedeim’s aid. The imminent fight against this mysterious foe will push Thedeim to the limits of his power, his mana, even his humanity. But one thing he knows is how to go beyond his limits. Even if it leads to peril. Or the afterlife . . .
The third volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than seven million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
This was a fun continuation of the series. It added a few new characters and continued fleshing out some existing ones.
The story followed with what felt like a natural extension and progression of events so far. Our MC has overcome a rival dungeon, taken a young dungeon under his protection, reformed another dungeon that was struggling, and now renders aid to another dungeon dealing with strange, new invaders.
I'll admit, I was mildly disappointed by how the loose ends connected so cleanly here. Sure, our dungeon has Fate affinity, which serves as a convenient explanation for certain plot conveniences, but my bigger issue is that there aren't any unresolved plot threads really hanging. This isn't the end of the series, but I don't have a hook pulling me into the 4th volume to see what happens.
So while I'll check the next book out, I'm going into it on the faith that the author has proven themselves skilled enough to write an entertaining story. I would say this has become my new #1 Dungeon Core story. I'm not a huge fan of the subgenre, so take it with a grain of salt. I mostly come for the bits of story that overlap with strategy gamelit, a sorely underrepresented part of the genre if I say so myself.
Was a bit tough to get through due to the pacing. It all came together in the end. I'll plan on reading the next installment, but hope it turns out better.
You need to read the first two, to understand this book, but it’s a fun journey to this point. We are brought to a semi conclusion, such that if the author never writes another in the series, we won’t be left hanging. And yet, multiple strings are left open to be pulled on to extend the storyline with additional books. After all, there’s a whole world out there to explore , and friends to explore it with. Perhaps not the greatest ending in the world , it’s a little touchy-feely, but nothing disappointing, or annoying. If this is the end of the series , the ride was great and the end was OK if a little soft, if this is just the mid point in the series or the end of the first arc, then we are in a much better place.
Book 3 finally feelings like a typical fictional book with good build up and a decent climax towards the end of the book. For followers of the series, the topic covered in Book 3 is no surprise. The progression is well paced with nothing dragged out too long.
On the surface, the book does have a notable litRPG weakness, which is that the MC is just overpowered for no specific reasons. But, I think Dungeon Life handle this quite well. By having the MC be very hands off allowing the other characters to have more agencies. The supporting characters are very interesting and the author spends enough time building them a following, so to speak. This negates the boring/pointlessness of reading on because you know the MC will just overcome every obstacle without much trouble.
I still wouldn't consider this a "heavy" read like other darker/grimmer RPG. it is definitely more on the light hearted/casual read. It still continues its style from previous books but with one focused objective in book 3. It definitely felt more like a trilogy that took awhile to build up to this point.
Bonus point: All the book read well as standalones. You can stop after each book and it rarely ends with a major cliffhanger. Each book resolves the main conflict. While it may hint at further conflicts to explore, it doesn't trap you in it. I also feel this is a good thing to do for books.
This series showcases a talented creator. The core of the story applies the world building and brilliance of an educated mind towards creating a better life with better opportunities for all those who share those values. There's enough conflict to keep it interesting and the twists and turns from applying scientific theory to magic study is a big part of that. The best part for me is how much positivity and respect and support is woven though the series. I love the characters, I love the setting, I love how fleshed out the personalities are and how convoluted the backstory is. I can't wait for the next book. I hope there's more about the Scythemaw hatchlings as well as Rezlar and Miller.
I'm really looking forward to more (hopefully) of this story. In my opinion, the characters are interesting and engaging, plus the story line keeps my interest without fighting for it. I can't count the number of books I've let fall by the way side partially finished because i got busy. Rarely do i bother to go back and finish them because the combination of story, characters and plot just didn't move me enough to spend the energy trying to find that one, half finished book. This series i will always finish and keep checking back to see if there are any more yet! Good job and thanks for the thoughtful entertainment!
A fantastic book that is really able to capture the slice of life feeling while being chalk full of action. Each plot point feels well thought out and is executed well.
My only complaints with this book would be that some chapters felt like filler in a way. They felt like hype yourself up chapters. These mainly came towards the end and I felt that while one would have been good multiple felt excessive. I also felt the final chapter felt a little rushed and could have been a longer chapter than is typical. I feel like more detail could have been added overall to the end arc but it certainly wasn't bad by any means.
Thoroughly enjoying this series. Maybe not great, but fun with a likeable "dungeon". Somehow I'm reading two series at once with 'dungeon' main characters (Divine Dungeon) after going my whole life never reading or really considering such a thing. I prefer this over Divine Dungeon which is a less likable type of dungeon but that's probably a matter of opinion. I know there's another book coming, but if it weren't to happen, this has what could be considered a pretty good ending to the series if you wanted something relatively in-and-out (well, 3 books). But I'll be continuing the adventures of Thedm.
For the author, your story is fun, and I want to read your next one. However, here are some areas that I believe will enhance the reader's experience. 1. Reduce perspectives and limit characters. Your characters are at risk of becoming duplicates. Focus on a few and develop them further. 2. Trust your audience. Your characters spend time reviewing past chapters or plots. Use this technique sparingly because the readers want the story to progress. 3. Thediem needs to lose something. He continues winning, and I feel no tension. Overall, please continue writing, I enjoy your series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
On to book 3, I cant tell if the writing got better overall or if an editor helped clean things up but its a fair bit better now on a fundamental level.
We get a little power scaling weirdness, some world building, and we move away from the small science and bits of growth that made book 1 enjoyable. Its still wholesome, but if you weren't already invested in the characters there is nothing special here to draw you back into it.
Now that ive made it through the series as it exists I might keep reading on royal road, but otherwise I doubt ill buy another one of the series.
The Dungeon learns of a wild monster dungeon in the Under that is demanding sacrifices and enslaving people. It begins to search it out. The Dungeon also works to help a distant friendly Dungeon that is having trouble with a mysterious attackers. They discover it is the wild dungeon and work jointly to destroy it. Afterwards the Dungeon gains powers it never expected.
Good pacing, steady flow, great world. An nice listen. Wonderful narrator. Please enjoy.
This was an awesome series. From the characters, to the plot, the pacing , everything just flowed so well and painted a wonderful story. I loved the final battle against the Maw, but wondered why the Redcap was so weak. Then it finally made since as to why. I just hate that it ended. I could've kept on reading about Dungeon Theidem exploits and weirdness a little while longer, but will definitely look for more from this author.
a sudden (and much needed) shift in tone within this book. the villains have become vastly darker than in the first two books. I feel like a mature step as been taken in the right direction as the MC is beginning to see that not everyone is a villain to be redeemed, and fighting and wars come at an inevitable cost. the sudden shift and development at the very end was a real shock, and I'm curious and a touch worried if the power creep is starting to get a little.... whimsical and metaphysical
War; including the buildup and a bit of the aftermath
The planning, information gathering, new materials, weapons and armor, etc. was interesting as war with the murderous dungeon was almost guaranteed.
There are some interesting surprises along the way, including at the end of the book. The series could conclude with the end of this book, as it was pretty satisfying.
Happily, this is not the end! I'm excited to read more of this series.
This book series continues to be strong, and somehow gets better. The core heart of the story is the same, even as the plot grows more complex. The author does a great job of imparting personality to the many characters so they are easy to keep track of, and the dungeon progression is paced very well.
Would recommend to anyone who appreciates LitRPG books.
Is this the last book in the series? The end of this book would seem to be a natural stopping point. I would have liked a little more of an Epilogue, a little more on how the various characters lycee lived afterwards. A bit of a glimpse into the future, as it were. But only if this is the last book.
Did not disappoint was a fun and fitting ending. It would be cool for the next book if someone he new from he’s past life was reincarnated into a scion or another dungeon or something like that.
I am in love with this series. It puts such a human touch on things that are so very not human. And it weaves it all the story lines together so beautifully. I recommend this book so so much.
Dungeon Life just seems to get better each book that comes out, enough so I want to move there. Very well written and edited, with a host of amazing characters as is usual for this author. Excellently done.
The series so far has been a chill and, dare I say, cozy take on the dungeon core genre of LitRPG. The author does a good job of developing the various characters and the symbiotic relationship between the dungeon and the town.
Fate in most of fantasy ends up being boring and uninteresting. But this book does a great job of turning away from “fate will always goes this way” and gives fate a better meaning.
Mostly good like the earlier two entries. Enjoyed the twists in the climax. The scope keeps getting larger, which is fine, but the amount of things to keep track of gets overwhelming sometimes. Character work continued to shine.
Always wondering how the next book will be... Will the author lose sight of the story? Will the threads that make up the tapestry get tangled? In this case no. Such a fun read.