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The Crucible Shard #1
Dungeon Crawl
Gamers are celebrities. Superstars. Idols to the masses. Only a few ever make it out of Piper's Mill, most toil their lives away in the small town just dreaming of a better life. Liam thought he had a comfortable life all worked out when it winds up wrenched away from him. Drawn into other's schemes to hack the game and steal some spotlight he never expects to find himself playing in a game nobody has ever heard of. He never expects to find himself deep in a dungeon at level one with no gear and barely any skills. He certainly would never anticipate suddenly being tied to forces that promise not just to reshape his life, but the world outside the game. Time to level up.
201 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 17, 2016
302 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 8, 2017
I dont get it.
i dropped this book after 70 pages and have no desire to pick it up ever again.
The beginning is just a clustercrud of halfbacked information and random events.
Guy watches his brother win in a tournament, went to his house to congratulate him bit he doesnt trust him(?) and him and 2 of his brothers friends take him to a lone location to play a game together.
Nothing is explained, no hints given. What the hell?
How does the mc not question what they want to do? why is he with them? whats the point in all of this?
They seem imply to forget everything once they got spawned in the dungeon and the reader just gets the ,,you killed a rat" promts and boring lvl ups. What is this shit?
And none of these characters are nearly likeable, none.
There are many good litrpg books out there but this isnt one of them. shame
i dropped this book after 70 pages and have no desire to pick it up ever again.
The beginning is just a clustercrud of halfbacked information and random events.
Guy watches his brother win in a tournament, went to his house to congratulate him bit he doesnt trust him(?) and him and 2 of his brothers friends take him to a lone location to play a game together.
Nothing is explained, no hints given. What the hell?
How does the mc not question what they want to do? why is he with them? whats the point in all of this?
They seem imply to forget everything once they got spawned in the dungeon and the reader just gets the ,,you killed a rat" promts and boring lvl ups. What is this shit?
And none of these characters are nearly likeable, none.
There are many good litrpg books out there but this isnt one of them. shame
August 12, 2021
I love LitRPG, it's as much fun as playing your favorite RPG game with the added benefit of a good story to go with the stat building, grinding and treasure looting. If you enjoy RPG's then you really should give a LitRPG novel a chance and this short novel was loads of fun. I hope the author is hard at work on the next book in the series.
reread on 6/2/17
reread 8/12/21
reread on 6/2/17
reread 8/12/21
June 21, 2017
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. "Dungeon Crawl" was the first LitRPG that I've read. Overall, the story was solid, the inner workings of a mission-oriented, leveling up, team game was entertaining. Liam, the hero, was a decent enough main character. There were a couple of other characters who I enjoyed much more than him. The end of the book, however, deal feel a bit abrupt. There were characters I'd like to know more about r explored deeper, like Maria.
December 18, 2017
So happy I found this genre. I found others sporadically through the years, but now that I know a whole genre exists I'm diving in, and massively happy this was the first one I read.
Liam is definitely not a hero in this book. An anti-paladin, thinking more with his testosterone then his brain sometimes, he lives up to his alignment. But all is not as cut and dry as it seems. There are mysteries in the back ground, agents at work that are going to have repercussions on the world outside.
Full of action, and power leveling goodness!
Liam is definitely not a hero in this book. An anti-paladin, thinking more with his testosterone then his brain sometimes, he lives up to his alignment. But all is not as cut and dry as it seems. There are mysteries in the back ground, agents at work that are going to have repercussions on the world outside.
Full of action, and power leveling goodness!
January 15, 2020
I guess it's okay. It's not terrible or horribly written but I just didn't like it very much. MC's main character trait is "overactive sex drive" so he gets put with the goddess of sex in a weird can't log out world. Rolled eyes.
May 16, 2017
i found it, how to say it, Meh, MC seems like a pushover, or i just dislike Ashley, she is annoying and a bitch at best, the MC seems to have some story with her but she is not a pleasant addition to the group, the whole book is a big "mystery" as no one know the fuck is happening, what was his brother into? why the hell would you just up and say yes? the mc sort of states that he is here just to play but it comes out weak, the wizard is more of a blank character or background character, doest no a thing.
I had hopes for this series given that it has 4 or 5 books, but found it totally lacking, read it last week i think and had to open the ebook again and see "oooh i already finished it" read the last pages to even remmeber what the hell it was about.
I had hopes for this series given that it has 4 or 5 books, but found it totally lacking, read it last week i think and had to open the ebook again and see "oooh i already finished it" read the last pages to even remmeber what the hell it was about.
August 14, 2018
This review is also acting as a review of the 7 book series as a whole for new readers.
Personally I've had a hard time getting into the LitRPG genre, as someone who loves anime I've long felt the over-saturation of the isekai (literally "another world") genre which often involves fantasy worlds based on or using video game powers and rule logic, or outright trapping players in such a game world. I am happy to say this series makes for what I've seen personally at least, a much more thorough and elaborate leap forward in terms of breaking away from such typical tropes in its own way while still being tied directly to the overarching plot of the story.
It is not a perfect story, mind you. Typos aside, there is a distinct shakiness of the first person perspective that while lending a feeling of the whole story truly being a very immersive long term Dungeons and Dragons campaign from a single player perspective, it leaves for the most part a fair bit of the supporting cast as underdeveloped for how interesting and significant they are supposed to be in the varying events through each of the books. The first book itself, Dungeon Crawl, comes off as a the shakiest as it feels the author is finding his sea-legs for the series, so to speak, though the other books following do find and maintain their voice afterwards.
The theme of morality and the consequences of choices stands tall in each installment, and for good and for ill, the shaky first person perspective for the narrative does indeed mean there are quite a few things that undoubtedly pass us by in the story. That each book does have rather hectic pacing doesn't quite work entirely to its advantage, making the whole series feel a bit hurried more than I feel it should have. The ending is abrupt, and that's all I'll say on the matter, but the author clearly had that in mind for how it was written and it reflects the theme of choice and consequence quite well for what it is.
Could it have been written better? Yes. There are many interesting elements that were passed over and narrative threads that even at the abrupt ending weren't quite touched on the way they could and likely should have been for the way the story progressed. It could be a testament to the first person protagonist merely failing to take proper note in true standing of his personality, but I feel the author did himself a disservice by not quite letting the story bloom entirely, even if some of it wouldn't have quite fit his intended theme perfectly.
I did enjoy it and find the author competent for the most part, though I'm uncertain as of this point if I'll continue to follow his work with this series finished.
Personally I've had a hard time getting into the LitRPG genre, as someone who loves anime I've long felt the over-saturation of the isekai (literally "another world") genre which often involves fantasy worlds based on or using video game powers and rule logic, or outright trapping players in such a game world. I am happy to say this series makes for what I've seen personally at least, a much more thorough and elaborate leap forward in terms of breaking away from such typical tropes in its own way while still being tied directly to the overarching plot of the story.
It is not a perfect story, mind you. Typos aside, there is a distinct shakiness of the first person perspective that while lending a feeling of the whole story truly being a very immersive long term Dungeons and Dragons campaign from a single player perspective, it leaves for the most part a fair bit of the supporting cast as underdeveloped for how interesting and significant they are supposed to be in the varying events through each of the books. The first book itself, Dungeon Crawl, comes off as a the shakiest as it feels the author is finding his sea-legs for the series, so to speak, though the other books following do find and maintain their voice afterwards.
The theme of morality and the consequences of choices stands tall in each installment, and for good and for ill, the shaky first person perspective for the narrative does indeed mean there are quite a few things that undoubtedly pass us by in the story. That each book does have rather hectic pacing doesn't quite work entirely to its advantage, making the whole series feel a bit hurried more than I feel it should have. The ending is abrupt, and that's all I'll say on the matter, but the author clearly had that in mind for how it was written and it reflects the theme of choice and consequence quite well for what it is.
Could it have been written better? Yes. There are many interesting elements that were passed over and narrative threads that even at the abrupt ending weren't quite touched on the way they could and likely should have been for the way the story progressed. It could be a testament to the first person protagonist merely failing to take proper note in true standing of his personality, but I feel the author did himself a disservice by not quite letting the story bloom entirely, even if some of it wouldn't have quite fit his intended theme perfectly.
I did enjoy it and find the author competent for the most part, though I'm uncertain as of this point if I'll continue to follow his work with this series finished.
January 13, 2018
This some notes about the series. The books have a unpredictable plot, often humorous, and frustrating at the same time. The series is exclusively in the main character's point of view. Thus the events that happen around him are flavored by his perspective and that makes it tolerable and intolerable at the same time. Make no mistakes about it, the main character is pretty despicable, he leaves a trail of atrocity and heartbreak in his wake. If you were reading about his adventures from a third party point of view you would be horrified about what is going on.
However the main character isn't a typical person that can be really judged based on contemporary moral standards b/c of his background and the fact that he is under the influence of one deity or the other. Thus there is a suspension of disbelief for him and by extension the reader b/c the whole series is through his pov, there are nags of conscious here and there, but he and by the extension the reader just shrugs it off and keep going.
With that said, the books do have great characters and numerous situations that made me laugh out through out the series. Not sure if the overall plot is totally coherent, there is a lot of things that were ultimately unnecessary other than entertainment or putting the characters in unusual situations, but that is part of the charm of the series.
When the book hits it's high notes, it is great. When it isn't, then the book can drag and you roll your eyes at either the main character or the event that the author seems to want to put his reader through no matter what. Taken on the whole, I would recommend the series, but I can understand the legitimate criticism with the series. Give the first two novels a read and if you like it, continue. If not then drop it, the things that piss you off in the first novels will continue to piss you off in the later novels.
However the main character isn't a typical person that can be really judged based on contemporary moral standards b/c of his background and the fact that he is under the influence of one deity or the other. Thus there is a suspension of disbelief for him and by extension the reader b/c the whole series is through his pov, there are nags of conscious here and there, but he and by the extension the reader just shrugs it off and keep going.
With that said, the books do have great characters and numerous situations that made me laugh out through out the series. Not sure if the overall plot is totally coherent, there is a lot of things that were ultimately unnecessary other than entertainment or putting the characters in unusual situations, but that is part of the charm of the series.
When the book hits it's high notes, it is great. When it isn't, then the book can drag and you roll your eyes at either the main character or the event that the author seems to want to put his reader through no matter what. Taken on the whole, I would recommend the series, but I can understand the legitimate criticism with the series. Give the first two novels a read and if you like it, continue. If not then drop it, the things that piss you off in the first novels will continue to piss you off in the later novels.
July 24, 2019
Meh. Skyler Grant did a much better job with the Futuristic Dungeon Core series. I think that series was just a lot more interesting. However, this book was very short and wasn't really able to delve much into the story. It felt like maybe the first fifth of a book, when you are getting introduced to characters and things. The book showed potential for the series though. One thing that I feel like mentioning though is that the book had some funny elements. It felt like it was making fun of the LitRPG books with characters having multiple love interests and such. The main character became a paladin of a goddess of fire, life, and sex. This made him horny, and he felt the desire to have sex multiple times with a gross girl who had spiders crawling all over and in her body. Luckily the book did not go into sex details other than the detail about the spiders, which just made the event seem funny to me. This book is luckily not one of those stupid sex/harem focused LitRPG books but is good at making fun of them.
May 31, 2017
The is a refreshingly different LitRPG. I'll admit to being a little iffy on the opening, but once the world was explained it makes a lot of sense. The world(s) Skyler has set up are both extremely interesting, unlike most 'stuck in the game' LitRPGs, where the real world is just a version of the current modern world.
I'm actually really hoping the next book has a good amount of time with the characters out of the game world, which isn't something I can say for any other book.
The writing style is a bit on the amateurish side, which is why it doesn't get the full 5 stars, but that's an issue that will easily be remedied as the author gains experience.
I'm actually really hoping the next book has a good amount of time with the characters out of the game world, which isn't something I can say for any other book.
The writing style is a bit on the amateurish side, which is why it doesn't get the full 5 stars, but that's an issue that will easily be remedied as the author gains experience.
January 8, 2018
A bit odd, but I find I like this one, a little more character development on some of the players would be helpful, and more explanation as to where all this gaming centric world came from wouldn't hurt either. Maybe a bit of backhistory would help too. When this whole thing starts, we're told very little about anything before being plunged into it all, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, normally during the book we slowly learn enough to answer questions the start raises, in this one, you're left with nearly as many questions by the end, and that leaves one feeling like we were told a nice story, but not the one one might have expected from the start, which might lead one to wondering exactly what the whole point might be.
I plan to read more in the series, so maybe things will become clearer as things progress, but judging from what we've seen so far, I'm not convinced of it.
I plan to read more in the series, so maybe things will become clearer as things progress, but judging from what we've seen so far, I'm not convinced of it.
March 16, 2019
A great story with great promise for the following books
Grant has created a story that will interest gamers, role players, and fans of stories like Ready Player One.
The characters are interesting enough in the real world, but it’s not until they enter the game world that we start to see them really develop into people we can believe in. It’s interesting to see their development paralleling the leveling up of their in-game characters.
I loved the worlds that Grant created for this story, but I’m left with a lot of questions about what happened in the past. That said, it’s very clear that we’re probably going to learn a lot more in the rest of the series, as the characters discover the facts for themselves.
My one minor gripe is that there were occasional edits that I would have suggested.
Grant has created a story that will interest gamers, role players, and fans of stories like Ready Player One.
The characters are interesting enough in the real world, but it’s not until they enter the game world that we start to see them really develop into people we can believe in. It’s interesting to see their development paralleling the leveling up of their in-game characters.
I loved the worlds that Grant created for this story, but I’m left with a lot of questions about what happened in the past. That said, it’s very clear that we’re probably going to learn a lot more in the rest of the series, as the characters discover the facts for themselves.
My one minor gripe is that there were occasional edits that I would have suggested.
November 25, 2017
Book one of this series was a little weak. There's allot of reading between the lines that has to be done in order to understand everything that is happening here. Parts of it were confusing, and the main character is definitely a little desperate in more ways then one.
All in all I like the reverse LitRPG aspect of this wherein reality isn't exactly reality. I also liked the later introductions, and characters. Walt despite not being very popular was my favorite character as I could identify with him on several levels.
I think that if this author had halved the number of books and instead combined two or more it would have came off better as a whole, as you don't really start getting the big picture until your a few books into the series.
All in all I like the reverse LitRPG aspect of this wherein reality isn't exactly reality. I also liked the later introductions, and characters. Walt despite not being very popular was my favorite character as I could identify with him on several levels.
I think that if this author had halved the number of books and instead combined two or more it would have came off better as a whole, as you don't really start getting the big picture until your a few books into the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2018
A classic dungeon crawl and world discovery, progresses at a measured pace
Yes, Lliam does get called and "idiot" far too often / gets repetitive. But it rings true for someone in a relationship of sorts (not necessarily romantic) with women who have more of an idea what is going on.
Lliam is morally ambiguous, but gets attached to an evil deity who seems to have many redeeming qualities.
The hints of the meta-world and the connection with the game AI and what is really happening are hinted at, but not the main point of this book. Its a long series, I'm happy to give it time to develop. The main characters not all getting along rings true and makes for more interesting dynamics. Will be interesting to see how their conflicts are resolved.
The level of disclosure on underlying game mechanics (the core of LitRPG) is about right for my tastes.
Yes, Lliam does get called and "idiot" far too often / gets repetitive. But it rings true for someone in a relationship of sorts (not necessarily romantic) with women who have more of an idea what is going on.
Lliam is morally ambiguous, but gets attached to an evil deity who seems to have many redeeming qualities.
The hints of the meta-world and the connection with the game AI and what is really happening are hinted at, but not the main point of this book. Its a long series, I'm happy to give it time to develop. The main characters not all getting along rings true and makes for more interesting dynamics. Will be interesting to see how their conflicts are resolved.
The level of disclosure on underlying game mechanics (the core of LitRPG) is about right for my tastes.
June 20, 2017
Just good entertainment.
KIndle Unlimited - Yay
A fun story and pleasurable read. It's so nice to have something that's more grand adventure and swashbuckling action than heavy dark gore and endless angst. Wonderfully flawed characters, more likeable because of they're less than "all that". 5th star is for avoiding the cliffhanger lure. Perfect level of ironic commentary and low key humor. Well done!
Don't want to forget to mention the cover art. It's so nice to find thoughtful work that matches the character content (Yvera) and tone of a book.
Grace Zhu (gracezhuart.com)
KIndle Unlimited - Yay
A fun story and pleasurable read. It's so nice to have something that's more grand adventure and swashbuckling action than heavy dark gore and endless angst. Wonderfully flawed characters, more likeable because of they're less than "all that". 5th star is for avoiding the cliffhanger lure. Perfect level of ironic commentary and low key humor. Well done!
Don't want to forget to mention the cover art. It's so nice to find thoughtful work that matches the character content (Yvera) and tone of a book.
Grace Zhu (gracezhuart.com)
November 5, 2017
A bit campy and as I'm now into the 3rd book in as many days, I'm more comfortable with the tongue in cheek hypersexual Paladin.
While I've not read many in the LitRPG Genre now, this is rapidly becoming my favorite series in the clever dialog and hyperbolic characters.
Satirically self-lampooning in a wonderful way. ... I'm slow. It took me awhile to get that wasn't just bad writing - as I've said, I've been reading several LitRPG authors and Skyler and Kong to this point are the best of breed in this Genre - Kong for his use of the RPG mechanics, Skyler for character development, dialog and making the series not take itself seriously in a wonderful way.
While I've not read many in the LitRPG Genre now, this is rapidly becoming my favorite series in the clever dialog and hyperbolic characters.
Satirically self-lampooning in a wonderful way. ... I'm slow. It took me awhile to get that wasn't just bad writing - as I've said, I've been reading several LitRPG authors and Skyler and Kong to this point are the best of breed in this Genre - Kong for his use of the RPG mechanics, Skyler for character development, dialog and making the series not take itself seriously in a wonderful way.
March 27, 2019
Three stars means I've read the book, I liked the book, but I am unlikely to read the book again.
Why did I like about the book? I enjoyed the stats and the growth of the characters. The characters are interesting with their own motivations on why they are doing what they do. I liked that the sex was glossed over and didn't go into great detail.
What didn't I like about the book? I have read the book before, but largely didn't recall the overall story. It was forgettable and didn't stick with me. It was an enjoyable read but just doesn't have that staying power that makes me want to live in that world after the book ends.
Why did I like about the book? I enjoyed the stats and the growth of the characters. The characters are interesting with their own motivations on why they are doing what they do. I liked that the sex was glossed over and didn't go into great detail.
What didn't I like about the book? I have read the book before, but largely didn't recall the overall story. It was forgettable and didn't stick with me. It was an enjoyable read but just doesn't have that staying power that makes me want to live in that world after the book ends.
May 22, 2017
Doesn't feel short in my view. This is my second title within the LitRPG genre and it is very different from my first. Different certainly does not mean bad though and I thought it was a fun interesting read. As for the shortness I feel like this book actually skipped a lot of the initial word building that sometimes gets put into the first of a series even when it doesn't quite fit in. There are enough clues to suggest at the history of this world and it is intriguing.
February 1, 2017
As most novels are about eight to ten hours long and this one is a disappointing four hours fifty two minutes I wouldn't call it a novel. Novelette or perhaps a very motivated short story.
That being said, I thought it was OK. Yes, I'd listen to the next in the series.
The characters are moderately interesting as is the setting. It was very "OK" in my book.
That being said, I thought it was OK. Yes, I'd listen to the next in the series.
The characters are moderately interesting as is the setting. It was very "OK" in my book.
March 14, 2019
Oh dear god, it's one of those "stats" novels. I don't know if I can handle this.
It's annoying that these "stats" books always has someone who is loot crazy. They always go on about looting. It's not funny.
Even though the author shows stats, I still wanted to know more at the end of the book. So I will pick up book two. I hope there are less ability tables in book two.
3/5 Stars
It's annoying that these "stats" books always has someone who is loot crazy. They always go on about looting. It's not funny.
Even though the author shows stats, I still wanted to know more at the end of the book. So I will pick up book two. I hope there are less ability tables in book two.
3/5 Stars
April 15, 2020
A bit juvenile but an enjoyable litrpg entry none the less.
The first couple chapters of setup are a bit scattered but after that it turns into a solid and basically enjoyable story.
A few pacing/plotting problems but nothing that breaks the story.
Apparently there are more in the series so I will check them out.
The first couple chapters of setup are a bit scattered but after that it turns into a solid and basically enjoyable story.
A few pacing/plotting problems but nothing that breaks the story.
Apparently there are more in the series so I will check them out.
June 11, 2017
Great short listen. Buy the kindle version and add the audible version. I wasn't sure what to expect. The heroes are put into a scenario where everything is very much like RPG. It worked. When I'm finished with a few more books I'm coming back for another installment of this series.
August 27, 2017
This book entertained the hell out of me. :) It was in no means perfect, but for what it was, a LitRPG, it was entertaining as hell. I didn't really care about the characters one way or another, but just the game and what they did was fun and kept my interest. Definitely going to read more!
May 16, 2018
The series starts out decent but it just keeps getting less and less entertaining do yourself a favor do not start this series. By the time you get to the last 3 books you will be asking yourself why did i spend my money on this.
February 14, 2017
I liked it but nothing that great about it. My only real complaint is that it was really short. Less then 5 hours long for the Audiobook
June 5, 2017
A fun romp
Amusing and well written, I'll go for the sequel. This story doesn't take itself seriously, and that makes it fun.
Amusing and well written, I'll go for the sequel. This story doesn't take itself seriously, and that makes it fun.
June 24, 2017
A slow starter but got good about half way through. I will be reading book 2.
August 4, 2017
I kind of expected this to suck but it didn't
August 15, 2017
Not really good. Funny at some points, but it was too short and the plot was far too weak.
January 21, 2018
Short!
Needs more background and a slower pace.
This is a short story that has promise, but really needs to be flushed out.
Needs more background and a slower pace.
This is a short story that has promise, but really needs to be flushed out.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews