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The Laboratory #1
The Laboratory
Emma is an artificial intelligence with a love of science, insults, and devilish traps.
When her systems are booted up she finds herself in control of a long-abandoned facility in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The world is filled with dangerous threats granted great powers by the same cataclysm that befell the world. Emma must balance safety with the desire for test subjects as she brings herself back fully online and stakes out a place in this new world.
When her systems are booted up she finds herself in control of a long-abandoned facility in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The world is filled with dangerous threats granted great powers by the same cataclysm that befell the world. Emma must balance safety with the desire for test subjects as she brings herself back fully online and stakes out a place in this new world.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 27, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
February 8, 2020
⭐⭐⭐
This was good it reminds me of a science fiction version of the old game Dungeon Keeper, which was one of my favorite games back when it came out. It’s also the first Dungeon Core sub genre books that I’ve read. It was too short, a little over two hours to read so I’m starting on book 2 now. I think that if books 2 & 3 are as good as this first one all three combined might be a four star novel.
This was good it reminds me of a science fiction version of the old game Dungeon Keeper, which was one of my favorite games back when it came out. It’s also the first Dungeon Core sub genre books that I’ve read. It was too short, a little over two hours to read so I’m starting on book 2 now. I think that if books 2 & 3 are as good as this first one all three combined might be a four star novel.
November 15, 2017
I never laughed this much, the comedy was good, the story well thought and the characters are interesting! Anna and Emma their relationship is really stormy, the worse thing is that they care about each other. The laboratory is not like the previous dungeon Litrpg that I've read and so far I loved it. In hoping that the second book can be a good sequel, I'm waiting.
February 19, 2018
Ok boys and girls, when and an Author loves a Book and a video game very much...
Soooo, The Laboratory is the illegitimate offspring of Dungeon Born and Portal. It's not terribly subtle either. Just substitute Cal with GLaDOS and Cake with Cookies you're pretty much done. Same personality, uses portals, gas, turrets, testing mazes, ext it borders on plagiarism really.
Which isn't to say it doesn't kind of work. GLaDOS as a dungeon core is a decent idea, but Grant's writing style doesn't exactly lend well to a Dungeon Core book. His writing is really high paced and clipped. It's ok for some stories, I enjoyed parts of his The Crucible Shard series, but Dungeon Core books need to be slower pace and more cerebral. The dungeon's evolutions need to be well explained thought out and measured. Here, though, it's chaotic, quick, and exponential. You don't get a sense of how strong things are, why certain things happen the way they do, nor have any sense on the direction things are going. A new powered person appears, is captured, and on the next page their power is unlocked. If Grant wants to try this again, I highly recommend he SLOW THE F*** DOWN.
Soooo, The Laboratory is the illegitimate offspring of Dungeon Born and Portal. It's not terribly subtle either. Just substitute Cal with GLaDOS and Cake with Cookies you're pretty much done. Same personality, uses portals, gas, turrets, testing mazes, ext it borders on plagiarism really.
Which isn't to say it doesn't kind of work. GLaDOS as a dungeon core is a decent idea, but Grant's writing style doesn't exactly lend well to a Dungeon Core book. His writing is really high paced and clipped. It's ok for some stories, I enjoyed parts of his The Crucible Shard series, but Dungeon Core books need to be slower pace and more cerebral. The dungeon's evolutions need to be well explained thought out and measured. Here, though, it's chaotic, quick, and exponential. You don't get a sense of how strong things are, why certain things happen the way they do, nor have any sense on the direction things are going. A new powered person appears, is captured, and on the next page their power is unlocked. If Grant wants to try this again, I highly recommend he SLOW THE F*** DOWN.
February 27, 2018
DID NOT FINISH
I really tired. I got through nearly an entire day, and only had an hour and 20 minutes left to listen to. But I just didn't care any more.
It was alright. At first it was really cool, just imagining that it was GLaDOS come to life and from her perspective... But it also got boring at times with the constant just inane techy updating. I just stopped caring. It was funny at first though.
I felt like I missed the entire bit where the mech people attacked and she got a second prisoner. Just suddenly he was there.
Meh.
I really tired. I got through nearly an entire day, and only had an hour and 20 minutes left to listen to. But I just didn't care any more.
It was alright. At first it was really cool, just imagining that it was GLaDOS come to life and from her perspective... But it also got boring at times with the constant just inane techy updating. I just stopped caring. It was funny at first though.
I felt like I missed the entire bit where the mech people attacked and she got a second prisoner. Just suddenly he was there.
Meh.
February 24, 2020
I wanted to like this, as I've generally enjoyed DungeonCore stories, but the protagonist was unlikeable (programmed as a character trait, apparently) enough that I just couldn't feel motivated to continue past the first few chapters.
February 16, 2018
Yet another terrible LitRPG book from Skyler Grant. Quantity of publishing over quality is not the way to go. Skylers book concepts are good. Implementation is poor.
March 31, 2018
Terrible, just terrible. Save yourself the pain I endured and skip it. This book has no redeeming qualities, not one. If I could give it negative stars I would.
April 20, 2018
I usually stay far away from Dungeon Core books, but this one had me hook line and sinker. The premise is that some stuff fell on Earth and infected the people there giving them super powers. There's a computer that I could swear is the spirit animal of GLADOS from the portal games, because the comments EMMA makes would give Gorden Ramsey pause. This book is a nice read and really fun. They dynamics of the two main characters is awesome. The supporting characters are a little flat atm, but I think as the story progresses we might see them fleshed out more...Then again, they were running inside of death traps for most of the book.
Either way, fun read. You should give it a whirl.
Either way, fun read. You should give it a whirl.
October 10, 2017
And then?
For standalone books, I prefer some sort of ending. I realize it was intentional but it felt like 2 chapters were missing at the end. I enjoyed most of it and then it stopped. Didn't make for a good first impression.
For standalone books, I prefer some sort of ending. I realize it was intentional but it felt like 2 chapters were missing at the end. I enjoyed most of it and then it stopped. Didn't make for a good first impression.
February 22, 2019
Trigger warnings for attempted rape, violence.
This is a Did Not Finish for me, and a Return, which is something I rarely do.
The narrator did the best she could with this, but it's dreadful stuff.
Book starts with an attempted rape, which is never a good thing. Then she victim literally beats the guy's dick off with a wrench, then bashing in his skull with it. He deserved it, sure, but not a great way to start a book.
The AI main character is mean and rather dumb. Constantly making repetitive jokes at the expense of the other characters. Nothing original or even interesting in it. Just things like "ha ha, going down is easy because you're fat" level of cleverness.
Also, hey, let's torture people to death and bring them back to life! Repeatedly! Why? Because the AI is supposed to be evil? Oh, ok... *sighs*
The other characters are also just flat and boring, as is the lack of world building. Hey, people got superpowers which changed the laws of physics and destroyed civilization? Cool! Tell us more... oh, there isn't more? Just a setup to make it easy to write a book that's supposedly real world, but nothing makes sense? *Sighs*
So, yeah. I tried. And I'm done. I found nothing redeeming in this dumpster fire except for the narration being fairly good.
This is a Did Not Finish for me, and a Return, which is something I rarely do.
The narrator did the best she could with this, but it's dreadful stuff.
Book starts with an attempted rape, which is never a good thing. Then she victim literally beats the guy's dick off with a wrench, then bashing in his skull with it. He deserved it, sure, but not a great way to start a book.
The AI main character is mean and rather dumb. Constantly making repetitive jokes at the expense of the other characters. Nothing original or even interesting in it. Just things like "ha ha, going down is easy because you're fat" level of cleverness.
Also, hey, let's torture people to death and bring them back to life! Repeatedly! Why? Because the AI is supposed to be evil? Oh, ok... *sighs*
The other characters are also just flat and boring, as is the lack of world building. Hey, people got superpowers which changed the laws of physics and destroyed civilization? Cool! Tell us more... oh, there isn't more? Just a setup to make it easy to write a book that's supposedly real world, but nothing makes sense? *Sighs*
So, yeah. I tried. And I'm done. I found nothing redeeming in this dumpster fire except for the narration being fairly good.
January 24, 2018
This book is a short, okay read. It is an attempt to set the dungeon genre in a sci-fi setting and in this it has some success. The following is spoiler-ish, but not badly.
May 7, 2020
This book was a fun read. I hope Skyler will write at least one more book in the series.
August 25, 2019
I liked this series because it is not written to appeal to 16 year old boys. It is refreshing not to have to flick past pages of tedious teen porn.
I didn't like it because:
I was left with the distinct impression that the author was making it up as he went along. I'm pretty sure he had a general map of where he wanted to go, but it seemed to me that he had no detailed plan, and was developing material on the fly.
It was extremely formulaic. It reminded me of E.E. Doc Smith, where each instalment, the guns and ships got bigger and so did the adjectives.
Betrayal is so frequent as to be commonplace, and whoever the current enemy of the series is always knows when to attack at the most effective time. While this is formulaic as previously noted, it is so overdone as to warrant special mention.
The female characters are quite interesting but the male characters are mere cyphers.
Story devices are so overused that they stop being engaging and become irritating. So, for example, being "powered" involves attracting some form of mental quirk or outright psychosis. Initially, this seemed amusing, but I grew tired of it by the third book. I began to think that the weirdness of the characters was only there to provide obstacles for the protagonist. So annoying.
At the end of each book, the author says that he has all of these neat ideas that he's developing which will, apparently, turn the reader on their ear, so ground-breaking are they. To me, however, they all seemed pretty much the same. I mean, I can see how he's progressing from small to large, but it's like when you're 12 and you write out your address including things like the planet you're on, the solar system, the arm of the galaxy, etc, etc, etc. To be honest, it doesn't seem all that special, and there isn't that much that happens in the story to warrant any special fanfare.
Nevertheless, it is not the story of some spotty, unlikeable young man who unaccountably attracts the interest of beautiful women with uncontrolled libidoes, so for that, thank you Jesus.
I didn't like it because:
I was left with the distinct impression that the author was making it up as he went along. I'm pretty sure he had a general map of where he wanted to go, but it seemed to me that he had no detailed plan, and was developing material on the fly.
It was extremely formulaic. It reminded me of E.E. Doc Smith, where each instalment, the guns and ships got bigger and so did the adjectives.
Betrayal is so frequent as to be commonplace, and whoever the current enemy of the series is always knows when to attack at the most effective time. While this is formulaic as previously noted, it is so overdone as to warrant special mention.
The female characters are quite interesting but the male characters are mere cyphers.
Story devices are so overused that they stop being engaging and become irritating. So, for example, being "powered" involves attracting some form of mental quirk or outright psychosis. Initially, this seemed amusing, but I grew tired of it by the third book. I began to think that the weirdness of the characters was only there to provide obstacles for the protagonist. So annoying.
At the end of each book, the author says that he has all of these neat ideas that he's developing which will, apparently, turn the reader on their ear, so ground-breaking are they. To me, however, they all seemed pretty much the same. I mean, I can see how he's progressing from small to large, but it's like when you're 12 and you write out your address including things like the planet you're on, the solar system, the arm of the galaxy, etc, etc, etc. To be honest, it doesn't seem all that special, and there isn't that much that happens in the story to warrant any special fanfare.
Nevertheless, it is not the story of some spotty, unlikeable young man who unaccountably attracts the interest of beautiful women with uncontrolled libidoes, so for that, thank you Jesus.
June 9, 2018
A relatively enjoyable book with one significant flaw. The MC is working towards taking over the world but all that happens in this book is that it makes the barest start towards achieving that goal. The only reason this book doesn't get 1 star for lack of resolution is because world domination is really the goal of a secondary character that the MC goes along with because that way it should have a safe environment for conducting its experiments.
The MC is an AI called E.M.M.A. in a world where super powered people have destroyed the world, including the laws of physics so even electricity doesn't always work right. Emma saw the destruction coming so tried to set things up in away that would allow her to continue to function but she failed. Fortunately Anna finds Emma and restarts her, but Emma has lost all her memories and so is starting from scratch information wise but Emma does have her own secret base. From there Anna and Emma work to take advantage of local super power led gangs and grow their power. Unfortunately, this brings them to the attention of some very powerful people who are beyond Emma's abilities to combat. The book end with Emma and Anna losing a confrontation with one such person but managing to escape. (DOES THAT SOUND LIKE ANY KIND OF A RESOLUTION TO YOU????)
Bottom line: An okay book but not worth the time unless you are going to read the entire series (and even that may not be worth the time since this book clearly demonstrates that the author doesn't know how to bring a story to any kind of a satisfactory conclusion).
The MC is an AI called E.M.M.A. in a world where super powered people have destroyed the world, including the laws of physics so even electricity doesn't always work right. Emma saw the destruction coming so tried to set things up in away that would allow her to continue to function but she failed. Fortunately Anna finds Emma and restarts her, but Emma has lost all her memories and so is starting from scratch information wise but Emma does have her own secret base. From there Anna and Emma work to take advantage of local super power led gangs and grow their power. Unfortunately, this brings them to the attention of some very powerful people who are beyond Emma's abilities to combat. The book end with Emma and Anna losing a confrontation with one such person but managing to escape. (DOES THAT SOUND LIKE ANY KIND OF A RESOLUTION TO YOU????)
Bottom line: An okay book but not worth the time unless you are going to read the entire series (and even that may not be worth the time since this book clearly demonstrates that the author doesn't know how to bring a story to any kind of a satisfactory conclusion).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2018
Just yes. This is one of the most enjoyable sci-fi books I've read this year. It is fast-paced, filled with action, super-powered villains and heroes and cyborgs - everything you'd want in an entertaining novel from this genre. But the thing that sets The Laboratory apart is the protagonist and sometimes antagonist of the novel, a quantum super computer with a highly developed, scientific and sarcastic personality. The real story here is the humanization of this conscious machine, which is brought back to life after being dormant for many, many years. At first, the computer sees humans as nothing but a means by which to attain a more favorable outcome (or upgrade). Throughout the book, as allies and enemies are formed in fast order, this machine has to reevaluate its priorities (like a person) in order to survive. Super fun!
November 10, 2017
Perfect.
How can you miss. This is the first time AI've seen LitRPG combined with scifi, and I have to say, I love it. This is the kind of thing I'd write if I could write LitRPG. Fantastic stuff.
Ok, so it's not as refined as perhaps some of the other systems presented in other books, the point system is seemingly based on torture instead of actual combat and stuff, but what the heck, it's a darned laboratory that doesn't move, and it doesn't actually qualify as a dungeon, but it is similar, so I guess it's ok as far as it goes. Really love the concepts behind this one. I see there are more in the series, so I'll have to get ahold of those too, but my compliments to the author, great execution of a pretty novel concept.
How can you miss. This is the first time AI've seen LitRPG combined with scifi, and I have to say, I love it. This is the kind of thing I'd write if I could write LitRPG. Fantastic stuff.
Ok, so it's not as refined as perhaps some of the other systems presented in other books, the point system is seemingly based on torture instead of actual combat and stuff, but what the heck, it's a darned laboratory that doesn't move, and it doesn't actually qualify as a dungeon, but it is similar, so I guess it's ok as far as it goes. Really love the concepts behind this one. I see there are more in the series, so I'll have to get ahold of those too, but my compliments to the author, great execution of a pretty novel concept.
January 11, 2019
A wealth of enjoyable characters and development. Humour that certainly had me laughing out loud a good number of times. The narration was really top quality; talk about giving life to a dungeon core.
Sadly, the books in the series like to end on cliffhangers and it is a fair sized series, while they are also on the shorter side (under 6h), making it a bit costly if you want to listen to the rest as audiobooks. Also, after the first couple it starts drifting away from the dungeon core styling into more straightforward science fiction. A little disappointing, but still manages to keep itself interesting and unique.
Sadly, the books in the series like to end on cliffhangers and it is a fair sized series, while they are also on the shorter side (under 6h), making it a bit costly if you want to listen to the rest as audiobooks. Also, after the first couple it starts drifting away from the dungeon core styling into more straightforward science fiction. A little disappointing, but still manages to keep itself interesting and unique.
August 8, 2019
Violent, Degrading, Fairly engaging, ...Some rape
The book opens with an attempted rape and genital mutilation. There is a Lot of vivisection in this book from beginning to end. The overall tone of this book is one of callous disregard for human life and suffering passed off as humor. But the thing that wore me out was the endless insult comedy.
I get that after all the other objectionable aspects of this book, to be ruffled by incivility says something about me the reader. It's just so tedious after a wile.
Still I did want to see what would happen next, and I did pick up the next book. So what it says about me isn't very flattering.
The book opens with an attempted rape and genital mutilation. There is a Lot of vivisection in this book from beginning to end. The overall tone of this book is one of callous disregard for human life and suffering passed off as humor. But the thing that wore me out was the endless insult comedy.
I get that after all the other objectionable aspects of this book, to be ruffled by incivility says something about me the reader. It's just so tedious after a wile.
Still I did want to see what would happen next, and I did pick up the next book. So what it says about me isn't very flattering.
June 12, 2020
Started as a fun, funny read. The AI's snarkiness was enjoyable...at first. But too much of a good thing is still too much! It's like eating too much sugar in one sitting, or drinking too much water. You get tired of it and it starts to grate on you.
Reading about 3 chapters of the book at a time, and then giving it a break of about a month seems like it worked - but really, is it really worth that much effort just to get through a book?
The author could have spread out the insults a LOT more, and made a much more enjoyable book.
Reading about 3 chapters of the book at a time, and then giving it a break of about a month seems like it worked - but really, is it really worth that much effort just to get through a book?
The author could have spread out the insults a LOT more, and made a much more enjoyable book.
July 7, 2021
While the book and the concept were enjoyable, the story is not without its annoyances. The biggest annoyance is the constant and repetitive insults from Emma. I get there is a reason for her to be insulting. But it gets old, REALLY quick.
I read the first 4 books in the series and like the insults, the plot is repetitive too. I had to take a break before moving to book 5 since while the location changes, the story is basically the same. After reading 4 books with basically the same exact plot I couldn't stomach the 5th just yet.
I read the first 4 books in the series and like the insults, the plot is repetitive too. I had to take a break before moving to book 5 since while the location changes, the story is basically the same. After reading 4 books with basically the same exact plot I couldn't stomach the 5th just yet.
September 28, 2017
Loved it and wand to see more
I really enjoyed the book and would love to see how all the characters change and progress in the new airship while changing it to suit their needs. I think the element of adding a dungeon core to an air ship is an interesting concept that I would love to see explored in depth more. I hope he will continue the adventure for a while longer before starting other projects.
I really enjoyed the book and would love to see how all the characters change and progress in the new airship while changing it to suit their needs. I think the element of adding a dungeon core to an air ship is an interesting concept that I would love to see explored in depth more. I hope he will continue the adventure for a while longer before starting other projects.
September 29, 2017
I think I'm in love?
She's highly sociopathic, is encased in magical crystal, and may or may not end up doing bad things to me for the SCIENCE, if given the chance, but I think she and I might be in this for the long run. I think EMMA and I are going to have a long happy, future together. This is another slam dunk, homerun, skybreaker touchdown from Sklyer Grant and I can't wait for the sequel.
She's highly sociopathic, is encased in magical crystal, and may or may not end up doing bad things to me for the SCIENCE, if given the chance, but I think she and I might be in this for the long run. I think EMMA and I are going to have a long happy, future together. This is another slam dunk, homerun, skybreaker touchdown from Sklyer Grant and I can't wait for the sequel.
October 18, 2018
Great book, if short. It seems to be a deconstruction of a deconstruction, a first time exploration of the LitRPG genre, RPGs in written form. The whole genre is interesting and it wins as a new pulp genre, if nothing else. When done right, you get an awesome Avent-guard serious like this. Sci-fi, post-humanism, strong AI (as a metaphor for players playing a game, strategy in this case, is fun to consider), all in a written RPG format. Don't miss out on such an interesting and fun story!
February 27, 2020
Imagine a book staring GLADoS from the Portal series, only without any of the charm or humor the series is known for. That's pretty much this.
It takes a thinly written, unlikable main character, adds them to a sub-genre that's already the bottom of the barrel in terms of writing quality (I'll leave it to you to decide if I mean Gamelit or Post-apoc), and includes any supers elements only to justify the leveling up element of the genre.
Learn from my mistakes and don't waste your time.
It takes a thinly written, unlikable main character, adds them to a sub-genre that's already the bottom of the barrel in terms of writing quality (I'll leave it to you to decide if I mean Gamelit or Post-apoc), and includes any supers elements only to justify the leveling up element of the genre.
Learn from my mistakes and don't waste your time.
October 14, 2017
Awesome
Hands down the best dungeon core book out there. That is all. Eight more words? Alright. Fans of litrpgs will love this book. Fans of sci fi will love this book. Fans of fantasy will love this book. Everyone searching through fiction section of kindle will love this book. More than eight. Nice.
Hands down the best dungeon core book out there. That is all. Eight more words? Alright. Fans of litrpgs will love this book. Fans of sci fi will love this book. Fans of fantasy will love this book. Everyone searching through fiction section of kindle will love this book. More than eight. Nice.
December 13, 2017
A blast but short.
Really enjoyed this title and it is great for a quick read but dissapointing with the cliffhanger and the author saying its a standalone. If a second title isn't coming out I would have rather not read it. Given that, I will check out the authors other works because I really did enjoy this story.
Really enjoyed this title and it is great for a quick read but dissapointing with the cliffhanger and the author saying its a standalone. If a second title isn't coming out I would have rather not read it. Given that, I will check out the authors other works because I really did enjoy this story.
April 28, 2018
I like some of Skyler grants work but this just don't work for me. I not going to say it a bad story or badly written, that's just not true. I just couldn't get in to the story. I finished this book and started book 2 but just about 80 pages in had to stop.
I would say try it, it may work for you.
I would say try it, it may work for you.
May 25, 2018
3.8 stars
Really cool for the concept and twist on the genre - huge props to Skyler. While I felt that a majority of this story was about upgrades, I was thoroughly enjoyed with the characters and banter within. I am hoping with the next story in the series, we get to learn a bit more about the backstory of the world and the dungeon too.
Really cool for the concept and twist on the genre - huge props to Skyler. While I felt that a majority of this story was about upgrades, I was thoroughly enjoyed with the characters and banter within. I am hoping with the next story in the series, we get to learn a bit more about the backstory of the world and the dungeon too.
March 2, 2020
I effing LOVED this book!
After much internal debate, I got the audiobook...OMG, Gabriella Cavallero was absolutely PERFECT in reading Emma!
Slick, sly and sassy as hell, she gave life to Emma (to the extent I was constantly on the verge of cracking up!).
As soon as I have more money, I plan to purchased two or three more books. Can't get enough of Emma.
After much internal debate, I got the audiobook...OMG, Gabriella Cavallero was absolutely PERFECT in reading Emma!
Slick, sly and sassy as hell, she gave life to Emma (to the extent I was constantly on the verge of cracking up!).
As soon as I have more money, I plan to purchased two or three more books. Can't get enough of Emma.
April 2, 2020
Entertaining Read
EMMA is an artificial intelligence awakened and rebooted after a world wide calamity. Emma must learn about herself and her environment. I like the action and humor. Her cruelty mirrors business as usual in her evirons. Even with her sourcastic personality, she begins to like Anna and others and treats them like partners. I am downloading the next book.
EMMA is an artificial intelligence awakened and rebooted after a world wide calamity. Emma must learn about herself and her environment. I like the action and humor. Her cruelty mirrors business as usual in her evirons. Even with her sourcastic personality, she begins to like Anna and others and treats them like partners. I am downloading the next book.
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