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The Devil's Cave: A Humorous Fantasy Novel
Damon Arkon is screwed.
Literally and figuratively.
Not only did the world’s greatest swordfighter just have relations with the king’s betrothed, but he was caught in the act.
When given the choice of finding the most powerful ring in the five kingdoms while joined at the hip by two of the king’s guard or losing his favorite body part, to which he is quite attached, the choice should be simple.
But things for Damon Arkon never are.
Can Damon shake his travel companions and keep his manhood? Or will the pull of the ring and a chance to add to his growing legend be too strong? And what’s a guy got to do to get a cold beer and a pickle around here, anyway?
"The Devil’s Cave" is the first book in The Legends of Damon Arkon: The World’s Greatest Swordfighter, a series of hilarious fantasy romps.
If you like quirky characters, daring sword fights, and crazy crusades, mixed with a heavy dose of raunchy jokes, then you’ll love Everson Cook’s ribald and playful send-up on epic fantasy.
Buy "The Devil’s Cave" today and begin uncovering the legend!
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 22, 2019
14 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 20, 2020
There are some amusing moments but it’s mainly sexual innuendo and cliches in a short story format.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this ebook from the author and this is my honest and freely given opinion.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this ebook from the author and this is my honest and freely given opinion.
January 27, 2020
To start off, I am friends of a friend of this author, and so I wanted him to know his street team is pretty effective at getting the word out. For a self-published book on Amazon's marketplace, I hear that this has done well for itself, and want to congratulate the author for putting himself out there with his debut book.
All that being said, I did not finish this. I feel it would have greatly benefited from at least one more round of editing. The characters are a bit flat, the dialog is flatter, and the first 30% of the book can be boiled down into a few sentences. The author's descriptions are bloated and many passages in this book needed to be reworked or completely excised.
One example, the 7th paragraph of chapter 6, has this text: "King Glendorrys wore the standard Flenshorn colors of maroon and gold. As did Tamyron. Whereas the king had light brown hair and was clean shaven, Tamyron had gray hair that was parted down the middle and curled around his jaw. He had a long gray mustache that met up with his hair at his chin. Maroon and gold banners fluttered from the sides of the elevated stage where King Glendorrys sat upon his throne. Bunting that alternated between maroon and gold hung from the stands."
This isn't the worst passage, but it is one that stands out in my mind. It's seven sentences, describing two different people as well as the setting for the scene, and the words "Maroon and Gold" are in it three times. I mean, go Gophers, but I'm sure there is a more concise way to do all of this. And there are many other examples in the first 30%.
Another tumescent problem with this story. In the dedication the author has a quote from his wife, where she says "So, it's just a book full of dick jokes?" to which he replies, "Yes." And that is absolutely correct, it is full of "Dick" jokes, and not a single other slang term for a penis is used. Seriously, I did a word search and got dozens of hits for "Dick", but 0 hits for "cock", "junk", "willy", "trouser snake", and so on. I did get 2 hits for "Penis," and 1 for "Wang" but it was actually the word "Twang", so it doesn't count.
The result is a very repetitive and flaccid read. "Cut off his dick!" "A sword was aimed at his dick." "Most people would say I'm just a dick who came from a ton of other dicks." I wish to point out that sure, you can write about the Burrowing Bishop for 41 chapters, have every page be well endowed with dongs, and not use the word "dick" once. It'd just take some imagination, no lube required. I feel this author may have that imagination and I just don't quite understand why he didn't rise to the occasion more. I felt a little shafted, honestly.
Lastly, for the story itself, I cannot say much since I haven't finished the book. However, from the first third I feel I can say that the author has played a lot of video games, and his pacing seems to be based on them. Our hero Damon is thrown into a random prison cell, and he meets his new cellmate, Jin. In talking to the him, Damon learns about a McGuffin with great cosmic power, but nobody knows where it is. Except, the questgiver, I mean, Jin, does happen to know it's location, and tells Damon how to acquire it. The prisoner has barely finished his sentence before the guards come back into the room, grab Damon, and haul him up before the king, mere hours after being thrown in. Everything that happens to our protagonist seems to occur at just the right moment.
I could go on, but I feel like I have heaped enough on this self published book. I think it has potential, and I think the author would be a cool guy to have some drinks with. There was a moment or two that did make me laugh, and not in the internet "breathed hard through my nose" way. I just believe this needed to be read by at least 1 more pair of eyes before being published.
All that being said, I did not finish this. I feel it would have greatly benefited from at least one more round of editing. The characters are a bit flat, the dialog is flatter, and the first 30% of the book can be boiled down into a few sentences. The author's descriptions are bloated and many passages in this book needed to be reworked or completely excised.
One example, the 7th paragraph of chapter 6, has this text: "King Glendorrys wore the standard Flenshorn colors of maroon and gold. As did Tamyron. Whereas the king had light brown hair and was clean shaven, Tamyron had gray hair that was parted down the middle and curled around his jaw. He had a long gray mustache that met up with his hair at his chin. Maroon and gold banners fluttered from the sides of the elevated stage where King Glendorrys sat upon his throne. Bunting that alternated between maroon and gold hung from the stands."
This isn't the worst passage, but it is one that stands out in my mind. It's seven sentences, describing two different people as well as the setting for the scene, and the words "Maroon and Gold" are in it three times. I mean, go Gophers, but I'm sure there is a more concise way to do all of this. And there are many other examples in the first 30%.
Another tumescent problem with this story. In the dedication the author has a quote from his wife, where she says "So, it's just a book full of dick jokes?" to which he replies, "Yes." And that is absolutely correct, it is full of "Dick" jokes, and not a single other slang term for a penis is used. Seriously, I did a word search and got dozens of hits for "Dick", but 0 hits for "cock", "junk", "willy", "trouser snake", and so on. I did get 2 hits for "Penis," and 1 for "Wang" but it was actually the word "Twang", so it doesn't count.
The result is a very repetitive and flaccid read. "Cut off his dick!" "A sword was aimed at his dick." "Most people would say I'm just a dick who came from a ton of other dicks." I wish to point out that sure, you can write about the Burrowing Bishop for 41 chapters, have every page be well endowed with dongs, and not use the word "dick" once. It'd just take some imagination, no lube required. I feel this author may have that imagination and I just don't quite understand why he didn't rise to the occasion more. I felt a little shafted, honestly.
Lastly, for the story itself, I cannot say much since I haven't finished the book. However, from the first third I feel I can say that the author has played a lot of video games, and his pacing seems to be based on them. Our hero Damon is thrown into a random prison cell, and he meets his new cellmate, Jin. In talking to the him, Damon learns about a McGuffin with great cosmic power, but nobody knows where it is. Except, the questgiver, I mean, Jin, does happen to know it's location, and tells Damon how to acquire it. The prisoner has barely finished his sentence before the guards come back into the room, grab Damon, and haul him up before the king, mere hours after being thrown in. Everything that happens to our protagonist seems to occur at just the right moment.
I could go on, but I feel like I have heaped enough on this self published book. I think it has potential, and I think the author would be a cool guy to have some drinks with. There was a moment or two that did make me laugh, and not in the internet "breathed hard through my nose" way. I just believe this needed to be read by at least 1 more pair of eyes before being published.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2025
The Devil's Cave was a tale I enjoyed profusely! I loved the humour, the subtle easter eggs and the actual plot was great too! Not just a book about cracking d*ck jokes as there is a surprising amount of depth underneath its manly veneer.
Damon Arkon is the world's greatest sword fighter and womaniser extraordinaire. The tale starts quite literally, where he finds his pickle... in a pickle. After sleeping with the King's Princess, he is faced with two options: Death! Or find an elusive and potentially magical ring from The Devil's Cave. Anything more would be heading into spoiler territory.
First things first - humour is very subjective (especially in this current climate), but for me personally, it was exactly up my street. So just be aware of the type of 'frat-house' style humour on offer. However, like I said in my opening paragraph, there is more to this book than meets the eye.
Damon is very likeable protagonist for me, and while he cracks these jokes, he has a softer side - someone who actually does care for the people around him. Everson Cook does a fantastic job of balancing these aspects. I hope to see more of Damon's layers if Cook follows on with a second book!
The supporting cast of characters were great too - I don't want to spoil anything but I enjoyed my time as Damon travelled with his unlikely companions. The pacing was just right also. Moving on to the worldbuilding and environments - I liked that the worldbuilding was weaved throughout at the right moments naturally - there wasn't any heavy exposition dumps and the different locations Damon travelled through were exciting. Of course it's customary to visit a tavern!
All in all - I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Devil's Cave and I hope Everson writes more!
I recommend if you like the type of humour I mentioned previously.
Damon Arkon is the world's greatest sword fighter and womaniser extraordinaire. The tale starts quite literally, where he finds his pickle... in a pickle. After sleeping with the King's Princess, he is faced with two options: Death! Or find an elusive and potentially magical ring from The Devil's Cave. Anything more would be heading into spoiler territory.
First things first - humour is very subjective (especially in this current climate), but for me personally, it was exactly up my street. So just be aware of the type of 'frat-house' style humour on offer. However, like I said in my opening paragraph, there is more to this book than meets the eye.
Damon is very likeable protagonist for me, and while he cracks these jokes, he has a softer side - someone who actually does care for the people around him. Everson Cook does a fantastic job of balancing these aspects. I hope to see more of Damon's layers if Cook follows on with a second book!
The supporting cast of characters were great too - I don't want to spoil anything but I enjoyed my time as Damon travelled with his unlikely companions. The pacing was just right also. Moving on to the worldbuilding and environments - I liked that the worldbuilding was weaved throughout at the right moments naturally - there wasn't any heavy exposition dumps and the different locations Damon travelled through were exciting. Of course it's customary to visit a tavern!
All in all - I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Devil's Cave and I hope Everson writes more!
I recommend if you like the type of humour I mentioned previously.
March 4, 2024
Enjoyable and amusing story
The worlds greatest swordfighter or lover .sexual innuendo overload but still I found the story amusing and actually fairly funny and good
The worlds greatest swordfighter or lover .sexual innuendo overload but still I found the story amusing and actually fairly funny and good
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews