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Class secrets revealed. A large Shoe to fill. Peace is only on the table.
Joe’s Candidacy was successful beyond his wildest dreams. Between driving the Elves out of Dwarven sovereign territory, utterly destroying an army of thousands, and using resources he could have used for himself to bring back the fallen on his own side… his reputation begins to precede him once more.
The human was so successful that many people even within the Dwarven faction have decided that they need to step forward to stop him. Realizing that he’s been in the public eye too long, Joe decides that it’s time to step out of fighting the war, and instead focus on completing new quest lines and consolidating power.
After all, letting other people decide the course of war has always worked out for him in the past.
Joe’s Candidacy was successful beyond his wildest dreams. Between driving the Elves out of Dwarven sovereign territory, utterly destroying an army of thousands, and using resources he could have used for himself to bring back the fallen on his own side… his reputation begins to precede him once more.
The human was so successful that many people even within the Dwarven faction have decided that they need to step forward to stop him. Realizing that he’s been in the public eye too long, Joe decides that it’s time to step out of fighting the war, and instead focus on completing new quest lines and consolidating power.
After all, letting other people decide the course of war has always worked out for him in the past.
409 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2022
779 people are currently reading
517 people want to read
About the author
Dakota Krout
76 books2,876 followersAuthor of the best-selling Divine Dungeon, Completionist Chronicles, and Full Murderhobo series, Dakota Krout was chosen as Audible's top 5 fantasy pick of 2017, has been a top 5 bestseller on Amazon, and a top 6 bestseller on Audible.
He draws on his experience in the military to create vast terrains and intricate systems, and his history in programming and information technology helps him bring a logical aspect to both his writing and his company while giving him a unique perspective for future challenges.
Publishing my stories has been an incredible blessing thus far, and I hope to keep you entertained for years to come! -Dakota Krout
He draws on his experience in the military to create vast terrains and intricate systems, and his history in programming and information technology helps him bring a logical aspect to both his writing and his company while giving him a unique perspective for future challenges.
Publishing my stories has been an incredible blessing thus far, and I hope to keep you entertained for years to come! -Dakota Krout
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
July 10, 2022
I feel the author is stretching his content to not run out too quickly. The plot hasn't really moved, and it is missing the new and fun magic previous books had.
July 23, 2022
Disappointing but still fun
- The plot was disappointing in that . What's worse, .
- The MC shows ludicrous amounts of resolve and recklessness when That's just too much luck and recklessness for me to enjoy!
- Nice was that the MC got a bit of time to craft and train and build his base. But it there were still issues with that, see below.
- Also nice was that there were more interactions with other characters than in the last book.
- Heavy retconning in this one with the newly added mechanism. The explanation of why we've never heard of it before was contrived:
- The Litrpg aspect of the story gets neglected so much, I just wish the author would just drop all precise mentions of stats and skill levels! With more than 50 skills, it's understandable that mentioning every increase is too much.
Skills and attributes increases happen only when mentioned which does not always fit well with probable use of these. For the same reason, the MC never trains stuff except when the story needs exposition of skills.
Not doing skill/stat grinding just doesn't make sense for someone living in world where both can easily be improved with a little time every day. What's more, theMC receives a training device for a skill and then never uses it.
Despite having only weak combat spells on levels and of common rank and a weapon with which he is on beginner rank he miraculously defeats stronger enemies. The MC is always miraculously as strong as the story needs.
Other grievances of the Litrpg aspects are: Some skills don't level up despite intensive use, rank threshold bonuses get skipped, skills are forgotten, MC should suffer from unlucky decisions but that's only used to handwave the plot.
- The plot was disappointing in that . What's worse, .
- The MC shows ludicrous amounts of resolve and recklessness when That's just too much luck and recklessness for me to enjoy!
- Nice was that the MC got a bit of time to craft and train and build his base. But it there were still issues with that, see below.
- Also nice was that there were more interactions with other characters than in the last book.
- Heavy retconning in this one with the newly added mechanism. The explanation of why we've never heard of it before was contrived:
- The Litrpg aspect of the story gets neglected so much, I just wish the author would just drop all precise mentions of stats and skill levels! With more than 50 skills, it's understandable that mentioning every increase is too much.
Skills and attributes increases happen only when mentioned which does not always fit well with probable use of these. For the same reason, the MC never trains stuff except when the story needs exposition of skills.
Not doing skill/stat grinding just doesn't make sense for someone living in world where both can easily be improved with a little time every day. What's more, theMC receives a training device for a skill and then never uses it.
Despite having only weak combat spells on levels and of common rank and a weapon with which he is on beginner rank he miraculously defeats stronger enemies. The MC is always miraculously as strong as the story needs.
Other grievances of the Litrpg aspects are: Some skills don't level up despite intensive use, rank threshold bonuses get skipped, skills are forgotten, MC should suffer from unlucky decisions but that's only used to handwave the plot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
Reductionism class quest -- initiated. :)
We've got a little hamlet to build and fill and a ton of low-level class quests to blast through. Breaking all records has got to be the best feature of this novel. LitRPGs have a certain specific target audience, of course, and I admit I'm totally and completely snagged by them.
Level up! Skills, basic defense and offense ritualist magic, building creation, and blowing through extremely late class quests? Yep. This kind of thing, although it may seem rather grindy, is a pure joy to read. Gamers gotta game, and this kind of novel gives me all the satisfaction without the huge game cost. :)
We've got a little hamlet to build and fill and a ton of low-level class quests to blast through. Breaking all records has got to be the best feature of this novel. LitRPGs have a certain specific target audience, of course, and I admit I'm totally and completely snagged by them.
Level up! Skills, basic defense and offense ritualist magic, building creation, and blowing through extremely late class quests? Yep. This kind of thing, although it may seem rather grindy, is a pure joy to read. Gamers gotta game, and this kind of novel gives me all the satisfaction without the huge game cost. :)
August 2, 2022
A lot of words that do nothing.
I have been following this series for all six previous books, and was looking forward too this one. Unfortunately I was severely disappointed with this book.
The MC makes a lot of strides with his class but it is a ton of filler that doesn't seem to do anything, nor have much bearing on the situation he is in. He makes new stuff, but. Its not explained how it will help other than 'it gets him new quests'.
He then wants to help broker peace, but that seems to be crashing down, so he looks for something to help prevent it, but that ends up no where as the book suddenly ends with no conclusion nor cliffhanger, it just ends.
I think that is why I am willing to give it such a low score. I flipped the page to start the next chapter and it's the acknowledgement. It was MC shows up to take care of situation, gathers people together, someone else has kinda taken over and end of book. No face off cliffhanger, no triumph over the situation, just a flat frustrating ending.
It's almost like the author wanted to invent a way to kill the series.......
I have been following this series for all six previous books, and was looking forward too this one. Unfortunately I was severely disappointed with this book.
The MC makes a lot of strides with his class but it is a ton of filler that doesn't seem to do anything, nor have much bearing on the situation he is in. He makes new stuff, but. Its not explained how it will help other than 'it gets him new quests'.
He then wants to help broker peace, but that seems to be crashing down, so he looks for something to help prevent it, but that ends up no where as the book suddenly ends with no conclusion nor cliffhanger, it just ends.
I think that is why I am willing to give it such a low score. I flipped the page to start the next chapter and it's the acknowledgement. It was MC shows up to take care of situation, gathers people together, someone else has kinda taken over and end of book. No face off cliffhanger, no triumph over the situation, just a flat frustrating ending.
It's almost like the author wanted to invent a way to kill the series.......
December 28, 2022
Read the series in order. Though if you're a little confused, the third is a side-quest with Jaxon and I skipped it.
So Joe does shenanigans (not that kind) in Dwarf-land. He gets his little side-community going and . . . you know what? I just can't. The ending for this one sucked so hard I'm not even going to bother with the rest.
This is
I'm giving this an extra star for nostalgia.
A note about Chaste: Hey, a glimmer of a potential romance! Only, more like a chance for Joe to explicitly state why he isn't interested in a relationship. So doubled-down on chaste.
So Joe does shenanigans (not that kind) in Dwarf-land. He gets his little side-community going and . . . you know what? I just can't. The ending for this one sucked so hard I'm not even going to bother with the rest.
This is
I'm giving this an extra star for nostalgia.
A note about Chaste: Hey, a glimmer of a potential romance! Only, more like a chance for Joe to explicitly state why he isn't interested in a relationship. So doubled-down on chaste.
August 4, 2022
Too much leveling, not enough story
I didn't like the last book and this one wasn't much better. The ritualist class is interesting, but not that interesting. I don't remember who the architect girl is, should have done better at reminding me. Mate is still adorable 🥰.
I didn't like the last book and this one wasn't much better. The ritualist class is interesting, but not that interesting. I don't remember who the architect girl is, should have done better at reminding me. Mate is still adorable 🥰.
September 12, 2022
Red flag: This book contains an Idiot Plot!
Consider: you are a race of people who will be made extinct if five of your members in particular die. A new bunch of random people ask you to go to an area you barely understand after a week. You take every one of the five there even though four would have done. All five die.
Idiot plot.
I really have to wonder what lead the author to this sort of device. Laziness? Lack of creativity? Do the words "designated survivor" just come out as static for him? Regardless, boy howdy, what a dim book! Maybe read this if you just got done with the world's biggest set of jingling keys and want something to snack on before attempting five letter words again.
Consider: you are a race of people who will be made extinct if five of your members in particular die. A new bunch of random people ask you to go to an area you barely understand after a week. You take every one of the five there even though four would have done. All five die.
Idiot plot.
I really have to wonder what lead the author to this sort of device. Laziness? Lack of creativity? Do the words "designated survivor" just come out as static for him? Regardless, boy howdy, what a dim book! Maybe read this if you just got done with the world's biggest set of jingling keys and want something to snack on before attempting five letter words again.
August 23, 2022
Rating 4.0 stars
I still enjoy this series but much like the last book I am not as interested as I was with the first 5 books. Every since Joe came to the new realm with the dwarves and elves things have been different. I know Joe is somewhat of a loner but I did like the interactions with his guild/group. Jaxon showed up in this one which is awesome but I still miss the others. Overall though this is still an enjoyable read and I will continue the series.
I still enjoy this series but much like the last book I am not as interested as I was with the first 5 books. Every since Joe came to the new realm with the dwarves and elves things have been different. I know Joe is somewhat of a loner but I did like the interactions with his guild/group. Jaxon showed up in this one which is awesome but I still miss the others. Overall though this is still an enjoyable read and I will continue the series.
August 11, 2022
Rating: 3.3/5
Review: This took awhile to get off the pot. Must of been too much cheese. Speaking of grinding one out, we are along for the ride during heavy advancement theory with little action to quell the beast. The story line picks up at about the 75% level, then ends abruptly. Not sure if I am going to continue with this series unless there is some length to make up for the lack of movement. Even though I felt a bit ripped off, l had a fun time during fleeting moments.
Usually this author delivers in spades but this one is lacking in depth and length.
Review: This took awhile to get off the pot. Must of been too much cheese. Speaking of grinding one out, we are along for the ride during heavy advancement theory with little action to quell the beast. The story line picks up at about the 75% level, then ends abruptly. Not sure if I am going to continue with this series unless there is some length to make up for the lack of movement. Even though I felt a bit ripped off, l had a fun time during fleeting moments.
Usually this author delivers in spades but this one is lacking in depth and length.
January 19, 2023
Notes:
4 Stars for Narration by Luke Daniels
3 Stars for Story
I'm gonna be upset if the series falls apart. CC is one of my fav LitRPGs. Great characters, fun setting, mostly interesting twists and just enough in series humor to tickle one's funny bone. I admire the way Krout has created a world & taking a stab at trying to tell all the varied stories within that world. Lots of potential to explore! Flipside, the various books are starting to suffer from too many great ideas that are not established, fleshed out or made to work within the previous story settings. #7 does a better job of tying together the original story setting & the new one, but it should have been done in #6.
4 Stars for Narration by Luke Daniels
3 Stars for Story
I'm gonna be upset if the series falls apart. CC is one of my fav LitRPGs. Great characters, fun setting, mostly interesting twists and just enough in series humor to tickle one's funny bone. I admire the way Krout has created a world & taking a stab at trying to tell all the varied stories within that world. Lots of potential to explore! Flipside, the various books are starting to suffer from too many great ideas that are not established, fleshed out or made to work within the previous story settings. #7 does a better job of tying together the original story setting & the new one, but it should have been done in #6.
March 10, 2023
Thank God Jaxon is back!! Still hate cliffhangers, still think there is not much happening until there is too much happening at once, some plot parts are ridiculous, but I drove a car for 6 hours and this really made the drive fun. :)
October 30, 2022
Dakota Krout seams to always stretch her series to the point they get boring and repetitive. I skimmed this one after about 40%. This is the second series of her that started very well but I quit before finishing. I’ll only be following Full Murder Hobo from now on, hoping she at least brings that one to some sort of conclusion.
August 3, 2022
Great.
This book is a great dive into the dwarven/elven plane where Joe advances in both skill and connections to others. It brings the differences between the races of the different planes into light as tensions build and Joe has to rise the the challenge of bringing his volcano hamlet into a proper city.
After all the twists and turns it leaves off with a tension building ending that makes waiting for the next book even harder.
This book is a great dive into the dwarven/elven plane where Joe advances in both skill and connections to others. It brings the differences between the races of the different planes into light as tensions build and Joe has to rise the the challenge of bringing his volcano hamlet into a proper city.
After all the twists and turns it leaves off with a tension building ending that makes waiting for the next book even harder.
August 15, 2025
My least favorite so far, but I still love this world, and I still love this character so much. I am literally spending my hard earn money on this series
August 2, 2022
turn vice into virtue
I re-read the previous book to refresh my memory of ‘who, what, where’, and it seems to have paid off…or I damaged my brain from overexposure. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed this, even the puns and awkward word play. The author was really leaning into his ‘style’ at times.
As always, I now being the seemingly interminable wait for a sequel.
I re-read the previous book to refresh my memory of ‘who, what, where’, and it seems to have paid off…or I damaged my brain from overexposure. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed this, even the puns and awkward word play. The author was really leaning into his ‘style’ at times.
As always, I now being the seemingly interminable wait for a sequel.
July 20, 2022
I wasn't a big fan of book 6, but this was a nice rebound. Looking forward to seeing the dwarves get some revenge in the next book! 👍🏾👍🏾
July 8, 2022
Our favorite Ritualist, Joe, gets himself deeper into his new home and learns more from his new mentor. (Learning = trial by fire.) And he continues to discover hidden information - and information that has previously been hidden to him. In the end, things don't go as well as he expects them to do, and there are a few surprises. Of course, the big question is what happens next!
Once again, my kids read faster than I did. I was amused with their laughing at the puns and other fun within the book - and I desperately wanted to catch up.
Once again, my kids read faster than I did. I was amused with their laughing at the puns and other fun within the book - and I desperately wanted to catch up.
July 7, 2022
I really enjoyed this entry into the series. It was focused primarily on character advancement and town building. The plot felt secondary to those elements. Krout allows puts a lot of fun and humor into his writing.
July 2, 2022
Fans of the previous books in the series will not be disappointed. Inflame, the previous book in the series, deviated somewhat from the style of the others.
Joe is back to his maniacal singlemindedness and even seemed to lean into the crazy just a bit harder than usual. More of the recurring characters made appearances in this book than we saw in Inflame.
I'll be impatiently awaiting the next installment.
Joe is back to his maniacal singlemindedness and even seemed to lean into the crazy just a bit harder than usual. More of the recurring characters made appearances in this book than we saw in Inflame.
I'll be impatiently awaiting the next installment.
August 2, 2022
Nice enough but where's the rest?
Nice enough, but felt a bit like a half way piece. I'd recommend derfering reading this until book 8 is out.
Nice enough, but felt a bit like a half way piece. I'd recommend derfering reading this until book 8 is out.
February 11, 2024
What a waste of a book. The MC is so self-absorbed that he has no Care for anyone else, including his friends. People he claim to really like in prior books, makes no mention or concern about their whereabouts. He knows that Jackson is around, but does nothing to interact with him.
So scatterbrained that he forgets that he has abilities constantly. "Oh that's just who the character is" doesn't excuse how terrible of a character Joe is.
The system doesn't even make sense anymore. How is it that a third of the way into the seventh book Joe is just now finding out there are class quest? How could a person be that distracted and yet be so successful?
I really enjoyed this series up until book 5. Book 6 was okay, but this book ruined it for me. I can't put up with the eccentricities of the MC anymore. He is no longer likable or relatable.
So scatterbrained that he forgets that he has abilities constantly. "Oh that's just who the character is" doesn't excuse how terrible of a character Joe is.
The system doesn't even make sense anymore. How is it that a third of the way into the seventh book Joe is just now finding out there are class quest? How could a person be that distracted and yet be so successful?
I really enjoyed this series up until book 5. Book 6 was okay, but this book ruined it for me. I can't put up with the eccentricities of the MC anymore. He is no longer likable or relatable.
September 1, 2022
A popcorn read.
Progression and game theory with some silliness and kooky friendships are entertaining.
Many spoilers ahead!
The plot moved along better and felt less aimless than the last book in the series.
I listened to this audio book in one day and was left wanting more, as usual, so it is definitely still entertaining and addictive, scratching the litrpg video game progression itch.
Ending of the book felt sudden and underdeveloped. I definitely don't need a cliffhanger and actually prefer endings without one, but this left me wondering what the next book might be about, instead of more clearly showing that, like most books in a series do.
Besides trying to get a commitment from a 3rd Dwarven grandmaster to join the hamlet, and continuing to level up his class, skills and characteristics... What's next? Is Joe really gonna try to take on the whole Elven race in retaliation? Or hunt the Ascetic? Will he try to escape this plane with willing dwarves, by teleporting his hamlet out? What does making his hamlet a dwarf haven do to the guild members who allied with or will now ally with the elves; are they now excluded from the town? No definitive direction ahead was specified, even just to build hype.
Joe was super cranky and argumentative this time, even more than usual. He's always questionably actually evil and yet somehow amusingly maniacal.
The skill leveling felt rather inconsistent, as other reviewers have mentioned; Joe constantly used Exquisite Shell and Neutrality Aura, but these spells' skills seemed to rarely increase. He didn't do the daily enchantment training exercise rubik's cube type thing Havock assigned to him, as he should've been, every day. It's so obvious that he should've also been continuing physical training led by the very strong and capable Cleave who's literally always next to him anyway. He kept saying that he needs to get physical stronger to endure attacks from anyone on this plane, but didn't directly train in physical stats at all. I realize he has the mind over matter or whichever thing so his mental stat gains boost physical characteristics, so it's not as pressing as it used to be, but he's still in combat with higher level enemies often enough, and literally a major general enlisted in the military in an active war zone. He needs to not die and can't do so without continuing physical training.
I appreciated that Joe actually remembered to use his Knowledge skill a few times, and to Query Tatum. It'd help if it was mentioned and assumed he did that every day of the story unless incapacitated, and that his skill levels reflected that.
Very little character depth or character growth as a person for Joe. But, Joe grew in experience and levels, knowledge and expertise in a satisfying way. The upgrade to official Apprentice to Havock was exciting.
A frustrating lack of complexity or forethought, preparation for inevitable, expected attacks on the burgeoning township. It was practically defenseless for much of the book due to Joe's poor planning and strategy, without even basic walls or gates. His plans all seemed slapdash, seat of the pants, last minute and high risk, likely to fail, but maybe that's intentional. It makes me twitchy as an organized person who likes to plan and prepare for multiple eventualities. He's responsible for keeping the town, his(!) town, safe, and is barely scraping by in that. He lost at least half his residents/troops seemingly every time there was an attack. He won't be able to keep resurrecting them so easily going forward, so has to be much more prudent and responsible.
For essentially a part city simulation game, the town management, planning and architecture portions felt glossed over and neglected too. But, it's absolutely essential that Joe delegated most of that to more professional, dedicated, reliable people who aren't so scatterbrained and focused on their own projects and quests. I appreciated the really unique quirks of his new staff, like Stan the Eeyore, former temp agency owner. The city planner is irritating but seems competent. I'd like to learn more about his plans. I'm an urban planning nerd, so maybe I'm an outlier in this part, though.
The MC seems to be selfish, impulsive, reckless, greedy and highly insensitive to the needs or feelings of others, in a worrying way, most of the time.
Besides for his own convenience, Joe didn't seem truly invested in peace between the races from a philosophical or emotional standpoint, and super quickly gave it up in favor of his own side and maybe even potential vengeance. I hope he follows through on trying to protect the dwarves that he can from another planar racial genocide, instead of going on the offebsive to rage against the elves.
He's made a lot of morally despicable choices, even if he usually did so with an understandable motive. If he was a real person, I'd be very worried and request an intervention, much more lasting and impactful punishments and consequences. Yet, somehow, his chaos and unpredictability makes this series more entertaining.
I don't know why, but I really enjoyed the landfill sections of both this book and the last. It feels viscerally intense, gross, scary, exciting, full of mysterious and abundant loot, and sort of forbidden or at least forbidding. I'm glad he finally rid the capital of zombies. Yay new guardian!
It was great to see Aten, Daniela, Jaxon, and the kitty again, and a few new recurring side characters, interact with Joe, and to get some longed-for updates on what's up with Poppy, Bard and Alexis, however briefly. Coffee elemental Mate still shines as such a dear and super cute. Glad Mate finally has a home mug, leveled up, and even saved the day!
Usually, there are more details about the magic and unique creations or new ways Joe uses it in these books. With the creation of the ASPECT building and new somatic ritual casting skill, there was some of that. But there seemed to be many missed opportunities when Joe was training with his mentor, blacksmiths, raising buildings, or doing enchanting, when that could've been explored more. I hope the author will have more detailed explanations of magic and rituals, especially for specific buildings, in the next one.
I would have loved more Tatum. I hope he'll be more involved when Joe hunts down the Ascetic, if he does that.
I'd also like to hear more about Havock and his daughter and their relationship, history, and recovery from the long separation.
I loved the interplay between Joe and Major Cleave, where she kept unintentionally jump-scaring him, and he kept completely forgetting she existed. I laughed aloud a lot at that multiple times. Cleave grew in depth and filled out more as a character, and their relationship changed a bit this book, which was nice. She was the best character in this book, besides Mate.
Progression and game theory with some silliness and kooky friendships are entertaining.
Many spoilers ahead!
The plot moved along better and felt less aimless than the last book in the series.
I listened to this audio book in one day and was left wanting more, as usual, so it is definitely still entertaining and addictive, scratching the litrpg video game progression itch.
Ending of the book felt sudden and underdeveloped. I definitely don't need a cliffhanger and actually prefer endings without one, but this left me wondering what the next book might be about, instead of more clearly showing that, like most books in a series do.
Besides trying to get a commitment from a 3rd Dwarven grandmaster to join the hamlet, and continuing to level up his class, skills and characteristics... What's next? Is Joe really gonna try to take on the whole Elven race in retaliation? Or hunt the Ascetic? Will he try to escape this plane with willing dwarves, by teleporting his hamlet out? What does making his hamlet a dwarf haven do to the guild members who allied with or will now ally with the elves; are they now excluded from the town? No definitive direction ahead was specified, even just to build hype.
Joe was super cranky and argumentative this time, even more than usual. He's always questionably actually evil and yet somehow amusingly maniacal.
The skill leveling felt rather inconsistent, as other reviewers have mentioned; Joe constantly used Exquisite Shell and Neutrality Aura, but these spells' skills seemed to rarely increase. He didn't do the daily enchantment training exercise rubik's cube type thing Havock assigned to him, as he should've been, every day. It's so obvious that he should've also been continuing physical training led by the very strong and capable Cleave who's literally always next to him anyway. He kept saying that he needs to get physical stronger to endure attacks from anyone on this plane, but didn't directly train in physical stats at all. I realize he has the mind over matter or whichever thing so his mental stat gains boost physical characteristics, so it's not as pressing as it used to be, but he's still in combat with higher level enemies often enough, and literally a major general enlisted in the military in an active war zone. He needs to not die and can't do so without continuing physical training.
I appreciated that Joe actually remembered to use his Knowledge skill a few times, and to Query Tatum. It'd help if it was mentioned and assumed he did that every day of the story unless incapacitated, and that his skill levels reflected that.
Very little character depth or character growth as a person for Joe. But, Joe grew in experience and levels, knowledge and expertise in a satisfying way. The upgrade to official Apprentice to Havock was exciting.
A frustrating lack of complexity or forethought, preparation for inevitable, expected attacks on the burgeoning township. It was practically defenseless for much of the book due to Joe's poor planning and strategy, without even basic walls or gates. His plans all seemed slapdash, seat of the pants, last minute and high risk, likely to fail, but maybe that's intentional. It makes me twitchy as an organized person who likes to plan and prepare for multiple eventualities. He's responsible for keeping the town, his(!) town, safe, and is barely scraping by in that. He lost at least half his residents/troops seemingly every time there was an attack. He won't be able to keep resurrecting them so easily going forward, so has to be much more prudent and responsible.
For essentially a part city simulation game, the town management, planning and architecture portions felt glossed over and neglected too. But, it's absolutely essential that Joe delegated most of that to more professional, dedicated, reliable people who aren't so scatterbrained and focused on their own projects and quests. I appreciated the really unique quirks of his new staff, like Stan the Eeyore, former temp agency owner. The city planner is irritating but seems competent. I'd like to learn more about his plans. I'm an urban planning nerd, so maybe I'm an outlier in this part, though.
The MC seems to be selfish, impulsive, reckless, greedy and highly insensitive to the needs or feelings of others, in a worrying way, most of the time.
Besides for his own convenience, Joe didn't seem truly invested in peace between the races from a philosophical or emotional standpoint, and super quickly gave it up in favor of his own side and maybe even potential vengeance. I hope he follows through on trying to protect the dwarves that he can from another planar racial genocide, instead of going on the offebsive to rage against the elves.
He's made a lot of morally despicable choices, even if he usually did so with an understandable motive. If he was a real person, I'd be very worried and request an intervention, much more lasting and impactful punishments and consequences. Yet, somehow, his chaos and unpredictability makes this series more entertaining.
I don't know why, but I really enjoyed the landfill sections of both this book and the last. It feels viscerally intense, gross, scary, exciting, full of mysterious and abundant loot, and sort of forbidden or at least forbidding. I'm glad he finally rid the capital of zombies. Yay new guardian!
It was great to see Aten, Daniela, Jaxon, and the kitty again, and a few new recurring side characters, interact with Joe, and to get some longed-for updates on what's up with Poppy, Bard and Alexis, however briefly. Coffee elemental Mate still shines as such a dear and super cute. Glad Mate finally has a home mug, leveled up, and even saved the day!
Usually, there are more details about the magic and unique creations or new ways Joe uses it in these books. With the creation of the ASPECT building and new somatic ritual casting skill, there was some of that. But there seemed to be many missed opportunities when Joe was training with his mentor, blacksmiths, raising buildings, or doing enchanting, when that could've been explored more. I hope the author will have more detailed explanations of magic and rituals, especially for specific buildings, in the next one.
I would have loved more Tatum. I hope he'll be more involved when Joe hunts down the Ascetic, if he does that.
I'd also like to hear more about Havock and his daughter and their relationship, history, and recovery from the long separation.
I loved the interplay between Joe and Major Cleave, where she kept unintentionally jump-scaring him, and he kept completely forgetting she existed. I laughed aloud a lot at that multiple times. Cleave grew in depth and filled out more as a character, and their relationship changed a bit this book, which was nice. She was the best character in this book, besides Mate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2022
Around 2 and half stars of 5, this was better then last book its still just meh sorry say and not as good as 1st few.
I liked how rpg and game elements seemed be more hear not much but still better and improvements wear ok.
Didn't like.
The whole guns and bullets that suddenly added it just didn't fit world created or feel right infact was just annoying, very much don't like female with facial hair (dwaf. ) eww the story was OK hear bit very slow? And dragged out at time's had me skimming entire chapters out of bordem.
The story just seems to be missing something lately and way ended abruptly made me happy I have follow on book already or would of been pissed and frustrated.
(And maybe just quite series hear.)
Needs more of system game elements and would like see more of gods mc's and others and less guns and female facial hair + smoking. Thank author was less bro and dudets and welp instead of well sort of things that made dwarfs sound like ideats for one and needs more fun and leveling up faster and just progressing. (More then just town or guild building please as that's kinda boring.)
P.s. Yeah don't like when use welp instead of well sounds bad to me and seems don't know lazy.
I liked how rpg and game elements seemed be more hear not much but still better and improvements wear ok.
Didn't like.
The whole guns and bullets that suddenly added it just didn't fit world created or feel right infact was just annoying, very much don't like female with facial hair (dwaf. ) eww the story was OK hear bit very slow? And dragged out at time's had me skimming entire chapters out of bordem.
The story just seems to be missing something lately and way ended abruptly made me happy I have follow on book already or would of been pissed and frustrated.
(And maybe just quite series hear.)
Needs more of system game elements and would like see more of gods mc's and others and less guns and female facial hair + smoking. Thank author was less bro and dudets and welp instead of well sort of things that made dwarfs sound like ideats for one and needs more fun and leveling up faster and just progressing. (More then just town or guild building please as that's kinda boring.)
P.s. Yeah don't like when use welp instead of well sounds bad to me and seems don't know lazy.
April 18, 2023
Not Very Good
OK, some people will probably like this book, but I am not one of them. Here are some reasons;
Joe has not grown mentally or matured at all.
Joe is stupid, forgetful, and not very likeable.
Joe has a very short attention span and not aware of his surroundings except when by himself doing rituals. That got old!
Except for the ending, enemies are much more powerful then Joe.
Why has the author tried to make Joe so unlikable after the first book?
Who's responsible for making most races including humans hate Joe?
Who in the Dwarf society hates Joe and wants him to fail and why? That is never explained.
I read to enjoy a book, to get away. I like to get emotionally invested in a book, feel for the characters.
That didn't happen for me with this series. It's all over place and it's mostly a technical manual about ritualistic magic and how to advance.
I wouldn't recommend this series.
OK, some people will probably like this book, but I am not one of them. Here are some reasons;
Joe has not grown mentally or matured at all.
Joe is stupid, forgetful, and not very likeable.
Joe has a very short attention span and not aware of his surroundings except when by himself doing rituals. That got old!
Except for the ending, enemies are much more powerful then Joe.
Why has the author tried to make Joe so unlikable after the first book?
Who's responsible for making most races including humans hate Joe?
Who in the Dwarf society hates Joe and wants him to fail and why? That is never explained.
I read to enjoy a book, to get away. I like to get emotionally invested in a book, feel for the characters.
That didn't happen for me with this series. It's all over place and it's mostly a technical manual about ritualistic magic and how to advance.
I wouldn't recommend this series.
September 14, 2022
I love joe, but ever since all the divine dungeon books too a horrible turn to just random skill progression the main stories have taken a back seat. Cant do something? Oh cool lets give the MC a never before mentioned ability! There needs to be a baseline that we can work with, in the divine dungeon series we knew the dungeon was working towards goals, we knew the story was headed towards an epic encounter, there were big bads to wonder “how is our MC going to overcome this problem” and we are taken on a journey.
Artorian rescued his kids, The dungeon overcame obstacles and grew, even loveable jackson progressed and got his own comic relief.
Our favorite grandpa now is just spouting off random numbers like an autistic spreadsheet. Joe has turned into a Mary Sue who has zero goals and no obstacles. It is all stats with no basis.
Thankfully we have murder hobos which have a strong story and progression. But dear joe and artorian seem to have been thrown into a random number generator.
Any comment like this on aocial media seems to get deleted so evidently the authors are aware of the problem and their PR is trying to stay ahead of it.
Word to you if you read comments, just fix your storylines so they have an arc, give us a baseline and work towards something. You have amazing world and characters, now….let them do something!
Artorian rescued his kids, The dungeon overcame obstacles and grew, even loveable jackson progressed and got his own comic relief.
Our favorite grandpa now is just spouting off random numbers like an autistic spreadsheet. Joe has turned into a Mary Sue who has zero goals and no obstacles. It is all stats with no basis.
Thankfully we have murder hobos which have a strong story and progression. But dear joe and artorian seem to have been thrown into a random number generator.
Any comment like this on aocial media seems to get deleted so evidently the authors are aware of the problem and their PR is trying to stay ahead of it.
Word to you if you read comments, just fix your storylines so they have an arc, give us a baseline and work towards something. You have amazing world and characters, now….let them do something!
January 12, 2025
Crazy MC and his wacky adventures
Its pretty good, but I was not a fan of this one in particular. Joe is insane. Not wacky anymore, but screwy and does stuff that is self harming and totally unnecessary for little benefit. This one is a bit of a catch up novel. Joes far behind in his class, skills, and stats, and the story is put on a bit of a halt to help him catch up. The war is basically background noise, and all the set up at the beginning of this novel and the whole of the last one isn't even the central problem in this story. Also, be ready to get frustrated at Joe neglecting his abilities and professions. He has many ways of learning anything he wants, crafting materials like in Minecraft/Runescape, and he still doesn't know how to balance his class! He is constantly in combat or being ambushed or attacked, and he doesn't take any of it seriously, and it's starting to become annoying. Guy has water and fire element compatibility but has no water or fire spells! Not one. Overall it's alright, if you can stomach a scatterbrained MC as your POV then I'd recommend this.
Its pretty good, but I was not a fan of this one in particular. Joe is insane. Not wacky anymore, but screwy and does stuff that is self harming and totally unnecessary for little benefit. This one is a bit of a catch up novel. Joes far behind in his class, skills, and stats, and the story is put on a bit of a halt to help him catch up. The war is basically background noise, and all the set up at the beginning of this novel and the whole of the last one isn't even the central problem in this story. Also, be ready to get frustrated at Joe neglecting his abilities and professions. He has many ways of learning anything he wants, crafting materials like in Minecraft/Runescape, and he still doesn't know how to balance his class! He is constantly in combat or being ambushed or attacked, and he doesn't take any of it seriously, and it's starting to become annoying. Guy has water and fire element compatibility but has no water or fire spells! Not one. Overall it's alright, if you can stomach a scatterbrained MC as your POV then I'd recommend this.
August 3, 2022
I was all for peace, but now I want to see the Elves decimated
The Ascetic is most certainly not going to like the consequences of this chain of events. Joe was willing to take a moral high ground here, but now, I think that the Elves will learn to fear humanity, rather than simply to look down on them.
And what happens when Joe actually becomes a master?
I did take one star off because this book just ended. Not really a cliffhanger, it just stopped and will be continued. Another thing that I noticed, but wasn’t too concerned about, though I hope it doesn’t continue, was that Joe seems to level skills very erratically. He’s constantly using Neutrality Aura and Exquisite Shell, and while those two are a bit higher than the others, it’s not much, and the others are quickly catching up to their only mediocre level.
The Ascetic is most certainly not going to like the consequences of this chain of events. Joe was willing to take a moral high ground here, but now, I think that the Elves will learn to fear humanity, rather than simply to look down on them.
And what happens when Joe actually becomes a master?
I did take one star off because this book just ended. Not really a cliffhanger, it just stopped and will be continued. Another thing that I noticed, but wasn’t too concerned about, though I hope it doesn’t continue, was that Joe seems to level skills very erratically. He’s constantly using Neutrality Aura and Exquisite Shell, and while those two are a bit higher than the others, it’s not much, and the others are quickly catching up to their only mediocre level.
September 8, 2022
This was by far the worst book in the series so far. Very little of the "completionist" aspects remain, instead there's a lot of random things happening. Looks like the series is going in a similar direction as the Artorian Archives.
There is very little happening in the sense of progress and character development. A few class quests, sure, but I find it hard to believe that nobody ever grinds a few levels here and there. Instead level and skill updates happen sparsely and only by accident.
I also lost all sense of scale and power. Dwarves are so strong and fast that Joe can't even see them moving or fighting (just a blur), but when the plot demands they just die. And Joe saves the day of course, because nobody is following their own quests or achievements.
Still 4 stars because I enjoyed reading the book generally, but it's starting to circle the drain.
There is very little happening in the sense of progress and character development. A few class quests, sure, but I find it hard to believe that nobody ever grinds a few levels here and there. Instead level and skill updates happen sparsely and only by accident.
I also lost all sense of scale and power. Dwarves are so strong and fast that Joe can't even see them moving or fighting (just a blur), but when the plot demands they just die. And Joe saves the day of course, because nobody is following their own quests or achievements.
Still 4 stars because I enjoyed reading the book generally, but it's starting to circle the drain.
November 8, 2022
getting back on track
First off love Mr. Krout’s writing!
This book definitely is a little better than the last one! Hopefully heading back in the right direction of keeping you interested and progressing the story. The last book just seemed like a whole lot of nothing. I felt like the story progressed, a little, in this book. I almost gave up on the series after the last two books. Which bummed me, because this is one of my current favorite series. After each book, I am biting at the bit for the next one. The last two books before this one, not so much!
I was excited to see he had already published the next book before I was done reading this one. So in conclusion, yeah this book “Invent” is worth the read and definitely worthy of the series! So stay tuned for what’s coming next for Joe the Champion of Tatum 😎
First off love Mr. Krout’s writing!
This book definitely is a little better than the last one! Hopefully heading back in the right direction of keeping you interested and progressing the story. The last book just seemed like a whole lot of nothing. I felt like the story progressed, a little, in this book. I almost gave up on the series after the last two books. Which bummed me, because this is one of my current favorite series. After each book, I am biting at the bit for the next one. The last two books before this one, not so much!
I was excited to see he had already published the next book before I was done reading this one. So in conclusion, yeah this book “Invent” is worth the read and definitely worthy of the series! So stay tuned for what’s coming next for Joe the Champion of Tatum 😎
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