Antelucan

Artorian's Archives #13

by Dennis Vanderkerken, Dakota Krout

Heavenlies roam. Eternia protects. Avalon thrives.

Cal is sorted, Avalon stands. A winner is he!

Artorian wakes in youthful form version three, and happier he could not be. Exploring Avalon is a treat to the senses, with cat cafes galore, and gossip flowing evermore. Lectures on Laws and leisurely walks fill his days, with plenty abound to catch the eye. All is well on this enthusiastic stroll until a Heavenly falls from the sky, and Artorian can kiss his simple days goodbye.

Escaping to Eternia by shoving a healer into a bag, Artorian has to contend with the mess he left behind. The place may be The Pale, but it’s janitor time! Eternium is ready for spring cleaning, but what’s that strange scent in the air? It’s foul, thick, and cheesy with flair. The penguins are here. All will despair.

Artorian prepares his most luminous means. For some stains, more Dakka is needed for cleans.

Genres: Audiobook

474 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 11, 2023

Reviews

[R · Rating 1 out of 5]

At this point, I am reading these books completely against my better judgement. Dennis Vanderkerken writes in such a way that I can completely disengage my brain and let him instruct me on how the character thinks or feels about a given topic AND how I should feel about the character feeling that specific way. All the while the side characters around Artorian/(Dawn/ember/whatever) will instantly agree without question, because they have only been included in the story to help confirm the specific point the author is attempting to make. If you have ever read Plato's "The Republic" you will know EXACTLY what I am talking about here.

As a secondary point (which aligns pretty closely with my previous book review), the characters have traded interesting personalities entirely for childish whimsy. Seriously, a few of the conversations I read in this book could be verbatim conversations I have with my three year old kid. It's extremely off-putting considering the somewhat dark origins of this story (abduction of children, slaying demons, etc etc).

[Jack Vinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

*sigh*
I think this series is getting a little long. There are fun set pieces here, but the continuity and overall story is getting lost - has been lost over the past few volumes. The connection between character across the series is tenuous at best - some of that is intentional, and some due to my own memory.

I think, based on the Divine Dungeon / Completionist Chronicles reader community, that the Artorian series will make a connection between the two. There are some elements of that in this edition, but given the pacing it could be several more volumes before we see more details.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun?

Yeah, Artorian goes back In the game and talks and talks and bullies and completes one task. End of book.

It’s still a fun read, but the series is feeling stretched. The events in this book did not seem to warrant the space and could have been chapters in another. Same with the last few novels. Worse, I’ve started to see Artorian as a likable bully, he’s nice but he forces everyone to go his way. And if he doesn’t everyone else will, because they like him. Any hoo I’m hoping some of the joy of the first books returns in the next.

Still well told. Enjoy

[Joseph Michelsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite series, but the last two or three books have been so much nonsense. The first 70% is random conversation and filler. There was, maybe, one good chapter progression and one goal accomplished before the end. Hopefully the next one will get back to the story.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished an ARC, Eternium has suffered much with the absence of Artorian. It appears a lot of work must be done to get it ready to be a game. Artorian now in a kit form travels with Ember and others to see what has changed and to meddle with the current task manager. Be ready for more puns, real-world references and the like.

[Michael Schwartz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Total filler

Honestly if there was a point to the whole book I missed it and if you skipped this book you would not have missed anything. It's like if you put 80% dnd manual dynamics 15% old school cartoons and 5% actual story worth. It's a whole lot of empty bits and pieces that aren't even remotely interesting.

[Birdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This segment is a transition and information dumb of a book. I say segment because up to this point the books really do read that way. Not much happens but there is a lot of rpg jargon and leading comments that make you want to get through this book really quick so we can get back to the good storyline.

[kory christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artorian will never get old

There is always something amazing about returning to Artorian, something comforting, happy, and a little explodey.

Plus in this entry we get Tiny Dawn and Tiny Artorian!!! What more could you want!!

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This book succeeded in all it needed to do and more. It was a great read and a great time.

[John Davs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed

90% of this book was bla bla nonsense and added nothing to the story… Very disappointing… I hope the next book has real substance to it

[Arno Reichel · Rating 1 out of 5]

After struggling through the last several books, I have given up on this series. Too random and no end in sight.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

[Chesley Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love artorian and his wimsicle shinanagans, but I kissed the point of this book and am happy to finally be done with it.