Dungeon Madness (The Divine Dungeon)

Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure: I personally know the author, and I received access to a temporary pre-release copy in exchange for editing services. A review was never discussed, but I enjoyed the book and feel it is deserving of a review. Please note, I did pay for permanent access to the final copy of the book. Also, my personal relationship with the author has had no impact on the following review, unless said impact was grading aspects a bit more harshly.Quick Look: Dungeon Madness is the second book in the Divine Dungeon series and is a fantastic follow up to the first book. The concept is the same in that the main character is a dungeon, but the scenarios play out quite a bit differently than in the first book. Again, this book is a LitRPG novel with hints of the Wuxia genre, meaning that what the reader gets is a book that could be ripped straight out of a video game with some awesome fight descriptions.Recommended For: Readers of the first book. Seriously, this book is difficult to read as a stand alone novel because it isn’t one. It takes place immediately after the events of the first book and ends in a way which just begs for a third. That being said, the first book and this one are relatively inexpensive and quite long, so if you’re interested, I’d recommend picking both of them up. That being said, I’d recommend this series to anyone who really likes video games, anyone who likes dungeon-crawler fantasy, and anyone who likes seeing something new. There are a few dungeon-style novels out there, but very few and the concept is still fresh.--SPOILERS AHEAD--Pros: This book improved upon almost every aspect of the previous book. The mechanics of the writing took a major upswing: writing quality is much better, the editing is better, and the consistency is better. This isn’t to say the previous book was seriously hurting in these regards, but there is a significant difference. I attribute these to the author and his team being a bit more experienced. After the mechanical issues, the pros start being even better. The magic system gets even more fleshed out while still staying simple enough where I didn’t get confused. The balance of the limitations on things like runes, enchantments, and inscriptions while being accessible to all with the limitless nature of mana while being accessible to a very select few was a brilliant touch. The creatures created in the dungeon show even more creativity on the part of the author, with the floating jellyfish being my favorite. The humor is taken up a notch, and I loved it. Also, while the ending is definitely a cliffhanger, the ending felt less rushed and more minor loose ends were tied up than in the last book. We certainly have a major loose end to deal with in the next book, but I feel like this was a much better ending arc than the first book.The author also improved on a handful of the ‘mixed bag’ issues from the last book. Due to the increasing size of the dungeon and the amount of time the story takes place outside of said dungeon, the book doesn’t physically stagnate from being told in the same place. There is enough variance throughout the different floors and the surface (and the balance of time spent in each is improved) that there is never the feeling like the reader is trapped. On the topic of exposition or world building, as I call it, we see that the author has refined his ability to show us the world. He lowered the overall amount of exposition and built the world through characters’ actions. Even with less exposition, the world kept growing and expanding in my imagination while reading the book, which isn’t surprising as the author’s biggest strength is world building.Mixed Bag: The author uses a bit more meta-humor in this book. He refers to himself once or twice in a humorous fashion. He also refers to a few of his fellow LitRPG authors’ books. Now, I loved this, and many people seem to love this style of humor. That being said, a few people may take some issue with it. It does disrupt the flow and immersion a little bit, as meta humor is intended to do, but I found that it wasn’t enough to get me to even pause, let alone completely stop reading for any length of time. The author also still does rely a bit on exposition through dialogue, but has definitely improved on reducing the amount of such dialogue, especially between Cal and Dani, and replaced it with character building dialogue. Also, we still see rapid character development, especially as we watch Cal begin to become more ‘dungeon’ and less ‘former human’, but again, it fits with the vast amount of power the characters gain due to the uniqueness of Cal. I don’t see a major problem with any of these mixed-bag aspects, but I decided to put them here because they are the most likely aspects to irk people, at least in my opinion.Cons: I have the same con with this book as I did with the last one. The last page sucked. Not because of anything that was on the page, but just because there wasn’t another page after it.Overall: Concept - 10/10 Writing mechanics - 15/15 Consistency - 5/5 Grammar - 5/5 Dialogue - 5/5 LitRPG mechanics - 8/10 World building - 15/15 Monsters - 5/5 Environment - 5/5 Other - 5/5 Characters - 9/10 Narrative - 19/20 Twist - 5/5 Pacing - 5/5 Humor - 4/5 Other - 5/5 Total - 76/80 = 19/20 = 4.75/5

Corny author, Good comic relief, and a great plot. This makes for a good read for any magic fantasy readers above 13 years of age

this is a fun book, and the writing is far better than the first book; there is a really tremendous improvement in the prose. It does suffer slightly from being a prisoner of the "more is better" meme (think of those awful batman movies after the first one). On the other hand, at least as many readers as authors believe in that theme, so it may very well resonate w/ a lot of readers. Me, I'd rather see authors increase the impact via other methods rather than simple escalation. Unfortunately, the current trend (and virtually all advice to writers) is more action, more explosions, increase the stakes...this is not the only (or necessarily best) way to increase reader satisfaction. The current trend is like turning everything into a Michael Bay Transformers movie. Ugh. There are many other ways on increase reader satisfaction, to make a more memorable novel, or any other goal. Better technique (itself a huge list of options: better dialog, better pacing, better prose, more engaging characters, clever plot, etc) is arguably one of the hardest paths, but one where this sequel does very well indeed. There are actually quite a few other ways, too, but most guidance to writers these days tends to be of the moronic "save the cat" mindset. Fortunately, the author put in the hard work to improve his writing skills and polish this novel to a much greater extent. I imagine most folks will like it even more than I did. The first one was cute, and clearly had some thought put into it, but the writing was a bit rough. This one is well written on quite a few levels; the prose flows quite well, the dialog is good, pacing is good, the overall structure is good, etc. Good job!

Would I recommend this book to a friend? YesWould I read this again in the future? YES I have read several times.Would I pre-order the next book without waiting for reviews? YesWould I read the next book in the series? YESReadability- 5. Well written. Good word usage. Good wordsmithing.Editing 4 stars. More than a few grammar/editing errors.Intended audience Young Adult to AdultWriting skill Level. Average to better than Average.Worth the price? K.U. Yes. 2.99 to 3.99CONTROVERSIAL items -- None Another good book. Lots of good reviews on the plot/story and writing so there is not much I feel I can add EXCEPT for the Editing.There are more than a few misspelling, grammar and even some missing words. I should have made a list, since it appears after reading the first book reviews that the author is willing to quickly correct problems.All in All I enjoyed this book and would recommend this for a fun read. Really hoping to hear the Audiobook soon.Recently I have noted some reviewers posting negative comments due to Social Issues/preferences. Just as some people are offended by graphic sex/violence, others are offended by overt Social Justice Warrior tones (see urban dictionary), LGBT or overt religious tones.I think that is a personal preference just like whether you like Space Opera series or LITRPG literature. So rather than rate on what offends me personally I have just decided to add a category for controversial subjects to make potential readers who wish to avoid stories with these controversial issues aware that they are present so they can move on and leave their noncontributory outlooks with them.I enjoyed this story. Fun read and well developed plot and world building.If you enjoy LITRPG it is great take on the Genre.I would recommend reading Dsnake1 review. Pretty much says it all.I would also recommend the audiobook. The narrator tries a little to hard at times, but hits the right note that soon you are fully immersed in the story.

Crushed it, way better than the copy/paste lirpg/harem books ive been reading

Uma escrita fluida e de fácil entendimento, acredito ser um boa continuação, indico para aqueles que querem treinar o inglês ...

I was going to write all kind of things. About elves, massive fights and weird creatures. But the ending just kinda has me in shock so im just going to read the next one now

Another solid entry in this series. Very enjoyable, although those new to this series would do well to read Dungeon Born first. This novel did end on a 'cliff-hanger' but anyone sufficiently interested to read the second book of a series likely has enough interest to care about the characters and look forward to book #3. Good character development and believable world building.

This book continues the story brilliantly. Dale seems a little more likeable this time and actually appears to be thinking about people other than himself and occasionally the others of his group. He and Cal begin communicating following the events at the end of the first book, although their relationship doesn’t improve significantly!A new threat is introduced and dealt with during this book as well as another problem that begins at the end of the book - to be dealt with next time!Highly recommend

I was eagerly awaiting the release of this book and got it as soon as i could. Unfortunately within a couple of days the book was over.The depth and breadth of the story is thickening and i can't wait to see what will happen next.On another side note, i have been trying to find a computer game which is like this, there are very few that are even similar and they are definitely not using a comparable idea/system as is described in the book. Which is a total shame as this would make an exquisite game.Please also release a game that uses the same ideas and system !!