Dungeon Desolation

Divine Dungeon Series, Book 4

By: Dakota Krout

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Auras empowering the body to superhuman status. Invocations tearing the land asunder. The war has arrived.

The necromantic armies are on the warpath and nowhere is safe—even the sanctuary of the flying dungeon has been threatened. The leadership of nearly all the sentient races has been wiped out, and only the people most suited to repelling the advancing darkness have an intact monarchy.

Cal learns quickly that the primary threat is not the far-off war, but the actions of those entrusted with protecting the population. As it turns out, the idea of using a flying dungeon as a war machine is very tempting indeed.

Dale has been facing his trials better than anyone could have hoped for, but when the war takes a turn for the worse, his role is forcibly relinquished. Since his only chance at survival is painful and rapid advancement, Dale must learn if his strength of will can develop into strength of flesh.

The distance between the Heavens and the Earth might not be so far after all.

©2018 Mountaindale Press (P)2019 Tantor

It should have ended.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite series. The first three books were excellent. I felt like everything was planned out and the story had well developed plot points with a clear destination. Where the last book ended, it would have been the perfect ending.

I was eagerly awaiting this book and the next but my expectations were too high. This book leaves me with a sense of wanting. The escalation, in all ways of the word, is erratic and nonsensical. The previous books seemed so linear and each breakthrough was exciting. Here things seem out of place.

The dungeon doesnt really have the motivation he did in the previous books. The ending of Dungeon Calamity was the culmination of all his hard work and this book seems to sully that.

Most of my qualms cant be explained other than a feeling of something being wrong.

This book had taken such an extreme jump in conflict. A, S, SS, SSS ranked individuals and possibly above are introduced as the pinnacle of the world yet they are thrown around like candy.

Overall, I am not looking forward to the next book as the main conflict will be an annoying one. My favorite parts of the series were the small accomplishments that steadily piled up, not the blatant way the author tries to use the Shock factor.

TL;DR : Another good book in the series but I feel it is lacking in comparison to the others. The last book had a solid conclusion and this book lacks a good continuing plot. That said, this books still does have many of the lovable factors from the previous books.

Better to stop reading after book 3

I really wanted to like this book, but I can't give this more than one star (even if I almost did just because I liked the other books and got a bit sentimental). This book was painful to get through and it only picked a direction during the second half. Before that, it was all over the place without going anywhere. The story felt like a kid built a sandcastle during the first three books only to smash it during this installment. If you destroy too much of what you built, there's no victory to be had even if the MCs win the battle.

Another problem I have is that I don't really like Dale. His best moments were when he rose up to lead the settlement around the dungeon in previous books, but then he stagnated. He is a person that in order to feel better, likes to smash sentient beings that don't really stand a chance against him unless he makes a mistake. Ever since he murdered someone in cold blood during the first book he hasn't had any character development what so ever. Or if he had some sort of insight, he was quickly reset. I wish the story was centered around Cal, because even though he also lacks empathy, at least he is an interesting monster. I guess the intent of the author is for Dale to be the hero, but you could remove him entirely and end up with a much better book.

Also, Dani has had some likable moments in past books, but now she is only a "whiny wife" caricature. Overall, the story is full of too many caricatures and too few characters.

Great but Disapointing

Krout delivers another entertaining entry to this series, but it seems the stress of deadlines shows. I can't say that I fully understand Krout's work load or how Audible handles it's partnerships with authors of long series, but I have seen other series rushed in the past on this platform.
The first 2/3s of this story feel like the typical smooth plot development that I've come to respect about this series. However, the last third of this story (around where the Climax starts) feels rushed and yet slow at the same time. Certain scenes seem to be left out while other less plot-relevant scenes are included at times that don't feel necessary. The development of certain characters and relationships come out of nowhere and it honestly felt like Krout was trying to rush the entire series to a completion, only to leave things on a cliff hangar.
I still love this series and even though I could see many glaring flaws towards the end of this book, they didn't cause the story to become unbearable. If you are a fan of this series then I'm confident you will still like this entry, but I'm fearful that this is a sign of a degrading in quality that I've come to expect of this series and Dakota Krout as an author.

Mostly Good

I like this series so naturally i'm going to keep following it. I liked most of this story except around 3/4ths of the way through the story just sort of got confusing for me, and especially the ending. I don't know if I missed something but it just felt like a whole lot of buildup and then a deflating payoff.

Imaginative, but lacking

Let me start off by saying I love the series. I'm a huge fan. The system the author put in place to define magic is incredibly imaginative, yet paints a very plausible and graspable image for the listener. It reads like how magic really would be if it was a force in our existence.

The book reads like a video game, and for me that was one of the things that drew me to the book the most. I want so bad for this to be adapted into a video game that plays the system exactly how it's written in the book. the possibilities could be endless.

But this unfortunately is where the authors strength lie; in the imagination of the world and characters, but not so much in the execution.

While the world, the foundations, and the systems are incredibly well developed, the characters are almost entirely underdeveloped. With the exception of a few characters, most of the characters have the same underlying traits and humor that the author does. This unfortunately has many of what should be the most diverse and important characters being read as if they are the same person with a different skin.

Especially in this fourth installment in the series, when everything is at it's climax, and the peril is the most perilous, the author pulls the reader out of their immersion and emotions with ill-timed, corny jokes, often from characters that should be the most serious or brooding. Some of the most ominous and foreboding characters that have been shadowing the book from the beginning have become a joke, and I can't take them seriously anymore.

I don't mean Zenocide. He's exactly how he should be.

Overall I would highly recommend anyone who loves RPGs, RTSs, and Dungeon building games to read this series. You will absolutely love it. Just be prepared for the awkward jokes that turn what should be an emotional ride, into somewhat of an uncomfortable read/listen.

not as good as the previous 3

Felt rushed, this book started off slow and then took a left off a cliff. Seriously you made the main character spend all of a week as a C rank and then go to war and then he’s mage. So many characters that weren’t even brought back up since the previous book. Irrelevant moments. Honestly, I love the idea but this story is missing so many pieces. Will try to listen through again and catch details but 3/5 is fair for the story line.

So much fun

Vikas Adams is an amazing narrator. He always brings a story to life. Dakato Krout always deliver with a fun story and where he even comes up with his ideas is beyond me. So creative.

Good book rushed ending?

The book was good but the ending felt rushed, were the book ended was not the best stopping piont in my opinion which added on the feeling that the ending was rushed ,but the book itself as good and will buy the next one

Too short

The only thing worng with this book is that it's not long enough. The ended is amazing and the twists is a shocker

Brilliant and wonderful!

Celestial Feces! what a ride, and im desolated that the end had come. Rejoice though, because Dakota spun a yarn, worth of the spindle of fate. The divine dungeon series is one of my favorites, wth over 500 fantasy audio books in my library. I loved the ending, it was absolutely brilliant. Thank you Dakota, and im looking forward to your next novel (crossing my fingers it's in the completionist series).

Disappointing

Lacks some of tharm of the previous books. I feel like the story got too big and would have liked to see time spent in the dungeon.

and so it ends

i enjoyed this book and the hole set but i guess it ends hear for me
I've been looking forward to the next book for so long and now it's
coming BUT it's being narrated by someone different i f**king hate it
when this happens and after 4 book to ( i swear i would rather wait another year than having it now with some over narrater)
such a disappointment and i don't think i can bring myself to get the next book

fall from grace

The ending was ill thought out. The world building had collapsed leading to the writer suffering from an ending that only further destroyed the story. The ultimate evil was surrounded by plot convenience and stilted character development.

Though the monster creation was still excellent, the main characters were enjoyable and there were elements in the story that could have been developed into something interesting. The main story fell apart to the point of it being frustrating. If another story is released to follow this, it will likely suffer more problems due to how the unresolved problems seem even more poorly written. The story suffered from illl thought out madness.

Hhhm..conflicted

Well...I’m a fan of the Devine dungeon series but this last instalment is...ugh..vicas Adams voices are..some what bland and when he tries to put some different notes..it’s just..unpleasant. I’m somewhat disappointed..Dakota croute writing is a little less then usual..but still enjoyable. Though vicas Adams “crazy voice” is extremely irritating.

great book

I have really enjoyed all the books so far and in sure at this stage that I will enjoy the last one.

this serie was a great surprise. I have came across it by accident.

highly recommended

ow the puns and referances...

so there you are just enjoying yourself listening to your audio book, when suddenly you hear a word/sentence you recognise.
then you shoot into a smirk or laugh at the seemingly weird timing wich breaks the tension perfectly.

after i had finished the previous book i was itching to continue and i was not dissappointed.

so... of course i bought the next bookXD. i like this serie as much as the guild codex series. these both help me concentrate durring work:p.

im realy looking forward to the rest:3.

Constantly great

very enjoyable story with great narration. I can never seem to stop listening once I start! highly recommended.

If you like Fantasy

Great narration of an even greater book. Was unable to stop listening until it was done.

Excelente!!

Q buena historia deberian hacer algun tipo de alarma o correo q avise cuando salga la version audible del siguiente libro, BRavo dakota excelente serie y la narración no pudo ser mejor

Incredible

I used this series when thinking about DnD ideas. It gave me character ideas and DM ideas (always wanted to try DMing) and it's so well written and then narrated.