Eclipse of the Crown

Villains and Virtues, Book 3

By: A. K. Caggiano

Narrated by: Ellen Quay, Seth Podowitz

Their destinies are irrevocably entangled, but will their bond be the realm’s undoing?

Damien and Amma have landed themselves in the midst of Yvlcon, the preeminent congregation of the vilest and most unscrupulous villains in existence. Once again amongst his peers, Damien’s moral growth is threatened just when he’s learning to be slightly less evil. Consequently, Amma finds her own virtue in peril when faced with so much temptation, namely in the form of a domineering blood mage she can’t—or doesn’t want—to say no to.

But a burgeoning romance is doused in the coldest of baths when the Grand Order of Dread commands Damien to once again face the swirling vortex of entropy that’s been hunting them all over the realm. The coming eclipse points to devastation and destruction, and there seems to be no avoiding annihilation, prophecy being, well, prophecy, after all.

But there’s an entire fortnight before the world is supposed to end, and surely that’s enough time to find some way around it, or to at least confess one’s devotion to the other before it all burns down around them.

©2023 A. K. Caggiano (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Fun & quirky

I thought some of the banter was top notch. I really enjoyed the male narrators voice(s) for the various characters.

Loved it!

The narrators did an amazing job, loved the imps! Really fun world and a great story.

So good! So good you see!

Excellent book, great story. Building the world in a great and fun way. Highly recommend it

So good!

This whole series is such a surprise, it’s so perfect. Everything I’ve ever wanted from a fantasy novel. Highly recommend the series (this is book 3)

Loved!

I absolutely adored this conclusion—it tied up all the loose ends perfectly!

This might become my new go-to comfort read.

Cthulhu and cuddles: an odd combo that worked

“The Grand Order Of Dread”
Gotta love an evil organization named G.O.O.D. This was a weird combo of Megamind/Despicable Me levels of dastardliness (and a similar level of fun) with a YA level of innuendo, F bombs and sex scenes. Darned if that didn’t work for me.

“It turns out I’m just as abductible as you are.”
There’s still another ten hours of wandering to and fro encountering goblins and supernatural coitus-interuptus… but Amma and Damien finally seal the deal (and it’s not fade to black, and I was happy for them). That’s also about when the story finally gets down to the original plot about Damien bringing on the apocalypse. It was fun. It was sweet. It was long. But, this was overall totes adorable.

Tougher to get through than the previous books

TLDR: I personally didn't like it as much as the first two. It feels slower half way through and tougher to chew through than the first two. The ending is good. Voice acting is still good. Main characters are good, side characters are okay. Still worth a read if you want to finish out the trilogy.

I really liked the first two books and tore through them the plot was interesting and easy to digest. Something about this book however is less digestable. I lost interest about half way through and didn't feel a lot of desire to finish. After a 3 month break I came back and finished it. I'm glad I did, just to finish out the trilogy and it certainly wasn't bad. The middle bit was just hard to get through. The ending was good, and I was concerned till all was revealed. It was good to see both characters grow in different ways. I liked some of the new characters but some came and went too quickly or too easily. I can't decide if Xander in the end is actually a "likeable" character. He occasionally shows signs of warmth and "goodness" then turns around and is an unbearable jerk (which to be fair is true to character). Even when something big happens with him near the end I expected him to have some sort of reaction but there's really nothing. Perhaps it's explored more in his own book spin off series, maybe he becomes more likeable but frankly I'm much less interested in reading those considering I don't like him much now. But maybe I'm being harsh, and you'll love it. It's still worth a listen if you want to hear the end of the trilogy.

Clever

I loved the subtle forth wall breaks hahaha the story was so good my heart is happy

Must read. I will be rereading and relistening this series forever.

This book is absolutely incredible. Everything I ever wanted from a fantasy book and romance and more. I can’t believe the books actually got better and better. I’m so sad it’s ending.

The audio is perfect. Every voice and style and cadence. It’s actually more fun to listen to than read and that doesn’t happen often.

A lovely, very silly view of GOOD and evil

This is one of those rare series that has compelled me, once the epilogue was finished, to start back at book one chapter one. I want to see what I missed the first time. The writing was funny and delightfully fourth-wall breaking. I was unsure about multiple narrators, but they nailed it.