Everything seemed fine. I took my farm back, made peace between the local troll tribe and the villagers, and wrapped everyone behind a protective wall. From there it was just back to the peaceful farming life.
Until the adventurers came back . . . with a vengeance. Now, they threaten the women I love, the land I swore on my parents' grave to protect, and the people that live there. And they will never stop.
Protecting my land isn't enough. No, it's time to unify every dungeon in the land and fight back.
I have a love/hate relationship with Archer's work, but this series is definitely on the love side.
The absurdity of the situation. The nuances and foibles of the characters. The overall concept being rehashed to a couple of guards years later. This whole thing is just awesome from top to bottom.
This story really is about the overall progression more than the characters. Or at least that's how I feel. Sure we follow the MC but I feel less engaged with the characters than the farm itself. Maybe it's the lack of emotional intimacy outside the harem, and even then that feels minimal. It reminds me, in some ways, of how Assimov's Foundation series made me feel. Which is weird. I don't know why it makes me feel that way.
The prologue and epilogue were less grating now that I know the story itself better and knew what to expect from the frame tale. It also helped A LOT that it was showing his son and their relationship instead of a cringy fan boy. It felt more relevant and spent less time showing things I'd rather be introduced in the story.
A lot of fun, all things told. Not competing for favorites at the moment, but it's solidly placed this author in my personal roster of authors to check on and follow.
Everything I liked in the first book of the series, to me, was lost in this second book. The idea that villagers and regular people need to be "protected" from "greedy adventurers" is hardly credible. The idea that a regular human-troll chief, main character, Markus (Marusk), will negotiate with other "Dungeon Lords" to protect and harbor villagers is nonsensical, illogical, and silly. To unite all of the existing Dungeons into a Council is counterproductive since there is little help/knowledge that Dungeons could share with each other. Especially if an adventurer group has it out for a specific Dungeon. The shallowness and comedy disappeared. The "freshness" of the theme dwindled or no longer applied. It even felt less interesting and entertaining than the first book.
You read a lot of books about adventurers delving dungeons, fighting monsters and earning loot, you can even find books written from the dungeons perspective...
But what about a book where adventurers are selfish and greedy? Where the MC forms a community of varying races all seen as humanities enemies? And humanity calls it a dungeon?
That's what these books are about. A simple farmer who finally got sick of the way things were and inadvertently made a change.
Full of awesome characters, witty humor from an undead lich, and exciting magic filled fights... Definitely, definitely want to read more of this!
Many book series will have a second book that is worse than the first, this is not one of those series. Though there were a few more grammar and spelling mistakes, it wasn’t enough to ruin the story and was barely noticeable.
Once again it leaves a slight cliff hanger by telling what will happen next book but it is a good thing. And though it is told as King Marusk retelling his rise to power, it keeps both present and past stories entertaining.
I really loved reading this book. I couldn't get enough. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. The story and characters were interesting and engaging. I never wanted to stop reading. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next. This book is definitely worth reading.
That seems to be my go to title but hey... it works. I enjoyed the book. I liked the story. Liked the characters. It's a different twist to see things from the view of the dungeon dwellers. Some more serious turns snuck in, inclusiveness, tolerance, racism. There was sex and some other funkiness but I liked it. It made some sense in the story.
This is a incredible subversion of your typical fantasy world! The characters and world are incredibly engaging and the adventure of the non adventurers is a blast to read! I eagerly await the next one!
This series has it all!!! You'll laugh, you'll be aching to jump ahead but know if you do you'll miss something you shouldn't!!! Characters that are intriguing and a joy to read!!! Plus some awesome cult fantasy activities!!!
Simply put, if you liked the last one, you'll like this one. It has more cackling through the whole thing, and laughing out loud through a lit if parts. Yes, the has action and a lot of it.
This series continues to deliver. What you think is going to be another generic harem story... Really isn't. It's a well crafted and just FUN ride with the MC and company!
The first book was fun, but in the second book, the MC becomes insufferable and annoying. He doesn't listen and comes off as a stubborn idiot. The action scenes just drag on forever, and I ended up skipping half of them out of boredom.
A 10hr audio book. Just like the first, this book had some really cool and interesting parts but the majority was just aggravating to listen too. It was good enough to want to finish the series, so I will find out if the last book gets any better.
Another entertaining installment of this series. The bonds Marcus has with his wives is very touching and helps to make him enduring as a character who wants more than just to have people stay off his property. I will be finishing the final book in this series.
I found d the book an excellent ready, the story was unique and very interesting. I look forward to seeing the next installment of this series of books