Dungeon Calamity (The Divine Dungeon, #3) (2024)

This is absolutely niche fantasy but DAMN it is FINE. I've got a mind that LOVES setting up rules and knocking them over, exploiting them, finding loopholes, and generally playing mayhem.

This book, and the two before it, are FINE examples of this kind of thinking. I've not seen a finer example of a leveling-up progression in or out of a LitRPG (or game) setting. Breaking into Mage ranks is FUN.

Lots of action, lots of destruction, and even more worldbuilding. Literally. This is, after all, an intelligent dungeon that is creating its own world and providing a service as well as a challenge for all the people come to loot it. Win/win. All that death and destruction is symbiosis. (What an odd idea, no?)

I'm loving it. I'm especially loving how BIG it's getting. This, to me, is great popcorn fiction. :)

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 I was being a bit more harsh than normal.

Quick Look: Dungeon Calamity is the third book in the Divine Dungeon series and is a fantastic follow up to the first two books. As I’ve said in previous reviews, 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 two books. Seriously, if you’re looking to buy just this book, don’t. It’s not a standalone novel and it won’t make any sense to you without the first two books. That being said, the first two books and this one are relatively inexpensive and quite long, so if you’re interested, I’d recommend picking all of them up. If I were to recommend the series to a friend, that friend would probably enjoy video games, martial arts movies, tabletop RPGs, and fantasy strongholds like magic, swords, and evil monsters. Specifically, this book has aspects of city-building sims, MMOs, tower defense games, action games, and, of course, RPGs.

--SPOILERS AHEAD--

Pros:

From a mechanical standpoint, the book is better. Both Dakota and his editors have more experience, so the voice remains more consistent, little grammatical errors are much less common, and the overall flow and pace of the book is wonderful.

The magic system, while not necessarily expanded, is used in really unique and creative ways. This goes right along with the innovative ways the Dungeon uses its mechanics to build, expand, and eventually become mobile. Its new floors are incredibly well designed, a testament to the author’s love for and knowledge of the world.

The humor is even better, in my opinion, than either of the previous books. There were times my wife looked at me funny. I don’t typically laugh at books, but I sure did with this one.

The best thing the author has done is stick to his limits. He has defined certain rules in the previous two books, and he sticks to them. This framework has led to incredibly creative solutions to problems, even though the main character is incredibly powerful.

The ending of this book is a lot less mixed. There is still plenty of room for more books in the world. There are also multiple avenues he could pursue going forward. The biggest change in the ending is there is no massive, heart-wrenching, soul-slashing cliffhanger. I had personally liked the hook at the end of the second book, but I know many did not. Either way, this ending is much tidier.

Mixed Bag:

The closest thing to a mixed bag in this book is the ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I did have to double check with the author to make sure I wasn’t stupid. I should have had more faith in myself and in him. He writes the ending clearly, but if you are confused, just get in touch with him. He’ll gladly chit the chat with you and help to clarify any confusions you have.

Of course, some people will dislike time loops in anything, but that’s their problem, really.

Some people may deem this as a con, but I think it’s pulled off well. Cal has a bit of the ‘chosen one’ trope going on, but I think it’s handled well. Is the dungeon set up to be more powerful than anything/one else? Sure. Is it abused? No, not in my opinion.

Also, some people will see parts of this book as ‘extra’ or ‘unnecessary’. I’d thoroughly disagree, but some folks will say anything.

Cons:

I don’t know. I’m sure some of the mixed bag things above will be cons for other people, but sometimes I wonder if Dakota didn’t write this book for me. It does everything I want a novel to do and he is one of my favorite authors and would be even if I didn’t know him from Adam.

Fantastic

These books have been an absolute pleasure to read. The Dungeon is a total boss! Yay, puns! I can hardly wait for new books in the series.

Great LITDM from the Godfather of Dungeon Master's Stories

I enjoyed most of this story and read it cover to cover nonstop. I did think there was too much killings. How many people could possibility be left after all of that.? I also do not like time travel cheats, but this turned into a neat twist. I am sure I will enjoy your LitRpg story, but you are the best of LitDM stories so why mess with success? I always believe that you don't fix what's not broken and to strike the iron while it is hot. And these stories are hot...

Good story. Nothing spectacular here, but it does answer some questions from the first book you may not have known to ask. I like series like that, it's always interesting to have perspectives opened up that you didn't consider or couldn't follow to completion with the previous books in the series. All and all, I'd say this was a nice addition to the divine dungeon series, and we've been promised more books in the series, I will be waiting when they are released.

Great Continuation of the Series

Dakota unravels some mysteries and stories as he takes the reader through some new ideas and aspects of the world. Surprises abound and the pace is really well done.

Oh man!

What a blast.

Perfect

Lots of comedy and deep thought mixed in. Can not wait for the next book in the series to come out.

If you enjoyed the first two books, you'll also enjoy this one. If you haven't read the first two, then what are you waiting for--go read them first!

An Epic end...ish to the Divine Dungeon (as of this moment) trilogy. Not that I expect this to be and end to the series, but, on it's own, works perfectly as a self contained story line. Dakota Krout does a masterful job of world building, has great mechanics, and interesting characters. This while maintaining a solid plot line and a decent amount of humor. I know I said this for the first book, but this is a property I'd dearly love to see turned into a game. Not that I think this can really be described as a LitRPG anymore, but that classification was tenuous to begin with.

So, Major Spoilers ahead, really really don't read if you haven't read the book.

Soooo, that ending. I have to say, I'm not usually a fan of time paradoxes like this. At least, not in Scifi, turns out I didn't have as much of an issue with a magic version. It's magic after all. Still, As soon as he jumped through that portal I instantly knew where it was going and absolutely loved it. Though, it's left me wondering if the master is linked to it all too some how given the clues Krout left.

Anyways, I absolutely can't wait for the next book, be it another in this series or a new series set in this world. It's a wonderful setting and absolutely needs more books.

BTW, to anyone who likes this series, I also recommend Morningwood: Everybody Loves Large Chests.

An interesting entry in the Divine Dungeon series, making it a kind of trilogy ending. The series remain open, and there's still lots of room for the story to continue, but it ends a main story arc, reveals secrets, and, of course, provides lots of fun along the way.

The weakest part (because, alas, there's often a weaker part) is the beginning. The resolution of the Divine Madness from book 2 is far too fast and feels too forced. On the other hand, it was a huge challenge and I don't know how it could have been done. The ending is also a kind of cheat, but, of course, the Dungeon always cheats.

There's ton of background remaining, and I'd be personally very, very interested if we got a Kantor side story at one point.

Excellent

Cal is back and balls out crazy! With no Dani, what will he do? What does this mean for Dale and his new town? This book rocks. You don't need a team of Goblin Bobs to research this for you, just read it already! Anyone this far that hasn't read the first one, go ahead and buy all 3 right now and. Clear your schedule for about a week. You won't want to putthese books down for long. Dakota, thank you!!

Sniff....Simply beautiful

Congrats to the author on his coming bundle of joy and congrats to the author for his sterling literary work. I won't talk too much about this particularly entry in the series all I'll say is that it's the perfect punchy sequel for an excellent series and I'm looking forward to more

Great Book!!!

I first listened to the first two and could not wait for this one to come out on Audible! I will be buying hard copies of all three!! This is a great book well written and thought out perfect ending! I can not wait to read the next in the series!

If you get a chance READ these books you will not be disappointed!

Fantastic third book

This was a very strong third entry to the series, done better as an ending than half the series available on KU. But it's not even the ending! I'm excited to continue following the story in the future.

A Good Read.

A LitRPG lite story. A Dungeon Core story. A big change happens to the dungeon. Some history is revealed with a happy ending. Looking forward to the next book, maybe has a battle with the big bad.

Very well done...worth binge reading!

I Can’t wait to read-read it for The next installment. No formulaic applications of other LitRPG theories. Very fresh and well thought out!

A Fun Trio

I found these three books to be a blast both reading and listening to on Audible. The author melds together the idea of living dungeons and fun, fast adventure. The best part is it all fits together so well.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

So many series by indie authors start out strong, but fall apart at the third book. This one is still going strong! Excellent!

Fun literpg

Moments of humor, interesting leveling system, fast paced book and well worth reading. The whole series has been a good read.

Very good!

I loved all three books.I got the first 2 for Christmas and finished book three 5 days later. I can't wait for the next!

Top form

What a great continuation for this series. Kept me engaged throughout the entire book. Looking forward to the next in the series

As good as the previous two books

I like this series so much. The author has created something really unique. I am eagerly awaiting the fourth book.

This author once again fails to tell a complete story. [Spoilers] The book does end with a big battle, but the battle is with something like 1/100 of the head bad guy's minions since by this time the head bad guy is occupying the rest of the world. More significantly it comes out the head bad guy (hereafter HBG) is a couple of orders of magnitude more powerful than anyone else on the planet. HBG took over the planet in one day on his own and is just using minions as occupation troops. And HBG didn't take over the planet by cornering a king or queen. No, HBG marched into audience halls full of what were previously thought to be the most powerful people on the planet and killed them by the dozens. Kind of makes you wonder why HBG is even bothering with minions doesn't it? HBG clearly doesn't need minions since no one can stop him from doing whatever he wants. He simply could issue demands and start killing until those demands are met.

It comes out that HBG started this whole thing because he wanted a sentient dungeon to supply his troops but why? He clearly could waltz into any country's armories and take what he wants. Or he could have walked into any already existing sentient dungeon and tell it to make what he wants or die.

Bottom Line: The author's actual page to page writing remains good but he fails to tell a complete story and the story he does tell makes no sense since HBG is too powerful to need to bother with any of this.

Completely worth the wait!

What an amazing series!
The author really nailed it with this third book. It wrapped up many dangling plots, made for an amazing continuation, and it never felt unbelievable or unfair. And man, that ending!!

I only noticed a very few errors, everything was superbly written, the story was spectacular, and I literally laughed out loud enough times to easily give this story 5 stars.

An excellent addition to the dungeon borne series with a preview of his next series

Great read, an excellent adventure with krout's usual humor and unique mechanics. Highlights some new characters and does a great job of bringing a lot of plot lines together. Couldn't out it down and looking forward to the next I'm the series. Krout also previews his next series as a bonus!

Another enjoyable entry into this original and imaginative series. I look forward to the next book, though it seems it will be a ways off, due to the author starting another series next. That's okay, I like his ideas, though it takes a few chapters to get into his prose each time I read one of his books. Once I have the right frame of mind and the right cadence, I'm off and running with it.

Awesome(spoilers)

Absolutely love the book.
Masterfully written.
Has the best twist that I've seen in a book in a long time.
10/10 gonna read again.

Brilliant Series

Certainly up there with the very best in LitRPG! The entire series is first class. You won't be able to put it down.

wat...

Dude... just...wat? I don't even know what to say. To whoever is ready this review I must tell you one thing... read to the end even if you feel it will be a giant flop... the end explains it all.. (also another secret after epilogue thing)