In conclusion: don’t be lured in by the fantasy or dungeon setting, nor that the narration is a cast of characters. I try to be fair about my reviews, so let me explain my conclusion. (No spoilers.)

In any fantasy and especially dungeon-core setting, some esposition, some background setting has to be explained so that we, the readers, know what type of rules the world operates by. We only ever gain any sense of world-building as it relates DIRECTLY to our MC. Nearly all the interesting stuff happens behind the scenes and is only foreshadowed by the villainous musings of the enemy (and said villains are comedically evil… and dumb). Then said stuff happens off-screen and the new obstacle is presented to MC. This formula repeats for almost every important encounter with danger.

On the subject of repetitive… our MC, a dungeon core… of all the cool things that could be discussed about harvesting the riches of the earth, all we get is internal dialog about how MC will allocate their resources. In three books this happens… literally around a dozen times, and they are ~30-40 minute sections. Seven hours into the last book and we are still getting this quite unimportant info dump. It’s like having a spreadsheet read out to you, and it wastes our precious listening time.

If this was the only issue I had with the series, I’d be happy, but it is not, and I am not. There are not redeeming qualities about it. For instance…

Dialogue, references, and naming conventions. Many of the characters share the same speech patterns and quips, from new adventurers to beings who are hundreds of years old. It’s like sharing the same personality across multiple characters. The author also has a massive problem with turning every name, place, or creature into a modern-day culture reference. Once is fine, and it was even funny, but… it quickly looses the amusing and nostalgia factor when everything is a reference. It reaches the point where it feels unimaginative- the author simply lifts a name from another IP and uses it.

Relationships- romantic or otherwise. The story survives vicariously through the perspective of others, in particular one individual. I mentioned that the perspective and worldbuilding we are offered is very limited, and I had hoped that this new… thing would alleviate that, but it did not. The characters are used for even MORE info dumps with a bit of humor mixed in. The friendship and relationships that this new perspective brings is… very stale. It’s boring. The relationships aspect of a story are some of my favorite elements, and can make or break a story. Here… there’s nothing to break. This is because all of the interesting character interactions, growth, and conversations are skipped.

Combat is uneventful and suffers from an extreme case of mid-battle interrupting thoughts, conversations, and thought BLOCKS occuring during mid-conversation. Fighting for your life is typically extremely fast with little time for contemplation and weighing your options. An errant thought or small distraction can earn you a blade between your ribs. Imagine if a rollercoaster stopped several time during the big drop to tell you about how the machine was designed and built. It would ruin the experience.

I listen to audiobooks while doing mundane tasks like… cleaning, playing stellaris, and sometimes work. For this series, however, I found myself avoiding it. I could have completed the series in a week, but it’s been nearly a month. I am no stranger to dungeon books, litrpgs, fantasy, and know it can be a slog at times, but I often found myself choosing to listen to something else.

Narrators… they did a decent job. I appreciate a range of voices, though some might have been used for incorrect characters. There were several times when the words were not spoken or enunciated loud enough to be quite intelligible, and some of the added cast members’ tone of speech didn’t fit the situations at hand.

This book is already written, but could be much better with some serious editing.