Brian Layman

Dakota is back!

Reviewed: 03-25-25

This is a fun book that is a twist on familar fairy tales and flips the "damsel in distress" meme on its head as they are the ones causing trouble for those up to no good.
Each book in the series is stand alone, but also will build onto the background events of the world.
The other good news is that all of the books are written and scheduled for narration and release.
The narrator did a wonderful job!

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1 person found this helpful

Fast but full world and character building

Reviewed: 12-14-24

given how much I like Drew hazes books in general and this series in particular, it's truly a sad thing that he has learned how to write books that are less than 20 hours long.

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1 person found this helpful

A middle progress book for the series.

Reviewed: 05-16-24

As the book went on, it got a bit more of the feel of previous book. However, a lot of the struggle prevalent in the previous books missing from this one. There was also a lot about relationships and less about how things worked and big reveals in the first quarter.

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my favorite so far.

Reviewed: 04-20-24

Drew delivered a delightful diatribe deluged with dark deeds, deliriously demented dialog and desperate daring-do. I loved it!

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And to think I almost didn't get this book.

Reviewed: 03-20-24

This book was excellent. It is in the lit RPG style but has all of the stat sheets in break away chapters you could skip if you wanted to. It is a Multiverse story with cultures at all different levels. I very much enjoyed it and am greatly disappointed that it doesn't have a sequel yet. Which is a complete turnaround for me because I almost didn't get it because I didn't want a new long series to have to purchase. Now I wish that there were 10 books in the series!

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Sometimes lunch is even better than breakfast.

Reviewed: 02-15-24

I liked the second book more than the first, which was mostly world building. Admittedly it is a strange world and the building was by necessity extreme. I liked this one because it had a lot of meat to it. Many things got done that in this genre could possibly have been painfully spread out across 24 books. Some story lines were shut down while others were expanded, leaving a lot of room to expand. Book 3 should be incredible!

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Excellent!

Reviewed: 02-12-24

This book elevates and expands the over-all plot and three world as we knew it at this point, It restores balance to the storyline. best book out of the last two or three by far.

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Risky new LitRPG setup w/ familiar elements & puns

Reviewed: 01-12-24

Dakota Krout's first Audible Studios series takes a risk even with its first few paragraphs. Then again, it's a book with a cook as the protagonist; it's going to be unorthodox. This review includes no spoilers beyond what is in the blurb.

The world of the prologue is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It starts with a group of reprehensible people, including the main character, doing distasteful things. In fact, you may not like the MC, his attitude, and the actions he's taken. At this point he doesn't like himself much either. However, as is mentioned in the main blurb for this book, all of that is swept off the table with the first words of Chapter 1 as the main character finds he is back at the breakfast table of three years earlier and he cries out realizing he and his friends are still alive.

The risk is in the very real fact that the prologue might flavor the whole read for some people. Many readers judge a book by its first sentence. It establishes the ambiance for what is to come. By that little nibble, some believe they know what they can expect from the rest of the book. The whole prologue for this book is all umami. Umami is a flavor that is needed for most great meals. That said, a shot of soy sauce or a tin of sardines are rarely served as the appetizer for the fine meals.
Don't let the prologue flavor this book. The events of the prologue and situation are very important. The rest of the book can't exist without them, still you also wonder of the experience of that first bite is going to come back with each new mouthful you take.

Random Thoughts:
* I paused the read of a book I've been eagerly awaiting in order to start this book. That's how good Dakota Krout books can be. They are worth it.
* I kept reading this book and going back to it, even when my phone sometimes started playing the story I had in smart audio player instead. So "Grilled Armageddon" is a good enough story that I HAD to finish it before going onto anything else.
* I noticed that this book assumes the reader is familiar with LitRPG. The characters don't demonstrate the initial shock of having stats and a game interface as exists in many LitRPG books. So while the rules and magic system are explained in the book, having words appear before the side character's eyes is just taken in stride. I think that's okay because it's fundamental to the entire genre and how many books can explain that reaction without it feeling like wasted space.. and yet it seems odd that people wouldn't be freaked out more by that.
* I do plan to get the next book in "Cooking with Disaster" as soon as it is out. If the rest of the series were available, I'd continue reading it today.
* The narrator's gritty deep voice in the prologue shook my soul listening to it. In the headphones, it was much better. I later remembered that I have the bass cranked way up in my car.
* I think this book series will be better than Full Murder Hobo, but not as good as Divine Dungeon or the first Completionist series. I am eager for the next installment.

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The best book in this subseries so far

Reviewed: 08-15-22

It is hard to ramp up a series this far in, but this book elevates the series to a new level. Dakota Krout brought his A game in righting this book and you can tell.

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excellent book from a fun perspective

Reviewed: 06-01-21

Tall rock comes from the perspective of someone looking to escape violence and grief, not cause it. This is not your typical lit rpg. I loved it.

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