TL;DR Review: Fun and fluffy LitRPG. Easy reading, engaging characters, and a simple yet addicting progression.
Synopsis:
Part cozy, part bloody, all fun.
Hidden underneath the small town of Haverly Arms lies an entrance to the Dragon’s Game, an extensive world where adventurers compete to collect power objects and progress to the next level.
Temerity’s father and brothers have been down in the game for years, leaving Temerity and her mother, plus their house goblin, Half-pint, to manage their tavern. Bored with small-town life, Temerity decides to enter the tunnel labyrinth, launching an adventure to survive Level One of the Dragon’s Game: Dark Town.
Full Review:
I’m a sucker for a cozy fantasy adventure, so when I heard about Dark Town, I knew I had to give it a read.
I was already familiar with the author’s writing style from Heliotrope and knew I was in for some solid worldbuilding, great characters, and easy reading action.
And I got exactly what I expected…plus a bit more!
Dark Town is a classic “young girl leaving home on her first adventure” story, only this adventure is into an underground alternate realm where dwarves, elves, nymphs, orcs, trolls, ogres, and dragons exist, and dungeons can be looted for gems and weapons.
As a LitRPG, it’s very reminiscent of every RPG video game I’ve played, with weapons loadout (no more than three at a time), magic jewel (no more than three “equipped” at once, all with various color-based powers), and class systems (Attack, Shield, Melee, Range, etc.) that were familiar and easy to sink my teeth into.
The world is colorful and filled with curious characters—from the wheedling nymphs who continually cheats them out of their hard labor to the scholar who defies the “laws of the dungeons” to make maps to the snake-growing tavernkeeper—who make it such a pleasure to read.
Sure, there’s danger aplenty—enemy players who can “kill” you and steal your loot, monsters who you’ll have to defeat to “level up”, and the dragons who created the maze—but those stakes never really detract from the cozy feel of the book.
Half-pint the hobgoblin is a fun character. As a seasoned adventurer, he is the source of information on the dungeons and expert advice on how to tackle any challenge or enemy they face. He’s also the source of a lot of the delightful emotional moments, and definitely the more compelling and complex of the two main characters.
Temerity the human adventurer is as fresh-faced and excited by everything as expected, and it’s her enthusiasm for even the most mundane tasks (collecting coal, selling snake skins, etc.) that makes everything feel like an exciting adventure. She struggles here and there but remains dauntless, eager-eyed, and optimistic. She is very much the driving force of the story, and it’s easy to engage with the people and the world through her eyes.
The interior artwork included at the end of every chapter added a really nice touch. I enjoyed seeing an artistic rendering of the pivotal moments of each chapter and it made the reading experience so much more exciting.
Even for a LitRPG, I do feel like it could have used a bit more character growth. All of the progress these characters make is in terms of leveling up, gaining confidence in their combat abilities, learning to trust their teammates, and other “physical” growth elements. There’s no real emotional arc to the first story, so in that, it feels less than complete.
There were also a couple of moments that felt out of place tonally, including one that struck me as a Deus Ex Machina. I was willing to suspend disbelief for that moment but because no explanation was offered before the book’s (rather abrupt) ending, it was a bit jarring. The ending also had no real denouement where we get a moment to enjoy the growth and progress our characters made, so it felt a bit rushed.
All in all, though, I enjoyed every minute I spent alongside Temerity and Half-pint as they navigated the dark tunnels, ran the alleys, worked in the inns, challenged other adventurers, and ultimately tackled the boss.
It’s a “light” LitRPG that even fantasy readers can enjoy with a delightfully cozy feel.
Not much character growth, the progress is all leveling up and physical.
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