Derelict

Man sent with small task force to explore space as captain of one of the ships. Fleet wiped out, but he wakes up as a spirit able to change the derelict that was the ship he commanded. Beyond that its not that different from other dungeon core stories. The “hero” must gather power and materials, discover new creatures and create them to defend his derelict.

The rules are supposedly very similar to those in any fantasy based dungeon and the races we see are kobolds, dwarves, orc and humans, with elves mentioned. The dungeon does use a lot of firearms and lasers, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense on a space ship since a hull breach would be a bad idea. But then again, the ship has some kind of internal gravity.

I think that and a few other little things helped make me feel this could have been much, much better. Even the tense moments and action scenes felt a bit forced rather than clean tales of adventure.

Its not bad, and the idea is solid, but I think the author forgot to link in a solid plot with good flow. The story is choppy and uneven with a final third that felt more like an anticlimax than a good solid climax to the story. This clearly ended in the middle, with no plot threads resolved.

I’ll probably try book 2, but compared to others in the genre, this is not one of the better books.

Sometime in the late 21st century humanity discovered the means to explore space via jump drives, thus began an age of exploration into the unknown . . . until the Kobold attacked. Turns out, all those fantasy races we made up really exist as space-faring aliens, and they all hate us. Enter the USS Franklin, an escort ship which vanished over a century ago, now reborn as a Derelict, a living dungeon in space, controlled by its late captain. With the ability to produce advance materials limited only by its supply of raw materials, he may be humanity’s only hope against overwhelming odds.
An excellent start for the series; fun characters, unique backdrop for traditional fantasy races, and a greater tale to tell. It gives some samples of what is to come, making future books really exciting. If there was any weak parts it would be the dungeon building; the sify explanation made a lot of it make sense (nanites and such) but the actual point to make a dungeon is kinda lost early on, since only two of the five races to show up want to ‘dungeon dive’. It’s a mix of a dungeons & dragons RPG with components from Stellaris, Warhammer 40K, and even Lost in Space. Looking forward to the next book and seeing how this universe develops.

Caveat – This maybe the worse LitRPG book ever written; I wouldn’t know because it is the first one I’ve ever read, and I liked it.

Let me start off with the part that just bugs the snot out of me, the constant update of “the video game level” – seriously I could have done without that.

Now with that out of the way, the book is enjoyable. The plot is a little thin in spots, predictable in others, there is some pretty good buildup to drama in the fighting at a few points and that could use some work – but its not horrible. The story flows well (I’m half way through book 2 and it still works). The book ends well and is enough of a cliff hanger to make you buy the next one (well, make is a strong term /shrug).

Best I can say is the book was good enough that I bought the 2nd one.

I freaking loved this book. A sci-fi dungeon core is just what the doctor ordered. Dungeon core is a genre that was getting stale. There wasnt enough innovation and new ideas. Dean Henegar who also wrote the amazing Limitless Lands series reinvents the dungeon core in a sci-fi deep space setting. Dont hesitate. Read this book! I cant wait for Book 2.

New take on dungeon core book it is well done and is well thought out in my opinion the backstory and characters are great, not too heavy on stats but enough that you get the confirmation of growth. Looking forward to the next installment in the series can’t wait to see how characters are flushed out on both the human and alien side of the conflict.

Spoiler!!!!!!
Crossing my fingers that in the next book or however long the series runs that a certain race doesn’t fall into legend and is rebuilt by our fledgling dungeon core, derelict.

Building off that maybe the fletchling derelict ship will become a sort of ark for both humans and other neutral races in the war to come.

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