Villain Core

Superhero Dungeon, Book 1

By: John Stovall

Narrated by: Brian Wiggins

Sam Smith, the biggest superhero fanboy ever, was excited to get super powers...until his first evening as a crime fighter meant dealing with the villain Exosuit.

Then Sam died. It was a heroic death, but still not how Sam imagined things going.

To his surprise, Sam wakes as a "Villain Core” - the AI behind superhero training centers. He’s quickly informed that an equal number of superheroes and supervillains will be created for an intergalactic competition over the control of Earth, and Sam must prepare his side - the superheroes - for this grand war.

Which is awesome, up until Sam learns the supervillains are cheating.

With the aid of his AI assistant, Melissa, and a superhero team run by Sam’s old friend, Lucas Lee, now the hero Fury Fist, Sam must grow his training center to become the most powerful Villain Core ever, both to level up the heroes around him and to survive the villains attempting to destroy him.

A Dungeon Core story for fans of superheroes.

©2022 Shami Stovall (P)2022 Capital Station Books

Shocker-ingly good book

Story:
Excellent new book in the dungeon core genre. Great variation on the standard fantasy/dungeon pixie format with a world that feels real and moving towards an Incredible's civilization. I'm really looking forward to the next book.

Narration:
All you need to see if the 'Narrated by: Brian Wiggins' to know it's going to be well read and have easy to recognize voice for the different characters. Brian Wiggins always does an excellent job.

Story is good, narrator is passable

Don't take the headline as a negative on the narrator. He's serviceable, does easily recognizable voices for the characters, and overall wasn't a drag to listen to. Unfortunately, he mispronounces words from time to time, and has odd breaks in his reading of sentences. It's a nitpick, though.

Admittedly, I have only really listened to two "dungeon core" driven stories in the long list of LitRPGs in my library. Stumbling across a superhero one was really the only reason I gave this a shot in the first place. I'm glad I did. Previously, I'd listened to the first part of a series called "Dungeon Life" which isn't a bad story either if you're into that kind of thing, but I didn't find myself resonating with the protagonist in that one (but that's a review for another book), and I almost didn't give "Villain Core" a chance because of it.

Getting to know Sam before he becomes the Villain Core and getting to follow the stories of the other characters in different chapters keeps this one fresh and doesn't limit the listener to just one point of view.

The world building is good. The origin of superpowers is an almost unique take (no spoilers, but it's not the first time I've heard a similar source for supers) and the stakes are set early on.

Overall, if you're in the middle of the Venn diagram between "comic fan," "LitRPG fan," and "dungeon core" fan, you'll probably enjoy this one.

A Great All-Around Story

Seriously, this was fantastic. Action, adventure, etc. Narrators voices were good for all the characters, story had actual progression, it was all super fun. I recommend this for anyone who wants a fun little superhero story.

Good Story - Horrible choice for narrator

the actual storyline was fun, it had enough diversity into i could see it literally jumping out of the pages of a comic book.

very very very poor choice for narration, the entire book was read like a children's bedtime story, the emphasis on words really brought the whole book down. the narrators voice continuously broke me out of the story.


I had to fight just to listen to the entire thing without shutting it off and going to a different book.

I don't care how good a friend you are with Brian Wiggins, or how cheap, but Brian Wiggins I think should be doing children's stories, its like EVERY, line of the book was in all caps and full of exclamation points, even the sad points.

And folks if you haven't started to read this yet, the narrator never gets better.... I repeat the narrator never gets better... if I had known that I would have got the Kindle edition and read the darn thing.

I'll be previewing the next one you do before I waste a credit through audible.

An excellent mashup of Supers and LitRPG!

Since I was a kid back in the 70's and 80's I've been a huge fan of superheroes. I read tons of comics, watched the TV shows, then started watching the movies when they were made. I discovered superhero prose novels about a decade ago, and found some truly talented story writers creating worlds easily as good as anything in Marvel or DC. When I saw that John Stovall had mixed superhero prose with LitRPG, I realized this was like peanut butter and chocolate: a perfect combo that I had to check out. Here's what I discovered.

The story is set in a world where devices started appearing that granted certain people superpowers, ranging the gamut from the Superman package, psychic abilities, various types of energy projection all the way to mental control of computers and other tech. This all started in Stockton, California, of all places, for an unknown reason. This explosion of people with fantastic powers brings a renaissance to Stockton, with the city being mostly rebuilt into a new city, Champion City, where the new super science mixes with the old run down that was Stockton. Of course, some of the people given powers became villains, and the heroes were forced to try and stop them. This is the world the characters find themselves in, where heroes stand tall to protect the regular people of the city, and are the new celebrities everyone aspires to be. It's even wilder, since heroes and villains alike can level their abilities up through certain actions, like it was a video game. It's a great mix of realistic and fantastic elements, pulled off seamlessly for the most part, and is a real selling point for the story.

The characters are a fun group. The main character are Sam Smith and Lucas Lee. They are as different as can be, both physically and power wise, but they still geek out over the same things, and both desperately want to be superheroes. When they get powers, Lucas of the low level Luke Cage variety, and Sam of the computer control variety, they immediately think they're now ready to superhero it up. After this goes tragically wrong, and Sam finds himself in a whole new situation as far as bodies, it's this naïve optimism that pushes them through. That and brains steeped in superhero lore. Sam's new job as villain core is built around this knowledge, knowing he has to train heroes to level up as challengingly as possible, and the truth behind why people are getting the powers also drives him. Lucas is driven to progress as well, feeling he has let Sam down, knowing they weren't ready. Its great watching his character growth as he forms a super team and leads them in training and trying to foil the first of the Supervillain groups plans.

The secondary characters are a fun bunch. From Lucas's teammates to Sam's AI assistant, we get to see some really interesting character arcs. Sam's assistant is particularly hilarious, being based on his imagination as a 19 year old young man, leading to a lot of mild humor and embarrassment for Sam. She really helps keep him motivated, and keep his ego in check. The author does an excellent job putting a real face to his fictional characters, giving the reader something to relate to in each of them.

The antagonists are an eclectic group of supervillains, with their own powers and motivations. Exosuit is much more of a psychotic type than a huge planner, and his appearances clue the reader in that there is a bigger baddie in the shadows, pulling strings behind the scenes. We get to see some other villains as well, especially as the villains plans are set in motion. While we don't get a lot of backstory on them, we get to see a wide array of personalities and powersets, which helps draw the reader in as well.

The narration is ably handled by Brian Wiggins. He gives a lot of warmth and life to the various characters, and he does a great job differentiating the various characters. Considering some of the characters barely qualify as human, he manages to make them understandable and distinct, while also giving them an alien feel. He does an excellent job with Sam and Lucas both, giving them the feel of teens just becoming adults, still wet behind the ears but earnestly wanting to help people. He just really draws the listener in.

While it may seem to be an odd combination, supers and LitRPG actually fits together rather well. The author of Villain Core really does an excellent job creating a world that is just beginning to deal with the reality of supers, and all that entails. With a great combination of characters, tight plotting and excellent world building, I think Villain Core should appeal to a wide variety of readers, from comic readers to sci-fi to thriller readers. I highly recommend this story, and I can't wait to see where the author takes it from here.

amazing execution

the idea of teenage supper gone dungeon core is obviously unique, but rather than an interesting idea executed poorly like so many others, this one actually pulled out off and I was not prepared for the book to end. like a good meal, it came to and ends far too soon and left me satiated but still wanting m more.

Super fun story!

Story: If you like adult superhero fiction then this book is totally worth a read. After my first listening I’ve really gotten hooked. I’m personally very much looking forward to seeing how the compelling characters and plot developments wrap up. Well done Mr. Stovall.

Performance: The different accents and emotions are excellent. The sheer difference in all the characters voices jarred me at first but after settling into the book it all felt right. The amount of emotion Mr. Wiggins can convey through his narration is truly professional. This man will guide you through an already fun book with his dynamic performance.

part 1 of....1?

energetic performance and a decent dungeon core story with potential. it doesn't look like the author will continue it.

Interesting

A very interesting take on a dungeon core story, dungeon core in a superhero world. I found it to be an excellent listen. There is good pacing, excellent character development, and the plot moves along fairly well.

slow and dull

This book was not great read with no emotion. The performance and story was unsatisfying.