The Book of Dungeons - A weak to strong litRPG epic

Great mix of worldbuilding, character development and action. 

First few chapers set the stage and then the story takes a life of its own.

MC is good at approaching problems strategicaly, the world and its rules are explained very well and are consistent.

I wish there was a game like this.

This story opened with a promise of theorycrafting, character builds, and dungeon delving. The first arc delivered, but the next arc fell apart.

I wouldn’t say we’ve seen anything ground breaking so far, but I don’t think that’s what the author is going for.

The dream system is certainly unique, and everything has clearly been well planned and plotted fo far. I’m enjoying my read, and looking forward to continue devouring this. The fast release schedule will be lovely once I catch up.

Keep it up, author man!

It's a real shame when a story can't live up to it's very, very interesting premise - Unfortunately, The Book of Dungeons (so far) - is one such story. The idea is really fascinating, it's effectively a 60-odd player battle royale, with the players all sharing the same virtual world over the course of time dilation.

I was actually really intrigued when they explained the mechanics of how it was all going to work, which were entirely plausible. However, as soon as the protagonist got into the game, everything ground to a screeching halt.

In brief, there's no real sense of urgency or tension - Odd for a series where the battle royale idea is looming. The protagonist and his friends have as much time as they need to leisurely grind for levels (The protagonist spends most of the early chapters as a scribe, while others are having - presumably - more exciting off-screen adventures) while having casual conversation and hookups despite being direct competitors. In all fairness, this is addressed by the writer (Apparently, contestants in Survivor behaved much the same way) but it doesn't make for a riveting read.

Unfortunately, the characters didn't particularly stand out to me, either. The protagonist's initial friends are kind of forgettable, and I struggle to remember to anything that was especially notable about the MC himself. The prose is fine, it's just not describing anything that's especially exciting.

All-in-all, I feel The Book of Dungeons should've been promoted as a slow-paced slice-of-life thing. The whole battle royale concept lured me in, but it's somewhat frustrating for it not to be delivered upon. In all fairness, it might be that I was primed to expect something else...But I found it to be really slow-paced, and not particularly exciting by itself.

I do hope the story will eventually pick up, however. I feel the setup has a lot of potential - It's just...Not very competitive.

Great writing, interesting concept, MC isn't overpowered (yet) but is using ingenuity to find alternative power. Not cringy or edgy. Low-medium number of status screens, not pages filled with math. 

If you like intelligent characters written well exploring a detailed and vibrant world, while also having a set goal tied to complex moral choices - this is for you!!

Cannot recommend enough

The prolog is just that a well put together background and the first chapter of the main story is well written looking forward to seeing where it goes from here. Seems to be fully finished as well so no clog hangers while waiting for stuff to be written 😀 

World: in 20 chapters we have learned little about it.Our presenter was only in the initial city and its surroundings.

Characters: in this book are not too good but also not too bad, although sometimes they are quite stupid and contradict themselves.

history: This is not a groundbreaking story. Her distinguishing feature is the bookworm presenter, which is one of the reasons why the story is boring.

Trying to make something unique, you can forget about the most important thing

rest: there is too much superfluous in the author's notes, which prevents immersion in the book. There is also a lot of excess in the first 3 chapters, they can be reduced to 1 chapter without any loss

Overall: Okay, so I’m 5 chapters in (3 prologues [which are just chapters prior to entering the virtual world] + 2 chapters). So far, it’s been 60% world-building, 30% introspection, 10% dialogue, and 0% action.

Character: 3/5 I can’t say I like the MC much. I get he had a tough upbringing being raised by an aunt and uncle who didn’t particularly want him after his mom abandoned him—but he comes across as extremely judgmental of everyone else simply for having a different life experience than him. So far, he’s judged players for how they choose to interact or ask questions.

I thought it a fair question for a virtual reality, but this pretty much sets the tone for the MC’s personality.

Even the DEVs aren’t spared his grumbling about how they built the game he’s playing “to win money.”

Apache comes across as bitter while also thinking incredibly highly of himself because he “doesn’t belong,” is “well read,” and obviously being a “loner” means he’ll do better than all the rich people who will take more risks…because they’re “rich.” Logic = 0. Ego = 100.

I am not exactly sure what this guy’s definition of rich is given the the prize money amount.

While his personality is not an uncommon Characterization for the LitRPG genre, there is nothing else of substance to soften or distract me from it. Dude is one bad comment or selfish decision away from being a straight-up AH. Some people may like it, but it was difficult to keep reading when I wasn’t enjoying the character and nothing else was holding my interest.

So far, all other characters in the story are very much in the background and exist as little more than props for the MC to grumble about, judge, or talk to “because they’re girls!”

Story: 2/5 The idea of a virtual game where you fall asleep and time passes differently isn’t groundbreaking. Time differentiation/delineation is something I’ve read in more than one VR-based Gamelit. That and the initial scenes are hyper-focused on mundane details and events that are less engaging than the Author seems to believe they are.

I found the MC’s comment about the game not providing much as far as “escapism” comical, considering the Author gave us 3 chapters/prologues with pretty much the same issue.

I’m not sure I’m allowed to recommend that readers start at Chapter 1, but I can’t think of anything from the Prologue(s) that we actually need to know (which couldn’t be summed up in a paragraph or two regarding the competition, or game entry set up, and prize. Or filtered in organically while the MC explored the game world.)

When we finally enter the game, the MC starts in a safe zone and gets handed mundane quests, which is where I dropped out because after reading five chapters, I was still waiting for the hook. By chapter 2, we had our second quest of killing rats, which the MC internally grumbles about (as he does), even though he’s given three free spells to help him with the quest.

This opening probably would have been fine without the initial 3 Prologues you have to slug through first and the MC’s personality. Unfortunately, even now, there is no hook. Nothing that engaged, intrigued, or made me want to keep reading.

Style: 3/5 The prose is simple, minimal, straightforward, dare I say, average. Pretty much what you expect on RR.

Grammar: 5/5 Well edited. Nothing that stood out or disrupted my reading.

A well written and interesting characters with an amazing plot! This is one of the hinge reads where you just don’t want to put it down. The author puts his heart and soul into it and it shows. His little updates at the end of a chapter are a nice look behind the scenes as well!

So far the series is a fun slow burn with an interesting approach to skills/powers in a GameLit setting. The map inclusion helps with visual placing and the world feels very expandable without being overwhelming. Combat could be a little more engaging but overall the story development and internal mystery takes precedent. I look forward to seeing how the MC continues to progress.