The Book of Dungeons - A weak to strong litRPG epic
by John Staats, author
World of Warcraft's first dungeon designer is writing a sweeping litRPG fantasy featuring heavy game mechanics, a progression of pets, boss fights, spells, unique magic items, and base-building. Weak to Strong MC with a slow burn. The first half of book 1 is slice-of-life, so don't expect early combat, but when it picks up, it goes.
The Book of Dungeons is a ruthless new VR RPG in which no one respawns. To one player, the stakes of winning its battle royale couldn't be higher. Broke and homeless, our MC must outwit 63 other gamers, each brilliant in their own right. Can alliances last with so much on the line? The game world spans a continent filled with cities, dungeons, monsters, and magic. As years pass, contestants amass experience, rank up skills, unlock dozens of spells, and plunder OP magic items.
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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.
[Example: One player asks if real-life skills, such as boxing, will give them an advantage in the game. Our MC calls him a “showoff,” and a ‘female sidekick background character’ finds this so amusing!]
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.
This is something new to find on RR, a fully fleshed out story already written with an ending in sight. Jokes aside, the amount of time, effort, and pure love that has been poured into these early chapters is apparent. We enter quickly, with a good hook to keep us interested. A world that seems different than ours but at the same times so similar. A quick note though, while the author has cleaned up the story and it does flow, at times the prologue feels clinical. The transition between scenes can be abrupt and the lack of fleshed out side characters is noticeable. We are introduced to our main character quickly and do receive a dump of his back history in a rather brusque manner that probably adds to the jarring nature of the prologue. Overall, I have rather enjoyed the prologue and will be reading as fast as possible to catch up
Honestly, about the only thing missing from this litrpg story is proper promotion. I know VRMMO is kind of a specific, slightly unpopular subgenre, but this is honestly more isekai than VRMMO when you get right down to it. Slow burn at the start, which I'm fine with, because it means you care more about the stakes when the pace picks up.
Anyway, as I say in the title, it's both well-written and completed(as in written, not published) I've spent far more time reading fictions that were far worse, and let's face it- if you're reading reviews on this site, so have you. :P
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Review as of Chapter 10
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The story is about a group of players entering a contest to be the last man standing in an MMORPG, so the LitRPG aspects are inherent. The DIFFERENCE however is that the gameplay event will last for **decades**, not just days or months as you might expect for a normal battle royal.
It's a bit slow to start, which echoes our main character's style of play as well. It's not straight into the action and getting skill levels and fighting right away. It's looking like it'll be more a slow grind to great heights, rather than instant OP.
MC is more methodical and planning ahead when he actually gets to start the game. He wants to explore the game mechanics before investing. He's planning to develop a long term strategy instead of short term as everyone else around him seems to pursue.
I'm really enjoying the story so far. It captures the feel of an old school MMO - not surprising considered the author's role in the creation of the original World of Warcraft.
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Original review of only the 1st 3 prologue chapters below
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I'm just getting started reading, but I can already see how the author is trying to capture the feel of a new MMORPG launch with the initial parts of the story - well expected considering his background.
Story - Our MC gets invited to an MMO launch event basically. He will have to compete against other invited players in a world where none of the contestants really know what to expect. There's an air of mystery and intrigue to what characters can expect to happen.
There was a paragraph that stuck out to me about how online gaming interactions can act as social grease to let you get into social interactions without having to deal with tough IRL questions that have made one's life difficult. I feel like a lot of gamers could relate to such a point, having the need for escapism.
Characters - Our MC is basically the only main character so far. He seems unique and nuanced, stands out with a background different from the other contestants who seem to be better off than him. Kind of expected for us to follow the underdog in some sense.
Style - The story seems pretty well set in style, but only one tiny thing chafed at me. It was the alleged selection process for the contestants. I'd have expected contestants to be either selected by popularity contest (popular streamers / youtubers) or from gaming competitions (PvP tournaments or something similar). It seemed it was more 'send in an application and get interviewed' - which I thought was a bit odd. But perhaps this was needed for the story to make more sense.
Grammar - Impeccable, and easy to read. No complaints.
I plan to update my review as I read more of the story, but currently the story is very very promising. It doesn't hurt that I have a fond spot in my heart for early World of Warcraft, though.
By the standards of this site this story is incredible. The author works hard to fix mistakes and typos he responds to a lot of comments his author notes are funny and informative which I appreciate a lot. Also most importantly the story is good the characters are well written and interesting the pacing could be a little bit better but again this is a minor nitpick. I think that really when you judge this against other stories on the site it's very very good.
If you like dungeon crawler Carl or delve this is another one worth watching.
Tuck in for what promises to be a multi book extravaganza. Always nice to delve into these stories knowing there is a roadmap.
There's an interesting set of mechanics, and more get added as the story progresses through into book 2. Indeed I'm curious to see what systems and plot twists future chapters may bring.
At times the central premise - a battle royale - can seem far away. but I've enjoyed the world / setting building to date, and find it very well written.
Overall certainly a series I have no hesitation in recommending to others.
I don't write a lot of reviews because while there are many great stories, and while I enjoy many of them it takes a lot for me to justify the admin required to outlay my feelings about other peoples creative outpourings.
Now I'm not usually a fan of this particular genre of story.
It begins as a beta test of a hyper-realistic VRMMORPG and throws the reader into a world that evolves both around the protagonist and the protagonist himself as he lives, loves and develops the continent he and his fellow contestants have been integrated into.
The lore is deeply complex and presented in an experience-as-you-go format where the 'players' are given almost no starting information and have to learn the hard way. And in many case that can be really, really hard.
There are no info-dumps, no cheat sheet lore books and no 'hidden masters' waiting around the corner to make life easier for them. The world unfolds in a realistic manner as "Apache" muddles his way through, learning as much for his mistakes as he does from his success.
Style: *****
Five stars for style. I would love to say that it grabs you from the first chapter and straps you in for the ride of your life but that would be dishonest. While I did enjoy the first few chapters it wasn't until chapter 5 that I was fully committed. The main character to me could have been any other protagonist but once he became fully engaged with the fantasy world he had been birthed into and started along his unique path of development I started finding it difficult to disengage the beautiful train wreck I could see on the horizon and it wasn't until too late that I realised that the way it was write and the style it was written in were the main contributing factors to this. It's written so well that before too lone, you're rooting for Apache even if you're not entirely sure exactly why you are. The unique skill, ability and rank system don't hurt either.
Grammar: *****
Five stars for grammar as well. This is such a well polished work. The author obviously takes a lot of time and effort to make sure that each chapter comes out as polished as possible. There are very few mistakes in both spelling and grammar that I have noticed, and they are promptly dealt with as soon as they are pointed out. Sentence structure is solid, conversations feel natural and there are no burdensome info-dumps and lore-pits to wallow through. Everything has a natural flow to it. It just works.
Character: *****
Another five stars for characters. The ones that we are introduced to all seem like fully fleshed out and unique individuals that have realistic and lifelike personalities, character appropriate (i.e. not forced) interactions, conversations and personal motivations, as well as begin likeable/hateable in equal measure. No one feels like they are bubble wrapped in plot armour (at least not on the protagonists side) and their triumphs over adversity seem believable and worked for. It's enjoyable because the characters are all relatable and realistic, warts and all.
Story: *****
This gets five stars not only because I didn't think that i would be enjoying it as much as I have, but because it is indeed a fantastic story that draws you in and keep you want more and cursing the greyed out "next chapter" button. This is a must read for anyone that is a fan of this particular genre and also for everyone else who isn't. This is definitely a gem you will not regret finding. A pox upon that greyed out "next chapter" button.
In conclusion, if you haven't read it yet then what are you waiting for? Get in there!!!