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The Daily Grind #2
The Daily Grind 2: A Slice-of-Life LitRPG
Romance, drudgery, and dungeons collide in the second book of this inventive progression-fantasy series blending office humor and RPGs.
Ever since James Lyle found an alternate dimension hidden in the stairwell of his workplace, things have been, well, weird. For one thing, when he’s not working the night shift, he’s battling killer mail carts and ravenous swarms of sticky notes. For another, he’s dealing with some very complex and intense emotions for several of his friends. Meanwhile, his parents have offloaded his younger sister on him, a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things but it certainly doesn’t help.
As if all this weren’t enough, James’s voyages into the dungeon world seem to be having a strange effect on the world in which he actually lives. His memories are disappearing, changing—to the point where people he knows should exist somehow seem to have been wiped from reality. Logic would say he and his questing mates should maybe, I don’t know, stop heading into the eerie maze of seemingly endless cubicles and dubiously useful skill orbs? But if James is going to set his plane of existence right, he’ll need to defeat the corporate darkness he’s uncovered . . .
Blending slice of life with snarky working-class humor, brilliant role-playing mechanics, and irresistible world-building, The Daily Grind 2 is a pitch-perfect continuation of an epic series, guaranteed to charm anyone who’s ever dealt with the nine-to-five slog.
The second volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than four million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Ever since James Lyle found an alternate dimension hidden in the stairwell of his workplace, things have been, well, weird. For one thing, when he’s not working the night shift, he’s battling killer mail carts and ravenous swarms of sticky notes. For another, he’s dealing with some very complex and intense emotions for several of his friends. Meanwhile, his parents have offloaded his younger sister on him, a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things but it certainly doesn’t help.
As if all this weren’t enough, James’s voyages into the dungeon world seem to be having a strange effect on the world in which he actually lives. His memories are disappearing, changing—to the point where people he knows should exist somehow seem to have been wiped from reality. Logic would say he and his questing mates should maybe, I don’t know, stop heading into the eerie maze of seemingly endless cubicles and dubiously useful skill orbs? But if James is going to set his plane of existence right, he’ll need to defeat the corporate darkness he’s uncovered . . .
Blending slice of life with snarky working-class humor, brilliant role-playing mechanics, and irresistible world-building, The Daily Grind 2 is a pitch-perfect continuation of an epic series, guaranteed to charm anyone who’s ever dealt with the nine-to-five slog.
The second volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than four million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
491 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2023
70 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 20, 2024
The "snarky" comments which no one would ever say and are just filler become truly mind meltingly stupid by book 2. What cleverness was in book 1 is gone and so is the humor. Getting through the book is a death march with only counting inconsistencies to pass the time.
September 9, 2023
A fun follow-up. In this second entry of The Daily Grind series, we again follow James and his friends as they delve deeper into the real world dungeon located in the office building in which he works. This time they will have to fight their way through even tougher office themed mobs. With a bit of luck, and some good skill drops, they might just survive this adventure.
I had a great time following James, Alanna, Anesh and the others as they fought their way through the office dungeon yet again. This second entry felt much more engaging and less repetitive than I found the first book to be. I loved watching them unravel the mysteries of the dungeon. I also got quite a few laughs from the witty banter between the friends. The romance was a fun little element, though not explored too deeply. I would recommend. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I received a free copy of this book via Podium Team and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I had a great time following James, Alanna, Anesh and the others as they fought their way through the office dungeon yet again. This second entry felt much more engaging and less repetitive than I found the first book to be. I loved watching them unravel the mysteries of the dungeon. I also got quite a few laughs from the witty banter between the friends. The romance was a fun little element, though not explored too deeply. I would recommend. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I received a free copy of this book via Podium Team and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 22, 2024
3.5 stars (edit: rounding up to counter the homophobic bigots)
It continues where the first book left off. I enjoyed the office monsters and meeting room hive mind terror.
1,5 points off for my pet peeves:
1) The narration stumbled a bit with the introduction of the romance story. It might be just me but I just don't want to read cute couple lovey dovey stuff in my fantasy books, I'll read romance smut if I feel the need for this.
Props for including a bi character, but the poly angle is cringe to me. I think I'm just too old for this, I'd prefer a regular old normal gay MC.
2) Witty banter in the form of the characters brainstorming funny quips that never land. This forced humor just *grinds* my gears, did you see what I did there, nudge nudge, wink wink.
I will probably continue with the 3rd book, let's see if the romance stuff is too prevalent.
It continues where the first book left off. I enjoyed the office monsters and meeting room hive mind terror.
1,5 points off for my pet peeves:
1) The narration stumbled a bit with the introduction of the romance story. It might be just me but I just don't want to read cute couple lovey dovey stuff in my fantasy books, I'll read romance smut if I feel the need for this.
Props for including a bi character, but the poly angle is cringe to me. I think I'm just too old for this, I'd prefer a regular old normal gay MC.
2) Witty banter in the form of the characters brainstorming funny quips that never land. This forced humor just *grinds* my gears, did you see what I did there, nudge nudge, wink wink.
I will probably continue with the 3rd book, let's see if the romance stuff is too prevalent.
September 8, 2023
A review.
Good writing. Interesting plot. Descriptive setting. And just good characters. Also just not Number go up litrpg. Just great in general.
Good writing. Interesting plot. Descriptive setting. And just good characters. Also just not Number go up litrpg. Just great in general.
December 21, 2025
Read this book on my Kindle through Kindle Unlimited.
Pros: Keeps up where the first book left off. More interesting enemies, explorations of dynamics, logical progression of events and relationships.
Cons: Just... not super good. The dialogue is rough, the dating parts are rough, everything is just rough. This book could have done with another two passes of cleanup before being published. Plot points are presented, dropped, picked up again, dropped again. Other characters constantly hero worshiping the main characters in a cringey fashion, enough to make me grimace while reading. Simply not at publishable quality.
All in all, doesn't hold up to the first, quality poor enough that I won't be returning to the series.
Would recommend to anyone who read the first one and NEEDS to see more. Otherwise, cannot recommend.
Would not read again.
Pros: Keeps up where the first book left off. More interesting enemies, explorations of dynamics, logical progression of events and relationships.
Cons: Just... not super good. The dialogue is rough, the dating parts are rough, everything is just rough. This book could have done with another two passes of cleanup before being published. Plot points are presented, dropped, picked up again, dropped again. Other characters constantly hero worshiping the main characters in a cringey fashion, enough to make me grimace while reading. Simply not at publishable quality.
All in all, doesn't hold up to the first, quality poor enough that I won't be returning to the series.
Would recommend to anyone who read the first one and NEEDS to see more. Otherwise, cannot recommend.
Would not read again.
Read
November 29, 2023Or as finished as I am going to get. I totally loved the first book in this series! great char building, great settings, new and unusual concepts, really well done and worth the time!
I like this book, but not as much. it is starting to get kinda X Files feeling and I am losing interest. I will probably come back and finish it later, but there are SO MANY other books out right now that I am really excited to get into that I decided to bail on this one for now. I will update this review when / if I come back to it,
I like this book, but not as much. it is starting to get kinda X Files feeling and I am losing interest. I will probably come back and finish it later, but there are SO MANY other books out right now that I am really excited to get into that I decided to bail on this one for now. I will update this review when / if I come back to it,
November 19, 2023
Help me read more books
Pretty good second book in series. It filled in some gaps, raised a few new questions, and opened up a whole new avenue of exploration of storylihnes, that means the next one should be very interesting indeed. Looking forward to it.
Pretty good second book in series. It filled in some gaps, raised a few new questions, and opened up a whole new avenue of exploration of storylihnes, that means the next one should be very interesting indeed. Looking forward to it.
July 1, 2025
Everything has it's place and time and when you start mixing things that don't match you get an awful amalgamation of jarring situations which 95% of people don't associate with.
I dropped this around chapter 14 and don't intend to continue, the series had a strong start and all of a sudden it decides to hit the brakes and ruin it.
I dropped this around chapter 14 and don't intend to continue, the series had a strong start and all of a sudden it decides to hit the brakes and ruin it.
November 6, 2024
Not quite as enjoyable as the first one and ends on a weird note that feels somewhere between an actual end to the series and what a movie in the 90s would do when they hoped to get more budget for some mid tv show based on the ip.
January 2, 2024
Great follow up story. A lot of the weirdness of the first is now normalized which I think makes it a much more enjoyable read.
Book 3 is out already and I'm diving right in.
Book 3 is out already and I'm diving right in.
April 3, 2024
Honestly a really good book, polygamy though?!?!?!
May 27, 2024
Good series I've been reading on Royal Road but is now on KU. I would recommend.
April 27, 2025
More please
December 19, 2024
Gets better and better, as the scope of the story expands...
February 18, 2024
For the AUDIOBOOK: What a shame, I enjoyed the first book and was hoping the author found his feet for some more world building and character development, but it's just not that good.
When the paper people started coming into the real world, that was a nice twist, along with the security guard's secret life, but really - it all came to a screeching halt for me when the CURRENT YEAR stuff was suddenly, and jarringly, rammed down my throat 3 quarters of the way through when James kissed his room mate and friend Amish out of nowhere and became a homosexual or possible bi-sexual. It was so forced and from left field that I felt like some Rainbow Commissar put a gun to the author's head and said, "MAKE IT GAY AND LAME!".
I can handle Alanna being a strong snarky Joss Whedon girl boss flirt, I'm used to this trope, but halfway through the book, Alanna became a black woman??? She basically just announces, "I'm black" for no reason whatsoever LOL.
I liked how there was a subplot how "SECRET" was feeding off secrets and they discovered they had a missing room mate that erased from their memories from the dungeon. Really, I gave this a chance and did my best to look for the hidden gems and potential, which is why I'm being hard on it, just lost potential.
I will not continue with the series.
When the paper people started coming into the real world, that was a nice twist, along with the security guard's secret life, but really - it all came to a screeching halt for me when the CURRENT YEAR stuff was suddenly, and jarringly, rammed down my throat 3 quarters of the way through when James kissed his room mate and friend Amish out of nowhere and became a homosexual or possible bi-sexual. It was so forced and from left field that I felt like some Rainbow Commissar put a gun to the author's head and said, "MAKE IT GAY AND LAME!".
I can handle Alanna being a strong snarky Joss Whedon girl boss flirt, I'm used to this trope, but halfway through the book, Alanna became a black woman??? She basically just announces, "I'm black" for no reason whatsoever LOL.
I liked how there was a subplot how "SECRET" was feeding off secrets and they discovered they had a missing room mate that erased from their memories from the dungeon. Really, I gave this a chance and did my best to look for the hidden gems and potential, which is why I'm being hard on it, just lost potential.
I will not continue with the series.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews