The Final Battle

Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon #6

by Richard A. Lupoff

While escaping from the unknown creators of the Dungeon, Clive Folliot breaks through to the ninth level and finds himself stranded alone in a harsh polar wilderness that bears a striking resemblance to Earth

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

285 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Richard Allen "Dick" Lupoff (born February 21, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American science fiction and mystery author, who has also written humor, satire, non-fiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he has also edited science-fantasy anthologies. He is an expert on the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs and has an equally strong interest in H. P. Lovecraft. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1970 he worked in the computer industry.

Reviews

[Daniel McGill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Minni synopsis: Left turn, space battle, Chang Gaff turns into a car, Frankenstein's monster does rope tricks, Clive is a god, the end.



Yea it makes that much sense and it's even less satisfying then you'd think.



Ok so after 5 books of travel, trial and hardship through the interdimensional alien prison world know as the the dungeon, building trust and relationships with his strange companions Clive is suddenly plucked out of there midst and sent home to 19th century England, but not really. Just as he's starting to settle in he's suddenly placed in the middle of a battle between the all powerful aliens who built the dungeon, aliens so advanced and powerful they they fight with axes. Then he finds himself transported from place to place undergoing a series of tests with profound goals such as walk down the road and climb the latter. What? You want to see some of the other characters you've spent 5 books getting to know? Fine they can each show up for a paragraph and help Clive perform one of his arduous tasks. Chang Gaff will turn into a car to make getting down the road easier, and Frankenstein's monster will use his cowboy lasso training too... what? you don't remember that Frankenstein's monster was every bit as important a character as any of those other bit player that were around for 5 books? Well screw you, you get Frankenstein's monster and you'll like it.



Well you get the idea it pretty much just goes on like that for a while then just stops without explaining or resolving anything. Despite a few cool in a trippy way scenes, the space battle where tentacle monsters had to be fought off by going outside with jetpacks, mag boots and battle axes was decent as a self contained vignette even if it didn't really fit the story at all for example, this book just isn't worth knifing the rest of the series in the back. Avoid it if you can and be forewarned if you cant.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

What an utter piece of crap this writer turned the end of this series into. I spent 5 books getting to know 6 characters and how they would react. The author spends the last book ignoring them entirely and turning the main character into an uneducated moron who apparently didn't learn anything during the previous 8 levels nor the previous 5 books. (Note: Somewhere in the back on my memory I thought there were supposed to be 12 levels to the dungeon not 9 but that could be me.)

My thought is that the author wrote the first and last book before any of the other authors wrote the other 4 books so he didn't know anything about any of the characters and he couldn't come up with a good ending to the final book.

Again, What an utter piece of crap!

[Darcy Town · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you liked the first five books, don't read this one. Whatever you can imagine, it's better.

Spoilers to follow I guess...

Book 6 tosses out every concept you liked, and the characters, well those go out the window along with continuity of character. Every gain and struggle and change these characters went through...erased and brought back to the style of book 1, which was already the weakest book in the series. Well, it was until I read this one.

Richard Lupoff should not have been the author they selected to finish the series. Facts are wrong and almost NOTHING is answered for a reader. Where's the payoff exactly?? Why did I read books 1-5 if not to learn what the hell was going on!? Also...where's the final battle the book is named for? Was it all that weird nonsense that made NO SENSE? Oh...I guess that weird time and space jumping crap was a battle? Could have fooled me. To me it was a whole lot of Clive not acting like Clive, none of the characters were the same. Argh...so much rage.

Anyways, I almost threw this book across the room 3 times and I don't get those kinds of impulses. Frankly, I'm going to imagine my own ending because this book is a travesty.

[Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series started out okay but this last book was one of the worst endings to a series I have ever read. It was presumably the same author as the first book and as far as I could tell he hated what all the other authors did since then and threw everything out as soon as he could.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, the 2/5 stars wasn't an accident, the last book in the series was really a let-down. It just ended so weirdly.

[Anthony Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. There is nothing better than when you find a series of really intriguing, interesting books - where characters and scenarios are built on and everything builds to a smashing conclusion that leaves you satisfied and wishing there was just one more book to read...

This is not that book. This is not that series. The Dungeon series DOES have it's merits and is a pretty entertaining read, most of the time. Some volumes were much better than others, but even when a particular author seemed to be kicking the can along just to fulfill a contractual obligation... it always seemed to tie up in the end and leave you at least hopeful for the next book - and the conclusion to this series.

If I have ever been more disappointed in a series conclusion, I can't recall it. I SO wanted this story to pay off and for all of the many mysteries to tie together in some fantastic (or even coherent) way. You could almost sense the author's dread at having to sit down and keep working on this last volume. So many interesting and cool threads that were developed are either ignored or given a token explanation that is at once maddening and unsatisfying, in the extreme. There were some genuinely novel and thought provoking story elements in the first two volumes of the Dungeon series. The odd assortment of characters... the strange & mysterious backstory of the protagonists and how that backstory interwove with the dimension they found themselves hurtling thorough. Even though The Dungeon borrowed from many other literary classics, I never really cared as the execution was different enough to still have some oomph and substance.

About halfway through this volume I started to get that creeping dread in my stomach and the back of my mind that I was being had. Even with only 80, 40, 20 pages left, I kept thinking "It's OK. This is going to wrap up in some really amazing finale that will explain it all and leave me speechless with amazement." Nope. It just ended. Worse still, it gave the most boring, nonsensical and head-scratching resolutions to every character and situation. Many plot threads were just outright abandoned and forgotten.

As good as the earlier volumes can be, I would avoid reading them at all. There is no closure and no satisfaction in reading this series of stories. Even giving this a two star rating was a struggle for me. It gets one star borrowed from the previous five volumes, and another star for correct spelling and punctuation. That's it. I almost never write negative reviews but I wanted to save someone else the pain of this unsatisfying and frustrating journey. If you DO decide to take the plunge, just know that the ending is a dud. What a bummer.

[Nicholas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is absolutely awful, and a slap in the face for anyone who reaches the end of this series. The structural premise of this series, that each book or so would be written by a different author, is an interesting concept. For the most part it works quite well. It’s certainly not perfect, and there are times where plot points or character traits are inexplicably changed or dropped. But it largely works, and the series is a fairly enjoyable read.

Until this book.

This book is a complete letdown. It’s as if the author (the same one who wrote the first book) never even read any of the previous books. Everything good about this series (the plot, the character development, the world, the antagonists, etc) is entirely thrown out the window to service whatever conclusion the author had already decided to write from book 1. And it’s not even a good ending!

Did you want to see all the characters you’ve watched grow and change over the course of the series be abandoned with hardly a second thought? No? Well too bad. Character arcs are not just unfinished, they are completely ignored as if they never happened. Every mystery and detail from the previous books is either thrown away or resolved in the most unsatisfying way possible. I kept waiting for the main character to wake up, rescued by his friends from some off-colour dreamworld, and go off with them together to beat solve the Dungeon’s mysterious, defeat its masters, and return to their own planets and times. But it just never happens, and eventually you have to resign yourself to the fact that this is how the author chose to go out. With a most pitiful whimper.

I kind of wish that we could have read this series in high school or university English class just so I could have had the satisfaction of writing an essay on how terrible this final book is. And I loathe essay writing.

I don’t consider myself especially adept at critical analysis. Indeed, I’m a very easy to please reader. I think that’s the most damning thing I can say about this book. Even to the most uncritical reader, it will leave a sour taste in your mouth. Like another reviewer said of this book: you’re better off imagining your own ending.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof. It's a real bad sign for the final book in the series when I think the character is a clone or being mind-controlled or in an elaborate simulacrum because he's acting like a credulous dope.

Most of the other characters are disregarded in favor of Sidi, Smythe, and Clive, which is a shame because there were some great character moments with Neville (who had a nice character arc in book 5!), Shriek, Finnbogg, Annie, etc. Coupled with Lupoff either disregarding or forgetting things (Shriek's neural web makes no appearance, even though I'm *pretty* sure Sidi and Smythe are part of it), makes for a book that's very frustrating to read.

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointing end to the series. For five previous books we met characters, learned about them and watched them develop, and followed their ups and downs. In the process, they learned more about the dungeon.

Then book six comes along. Some of the beloved characters basically disappear for good, the main protagonist seems to have forgotten everything he's learned and acts in stupid ways, and the final battle is a big let down.

I found this book a chore to finish, and I finished it only because I really hate not completing a book, and I thought I owed it to the series.

[Mika · Rating 1 out of 5]

I pretty much agree with the other reviews regarding this last book being jarringly out of place with the rest of the series. While there were occasional continuity glitches during the rest of the series the story held mostly together, whereas in this book any continuity with the rest of the series seems accidental.

Just imagine your own ending for the series and skip reading this final book, it will likely work out better.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10.
Prefiero al Farmer de CF, pero esta saga de fantasía (6 libros) se llevo yb 7/10 en todas y cada uno de ellos. Entretenida, vamos.

[Kev Goldsbrough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endex

A great ending to a great adventure. I waited over 20yrs to read these all the way through and I wasn't disappointed.

[Harold Coutts · Rating 1 out of 5]

what utter horseshit

[Cheesewheels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Readers who closely follow the series to this last book are likely going to be disappointed. Not only does the author ignore plot threads and story lines introduced in earlier books (instead focusing on ones he himself set up in volume 1), the ones he does wrap up are done so in an unsatisfying and seemingly arbitrary way. Even more frustrating, a few characters (most noticeably Chang Guafe and Clive himself) have completely changed their vocal and physical mannerisms. Lupoff writes their thoughts and dialogue as if the past 4 books NEVER HAPPENED, as if this book came directly after the first one (The Black Tower). The overly dramatic and prude discourse between Clive and Chang in the beginning scene is especially cringe-worthy...Other characters (Tomas, Sidi, User Annie - until the end of the book at least) with tantalizing questions left unanswered are swept under the rug or ignored entirely. The Ren and the ghosters also inexplicably change form and intent...VERY frustrating if you are looking for a satisfying continuity to this series. I also hated how Chang Guafe's cyborg form makes him an endless dues ex machina, and how you are never sure who Clive meets is a clone.
That being said, there are a few new interesting characters, the reappearance of the flying train, and some satisfying if strange battle scenes. Also, the climax and resolution of the book are powerfully written and actually left me with tears in my eyes...if not the ending I wanted it was still effective nonetheless.
Lupoff's actual writing leaves little to be desired, I just wish he had finished some of the ideas of the other writers in the series. That was kind of the whole point of the series, right? To form all these individual ideas into a cohesive whole? It falls apart in this book. Some reviews have suggested stopping at the fifth book. I could recommend it either way.

[Joseph Thai · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't remember this series very clearly, since it reads like an acid trip. The series gets its start when Victorian English officer and gentleman Clive stumbles into a multi-tiered alternate dimension called "the dungeon" while searching for his twin brother. While two rival factions vie for control of the dungeon, Clive and the motley assortment of traveling companions he picks up must find their way through the various levels. Not a whole lot made sense in the series, with bizarre characters, creatures, landscapes and plot points coming up out of nowhere, but it could be entertaining at times.
For book #6 author Richard Lupoff, who wrote the first entry in the series, ended up ignoring most of what happened in books 2-5, which were written by other authors.This is understandable, since I only vaguely remember what happened in those books. I do remember that book #6 made a disjointed and disappointing end to the series, though I suppose you shouldn't go into this series expecting it to be good or make sense.

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure the author had read the 4 books between the 1st book of the set which he wrote and this one (the 4 books between were written by 3 other authors). There seemed to be no regard to how the other books had evolved the characters. The first 60 odd pages of this book are just devoted to one character with no news on the others. After that it is confusing about whether the characters mentioned are real or creations from the Dungeon. I wouldn't recommend this book at all. I persevered, as I wanted to see the characters I had grown fond of, get out and back to their homes. I don't feel that I got that, so it was a total let down for me. I made up my own ending in the end and would advise others to do the same until this book is re-written by someone more in tune with the series.

[Clay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was truly a terrible book. It appear the author, who wrote the first book in the series, did not read much of the books between. Character development was abandoned. No explanation as to how the story got to this sixth book.

[Dexxx · Rating 1 out of 5]

What total crap. don't read any of this series. Evar.

[Richard Ayars · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible ending to an otherwise really enjoyable series. I don't think the author read any of the previous novels before writing this it was so different.