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The Bad Guys #11

2 Lies, 2 Thrones

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Turns out jail really puts a damper on your plans.

Clyde Hatchett's latest adventure finds him wrongfully imprisoned, accused of striking the princess herself. With a death sentence hanging over him and time running out, Clyde's only hope lies in completing a series of impossible quests.

Because in Glaton, being innocent isn't enough to save your neck — especially when you owe people favors.

Clyde’s retrieve crucial documents to prove an ally's nobility, sabotage a wedding to gain favor with a powerful truth-sayer, and dismantle a dangerous cult with dark ambitions for the Empire. All while at least appearing to be the model prisoner.

As the election for Emperor draws near, Clyde discovers that the line between friend and foe is as thin as the blanket on his prison bed. Can he pull off a daring plan to expose the princess's true nature and save the Empire from ruin?

2 Lies, 2 Thrones is an epic tale of intrigue, betrayal, and a fight for justice, perfect for fans of high-stakes fantasy adventures.

1 pages, Audio CD

First published April 21, 2024

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149 people want to read

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Eric Ugland

67 books1,027 followers

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5 stars
804 (60%)
4 stars
367 (27%)
3 stars
138 (10%)
2 stars
18 (1%)
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3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Profile Image for Simeon.
82 reviews367 followers
January 10, 2026
The last few books in a nutshell:

1. Montana survives in the slave arena after being kidnapped. He uncovers a massive organization of slavers and human traffickers. He chooses not to kill the slavers for some reason, presumably so they can keep enslaving, idk (??).

2. So anyway the slave leader keeps enslaving, as Clyde, the other main character, discovers and subsequently also chooses not to kill this same slaver (lol? Why?).

3. Slaver threatens Montana AGAIN, tries to kill him. Montana AGAIN chooses to let him live for some reason while making empty threats, same as their last interaction.

4. Clyde, who has seen the slaver do sex slavery and torture, ALSO CHOOSES NOT TO KILL HIM YET AGAIN.

5. Slaver keeps doing evil things.

These characters’ psychology is simply unbelievable — we're talking inhuman levels of moral density. The MC’s slaughter innumerable opponents throughout the story, right up until they encounter a villain, at which point they demur, as if killing slavers is some sort of moral gray area.
Author 58 books389 followers
July 9, 2024
Goddamn it Eric!

I literally read this book in a day. That’s how good it is, and the entire series. I NEED MORE! If you’re at all on the fence about reading anything this mad-man writes then you need more therapy than I can help with. Read the books now, before you waste another second of your life!
Profile Image for GiGi.
935 reviews7 followers
July 29, 2025
Should've reviewed this right after I finished it but alas, it was 3am and I needed sleep.
It was good, which is surprising considering how little progress was actually made in this book. Clyde spends most of it incarcerated and every step of the plan to get him out requires 2 more side quests and other hoops to jump through like the circus animal that he is 😅
Montana showing up at the end and just bulldozing his way through etiquette was a breath of fresh air. I love Clyde, but after spending a whole book contorting into odd shapes to fit through the cracks in the 'legal system', apparently I missed Montana's way of doing things.
And now? I'm caught up with both series and we still haven't chosen a new emperor god damnit XD
Profile Image for Esther.
10 reviews
January 20, 2025
Sometimes, just liking something is enough. 

The Bad Guys series by Eric Ugland is lighthearted, nerdy and humorous and highly entertaining. 

I listened to the series as audiobooks, and I would 1000% recommend it that way. I loved Neil Hellegers as the narrator (available on Storytel). The series is an amusing, easy background listen. However, I don’t think I would quite enjoy reading the series in print—11 books total would feel like too much for me. Thankfully, I could binge-listen to all of it in a few weeks. 

Book 11: 2 Lies 2 Thrones

Yet again, a really enjoyable audio read. In this book the combination of action, adventure and slow pace is more spread evenly which makes it better than the last book. I again enjoyed the snarky dialogues the humor and the characters feel like family to me. 
Profile Image for Gilbert Stack.
Author 96 books78 followers
May 13, 2025
This is an excellent series which has ceased to run parallel with Ugland's "The Good Guys" series and now intertwines with it as the imperial election continues to unfold. Clyde's actions affect Montana and vice versa. The upside of that is that we are seeing two protagonists we love increasingly working together (although Montana only actually appears at the end of this book). The downside is that if you read the Good Guys series first, you know the outcome of much of what happens in this book which unfortunately lessened my enjoyment of it.

It shouldn't have. Clyde is still a wonderful character doing very exciting things and discovering even more threats to the empire which (in this case) Montana will probably have to resolve. The book moves at a good pace and has the delightful added problem that Clyde is in prison in this novel for having struck an imperial princess (he argues he just slapped her and that's not a strike). So, he has to sneak out of prison to get things done and then sneak back into prison before the guards figure out he wasn't there. It's amusing. But the prison and trial issue raises some of those questions that often plague LitRPG-style literature.

For example, magic which cleaves truth from falsehood exists in Ugland's world. He tries to explain why it isn't being brought to play in this novel (in fact, one of the best parts of the book involves Clyde trying to get a truth-sayer to help him), but it has always bothered me that the ability to know what actually happened isn't used in all of these trials.

It also bothers me that all of our heroes are worried that the princess is up to evil, but they don't use the fact that she just tried to murder one of the rival claimants to the imperial throne (something we are told is a big no no in the Good Guy series) and no one wants to use the truth-sayer to point out that the princess has violated a sacred law. I didn't get it, but since I know what happens to the princess in The Good Guys series, I'm not overly upset about it. But problems like these two things hurts the world building which Ugland has been so superb in crafting.

Overall, this is another highly enjoyable entry in a great series. I'm off to try the first book in The Grim Guys series now.
1 review
December 10, 2024
It's frustrating to see the MC's abilities disappear or get forgotten about. His archery boon, which should constantly provide extra arrows, only worked a couple of times before vanishing. His hunting boon, which could be used for tracking, is completely ignored. His ability to walk on water? Poof gone. His ring of holding, which seemed essential, seems to have vanished from the story altogether. And his spell repertoire? It feels like he's stuck with the same five spells, despite the fact that he has way more but he doesn’t use them.

The author also doesn't seem to acknowledge the MC's stat growth. He started with 250 mana, and while he's gained more, he still only gets to use fireball a handful of times. He has animate minor object and uses knives, but somehow loses all his knives the moment he stabs someone. His sword skill is at 46, which means he should have mastered it by now, yet he keeps losing every sword fight without magic.

It's like the author suddenly decided to make the MC less capable. He's making mistakes he wouldn't have made before, and he's become more hesitant and indecisive. He even has a shield spell, but he rarely uses it, and when he does, it only blocks a single arrow and suddenly his mana’s finished. His power level fluctuates wildly, like a patient in cardiac arrest.

I was really enjoying this series, but these inconsistencies are making it hard to read. It feels like the author has lost sight of the MC's abilities and is making him weaker for no reason. I hope this gets addressed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Bridget.
144 reviews
October 6, 2024
I’ve got a couple impressions on my mind after coming up to date with this series:
- there are too many quests and side plots to be able to cover in every book. However, it is helpful to keep in mind that many of these books only cover brief periods of time. It makes it easier to justify important quests not being addressed or resolved within every book.
- definitely think I’m enjoying Clyde’s perspective within this universe more than Montana’s. Clyde is just a bit quicker on the pick up, so although he also has long segments of introspection and resistance to caution/responsibility, he ultimately doesn’t struggle as much to come to smart conclusions.
- still really enjoy the heroics
- particularly enjoying Clyde’s interactions with the gods (for sure less painful than Montana’s).
- I kinda wish Ugland would lean into Clyde’s flexibility, gymnastic background, and hand to hand/sword practice in fight scenes instead of totally relying on his magical abilities. I get that he needs to be differentiated from Montana’s conflict style (hulk smash), but think that could easily be achieved without avoiding physical offense completely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Gr.
1,165 reviews9 followers
July 24, 2024
2 Lies, 2 Thrones is book 11 of the LITRPG Series by Eric Ugland. Mr. Ugland combines enjoyable characters, villains, joy, tragedy, adventure, and action. I have been listening to the audio versions and the narration is outstanding.

This book and the entire series are light quick reads and have provided me with many hours of reading enjoyment. I have seen calls for an editor to improve grammar, but because I am listening to the narration, most of those errors are hidden from this reader.

I can go either way with LITRPG. I am not a gamer but have played some in the past. Mr. Ugland does a great job of minimizing the gaming aspects of the genre while providing great characters with an intriguing and addictive plot, and lots of snarky humor. I am looking forward to reading other series from the author and I am eagerly awaiting the release of Book #12 of The Bad Guys series. 4.25 Stars.
17 reviews
May 1, 2024
i enjoyed this story

While I am critical of the series so far, this story was actually good. I am comparing it to the previous books when I say it’s good. It has a beginning, pretty much the last few pages of the last book, and it has an end…that will be the first part of the next book.

The author likes to write in episodes, where something might happen to push the main story line (whatever it is, I can’t be certain any longer) or it might be a filler episode where you hope to learn a little about the MC or about the world as it relates to the plot. The last few books were filler episodes and left me wanting to give up.
This book is a matched pair with the other series, Good Guys. If you read only one, I would read Good Guys. Bad Guys seems like a novela that has gone on too long.
Profile Image for Steve.
1,618 reviews60 followers
May 1, 2024
3.5 stars. This was skating on thin ice based on recent performance, and indeed started with too much of the trademark recursive snark from the MC.

Fortunately it managed to break free of that before I gave up in disgust. The story began moving again, and th MC learned that there are times to keep his mouth shut. This allows me to round the rating up to a 4 instead of going on the 2-star DNF pile (again).

Hopefully the author can continue this trajectory and let the story take over and the MCs learn to talk like normal people, or at least not people you want to punch because you can't have a conversation without them being smart-arses. There have been too many failures in that regard over the last several books in both series.
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,183 reviews85 followers
May 7, 2024
Book 11

Even though the book is almost four hundred pages long, this still felt like a short fast read.
I guess good stories are like that.
I didn't give five stars due to the mistakes littered through out the book.
I'm not going to list them because the author has previously stated that they don't care about the mistakes. That they write for themselves and we are just lucky enough to tag along. Or something really close to that.

8/10 I don't think I will ever get bored with these stories.
Would have liked to know if he got all his stuff back. He seemed to have a lot of gold on himself.
Profile Image for Matthew C Welch.
5 reviews
April 29, 2024
Solid Entry in the Series

Another solid entry for the series. Many have their qualms with both the Good Guys, and the Bad Guys, but Eric’s world-building is fantastic.

Eric’s characters are fun. And I ALWAYS read every new entry in roughly a day and a half— just absolutely binge them. I feel like everything is coming together to hit a fantastic endgame for the fate of Glaton. I look forward to a new release when the time comes and continuing to enjoy the journeys taking place in Vuldranni.
Profile Image for Kevin.
104 reviews1 follower
April 29, 2024
Author levels up part way through

Felt like the author had an introspective moment while writing. As the book goes on there’s less silly interruptions that bring dialogue to a stand still, more of the protagonist pulling themselves out of thinking and introspection at every little thing, and we almost get a situation where random things that get alluded to in the beginning get linked to the ending of the same novel.

Maybe next time someone goes missing or there’s a new creature that will also tie into the ending of the same book. Next book plots should come up later!
Profile Image for Laura.
13 reviews1 follower
May 2, 2024
The best author since Pratchett

This whole series has been phenomenal. You come to expect twists and turns, and somehow, it's never what you think will happen. Eric Ugland has quickly become my favourite author, and I highly recommend both his lighthearted snarky nerd-culture-infused fantasy series and the darker urban detective Roseland Series. He is an author worth following, and it's never a dull ride.
Profile Image for Tony Hinde.
2,158 reviews79 followers
May 22, 2024
I don't want to nit-pick this series to death. The fact is, I like it and that's enough.

The key to my enjoyment is the likable protagonist. Clive is anti-authority but has a good heart. He'll give A**holes a chance to walk away but once they commit to cruelty, the gloves come off. It's satisfying.

Oh, and the two related series have finally crossed streams. Will the next book resolve both plot lines? I'm keen to find out.
Profile Image for Brian.
207 reviews62 followers
September 20, 2024
4.5 rounded to 5 for Goodreads. (I just don't give out all that many 5 stars in general:)

A million stars for Neil Hellegers. The man just has these characters (and in Good Guys) and the sensibilities of the author, down cold. He's brilliant in this entry.

I recommend Good Guys and Bad Guys constantly on my channel, BellTube, on YouTube if you like LitRPG, Fantasy, & Science Fiction. These books rarely let me down!
Profile Image for Doug Sundseth.
905 reviews9 followers
December 23, 2024
The book begins with Clyde being arrested and taken to prison for striking a royal. Officially, he remains in prison for the entire book. But for a teleporter, prison walls are only a minor inconvenience. Ugland's typical snarky humor is on full display here.

There is good character and plot development here, and the result is satisfying. The beginning and end of the book are rather more abrupt than I would prefer, but we do get a long-awaited event finally.

Recommended.

51 reviews
April 29, 2024
Needs an editor

Perhaps I am overly sensitive to grammar and sentence structure errors (extra and\or missing words), however, the distraction an disruption caused by these issues kept me from giving this book a four star review. Clyde does a bunch of stuff about sums up the plot. A good read without a lot of progress in the series.
Profile Image for Jim Phillips.
984 reviews4 followers
May 6, 2024
Still no epilogue

Really enjoying the story and even more the lack of spellchecker errors. I think there was only one in this book!

Even though this story is broken into separate books its really just the one long story. Epilogues go along way to making these actual books. Again love the story hate the format.
258 reviews5 followers
May 7, 2024
Prison time?

It seemed pretty strange that in a world with magic that the jail wouldn't have protection against magical escape, but not my story.
Clyde manages to get up into all kinds of trouble though he is arrested and in jail the whole time, kinda.
Fun, easy read even though it seems like a transition book. Tom out
Profile Image for Sam.
203 reviews
May 29, 2024
Love

This series. Bad Guys and Good Guys. Running parallel to each other and about to join forces. This time around Clyde does quite a bit of soloing and as usual being in trouble. Strap in for a ride.
Mr Ugland you tickle my funny bone and delight with your stories. Please keep up the good work.
43 reviews2 followers
Read
June 4, 2024
Great ending and dammit I need more

Outstanding as always. I so look forward to The Good Guys and The Bad Guys. They are my favorite LitRPG series' and that's saying something how many Outstanding series there are in the genre. Great work again Mr Ugland. Can't wait for Bad to the Throne
190 reviews12 followers
May 1, 2024
so glad to be back in Vuldranni!

If you’re reading this, you’re all the way in, so plot detail isn’t really that necessary. What is, that stuff happens, things are resolved, we meet our old friends again, and we are set for the next good guys book.
10 reviews
May 2, 2024
back to back bad guys

Clyde’s antics continue and his foes only seem to grow more worrying. Love the pace and follow up to how the last edition ended. Let the biggest crossover yet commence!
312 reviews2 followers
May 3, 2024
A Thief to be delighted in

The Bad Guys and The Good Guys have been thoroughly a fun romp. I am looking forward to the next installment. Twist here, turn there, meanwhile a sharp dagger in the back awaits.
66 reviews
May 15, 2024
Tollendahl needs to die

I hate people like him he needs to die. I can't wait for the next book and to have both of them in it, hopefully a lot. I wonder if they will notice that they're from the other world. I kind of hope there's only one more book left
Profile Image for M.
590 reviews21 followers
July 19, 2024
Recap

Clyde is in jail for slapping the princess, and he keeps breaking out. Goes and gets the papers for Montana. Wakes up to being tortured gives them the information about Montana. He is on the study of High Prince when Montana barges in.
149 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2024
I think it is already established that the books in Ugland's series are steady 4 stars with the occasional disappointment of 3 stars. This one is good enough, and advances the story somewhat. Good enough for me.
161 reviews1 follower
September 26, 2024
This book follows the less experienced cousin of Wizard Dressdon. Although the threat of the council and their judgment with the truth see-er is more balanced. I think Jim Butcher was heavy handed with his version of the wizard council but this book seemed well balanced with the threats he faced.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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