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Path of Progression #1-6
Dungeon Heroes Omnibus: Books 1-6
The complete series in a single offering!
Develop my team, dive the dungeons, and don’t ever stop.
I’ve always wanted to conquer the Big 5 dungeons ever since one of them took the life of my father nearly fifteen years ago. Nobody ever said the Path of Progression was easy, but my burning desire to dive can’t be quenched. I just never thought I’d be prohibited from getting a diving license just because I tried to help a bratty blonde girl get hers.
Soon, we’re joined by a lovely brunette bookworm, and we start diving the dungeon on our own terms. As it turns out, I have a few abilities that greatly increase our chances of actually finishing the Path, leading to a life of fame and luxury. Others soon notice the power I’m building though, and they’ll do anything to stop us.
I will conquer the Path of Progression with the help of my stunning companions.
That is unless the dungeon, or my secret enemy, kills me first.
Develop my team, dive the dungeons, and don’t ever stop.
I’ve always wanted to conquer the Big 5 dungeons ever since one of them took the life of my father nearly fifteen years ago. Nobody ever said the Path of Progression was easy, but my burning desire to dive can’t be quenched. I just never thought I’d be prohibited from getting a diving license just because I tried to help a bratty blonde girl get hers.
Soon, we’re joined by a lovely brunette bookworm, and we start diving the dungeon on our own terms. As it turns out, I have a few abilities that greatly increase our chances of actually finishing the Path, leading to a life of fame and luxury. Others soon notice the power I’m building though, and they’ll do anything to stop us.
I will conquer the Path of Progression with the help of my stunning companions.
That is unless the dungeon, or my secret enemy, kills me first.
2628 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 27, 2025
188 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Shane Hammond
38 books60 followersHey there! I'm Shane, and I love writing fantasy. I've been reading fantasy all my life, and I've always wanted the chance to tell the stories that I wanted to share. So here I am! With my stories, you can expect a fleshed-out and detailed world full of interesting characters that you can't help but root for. Thanks for checking me out, and I hope you enjoy my work!
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 20, 2025
Very small update: The epilogue was really sweet. It didn't redeem the whole mess of a series by any stretch, but it was a nice palate cleanse to end on.
I'm still slogging away at this book at 56%, but I've read enough that my opinion isn't going to change.
This isn't a very good book. There's basically no stakes, since it's established early on that death means nothing unless under extremely specific circumstances, and even that is thrown away at the end of the first half. There's also no planning. Stuff just happens to the characters. The hook is that there's this "path" that dungeon divers take most of their lives to complete, but somehow the MC and crew complete the whole thing in less than a year with literally no hiccups and basically no character growth other than "stats" that don't actually do anything (except the magic stat). And then when the characters have achieved their life's highest ambition before they're 21.....Suddenly there's more dungeons!! That are never mentioned ever in the 1400 previous pages. Super lame, if I'm being honest.
The main character is dumb. I hesitate to call him Gary Stu, because while he's fairly overpowered he's not actually good at using his powers. Instead he's constantly saved through author ex machina and it's frankly pathetic. There's literally no consequences for failure, even if the character were to fail at anything (he always succeeds after one or two tries).
The girls are....fine. Usually in a harem novel like this the love interests are the redeeming characters, but these ones don't have much personality except for the obnoxious one that gets a chance to interject in every scene. Mostly they're just a collection of perky breasts and other physical assets written in the typical "male author that's never seen a naked woman" style.
Short version: Skip it. It waffles from passable to bad and back and never strays to boring, so much that it stays entertaining, but this is 2600 pages of literal no stakes Gary Stu-adjacent nonsense.
I'm still slogging away at this book at 56%, but I've read enough that my opinion isn't going to change.
This isn't a very good book. There's basically no stakes, since it's established early on that death means nothing unless under extremely specific circumstances, and even that is thrown away at the end of the first half. There's also no planning. Stuff just happens to the characters. The hook is that there's this "path" that dungeon divers take most of their lives to complete, but somehow the MC and crew complete the whole thing in less than a year with literally no hiccups and basically no character growth other than "stats" that don't actually do anything (except the magic stat). And then when the characters have achieved their life's highest ambition before they're 21.....Suddenly there's more dungeons!! That are never mentioned ever in the 1400 previous pages. Super lame, if I'm being honest.
The main character is dumb. I hesitate to call him Gary Stu, because while he's fairly overpowered he's not actually good at using his powers. Instead he's constantly saved through author ex machina and it's frankly pathetic. There's literally no consequences for failure, even if the character were to fail at anything (he always succeeds after one or two tries).
The girls are....fine. Usually in a harem novel like this the love interests are the redeeming characters, but these ones don't have much personality except for the obnoxious one that gets a chance to interject in every scene. Mostly they're just a collection of perky breasts and other physical assets written in the typical "male author that's never seen a naked woman" style.
Short version: Skip it. It waffles from passable to bad and back and never strays to boring, so much that it stays entertaining, but this is 2600 pages of literal no stakes Gary Stu-adjacent nonsense.
March 3, 2025
Garbage.
Seriously. Was this written by AI? If not AI, by teenage boys. 14 year old teenage boys.
The main character is beyond stupid.
Motivations of characters is beyond stupid.
Characters are paper thin. One girls entire group of friends died permanently, and she spent 14 hours grieving them, then immediately went on to trying to screw the main character.
Bad writing, bad prose, bad development, bad opposition.
Sex scenes were entirely skippable, because mostly they were either awkward or boring.
Fight scenes were also boringly written.
Just don’t read it.
Seriously. Was this written by AI? If not AI, by teenage boys. 14 year old teenage boys.
The main character is beyond stupid.
Motivations of characters is beyond stupid.
Characters are paper thin. One girls entire group of friends died permanently, and she spent 14 hours grieving them, then immediately went on to trying to screw the main character.
Bad writing, bad prose, bad development, bad opposition.
Sex scenes were entirely skippable, because mostly they were either awkward or boring.
Fight scenes were also boringly written.
Just don’t read it.
November 12, 2025
Medium
So the book reads well enough. The romance is teen guy obsessed with big boobs level stuff. The plot is mostly harem. The world has 5 dungeons and if you clear even three you are super wealthy and famous, 5 and you are a national hero. But the way this team speed runs them, minimal training, clears on first try makes the rest of the world seem pathetic by every metric as if no one else is even trying. No second runs, no training probing runs, just one and done.
So the book reads well enough. The romance is teen guy obsessed with big boobs level stuff. The plot is mostly harem. The world has 5 dungeons and if you clear even three you are super wealthy and famous, 5 and you are a national hero. But the way this team speed runs them, minimal training, clears on first try makes the rest of the world seem pathetic by every metric as if no one else is even trying. No second runs, no training probing runs, just one and done.
July 18, 2025
Great read!
I loved reading this series. It started exciting from the start to the finish. The world was in a constant state of flux which the characters stood up to and conquered. The ending has a real nice twist that you will not see coming. I hope all readers enjoy this story as much as I did.
I loved reading this series. It started exciting from the start to the finish. The world was in a constant state of flux which the characters stood up to and conquered. The ending has a real nice twist that you will not see coming. I hope all readers enjoy this story as much as I did.
November 8, 2025
Why so many extreme detail sex scenes. Seems like a female would write that instead of a man. Why go over stat screen so much. Way to often we get the same thing way to often. If it’s not the sex scene over and over it’s the stupid stats over and over. Feel like I wasted my time and money on this. Don’t recommend listening to this or reading whatever you into
June 4, 2025
totally not for me
I couldn’t get past the first chapter. The search continues for intelligent and gripping writing. I dislike searching constantly for decent books.
I couldn’t get past the first chapter. The search continues for intelligent and gripping writing. I dislike searching constantly for decent books.
December 18, 2025
overall, this was good, but some annoying characters.
I will start by saying that I do actually like this series, but I found myself constantly getting irritated with the characters. Like the character Elise is probably the most annoying character in a book I have ever read. She has no growth throughout the entire series. I don’t mind they’re being a spoiled rich girl in the group of MG‘s but at msome point they need to Grow out of their bratty behavior. That does not happen with her. Other than that, all of the characters revert to being stupid at the worst possible times. Like when they’re in the dungeon and act surprised that it’s so much harder than the last time. Even though the entire premise is to start diving on the easiest dungeon and get to the hardest one. Every time they enter a harder, dungeon the characters act flabbergasted over how hard it is. They also continuously question others that are smarter and more experienced than them. The character is also wine when they don’t get exactly what they want. They gripe and moan because they can’t be told something that they’re not allowed to know. They get mad at the being that isn’t allowed to tell them even though the thing that is being asked, a question is restricted by magical rules that won’t allow it to tell them the answer to their question.
I will start by saying that I do actually like this series, but I found myself constantly getting irritated with the characters. Like the character Elise is probably the most annoying character in a book I have ever read. She has no growth throughout the entire series. I don’t mind they’re being a spoiled rich girl in the group of MG‘s but at msome point they need to Grow out of their bratty behavior. That does not happen with her. Other than that, all of the characters revert to being stupid at the worst possible times. Like when they’re in the dungeon and act surprised that it’s so much harder than the last time. Even though the entire premise is to start diving on the easiest dungeon and get to the hardest one. Every time they enter a harder, dungeon the characters act flabbergasted over how hard it is. They also continuously question others that are smarter and more experienced than them. The character is also wine when they don’t get exactly what they want. They gripe and moan because they can’t be told something that they’re not allowed to know. They get mad at the being that isn’t allowed to tell them even though the thing that is being asked, a question is restricted by magical rules that won’t allow it to tell them the answer to their question.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews