What do you think?
Rate this book
Tower of Gates
Roguelike
Desperately Seeking the Amulet of Yendro
Alex enters a roguelike embedded inside the Tower of Gates VRMMORPG. If he makes it out by avoiding Yet Another Stupid Death, he’ll gain an epic magic item and rejoin his companions.
Was taking the chance and going into the roguelike his biggest mistake? Or will playing bring him even further riches and glory? Find out in this first supplement adventure in the Tower of Gates universe.
YASD! Aaargh! If you loved Rogue, Nethack, or any of the other procedurally generated RPGs, you should grab this book.
Alex enters a roguelike embedded inside the Tower of Gates VRMMORPG. If he makes it out by avoiding Yet Another Stupid Death, he’ll gain an epic magic item and rejoin his companions.
Was taking the chance and going into the roguelike his biggest mistake? Or will playing bring him even further riches and glory? Find out in this first supplement adventure in the Tower of Gates universe.
YASD! Aaargh! If you loved Rogue, Nethack, or any of the other procedurally generated RPGs, you should grab this book.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2018
117 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 13, 2018
Ok, up front, I have to say, I really enjoyed this story. However, I'm a stats guy, I really like the tables of stats and the skill progression in most LitRPG books. This book didn't have a lot of that, but what it did have wasn't carefully monitored. What I mean, is that in several places, the story increased in level, skill level, or what have you, and the corresponding stats didn't change in the least. To me, this is just sloppy editing. It doesn't detract from the story any for those who ignore the stats, and that's all well and good, but if you're going to put in the stats, then you should make sure the stats are as close to accurate as you can make them. In this story, the stats simply weren't maintained at all, and as a result, I found my enjoyment of the story muffled a bit.
On the other hand, the story itself was great, and it was really really cool to see another piece of the world and watch it be solved by a character that never gave up. Of course, having never solved Nethack myself, though I've tried many times with the various nethack clones too rogue, moria, and a couple others I can't remember at the moment, I really liked this runthrough of the nethack game. I've often wondered if anyone has released an RPG version of nethack, with modern 3d graphics and such. I'd not be able to play it, due to physical limitations, but it would still be very cool to know such a thing exists.
Anyway, if you like nethack, rogue, moria, or any of the myriad other clones of same, then you're likely to love this installment in the series here, even if it's not exactly related to the storyline as we've seen it so far. On the other hand, if you hate dungeon crawls, and can't stand grinding, then you might find this installment a bit out of your comfort zone.
On the other hand, the story itself was great, and it was really really cool to see another piece of the world and watch it be solved by a character that never gave up. Of course, having never solved Nethack myself, though I've tried many times with the various nethack clones too rogue, moria, and a couple others I can't remember at the moment, I really liked this runthrough of the nethack game. I've often wondered if anyone has released an RPG version of nethack, with modern 3d graphics and such. I'd not be able to play it, due to physical limitations, but it would still be very cool to know such a thing exists.
Anyway, if you like nethack, rogue, moria, or any of the myriad other clones of same, then you're likely to love this installment in the series here, even if it's not exactly related to the storyline as we've seen it so far. On the other hand, if you hate dungeon crawls, and can't stand grinding, then you might find this installment a bit out of your comfort zone.
November 29, 2018
A quick, fun read, and the author clearly has played his share of roguelikes. Felt a little lost without knowing about any of the framing material. Left a few questions it went out of its way to ask unanswered. The first book in the main series is only $1 so I grabbed it for winter vacation popcorn.
January 28, 2022
2.5 stars. If you know what YASD means then you'll probably enjoy this book, the first half was more enjoyable for me then the 2nd, I loved all the roguelike elements.
Love this item it reminds me of Wednesdays Line "Are they made with real girl scouts"
From Nethack
Love this item it reminds me of Wednesdays Line "Are they made with real girl scouts"
d) Bag of Holding
1) Elven Cookies x2 (Made with real elves)
From Nethack
Elbereth (also called the E-word or sometimes just E) is, in the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, the name of a divine being worshipped by elves. In Nethack, engraving her name on a square prevents most monsters from attacking you while you are on that square. Use of Elbereth is a key survival strategy for new players or characters, and the difference between death and survival in many games.
May 30, 2020
I really enjoyed the humor in this book. Lots of good one liners, and an overall fun theme to the story. It is a rougelike, of course. The main character tries and tries again, respawning over and over while trying to get the reward at the end. It has a few nice mechanics that make it unique.
February 20, 2022
Confused
I am not sure what exactly I just read…
I feel like this book dropped me in the middle of a story. There was no world building, no explanation for how the characters got to where they were, and I didn’t care about the characters at all because I didn’t know who they were. I don’t even know how many there are. I think there was four in the beginning, but then they split and two entered an area that no one has ever come out of? I don’t know. I was really confused.
Is the author of this book a kleptomaniac? Because the main character certainly is. He tries to steal everything. Everything. He will slaughter shop keepers just to take everything in the shop. It’s a little ridiculous.
It seemed like there were no action scenes toward the end of the book. The book just had a list of RPG notifications of the results of fights interspersed by some dialog. The little action scenes that were present felt silly. The characters were threatening each other and blustering all through the fights when the fights were described. It felt silly.
I don’t know what I just read, but it left me confused. Is this book the first book in the series? It doesn’t say…
I am not sure what exactly I just read…
I feel like this book dropped me in the middle of a story. There was no world building, no explanation for how the characters got to where they were, and I didn’t care about the characters at all because I didn’t know who they were. I don’t even know how many there are. I think there was four in the beginning, but then they split and two entered an area that no one has ever come out of? I don’t know. I was really confused.
Is the author of this book a kleptomaniac? Because the main character certainly is. He tries to steal everything. Everything. He will slaughter shop keepers just to take everything in the shop. It’s a little ridiculous.
It seemed like there were no action scenes toward the end of the book. The book just had a list of RPG notifications of the results of fights interspersed by some dialog. The little action scenes that were present felt silly. The characters were threatening each other and blustering all through the fights when the fights were described. It felt silly.
I don’t know what I just read, but it left me confused. Is this book the first book in the series? It doesn’t say…
November 20, 2020
This was my first Litrpg book and it was a lot of fun. Though repetitious (which was the point) I think some things could have been done better, but it was still a fun read. There were some really great humorous parts in the book that made me laugh out loud (which can be rare while reading a book).
I am not familiar with the prequels so jumping into this was a tad confusing, but even if you haven't read the other books, the concept is straight forward for this genre and didn't hinder the storyline of this particular book. Great job
I am not familiar with the prequels so jumping into this was a tad confusing, but even if you haven't read the other books, the concept is straight forward for this genre and didn't hinder the storyline of this particular book. Great job
April 14, 2020
O.K.
I thought the plot was very good. It was very specific. It had a goal and there wasn't any side quests or any of that sort. I just didn't like how inexperienced the character was. The book made it sound like the main character had been in the video game for years. However, the protagonist continued on making rash decisions and getting himself killed.
Overall, it was good, but could do better.
I thought the plot was very good. It was very specific. It had a goal and there wasn't any side quests or any of that sort. I just didn't like how inexperienced the character was. The book made it sound like the main character had been in the video game for years. However, the protagonist continued on making rash decisions and getting himself killed.
Overall, it was good, but could do better.
July 24, 2020
Eh.
I enjoyed the mechanics of the book, both the narrative structure and the mechanics of the game. But idk, everything was so vague it hard to get invested. Didn't learn much of anything about the main characters, and the story seems to avoid asking big questions.
I enjoyed the book, but it had very little depth or plot. It leans almost exclusively on roguelike staples
I enjoyed the mechanics of the book, both the narrative structure and the mechanics of the game. But idk, everything was so vague it hard to get invested. Didn't learn much of anything about the main characters, and the story seems to avoid asking big questions.
I enjoyed the book, but it had very little depth or plot. It leans almost exclusively on roguelike staples
September 3, 2020
A good grind
This book gives the same feeling as a procedurally created dungeon: it grinds on and on but you want to continue! The character class that is being played, the items, the encounters - all blur but not the person behind them. Their motivations and the way their attitude changes is well portrayed.
A really good, easy read.
This book gives the same feeling as a procedurally created dungeon: it grinds on and on but you want to continue! The character class that is being played, the items, the encounters - all blur but not the person behind them. Their motivations and the way their attitude changes is well portrayed.
A really good, easy read.
October 1, 2020
Good read but...
The book was good, but as I haven’t read the main series. The story just drops you in with very little explanation of mechanics and is a bit all over the place with the storyline. It isn’t until mid way in the book you find out that the main character is a person trapped in a game within a game.
The book was good, but as I haven’t read the main series. The story just drops you in with very little explanation of mechanics and is a bit all over the place with the storyline. It isn’t until mid way in the book you find out that the main character is a person trapped in a game within a game.
April 29, 2024
Not bad...not great, somewhere in the middle
Being a about a roguelike, the author did a pretty good job of not making it super repetitive or boring but even then I feel like unfortunately it became just that towards the middle. An okay read if you like the genre.
Being a about a roguelike, the author did a pretty good job of not making it super repetitive or boring but even then I feel like unfortunately it became just that towards the middle. An okay read if you like the genre.
September 23, 2018
I love Paul Bellow’s Roguelike, the first supplement adventure to his perfect LitRPG series, Tower of Gates. This is the backstory of what happened to Axelrod's companions that readers read about in book 3 of the series. It works beautifully as both a stand-alone for newcomers and as a great extra for those who who been relishing the series to date. Yet another wonderful story with a fun plot and great characters. Welcome back to the Tower - your reading pleasure awaits. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to either the next book in this series or the next supplement.
May 20, 2021
This book had a page or two of a frame story about the main character being trapped in an RPG, and was otherwise a detailed transcription of several games of Nethack. I guess there's nothing wrong with that if that's what you like reading, but it's not particularly exciting or creative, and not something I'm going to rush to recommend.
February 26, 2020
This was way better than I thought it was going to be based on some of the reviews I had seen. While repetive at times it was very much in the spirit of old Twilight Zone episodes and other classic sci fi / fantasy stories. I am sure I will read more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews