What do you think?
Rate this book
Dungeon World #5
Dungeon World 5
Get ready for the exciting conclusion to the Dungeon World series!
With the help of an unlikely ally, Fred has secretly obtained access to all seven elements for his Core without the Supreme Council of Dungeon Cores’ knowledge; Fire, Water, Nature, Earth, Dark, Light, and Air are now technically at his disposal. However, despite having access to them all, he finds himself behind enemy lines without the use of any but Light and Air due to his temporary Core he had created back in his dungeon. Now, with the assistance of Roady, Ravenne, and Agelstein – three members of the Allroads Government, and Fred’s “bodyguards” – he has to safely make it back to the city before the inevitable deadly response from the local Dungeon Cores at his theft of the Light element kills him.
Trouble is brewing behind the scenes, though, and the Supreme Council is ready to step up their attacks on Fred’s dungeon underneath the city of Allroads. With additional complications preventing Fred from fully utilizing his newly acquired elements, he has to scramble to find a way to not be useless and assist in the defense of his dungeon, his Shards, and all the people in the city above relying on him.
Oh, and on top of that, Fred still needs to figure out a way to save the world…
Contains LitRPG/GameLit elements such as statistics and leveling. No harems and no profanity.
With the help of an unlikely ally, Fred has secretly obtained access to all seven elements for his Core without the Supreme Council of Dungeon Cores’ knowledge; Fire, Water, Nature, Earth, Dark, Light, and Air are now technically at his disposal. However, despite having access to them all, he finds himself behind enemy lines without the use of any but Light and Air due to his temporary Core he had created back in his dungeon. Now, with the assistance of Roady, Ravenne, and Agelstein – three members of the Allroads Government, and Fred’s “bodyguards” – he has to safely make it back to the city before the inevitable deadly response from the local Dungeon Cores at his theft of the Light element kills him.
Trouble is brewing behind the scenes, though, and the Supreme Council is ready to step up their attacks on Fred’s dungeon underneath the city of Allroads. With additional complications preventing Fred from fully utilizing his newly acquired elements, he has to scramble to find a way to not be useless and assist in the defense of his dungeon, his Shards, and all the people in the city above relying on him.
Oh, and on top of that, Fred still needs to figure out a way to save the world…
Contains LitRPG/GameLit elements such as statistics and leveling. No harems and no profanity.
514 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 9, 2020
121 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Brooks
82 books484 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
April 16, 2020
Jonathan Brooks completes another one.
If there's two things we can get from this author is that:
1. he has distinguished himself in the core sub-genre of Gamelit
2. he is able to finish a series in a satisfactory manner.
This is the 4th series he has completed and they just continue to get better. Book 5 of Dungeon World was really bittersweet because, while as a reader you want to be exposed to more of this world that has been created, the story really seemed to have come to a natural, unforced conclusion.
Really enjoyed the ride.
If there's two things we can get from this author is that:
1. he has distinguished himself in the core sub-genre of Gamelit
2. he is able to finish a series in a satisfactory manner.
This is the 4th series he has completed and they just continue to get better. Book 5 of Dungeon World was really bittersweet because, while as a reader you want to be exposed to more of this world that has been created, the story really seemed to have come to a natural, unforced conclusion.
Really enjoyed the ride.
April 14, 2020
Loved the ending. I disagree with others saying this came out of nowhere... There has been a lot of foreshadowing about how the system is different than what is accepted wisdom, and the ending ties all these loose threads together well.
A satisfying conclusion to a great (and very unique) dungeon core series!
(I also really appreciate the start of book recaps! Makes it quick to jump right in without needless exposition overexplaining things to those who are crushing the series one book after the other.)
A satisfying conclusion to a great (and very unique) dungeon core series!
(I also really appreciate the start of book recaps! Makes it quick to jump right in without needless exposition overexplaining things to those who are crushing the series one book after the other.)
May 23, 2020
Great concept and groundbreaking work in a new genre, but the conclusion felt a little rushed, and more like a deus ex machina last ditch effort to save the day with a whole series of literary jumps that were only loosely connected to other things in the other four books in the story. I didn't feel the pieces of this new world falling into place very easily. But it was enjoyable to read! A vibrant world, just the plot armor may be a little too thick. And I'm not sure it needed to be.
April 18, 2020
Nice quick paced and no major loose ends as the series culminates.
On the other hand too much of the book was taken up by the detailed description of a epic battles vs. actual plot.
On the other hand too much of the book was taken up by the detailed description of a epic battles vs. actual plot.
April 13, 2020
Worst ending to a series I have read in some time. It feels like the author has no idea how to end it and just tacked on any concept he could think of.
June 13, 2020
This was a pretty good series overall and got better as it proceeded. Though this is only my second series in this genre, plot wise it is pretty unique. I also appreciated that it had a natural ending point.
In this world there are hard rules of the magic / abilities system that all 4 previous books have shown are unbreakable. Unfortunately, there was an instance where the MC did just that - creating a defender even though there are foreign invaders without any sort of explanation of why this is possible or even any mention that this should have been impossible. I was tempted to rate the book lower for this because this was extremely jarring for me and broke me out of the immersion but in the end decided not to do so, since this happened only once.
In this world there are hard rules of the magic / abilities system that all 4 previous books have shown are unbreakable. Unfortunately, there was an instance where the MC did just that - creating a defender even though there are foreign invaders without any sort of explanation of why this is possible or even any mention that this should have been impossible. I was tempted to rate the book lower for this because this was extremely jarring for me and broke me out of the immersion but in the end decided not to do so, since this happened only once.
July 18, 2020
Spoilers
While i enjoyed the previous iterations of the series, this one just felt like too much build up, and "problems" with no pay off in sight, and when he loses his human form i had to skip ahead to see if there was pay off in the end, and i felt unsatisfied by what i saw, and i found myself feeling nothing but negative feelings throughout the rest of it. The mc does "the impossible, even when things are horribly predictable and i can't fathom what the author was thinking, mc isn't believable in this one, nor is the plot. Problems are just piled on top of each other over and over till its a mountain with no relief, that only a deus ex machina can solve, and leaves you overall very unsatisfied. I seldom don't want to finish a book, but this one did it for me.
While i enjoyed the previous iterations of the series, this one just felt like too much build up, and "problems" with no pay off in sight, and when he loses his human form i had to skip ahead to see if there was pay off in the end, and i felt unsatisfied by what i saw, and i found myself feeling nothing but negative feelings throughout the rest of it. The mc does "the impossible, even when things are horribly predictable and i can't fathom what the author was thinking, mc isn't believable in this one, nor is the plot. Problems are just piled on top of each other over and over till its a mountain with no relief, that only a deus ex machina can solve, and leaves you overall very unsatisfied. I seldom don't want to finish a book, but this one did it for me.
September 21, 2023
This is the finale and wrap up of the Dungeon World storyline. Fred has had a lot of hint that something bigger was wrong in their world, but will he figures out what it is in time to save the City of Allroads from the pending attack from all of the Core Factions?
I really liked how it wrapped up, but I will note that there were a lot of chapters of people being killed en masse. I kept chanting, "now Fred. Figure it out now!" There are for sure Deus Ex Machina moments as Fred constantly does just the right impossible thing, even if he takes his bloody time about it. It’s a fast paced story and continues to develop the world it is set in. If you like unusual twists on Dungeon Core stories, this is a decent one. Solid 3 stars.
I really liked how it wrapped up, but I will note that there were a lot of chapters of people being killed en masse. I kept chanting, "now Fred. Figure it out now!" There are for sure Deus Ex Machina moments as Fred constantly does just the right impossible thing, even if he takes his bloody time about it. It’s a fast paced story and continues to develop the world it is set in. If you like unusual twists on Dungeon Core stories, this is a decent one. Solid 3 stars.
September 27, 2025
ok, I've burned my way through this series.
It's fine. I don't know what I should say here - there were some glimpses of characters here and somewhat less stupid decisions, but the whole series culminated in a plot that was set forth beforehand so it's not like huge decisions had to be made once things happened. The action happened, it was at times interesting, although really just throwing power around.
honestly in some ways the short story at the end intrigued me more - although it looks like it ended with some sort of cross-book thing that I really dislike as a method so eh.
Again, 2 1/2 stars maybe is more appropriate but I tend to put books I wasn't fond of (but didn't actually hate) at 2 stars despite how the way the ratings are stated.
It's fine. I don't know what I should say here - there were some glimpses of characters here and somewhat less stupid decisions, but the whole series culminated in a plot that was set forth beforehand so it's not like huge decisions had to be made once things happened. The action happened, it was at times interesting, although really just throwing power around.
honestly in some ways the short story at the end intrigued me more - although it looks like it ended with some sort of cross-book thing that I really dislike as a method so eh.
Again, 2 1/2 stars maybe is more appropriate but I tend to put books I wasn't fond of (but didn't actually hate) at 2 stars despite how the way the ratings are stated.
January 12, 2021
This was a very entertaining series. When I reached the end of the fourth book, I couldn't wait for the fifth to come out! This was one of the first LitRPG series I have read, and unlike some which tend to drown the reader with dry statistics, this one blends the action and the numbers smoothly. Sometimes it plays out more like a tower defense than a dungeon delve, but that deviation is an intriguing change. This series also isn't vulgar or led by an obnoxious "Mary Sue" type either - which unfortunately is surprisingly common in LitRPGs. For those wanting to dive into this new, growing genre, the Dungeon Core novels is a great place to start!
March 20, 2021
Dungeons, And Delvers, And Cores, Oh My! (You get bonus points if you sing it in a Dorothy of Oz impersonation)
Mr. Brooks ends the Dungeon World Series with a surprising, yet satisfying solution (and denouement in the final chapter) to the problems Fredwynklemossering, Fred, is facing. It is also an interesting bit of world building. I could see Mr. Brooks novels being the base for an intriguing RPG, with the addition of a great deal of rules, game mechanics, and dice.
The series is likely an enjoyable read for fans of the high fantasy and LitRPG genres; as well as fans of RPGs, both tabletop and video.
Mr. Brooks ends the Dungeon World Series with a surprising, yet satisfying solution (and denouement in the final chapter) to the problems Fredwynklemossering, Fred, is facing. It is also an interesting bit of world building. I could see Mr. Brooks novels being the base for an intriguing RPG, with the addition of a great deal of rules, game mechanics, and dice.
The series is likely an enjoyable read for fans of the high fantasy and LitRPG genres; as well as fans of RPGs, both tabletop and video.
May 8, 2024
I read the omnibus edition so this review will cover all 5 books.
Was this a great series? No. Was it especially original? No. Was it what I needed right now? Yeah, pretty much. A series about a half-human/half-dungeon setting out, getting in adventures, saving the world. You know, the usual LitRPG stuff.
While the mechanics can be unnecessarily complicated at times it's a pretty straightforward series, with an obvious focus on dungeons, but with all the tropes. Unlike most book in this genre it keeps things fairly PG, which means no nudity but all the violence. I didn't have to think too much, it was a simple quick read, just what I needed.
Was this a great series? No. Was it especially original? No. Was it what I needed right now? Yeah, pretty much. A series about a half-human/half-dungeon setting out, getting in adventures, saving the world. You know, the usual LitRPG stuff.
While the mechanics can be unnecessarily complicated at times it's a pretty straightforward series, with an obvious focus on dungeons, but with all the tropes. Unlike most book in this genre it keeps things fairly PG, which means no nudity but all the violence. I didn't have to think too much, it was a simple quick read, just what I needed.
April 11, 2020
The finale! Fred and gang face off against the entirety of the world’s dungeons. The story progresses from one fight to another. Character development takes a step backwards as each only shows one side of themselves. There are numerous Deus Ex Machina moments as Fred constantly does just the right impossible thing at just the right time to put things right. The resolution chapter was a clear wrap up that was overshadowed by the epilogue. It’s a fast paced story and continues to develop the world it is set in. Enjoy
August 15, 2022
A fine conclusion, although it suffered a bit with the shift to world ending stakes and ancient mysteries.
The conclusion of the series was satisfying enough, although there was a lot of sudden exposition right at the end to bring it all togehter. I also don’t care for authors using numbers to describe death counts. It might sound epic to put 300,000 people die in the final battle, but it’s kind of meaningless to the reader. Also the actual solution Fred comes up with seems to have some serious flaws. However, I got the happy ending I wanted, so I was ultimately pretty satisfied.
The conclusion of the series was satisfying enough, although there was a lot of sudden exposition right at the end to bring it all togehter. I also don’t care for authors using numbers to describe death counts. It might sound epic to put 300,000 people die in the final battle, but it’s kind of meaningless to the reader. Also the actual solution Fred comes up with seems to have some serious flaws. However, I got the happy ending I wanted, so I was ultimately pretty satisfied.
June 27, 2020
Fantasy Lit RPG
I love the whole concept of the story.
Ratings and Stat sheets make you feel like you are part of the leveling process in the story.
If I had to pick 1 negative thing. It would be that things that are obvious are repeated a lot. Not just from book to book. But sometimes within the same book.
Eg. We know Fred is a hybrid dungeon/human core. But that point is made way too many times.
Other than that. Really enjoyed the story.
Thank you
Jovan Fraser
I love the whole concept of the story.
Ratings and Stat sheets make you feel like you are part of the leveling process in the story.
If I had to pick 1 negative thing. It would be that things that are obvious are repeated a lot. Not just from book to book. But sometimes within the same book.
Eg. We know Fred is a hybrid dungeon/human core. But that point is made way too many times.
Other than that. Really enjoyed the story.
Thank you
Jovan Fraser
September 13, 2020
Very few of these types of books have a really "good" protagonist. And by that I mean, there is no moral ambiguity to be found in Fred. He has the best interests of his friends, his people, and the entire world over even his own happiness.
Part Dungeon Core, part human. Fred the Dualborn is one of the most interesting characters I have read about in quite some time. And a fantastic return to a better status-quo was the reward at the end. Fantastic fiction for the lovers of RPGs.
Part Dungeon Core, part human. Fred the Dualborn is one of the most interesting characters I have read about in quite some time. And a fantastic return to a better status-quo was the reward at the end. Fantastic fiction for the lovers of RPGs.
December 26, 2021
It's like the author knows this is his last book in the series, so he is trying to stuff as much stats in the book was possible.
Ah yes. The Ole' artificially weaken the protagonist so you can make drama and have him struggle to do the most basic of things he used to do. So Entertaining!!
I finished the series, but I did not enjoy it. Maybe if I read this years ago, and it had less stats.
2.5/5 Stars
Ah yes. The Ole' artificially weaken the protagonist so you can make drama and have him struggle to do the most basic of things he used to do. So Entertaining!!
I finished the series, but I did not enjoy it. Maybe if I read this years ago, and it had less stats.
2.5/5 Stars
June 15, 2020
Fun read
I’ve read through the entire dungeon world journey and have enjoyed the entire ride. The end here makes me sad but it does feel like the cycle was complete. The twists there at the end I never saw coming and it finished in a way that felt fresh to me. I highly recommend this series to anyone that like dungeon core books or has yet to read any :)
I’ve read through the entire dungeon world journey and have enjoyed the entire ride. The end here makes me sad but it does feel like the cycle was complete. The twists there at the end I never saw coming and it finished in a way that felt fresh to me. I highly recommend this series to anyone that like dungeon core books or has yet to read any :)
June 6, 2020
A good finish, would love more
The series wrapped up in a way that didn't feel too rushed. There was a bit of a surprise twist that could have used some more details, but overall was a very enjoyable read.
The series wrapped up in a way that didn't feel too rushed. There was a bit of a surprise twist that could have used some more details, but overall was a very enjoyable read.
July 12, 2020
Great ending to a good series :)
Very satisfying ending to the story! Explanations of world mechanics and some descriptions of fights were a bit of a slog to get through, but it was an overall very enjoyable read. I will definitely be checking out the author's other works!
Very satisfying ending to the story! Explanations of world mechanics and some descriptions of fights were a bit of a slog to get through, but it was an overall very enjoyable read. I will definitely be checking out the author's other works!
July 22, 2020
Good bye dungeon world
This was a great series and I enjoyed all the books. I got a bit worried in this book but I love how most of the ends resolved themselves in the book... on to a different series by this author
This was a great series and I enjoyed all the books. I got a bit worried in this book but I love how most of the ends resolved themselves in the book... on to a different series by this author
August 12, 2020
It was alright. The plot finished up, but it had lost any sense of urgency or stakes a couple of books ago. If you liked the rest of the series, you may as well finish it, but don't expect anything too mindbreaking.
January 14, 2021
A really fun read. I read all 5 in a few weeks and really them. The ending was fitting and not a let down at all. I enjoy the genre and this set of 5 books is a pleasing addition and belongs among the great such as D. Rus etc.
February 4, 2021
Core madness
Interesting evolution of the main character / dungeon core over the series. This one suffered a bit from endless hordes of monsters fighting with the main character and allies.
Interesting evolution of the main character / dungeon core over the series. This one suffered a bit from endless hordes of monsters fighting with the main character and allies.
May 27, 2020
Awesome!
Awesomely binge worthy!
Ending is great - ties it all together and leaves openings for possible new branches!
Thank you!
Awesomely binge worthy!
Ending is great - ties it all together and leaves openings for possible new branches!
Thank you!
June 10, 2020
Enjoyable series
Enjoyable and well written, the last book didn't get too tedious when the plot adapted. Series is definitely worth reading.
Enjoyable and well written, the last book didn't get too tedious when the plot adapted. Series is definitely worth reading.
June 13, 2020
I'm glad this didn't end up as an infinite series...and the ending was fairly satisfactory. The world building especially was good, and the history of the world was well imagined :)
June 20, 2020
Great ending
Was a great ending to a very solid series. Much enjoyed. A good read if your in search of dungeon lit rpg
Was a great ending to a very solid series. Much enjoyed. A good read if your in search of dungeon lit rpg
June 24, 2020
Great series
From start to finish a great book. Love the characters and plot line. Great imagining of the dungeon core world.
From start to finish a great book. Love the characters and plot line. Great imagining of the dungeon core world.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews