Dungeon Duel

The Rogue Dungeon #5

by James A. Hunter, eden Hudson, Nick Podehl (Narrator)

*Running Time => 9 hrs. and 32 mins.*

Build. Evolve. Conquer. Welcome to a whole new kind of Boss Battle…

Roark von Graf fought his way up from the bottom to become not only the Dungeon Lord of the Cruel Citadel, but the leader of the Troll Nation, making underhanded alliances with other dungeons and players along the way.

Until now, he’s only had to worry about his enemies attacking from inside the game. But Lowen, the Tyrant King’s right-hand man, has found a way to attack the players in league with Roark IRL, laying siege to the company that keeps Hearthworld’s servers running and capturing the very Devs who can take Roark apart byte by byte.

To stop Lowen and his Divine armies once and for all, Roark will have to drag the magics of the game into the real world, harness deadly new technologies, and build dungeons in places no Dungeon Lord has ever gone before.

The fate of Earth hangs in the balance. The duel between Dungeon Lords has begun. And one of them isn’t leaving Hearthworld alive…

From James A. Hunter - author of 'Bibliomancer', Shadowcroft Academy for Dungeons', and 'Viridian Gate Online' - and Eden Hudson, author of 'Path of the Thunderbird' and 'Death Cultivator', comes the fifth installment in the best-selling Rogue Dungeon series!


©2021 Shadow Alley Press (P)2021 Shadow Alley Press

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Fiction

10 pages, Audible Audio

First published February 16, 2021

About the author

James Hunter is a full-time ink slinger, a member of SFWA, and the bestselling author of Vigil Bound, Rogue Dungeon, Shadowcroft Academy, Bibliomancer (The Completionist Chronicles Expanded Universe), and the litRPG epic Viridian Gate Online! In addition to writing, James also runs Shadow Alley Press, an industry leader that specializes in publishing LitRPG, Fantasy, and selection Science Fiction.

James is a former Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran, and pirate hunter (seriously). He’s also a member of The Royal Order of the Shellback—’cause that’s totally a real thing. And a spaceship captain, can’t forget that. Okay … the last one probably isn’t true. When not writing or spending time with family, James occasionally finds time to eat and sleep.

Find out more about James Hunter at www.ShadowAlleyPress.com

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Book 5 continues to be pretty middle-book, but it's still fun stuff. As you might surmise from the title and the cover art, this book focuses pretty heavily on Roark's plan to face down Lowen and conquer the Vault of the Radiant Shield so he can get control of the portal back to his home world. And things are going to get pretty crazy before it's over.

The big long-term joke that's been building throughout this whole series is that the protagonists are all infernal creatures who range from off-putting to disgusting to outright terrifying, and the baddies, who are melodramatically evil, are golden angel-winged creatures of divine magic. So when the battle spills over into the streets of modern-day L.A., you can understand the confusion by the people of IRL.

PwnerBoner/Scott is coming into his own as a character, and he's arguably a highlight of this book. He's an insufferable ballsack, but when shit gets real, he shows his heart's in the right place. I cackled at the scene where he mouths off to a US military high muckety-muck and not only gets away with it, but gets the guy to ask him for help.

It also becomes clear that arch-villain Marek is something far worse than just a cruel and ambitious man. Roark's home is far from the first world he's conquered, and nothing would please him more than conquering IRL too, along with the hundreds of other world's he's already taken. The book ends with a quasi-cliffhanger, Marek having unleashed the mobs of Hearthworld on the unsuspecting world of IRL, so we can guess things are going to reach a whole new level of world-spanning zaniness in Book 6. This series started out as "magicked into a video game," but now the tables are turned, and the video game is being magicked into IRL.

(The way the heroes keep using "IRL" to refer to the real world made me wish there was a funny moment where Roark thinks they're saying the name of their home world is Ayarelle and starts calling it that himself. Which is why I'm relentlessly treating "IRL" like its name. Just for my personal grins.)

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Dungeon Duel is book #5 in the LitRPG series “The Rogue Dungeon”. This volume really hits the ground running and really doesn’t let up until the end and even then it doesn’t really stop it just prepares you for volume 6.

The game world of Hearth World and Earth are starting to feel the effects of Roark’s meddling and we get to see war on all fronts this time as Lowen brings the fight to Earth to try and shutdown the game studio and kill Roark.

While there wasn’t much character development in Dungeon Duel I’ve come to really enjoy this cast. Particularly one that I should loathe on principle of him being a grade-A D-Bag. But PWNER BONER 007 is just a hilarious parody and a fantastic anti-hero. He’s a disgruntled Taco Bell employee and a n00b ganking conceited gamer but he’s a great character and fun to read.

A lot of game changers for the series in this one and I think I’d prefer if it was winding down to its conclusion but I still look forward to reading all the volumes as they come.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost DNF’d this, but came back to it.

It was… fine, I guess. But it wasn’t consistent with the previous books and I found the cross-world stuff pretty stupid.

The worship of the might of the US Army was bizarre.

I think I’ll be stopping my journey with these books here. Too many sharks jumped and too many stretches of characterization.

[Stanislas Sodonon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing much happened in this book in terms of progressing either the plot or the characters, but it remains entertainingly fresh, so I'll keep reading - although it's about time we got to a denouement already; 6 volumes is stretching the limit.

[Rechan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It delivers on everything I was hoping for.

[S T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not Worth It - Save Your Money

I gave the book a chance despite the fact that every problem with it was introduced last book and I knew even then, how bad of ideas they were. Introducing and interacting with Earth while also having an RPG World is a terrible idea. Each and every time. There hasn't been a book yet that when it shifts back and forth from Earth to the video game world that does it smoothly or adds any entertainment/enjoyment to the book as they always seem to take it away. This genre exists because readers want to read about worlds that have video game/RPG elements. Bringing in guns and tanks to solve your problems destroys the story and turns me away as a reader. The bouncing amongst multiple characters across three different planes of existence was not only unenjoyable but, stretched out the book. You essentially only get four, MAYBE five chapters that actually advance the plot of the story. To have the story follow all the extra characters felt like fluff, which was an insult and a waste of my money. Even bigger problem was not only did Scott go from being the antagonist of Hearthworld but, to being a team member of Troll Nation. Though to be honest, that did happen in the previous book. However, the absolute worst aspect of the entire book is not only does Scott's skin-crawling Toxic Gamer attitude still exist but, he is constantly rewarded for his behavior. I deal with it enough in real life playing games, I don't want it in the books I purchase to escape the very aspect I am trying to get away from.

With how the book ended, there is no coming back from these problems. It puts me off the series (which used to be one of the best in the genre) and has me questioning my desire to read other works by either author.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this was the most exciting and jam packed with action book in this series to date. Roark, dungeon lord of the Cruel citadel also known as the griefer is fighting to keep hold of the world stone, to defeat Marek the tyrannical king and to keep all his allies safe. However in this book he has to watch out for a battle being fought not only in Hearthworld but also IRL back on Earth as Lowen, Marek's right hand man, is attacking players IRL and laying siege to the company that keeps Hearthworld's servers running. He is also capturing Devs who can take Roark apart byte by byte. In order to stop Lowen and his divine armies, Roark has to drag the magics of the game into the real world, harness new technologies and build dungeons in places no dungeon lord had ever gone before. The fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the duel between dungeon lords has begun and only one of them will leave Hearthworld alive. Roark's team work hand in hand with him both in Hearthworld and on Earth, even though he did his best to keep those he cared for safe and out of the eye of the storm. I loved the action across different worlds, and the courage shown by Randy, always seen as a nerd, and by Scott who also proved to be turning into a real hero. However, I fear that taking war machines and weaponry from Earth into Hearthworld could have devastating effects forever more and change the way battles are fought and not for the better! Bring on book 6 as I cannot wait to see how things will develop in game now that new technologies have come to Hearthworld.

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.4/5

Review: I am not sure why there are so few reviews for this series. Shadow Alley Press may need to up their game in order to realize the spread of talent because these are two very talented writers.

This continuation series is very well done. The world is fantastic as it spans 3 dimensions in plausible fashion. The characters are creative and engaging. Pwner is one of the funniest characters I have had the pleasure to read. He just keeps on giving shjt.

Is the price of the ticket worth admission? I think so, yet the novel edges along the border of being a novella in length. This was mainly why I gave it four stars as it would have easily been five with a proper page count.

The end of this series draws near and that is saddening. But it was a good ride and I had a great time. If you have not read any of Eden Hudson’s work then you are in for a treat as she continues to get better and better.

[Ryan McCoin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good addition to the series, the best yet in my opinion. The plot progressed in solid, concrete ways that included some big changes with heavy implications for following books. The characters experienced change and meaningful growth. The worlds were fleshed out and given more life. I actually thought this was going to conclude the series before the phenomenal ending threw a twist in. Overall, a really good addition that was satisfying.

[Ty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book for several reasons. The first four books in this series were internally consistent, well-paced, and populated with believable and fun characters. I was a little irked by the fact that a particular character continually used a disgraceful number of slurs generally directed at LGBTQ+ folk and no one ever confronted him about it, but there were more books left in the series and I was hopeful it might be addressed later. (Just because a phenomenon (toxicity) is common in a real-world situation (gamer society) doesn't mean that it should be portrayed as acceptable.)

But I came into this book with high hopes, having not been disappointed by the previous four. Within the first chapter, I already had a big problem. Everything that follows may be considered spoilers, as I enumerate specific, inconsistent storytelling elements throughout the book.

At the end of book 4, Roark was at level 40, and needed to grind out 10 more levels, as the World Stone had specified that Transmute Flesh could not be activated if the level disparity between the subject and the transmutation core was greater than .5*the level of the transmutation core. The NecroDragon's transmutation core being at level 99, half of this was 50. So far, so good.

But at the beginning of book 5, Scott is logging back in, stating that it has been 3 hours since the encounter with the NecroDragon, and receives a notification from the Griefer, indicating that he needs help with a quest to grind out more levels. How many? One. Because he's at level 69 now, and needs to be at level 70.

Red flag numero uno. This could have been an oversight, whatevs, I'll continue reading.

In book 4, we learn that Lowen's plan is to try to force one of the Devs of Hearthworld to make it so the World Stone pendant is no longer soulbound to Roark, making it possible to remove it from his dead corpse. A solid plan, except that back in book 2, Randy shares with the higher ups at Frontflip Studios that the Griefer's code "cannot be touched." They can't isolate, delete, or change it in any way. They can't stop him from doing any of the things he's doing, creating the spells he's creating, or smithing the weapons he's smithing. He cannot be touched, and that's the whole source of the conflict between Randy and the rest of the story. He's a senior software engineer who can see the anomalous code, but can't do anything about it.

But in book 5, not only does Randy treat this plan of Lowen's like an actual threat, but Lowen actually succeeds at getting what he wants. A source of tension in the first four books was discarded and retconned for the sake of the primary tension in the fifth book.

Red flag numero dos. Do not like.

In addition, certain elements are planted, but there's no buildup afterward and no payoff, making them feel hollow and retroactively lessening the impact of earlier plot points. Example:
Roark is determined to gain a level 9 spell slot from the earliest point at which he knows magic is possible in Hearthworld, so that he can write portal spells and get back home.
Lowen states in book 5 that he has found out "the secret" to creating stable portals, which if only other magic-users understood, they would be able to do the same.
We never see Roark actually attempt to write a portal spell, and he compromises his values on protecting his sister in order to acquire portal rune stones from the hated Tyrant King.

Everything I know about Roark from the first four books assures me that he would rather be killed than endanger the people he cares about. His failure to use his prodigious creative problem solving abilities to find a way around making his sister tip her hand to the Tyrant King makes me think that either handling quicksilver in the fourth book actively made him stupid, rather than simply impacting his impulse control, or he actually doesn't value others as much as the narrative seems to think he does.

Red flag numero tres. I rest my case.

So while I loved the first four books, I'm afraid my journey with this series ends here, as I no longer trust the authors to maintain internal consistency, either with the worldbuilding or the characters I've grown to love.

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.4/5

Review: I am not sure why there are so few reviews for this series. Shadow Alley Press may need to up their game in order to realize the spread of talent because these are two very talented writers.

This continuation series is very well done. The world is fantastic as it spans 3 dimensions in plausible fashion. The characters are creative and engaging. Pwner is one of the funniest characters I have had the pleasure to read. He just keeps on giving shjt.

Is the price of the ticket worth admission? I think so, yet the novel edges along the border of being a novella in length. This was mainly why I gave it four stars as it would have easily been five with a proper page count.

The end of this series draws near and that is saddening. But it was a good ride and I had a great time. If you have not read any of Eden Hudson's work then you are in for a treat as she continues to get better and better.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

ended series here

DNF at 77%. Most of the litrpg dungeon crawler books are a turn off for me as they are laden with gamer humor and IMO spend too much time talking about/bringing in the real world. What I loved so much about the early books in this series is that despite being in a RPG dungeon game, the MC is not from the real world so there is not much gamer humor or real world involvement. The small flashes of that stuff you get are from the enemies. Unfortunately the latter books have progressively increased real world involvement and have turned the gamer characters into main characters, following their story line. This book totally lost me with the primary MC going to the real world and even bringing modern tech back into the game. Everything that made me love the first couple books was thrown out in this one and I could not bring myself to finish. People who enjoy stories like DCC will likely enjoy this series in its entirety but it’s not for me anymore.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new kind of cross-over

This book is definitely not something you find every day. Granted, it is book 5 of a great series so it was bound to get exciting, but these guys took that challenge a little too seriously. It has people and monsters where they should never be, but we would like to see them. It has magic people, even more than before. But like always the math is terrible, so if you like that portion I hope you can just look the other way as I try to do.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Hunter book ever

With world’s starting to cross the magics & tech causes smiles, laughs and gasps of suspense whilst we hang on to the storytelling with baited breath and a sense of wonder to what this means.
This is a pick up and turn non stop thrilling read and deserves 6 stats if I could.

[Lucas Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

I, for some reason, thought this was supposed to be the last book in the series, but luckily I was mistaken!! This is incredible! The way that he's bringing everything together is by far amazing! The pictures that he draws in your mind really take litRPG sagas to a new level! By far in my top 3 favorite litRPG sagas to date!

[Clinton Stanturf · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I listen to the audible version)

There's a lot to love about this book and the only thing to not like about it is that it ended. James Hunter and Eden Hudson have done it yet again, with another amazing addition to this phenomenal series. Things are definitely going to be interesting in the next book and I absolutely can't wait.

FOR SALT

[Fate's Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heralds and the dungeons finally clash, with violence spilling out even into Earth as Rourk moves to finish Lowen. The CEO of the gaming company, alarmed by the real world implications of his game monsters coming to life, puts a self destruct timer on the game. It's a well told story with just enough tension and no unnecessary drama.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

With the fighting off to earth and hearth world shut down looking this isn’t a game story anymore. It’s still very good but this changes the dynamic quite a bit. I would assume we are getting towards the final showdown

[Kayla Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this was going to be the last book.. I thought wrong. Another amazing Nick Podehl performance! The IRL characters are absolute stars and I cannot wait to get my hands eh-hem Ears on the 6th installment!

[John Stonebraker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and characters - much profanity

Content ratings: Violence - PG13, Language - R, Other - PG
Just like the rest of the series, I enjoy the plot, the world building, and the characters, but the language will ensure that I never recommend it to any family or friends.

[Nicholas Eber · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book is good, but I find it weird in all of the other books the game developers could not interfere will the MC in the game world but all of a sudden are somehow able to modify the world stones code and give items, that haven't been developed, to the enemy in-game.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

book five

A decent story that for me was ruined by the characters talking and thinking in abbreviations. Unless you are in the military or a few other specialized fields people don’t talk or think in abbreviations. They may write them but they don’t talk that way.

3/10

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does not disappoint

They keep turning up the heat and raising the stakes! Whatever cliche you want to use, it just keeps getting bigger and better with every book! The worst part is there's only one left after this.

[Deborah LePage · Rating 5 out of 5]

what's In a Name

Thought some char names went alienate my liking by annoying me, the characters themselves and the decisions they have to make to survive the changing world is so much more than I expected
This rose is more than 'just as sweet', it's magical.

[Jonathon · Rating 5 out of 5]

More please

Well this was a ride and a half. The story is moving forward and I don't know where it will end up but man am I excited for the next book!

[tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top tier

There are a lot of litrpgs out there and this is one of the good ones. This entire series is great and this may be the best of them yet. Enjoy!

[Johnie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read

I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it highly to anyone that like litRPG type of books with dungeons.

[Geraki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one yet

This book just exploded into future possibilities. By far my favorite of the series to date. Very excited for the future!

[Laura May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly a lot of fun.

[Alexander Hemming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great structure

The way the dialogue seems to flow and not have a stilted non believing aspect to it works well with the story and was very amusing