Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains

Underdog Series, Book 1

De: Alexey Osadchuk, Andrew Douglas Schmitt - translator

Narrado por: Derek Shoales

Eric was born in a world governed by the Great System, in the family of Aren Bergman, a respected miner from Orchus. But the joy of gaining a son was overshadowed by the newborn's terrible affliction. Eric was completely nulled-level zero and no characteristics points. The only things keeping him from dying were his tiny base supplies of "life" and "energy".

The medicine woman who delivered Eric believes this to be the work of the evil spirit, Bug. Due to the peculiar laws of the Great System, Eric cannot use experience essences or characteristics tablets, so he risks having to spend his whole life confined to a bed. But his father finds a solution. He takes out a large bank loan and goes to the capital where he buys a few artifacts of the Ancients on the black market, which have no level restriction.

Despite having the artifacts, Eric is still very feeble, and everyone in town thinks him a freak. But at least he can move on his own, and that gives the Bergmans hope. But alas, it isn't for long. On Eric's 14th birthday, his father and mother die in a mining accident. The bank takes their house, and Eric is left with no choice but to work off the remaining debt in the Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains. And so begins the story of a nulled boy's struggle to survive....

©2019 Alexey Osadchuk; English translation copyright 2019 by Andrew Schmitt (P)2019 Tantor

got to love the underdog

another great Listen by this author. no complaints, story was great narration was good five stars all the way.
thanks Alexey you make the miles go by very quickly.

the translation could be better

there are some oddities like "I'd give my last dollar to..." nobody there even knows what a dollar is. of they had used dollars as their currency I wouldn't mind, but that is the only time I picked up on that word in the book, there are other examples but this one stands out to me. good book, though.

Really good!

this was a pleasant surprise from the Plus catalog! excellent storytelling and narration. the next couple books are also in the plus catalog and I can't wait to listen to them.

Fun read

great story, like the concept. love interest parts feel a little chauvinist, not crazy blatant. Good narration, I think because of the cover I wanted a more apathetic MC but I still liked him. on top of being weak he doesn't have a cool bone in his body. I think he is getting there though. really enjoyed it.

Unique Idea, not enough follow through on the plot lines that are set up

There’s a lot to love here from the idea to the setting, to the system design, etc. But nothing really resolves in this book. It feels like it was kind of ended on what should have been the ~3/4 mark of this singular book’s story

Pulls you in and keeps you hooked

Definitely a unique storyline that kept me entertained and I’m now going to get the next book.

decent enough

The performance and the writing was really engaging but the story left something to be desired. The story took a long time to pick up and ends abruptly with very little info about what the point of the series is. I felt like the main character was a leaf blowing in the wind until a 3/4 of the book was done.

An enjoyable litRPG starting book

30 minutes into the book I had wondered if this was going to be a story I would enjoy through the end. I am pleased to write that it was very much so and i look forward to the next book in the series.

Alexey Osadchuk's writing and Andrew Douglas Schmitt's translation was quite good and Derek Shoales' narration was also entertaining and well done.

Love this author

Love this book. "The fact of being an underdog changes people in ways that we often fail to appreciate. It opens doors & creates opportunities & enlightens & permits things that might otherwise have seemed unthinkable."
Malcolm Gladwell

Fun Premise, Competent Narrative

Without a doubt there are some writing (or translation) issues in this book, but as a fan of this largely self-published genre, I am willing to overlook those things when a premise delivers and the narrative builds to a climax and a conclusion that delivers well on at least one major theme in a narrative.

The major themes in this narrative are resilience through adaptation both for objective problem solving and in choosing your own family when circumstances cause you to be alone. Both are done quite well while having a novel progression system and an antagonist with special obstacles and advantages.