Dungeon Mauling

A LitRPG/GameLit Novel (The Good Guys Series, Book 3)

By: Eric Ugland

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

What do you do when the game resets around you? 

Just when Montana thought he had life in Vuldranni figured out, the rug is pulled out from under him. He's alone once again, but now he's in the crosshairs of the man who would be emperor, and a whole host of people are counting on Montana to provide a safe haven for them. 

Montana has one hope of actually completing his quest of forming a dukedom: he needs to bust Nikolai out of prison. 

A prison that no one has ever escaped from alive. 

A prison whose only exit is little more than rumor and probably doesn't even exist - through a sentient dungeon, hell-bent on causing torture, inflicting pain, and extracting the ultimate price: life.   

Montana and his hirðmen are down to their last chance. So they get themselves arrested and enter Osterstadt prison. Can the Good Guys do good by going bad?

©2018 Eric Ugland (P)2019 Tantor

fantastic

utterly amazing minus reading every level up individually. If a player gets 10 level UPS in a row read the 1st one then skip to the last level we already know how many points think it and don't need to hear the same thing 10 times in a row

Other than that this book is incredible

wish that these books were longer

wish these books for longer love the narration and the story can't wait for the next book

Really good story, but...

the story and performance is excellent, but the protagonist redefines the definition of a dumbass moron. It is a ragefilled, headache inducing stupidity. The world, the system and all the other characters are incredible, but the protagonist... just, so. damn. stupid.

It keeps getting better

A lot of litRPG books get a bit stale after a while once the whole "Hey, look! We're in a game." wears off. But I find that Ugland's series actually gets better with each book, and Hellegers' performance maintains its quality.

First, I found myself more impressed with Ugland's writing. He not only uses the fourth wall well, he also is pretty savvy with both the fantasy genre and the RPG tropes. With skill and finesse, he pokes fun at them in a manner that's not arrogant, but with a definite wink and a smile to his audience. I also really appreciate his use of real female characters who are strong, but not the faux-strong overly kick-ass type that amateurs often employ. His women feel more natural and real to read about.

Perhaps that's a good segue into Hellegers' performance as he is able to vocalize the female characters without sounding like a falscetto is all you need. Some actors break the suspension of disbelief, but Neil keeps it real. I like the implication that Montana is winking at his listeners, palpable in the narration. It draws me in, and I have laughed, gasped, and even found myself talking back to the Duke on many occasions. I initially feared Montana would become a Mary Sue, but despite his monster stats (duly noted by the characters in the story) he remains otherwise, in my opinion.

I've enjoyed this series so much, I'm burning through credits and coin for the next ones in the series, even though some are complaining that Audible is chopping them up and selling partial works as full ones. But, dang it, Montana, I have to see what trouble you're about to get into next.

Holy Mob Balls

I typically get bored with the "typical" dungeon dive in litrpg stories so I will admit that I prejudged this episode of the good guys. I was delightfully surprised and intoxified by the spelunking that Montana got himself into, and I ain't even mad at the amount of F-bombs this time.

Seriously, I'm heading towards the finish line

I loved the dungeon itself, but the ending felt a bit rushed with a series of events happening so fast that I had a bit of whiplash and relistened to the last three chapters again just to see if I missed anything important.

On to #4!

Another fun romp

Story, check. Fun characters, check. RPGlit, check. No harm, no sex scenes. All you have to worry about is all the frickin' cussing.

Not getting any more of my credits.

While I am truly enthralled with this series, I can’t justify spending another credit on it. The author/publisher has now three times released less than half an audiobook and charged full price... And it’s obvious at this point that this is a considered choice on their part.

In my previous review of book 2 I noted that it is within the publishers ability to release these audiobooks in volumes comprising 2 of the written titles. This is standard for the medium and is done regularly by plenty of other authors/publishers.

By releasing 3 half-story audiobooks in under 3 months it’s clear that there wasn’t any logistical reason for not bundling these books in publishers packs.

So while I do really enjoy this author’s work I’m done overpaying for it. I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in this series buy the first audiobook and then find other means of acquiring the rest of the releases. If we don’t send a message with our wallets it only encourages unscrupulous publishers and authors to reduce fantasy novels into serialized money grabs.

A litrpg without rpg elements

I was really enjoying this series until this book. There are zero rpg elements in it for the first 3 hours of this book. That's like 40% of the book makes no mention to state gains or otherwise. When the book finally gets around to mentioning those things, it has zero effect on the story. This book in the series is not litrpg; its plain fantasy.

The narrator does a decent job on male voices, but completely falls flat when it comes to women. The female voices literally sound like a deeper male voice. You'll get used to it, but it's jarring at first.

I sadly cant recommend this book in the series. I'm taking a break until I can decide if I want to continue. As it is, these books are short and cost one full credit each.

brillant

this is amazing I absoutly love this story can't get enough. I long for the time I can plug my headphones in and be transported away.

Disappointed

Great start, but the author is an expert at ruining a great premise. The protagonist is retarded, his personality weak, it has not improved despite the many chances. A tip for the author, can you stop forcing things? You want the MC to be a muscle brain but you made it a retard with sudden amnesia strikes.