Rogue Dungeon: A litRPG Adventure

The Rogue Dungeon, Book 1

By: James Hunter, eden Hudson

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Resistance is fractured. The remaining survivors are buckling under the might of the malicious Tyrant King. Enter Roark von Graf, hedge mage, lesser noble of Traisbin, and one of the last freedom fighters. Desperate and unhinged, Roark crafts one final attempt to overthrow the king. The plan goes awry, and Roark finds himself tumbling headfirst into an interdimensional portal. On the other side, he finds himself stranded in an unexpected place - an ultra-immersive fantasy video game called Hearthworld. Worse yet, he's taken the form of a low-level troll. Luckily, Roark managed to grab a powerful magic artifact that could defeat the king. It might not be game over after all.

Dungeon Masters James Hunter and eden Hudson form an alliance with Audie award winner Nick Podehl and invite you to gear up with this new series. Get ready to level up, because this time the game is real. 

©2018 James Hunter, eden Hudson (P)2018 James Hunter, eden Hudson

it was okay

didn't love it. perhaps when it was new it was a breakthrough, but honestly it seems a little over marketed. I've been getting this as a suggestion to read for months and now that I did, I'm underwhelmed. it was a solid enough story, but another OP MC is surplus to requirements. how is a level 4 anything going to take on a level 11 boss and win? how is a level 7 anything going to take on a level 20 player? that's not how games work. sorry. the level system doesn't allow for that and if it does, it's badly designed.

Meh

The villains are caricatures, and pretty boring as a result.

I have no interest in VRMMO Litrpgs, because I can't really manage to care about a world that's acknowledged as fake in story, and that has no real consequences of note. The "real person sucked into a game" nature of this book appealed to me, but I feel like it kind of squandered it's potential.

Threat of death poses no real tension, because people respawn within a few hours. The main characters are at risk of losing levels if they die before "evolving", and players lose their items, but just kind of feels like a slap on the wrist, especially for the players, who never seem to really lack items.

The actual combat could have made up for that, but while the spell crafting system had a spark of something interesting, I found myself bored throughout fights.

If you're interested in the the Genre, I'd recommend Threadbare, Worth the Candle, or Sufficiently Advanced magic instead. If you're really into the VRMMO aspect, you might like this, in a guilty pleasure sort of way, but there are probably better examples.

nick

podehl.
any book this man can make into a masterpiece I swear it. the book itself is moderately good, it's a little different and I think I love it! but nick podehl is truly a masterful reader. he puts emotion into every word that many other audio readers fail to even come close to. listen to all of Nick's books, and you'll know exactly what I mean.

I wanted to give it a shot

I wanted to get this book of shots, after reading some of the other reviews. I tend to agree that this sounds a bit rushed. Nick Podehl does a great job, as ever. but the story leaves a lot to be desired. I can handle some leaps of Faith, but this one has a few too many. the biggest of which is someone from an entirely magical fantasy world being able to understand menus and stat points and all these other things that we take for granted in RPGs... and then knowing them better than most players do.

Not Bad

Book in general is good, but it kinda seems more like they are only using the bad elements of gaming. Also they made it sound like he has mana, but yet he uses spell slots which is normally a system you us when there is no mana.

Forget Bad Reviews. If you love LitRPG, do it!

First off, Nick Podehl can do no wrong. At this point, I'd listen to him reading the book of the Bible "Numbers," which is literally just a long run-on list of names. I know some might disagree, but Nick Podehl > Jeff Hays in my opinion. Both are fantastic narrators though. I read all the Viridian Online books, which was my introduction to LitRPG, so I was interested to see what else James Hunter could do. I wasn't disappointed whatsoever.

I will say that IRL version (if it can be considered that) is WAY more interesting than the game world aspects of "Rogue Dungeon." I don't know why, but it kinda reminds me a little of Sufficiently Advanced Magic, which is one of my favorite RPG novels, though the stories aren't the same.

That being said, there is a good mix of action, looting, leveling up, and crafting to keep me from zoning out at all, which is why I love LitRPG. Loot, levels, loot, levels, loot, enchanting, more loot. That is why I play RPG/MMORPG anyways.

Solid start to a unique series.

There are a few things that make this series stand out. I like the guy from a pure fantasy world tossed into a video game world concept, I like that respawning is a dangerous prospect. Especially for the monsters. Characters are pretty decent. I like the diversity of troll types and evolutions.

Edens best

This has to be Edens best series. it's so good. He gets transported to another world and becomes a troll and a floor boss. I like the premise of this book alot. it reminds me if shadowcroft academy.

Cons: I wish this series was longer and had more 1v1 fights in it. This book isn't really built for world building so I won't talk about how it basically has none. the character progression was lacking alot in this story tho, I felt like I didn't know the Mc on a personal level so I can't really see any progression in this book.

Pros: This books fighting is superb. it's very detailed and not drawn out like most books. i also like the way the Mc uses his knowledge to his advantage in this book. This book is a really good dungeon core series. I never really get dungeon core series but this one deserves an A+.

Not A Dungeon Born Clone

If that’s what you were worried about...because I was

It’s actually a very unique premise: guy in a fantasy world screws up a teleportation spell and finds himself as an enemy NPC in a video game. Not that he even knows what a video game is. And then he proceeds to farm the players for THEIR loot. It helps that the players are a pretty realistic representation of real gamers. Self-important, entitled assholes in other words

Interesting twist on LitRPG

Roark is a human transported to a RPG game, is turned into a Troll mob in a dungeon & has to kill humans / us to level / survive. He is from a medieval world other then ours, it has some magic & he knows nothing of this game world or Earth.

- GOOD - #1 Story is fast paced, with lots of magic & action: but it is a bit too simple, to be great.
#2 Performance is first rate.

- BAD - #1 going from dexterity 10 to 18 should improve weapon crit, but it doesn't. Going from intelligence or strength 10 to 18 should improve damage, but it doesn't.
#2 their is an intelligence score & 4 others, but is no wisdom, charisma, perception, luck, will power, ect; game or real people are more complicated then this.
#3 their is a constitution score & hit point bar, but no stamina or mana bar; running out of mana or stamina, is a big deal.
#4 Roark can make almost any spell & may just need to simplify or lessen it, to make it work; every one else, in the whole game, is limited to specific spells. This is so over powered / unfair.
#5 spells & respawns have a 2-3 hr cool down, in games it's more like 6 sec to 1 hr or none; If you know only 3-5 spells, you cast them & then you have to wait. Imagine being a caster & running out of spells in 10 sec; you cast & wait hours to fight again, while a warrior can fight the whole time. What a boring game that would be, for a caster.
#6 their are almost no healers & healing is NECESSARY in ALL MMORPG games or to run a dungeon !!!
#7 heroes level 6-7 in fair gear, villains level 17-23 in good gear; because they are heroes, they find a way to win & in a straight / fair fight.

- Could of been great - #1 if it had more realistic personal growth, it's very simple & unimaginative; magic, skills, abilities, ect are to simple, you just get them & they just sit their not really improving / leveling or they improve & the bonus isn't really explained.
#2 the writer is lacking a basic knowledge, of how an in depth game works or just wants a very simple system; real life or common sense are side lined, so the hero can win.

Excellent idea, well executed and great narration

LitRPG can get same old same old. But this is a slightly new take on the entry to a RPG game.

I love Nick Podehl, when I'm not sure what to listen to next he is one of my first searches to look for something new. Nick, is in my opinion the best I have heard on Audible.

This one is short however. 7 hours, is a number that has kept me away from this one for a while. The main draw being; it's Nick Podehl narrating. 7 hours is almost a pamphlet, let alone a paper back that fits in your back pocket and the next being the 7th book of "The Land" which if you hit someone with, at 36 hours, you'd do serious damage to them. Value for money wise I would have jumped on this if it was 10-15 hours+, but it is what it is.

I really like the story here... Although you do have to get past the first hour before the LitRPG actually starts. It might seem harsh to knock the beginning of any LitRPG, but essentially they're all about explaining how and why we're here in this game and can't get out. Get past it and the actual story begins.

Playing as an NPC is a nice novelty and I really enjoyed the characters that we learn to love as our heroes friends, each beautifully brought to life by Nick Podehl, increase in strength and power together. It's shown early on what the goal of the main character is and how he's going to get there. The level ups are well written, especially as our MC, even though he punches above his weight in several places are well received. The increasing items and crafting abilities and power add to the feeling of a real RPG.

Finally, the writer seems to understand how to write a good book as well, having those human moments throughout which we can all relate to. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, sometimes cringey. But all on purpose.

It's good, well played.

Amazing despite being shorter then others.

I usually spend my credits in long books, but this one was much better then most of the longer LitRPGs. The story telling was interesting and the protagonist acted like his background of nobility unlike some books where the protagonist acts like a teenager from earth despite not being one.

I really enjoyed listening to this book, give it a try is my recommendation.

Adventurous!

Review From Boyfriend And Myself: We both really enjoyed this story. I held the book off so that he and I could listen to it together. We have listened to it together from beginning to end and we both loved it. We can't wait to listen to the second one. This is an excellent way to spend time together as well. The narrator did a great job. I have no complaints about him or the book itself. I wound up picking up a ebook so I could read along now and then. It's available on Kindle Unlimited for those who would rather read instead of listen. Or read and listen. Fully enjoyed this.

Well worth listening to

I really enjoyed the first chapter or so, then struggled with the world development part and was, honestly, a little bored. But the book couldn’t work without it and, once you step back and realise that “that” level of knowledge and confusion is what would happen it passes quickly.

You’ll quickly come to be enamoured with the characters and humour of the book.

I was put off buying this for some reason but now I can’t wait for book two.

Slow Start but stick with it - amazing performance

Narrator is the best I've listened to on audible and played the characters perfectly, the book starts a bit hectic and is a bit hard to follow at the beginning but stick with it and your wont be disappointed.

The author has a very unique take on the game world and the magic system is fantastic.

Characters are engaging and you care about them quickly. Defiantly worth the read.

Fun mix of game world and fantasy realm

Not a 'main character is a dungeon core' story but...

A fun story of what if a actual magical fantasy character got lost in a MMO?

I felt it to be good beginning of a series, it establishes a few interesting characters, curious to see how they develop further.

Also well written, especially for a LitRPG.

Solid starting point for a series

It may be because I enjoy LitRPG/Isekai stories in general, but I found this an enjoyable read throughout - especially when I realised just *why* the main character's magic still worked in his new world.

The main character is maybe a little too accepting of a few game-related functions - like stat points and evolution - but not to the point that it breaks any sense of immersion, and the story as a whole is enjoyable from beginning to end.

This is a series I'll follow with interest :)

Unique

Not what I was expecting a pleasant surprise.a great book, I shall see what book 2 brings to the table.

Epic

Loved it.... really easy to get into and Nick Podehl makes it an epic story.

I had my doubts but once started could not stop!

Fabulous performance by Nick Podehl.

Distinctly brings out the individuality of the characters in the story. Tone use of voice matches perfectly with the situation, keeps listener engaged.