Long-time readers will be seeing a pattern with our recent reviews. We didn’t want to review another LitRPG so quickly, but Dungeon Lord twisted our proverbial arm. It’s good. We will go a step further. It’s damn good. Mixing fantasy tropes, an RPG game, and a deal with a dark god, Mister Huesca has written one of the most ambitious books we have read this year. Edward makes for an interesting protagonist, using the word a bit loosely. The complexity of the character adds well to the peculiar situation in which he finds himself. Overall, it is this Faustian bargain element of the story which helps it transcend the normal sphere it may have inhabited and become something greater.
Perhaps our only complaint about Dungeon Lord is that we have a tendency to favor family-friendly adventures. This is not one of those. Nor do we think it could have been. The story is by its very nature dark, looking at the corrupting influence that power has over one’s mind. While many authors have touched on the concept over the years, to see it here in Mister Huesca’s work is refreshing. It is that pushing deeper, past the dark fantasy aspects and the LitRPG genre and into something more literary. We like it, and we can’t wait to see what Mister Huesca does next.
We stand by our initial assessment, Dungeon Lord is a darn good read. Whether you like LitRPGs, Dark Fantasies, or just good books, there will be something within the pages of this tome to sate your appetite. On top of everything else we have said, it’s just well written. From start to finish, the pacing is spot on, the language is coarse but appropriate. It’s a fun read, but it’s also more than that. While there is definitely quite a bit we have seen here before, and no doubt that we will see again, Mister Huesca lends his own perspective to it all, pushing the insights further and making it his own. Putting real characters in impossible situations is the heart of fantasy.
Do you want to read Dungeon Lord? You can find it here.