How to Win at Pit Fighting with a Drunk Space Ninja

The Adventures of Duke LaGrange, Book 2

By: Jay Key

Narrated by: Will Tulin

One tournament. Zero rules. Fifteen of the biggest, strongest, and nastiest warriors in the entire universe...and Duke LaGrange.

Holy hedgehogs! Everyone's favorite bounty hunting duo is back! Nova Texas' favorite son, Duke LaGrange, and his silent swordsman sidekick, Ishiro'shea, once again find themselves unceremoniously removed from Cyborg Joe's and deposited on a planet at the least opportune time.

The only way for the tandem to escape the harsh world of Psitakki is for Duke to survive the most dangerous underground pit fighting tournament in the cosmos. Mega-trolls, flying insectoid soldiers, and acid-spitting sludge beasts...oh my! And it's not just the looming specter of combat staring Duke in the face...it's his former love.

How to Win at Pit Fighting with a Drunk Space Ninja is the second book in The Adventures of Duke LaGrange, a series of hilarious sci-fi adventure romps from the creative mind of Jay Key. You are sure to fall in love with Key's menagerie of colorful characters and laugh-out loud storytelling talents.

Praise for The Adventures of Duke LaGrange series:

"A raucous, new kind of pulp action hero...Flash Gordon, Jack Burton, and Buckaroo Banzai got nothing on Duke LaGrange." (Marcus Muller, comic artist and creator of King of the Unknown)

"For goofy grownup pulp readers and sci-fi geeks, it's as much fun as a pan-galactic gargle blaster." (Frank R. Sjodin, pulp author and 2017 Audio Verse Award winner)

©2018 Star Wheel Books (P)2019 Star Wheel Books

Spectacular!!!

This book was just as exciting as the first and I can't wait for the third to come out. Narrow misses, betrayal, and a drunk ninja that reveals the biggest secret of the pit. What more could you ask for?

Still one to the funnest stories

The second novel of the adventures of Duke LaGrange, adventurer, trailblazer, and poet and his faithful partner, Ishiro’ shea, Salutatorian of the College of Cohorts is fun, exciting, and full of surprises. The story picks up with our heros after they have returned from Neprian. They are looking for work and find things have changed in their absence. They are surprise to find a military organization is trying to outlaw bounty hunting and they are on its’ list to apprehend. With the help of a cadre of friends our heros are on another adventure to save themselves and the world. Of course, it is not a story without the help of their ship, the Ex Machina, surprising them with help when the going gets tough and their friends at Cyborg Joe’s Grill N’ Go & The Why Not Saloon. This story ends with a cliff hanger. That’s ok because you become engrossed in the action and adventure that reading book 3 will not be a problem. Hip hip hooray to Duke and Ishiro and Jay Key for creating the world and characters that we enjoy.

Still my favorite sci-fi series

Similar to my review of the first book, the book is super fun with some of the best character descriptions on this side of Cyborg Joe's.

The sequel goes a step further and includes alien commercials during one of the "broadcast" chapters. It's unreal.

The best production value from an audiobook!

I loved the first book (rated it 5 stars) and this one was even better. The narration showcase a lot more diversity in voice work--more alien dialects, etc. Also, and the biggest difference in production quality from the first (which is great), is the fact that they produced the arena scenes as a real broadcast w/ crowd noise, etc. Very fun, very energetic, and the highlight of my listening experience. The added bonus "commercials" were a nice touch and super funny/silly.

As far as the story, I believe this one was even tighter and strong than How to Pick Up Women with a Drunk Space Ninja. It was succinct yet the author still showed off his verbal fireworks (namely in his wacky character descriptions). I loved that the pace was even faster and the action scenes less formulaic. It felt very much like a professional wrestling event told as part of a larger space opera. I dug it all around. Can't wait for Book Three.

DISCLAIMER **I was given a free promo code for this title**

What a ride!

So I have to admit I was disappointed at first as I was actually looking for a how-to book on pit fighting since I'm hoping to move into that profession soon. I quickly realized this wasn't a manual but instead a great listen with amazing production value.
In all seriousness this is as good as the first Duke LaGrange book, maybe better. The production on this audiobook is really ramped up and just amazing.
I can't wait to see more of The Adventures of Duke LaGrange!

We enjoyed it as a family

There are some curse words and violence and a few sexual situations but it was more PG 13 than anything else. Our 14 and 11 year old have enjoyed both of the first two books. On the next trip we will listen to the 3rd book.

better than the 1st one.

just as funny as the first with a better story. also (non spoiler) am I the only one who thought the big bad from the beginning was just some simple people fighting clouds and the dude found umbrellas?

Liked is

I like this series, and this book as well. Absolutely did not like the "commentator" -part, as it dragged on for way too long, and was noisy and irritating. Besides that, thumbs up!

The sequel is better than the first

I enjoyed the sequel more because the story pace was smoother, funnier and more interesting compared to the first in the series. Duke has vastly improved as well, he’s overall more likable in the sequel (it was tough to like Duke sometimes in the first book). This book made has me looking forward to the next novel in the series.