The Dungeon Traveler

By: Alston Sleet

Narrated by: Doug Tisdale Jr.

I spent most of my life trying to get by with whatever happiness I could, that included alcohol, food, and porn.

My death was unpleasant and humiliating. However, death is something we all need to go through. A bit like a proctology exam: necessary, but never anything one wants to go through while it's happening.

However, death was supposed to be the end of it. Either way, the pain, suffering, and failures were supposed to be over. I was supposed to wink out, or perhaps take a trip to a lovely afterlife!

No, I ended up as a small stone, strapped to a table, while a pimple-faced teenager rubbed my facets and told me how "lovely" I was. Last time I checked, birth wasn't supposed to be as embarrassing as death!

Life as a dungeon core isn't all bad. I like watching lizard love triangles and snooping on militaristic dwarves - though there is that issue where I'm trying to free myself from the entanglements of the Gods...OK, yeah, that last one is a bit of a problem.

©2019 Alston Sleet (P)2019 Alston Sleet

I actually loved this book

Alston sleet this book is awesome thank you for writing it and I am soooooo looking forward to the next book in this line. Doug you did a pretty dam good job thank you. I have read many dungeon core books so far and this is now one of my most enjoyed ones I love how it is about challenges instead of slaughter and the gods in this one are easy to enjoy as well. if you love dungeon core books check this one out.

Great Fresh Take on Sentient Dungeons

If you have read a lot of other LitRPG Dungeon books, this is a breath of fresh air.

The book isn't perfect but most of the problems are small(I don't get why the main character never asks anyone about the Voice of the World).

Our main character is not a generic cutout. The character not "freaking out" is well justified, and struggles (for certain definitions of struggles) with what he has become and the fact that dungeons must kill.

The inclusion of gods was well done. A lot of time in other books, in order for the dungeon to have anyone to talk to there is some sort of faerie or imp or something, or we just have an adventure POV (blame Dungeon Born for those tropes). However, the gods gave a nice alternative while still serving a similar narrative purpose.

We get a good quick look at some of the cultures and world in the story, and it is paced fairly well.

As I said there are some problems. It seems like the author forgets about some of the RPG aspects. Early on the main character levels up pretty quickly all in one go. And then... As far as I can remember there was not a single mention of the characters class level after that point. They increase their rank in their skills, but their class?

Likewise, we are described a "perception challenge" that then seems to disappear (the maze with floor tiles indicating which way to go). There are a few other things that make me wonder if the story went through some revisions, but never got a final pass through. All of these little things together is why I took off a star.

When all was said and done though I really enjoyed this and am eagerly awaiting the next one.

Clever and Humorous

The author wrote a humorous book without falling into the trap of silliness. I highly recommend the book!

Solid Dungeon Core Story

Came across this book while trying to find something to fill the gap after Going through the Divine Dungeon Series. Its a pretty solid story about a rando who dies and ends up in another world in a dungeon core and then hijinks occur. I really did like though that the main character has more realist reactions at points when the magic starts flying for humorous effects (ie "I then did the dungeon core equivalent of curling up into a ball and cried"). Lite LitRPG elements, the MC levels up several times but we don't really see any results.

Overall I would recommend if you are a fan of dungeon core stories.

Good stuff

Great story to pass the time. well done with a unique worldview. I definitely found this book interesting and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy/LIT

What an AfterLife!

Our story starts as our protagonist dies, then resurrects as piece of morbid video game! IF you enjoy LitRPG, you will love this inside-out creation of the "core" of the game as our protagonist "grows" and lives again.

good book

Good book didn't have a lot of cosine sex any of that just a good story not the best I've heard but it is one of the better and I will be listening to the 2nd

Thumbs up!

I've read (or Listened) to a lot of these Dungeon Books. I like the genre, but at a certain point, the amount of them coming out starts to overwhelm. Now, you have to ask what is this new series doing differently? What new idea is it bringing to the table?
Because at some point, just having differant adventurers wander into the Dungeon gets a repetitive and old fast.

Some Dungeon books have tried to change this up by making the Dungeon master a pervert or bad guy (Lewd Dungeon, Corrupt Dungeon, Brutal Dungeon). A lot of others quickly turn the Dungeon into the first step of Empire Building (Dungeon Deposed, CONQUEST: The Dungeon Core Gambit, etc).

Basically, a new Dungeon series needs a gimmick to stand out. This one's gimmick is that the Dungeon's entrance moves around. First to a Dwarven Realm, then to a Kobold tribe, then to Human lands. What makes it interesting is the way the author tries to make various races interactions or experiences the Dungeon unique. A dungeon gate appears in a fort/village/city, what is the reaction of the locals? Sometimes orderly, sometimes chaotic, and sometimes antagonistic.

The book is told mostly from the first-person perspective of the Dungeon core, who is your typical nerd from our world transported to the fantasy. The way it is told reminds me a lot of the bobverse books. In fact the narrator (Doug Tisdale) for the audiobook sounds a lot like the narrator of the bobverse books. I think if you enjoyed the bobverse books you will like this one. I know I did.

Good Bones

As many other reviews say, it was a very nice twist on the dungeon core genre. I very much loved the first couple hours of set-up and dungeon building. The concept kept me interested and had me thinking up different possibilities along with the MC. For the chapters covering the dungeon building alone, I will be looking forward to more from Alston. That being said, I do have a few issues with the story an narration (Hence the 4 stars).

The story had me listening long into the night to explore all the ideas the MC had for his domain. The MC's reaction to his situation of becoming a dungeon core was believable and well written. The RPG elements were a little sparse and Alston seemed to forget some of the few stats that he did include. On the bright side, this meant very little character sheet checks which were also quick and brief. The other half of the book which covered drama in areas where the dungeon popped up generally failed to keep my interest. I found it hard to care for most of the side characters in this book and wanted to get on with whatever came next.

The narrator did a fine job, and I would not avoid listening to anything by him in the future. Doug did well in delivering the story and jokes throughout the book. He did seem to make a few odd choices with his voice. At many points what I would call the 'system' talks with the MC. The 'system' is described as having a sort of motherly voice, yet Doug chose to use a non-feminine voice for that role. This is something that bothered me slightly, but wasn't too much of a concern.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A Fun Change in the Genre

I love the uniqueness of this book. from the meddling of the Gods to the Traveling door. it was well written and the narrator did an amazing job. My favorite part was the kobolds first going into the dungeon. Slide, slink, taste, and repeat. I can't wait to hear the next book in the series. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.