The sequel to Dungeon Lord does not fail to live up to the expectations set forth by its predecessor. The book pretty much picks up where the last one left off, and we finally get to see some upgrades being made to the Keep. Lord Wraith, Edward is better known, has to remain hidden for fear of attracting those pesky players, of whom he used to be one. The one thing that I like the most about this series is that Edward, the Dungeon Lord, relies less on his powers than he does his head. He often manages to outthink, outmaneuver, and out man his opponents in some way. I think that the best, and the most admirable thing about him is that he trusts his people, and relies on them doing what he needs, rather than making them follow his every command to the letter. That is the real strength to this story, not the magic, not the setting, not the magic, but the characters, their personalities, and their interactions with one another. Personally, I think the thing I really respect the most about Edward is he never give up attitude. He never caves when a lesser person would.
The first book had some honest to God creepy horror tones to it, which are lacking here. While the story is full of great new characters, different situations, and a great villain it never really achieves the nightmare tone that pervaded the last third of book one. However, that is fine, because the work that Annie Ellicott did there is absolutely haunting and is not something that you will easily forget. I still linger on it in my mind, and so am glad that this becomes a straight up action adventure novel set in a mystical land that doubles as an MMORPG known as Ivalis to the unwitting Earthlings who play the game. Players who never realize that their actions actually have real-world consequences.
A few things that surprised me is that Edward hasn’t, as of yet encountered anyone that he played with while on Earth. I’m sure that that will pop up in book three, just as the newly revealed villain for book three also looms in the background here as foreshadowed in the Epilogue. I also appreciated the team building that Edward does and was impressed by the fact that he puts himself right on the line when it came to training. I kept waiting for montage music to pop up from Sound Booth Theater, but alas an opportunity was passed by.
As for the narration, Soundbooth Theater really takes this stick and runs with it. Whereas in the first book, Annie stole the show as the sympathetic monster, Jeff dominates and Annie plays the ladies. Jeff really carries this story, although he has handed the reigns of playing the female characters over to Ellicott (since this is just her second book). Annie does play a magnificent love interest for Edward, however, and I would love to see more of that character in the future. Jeff meanwhile manages to pick up his narrator’s role with his chameleon-like voice and steals this book away from Huesca. It might be Hugo’s baby, but Hays makes it grow up fast.
Again, I have to say that the combination of SBT and Huesca rates a five star across the board score. The book makes you want to have the next novel in your hand, and while it is not at the same level as the first book (due to the loss of the utterly insane horror element provided by Ellicott’s voice) it is a powerful stand-alone book that makes me wish I could at least play a game or two of Ivalis, and possibly get an invite from the evil God Murmur to go play on his world. I firmly believe that you will have no problem loving and enjoying this book.
Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.
Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog.
[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]