This book left me feeling...conflicted. Amused but conflicted. On one hand, it made me laugh out loud quite a few times. On the other hand, I feel if the book were stronger, I would have laughed a lot more.

Fred and the Dungeon of Doom tells a typical D&D storyline from the point of view of a fighter who is blissfully unaware he's a character in a game. He doesn't understand why people do weird things like say "I light a torch" right before they light a torch, but he's a simple guy who loves adventuring, so he doesn't question this stuff too much. When he joins a group searching for a lost amulet with one character who takes this all quite seriously and another who clearly does not, hilarity ensues. It's similar in concept to NPCs by Drew Hayes but lighter and with way more fourth-wall breaking.

There are a few points in the book where it's difficult to tell who this book is aimed at. The cover at first made me think this was a middle grade book, along the lines of "Herobrine Goes to School" but with D&D characters. (It's obviously not categorized as such--speaking of first impressions only.) And some of the humor is very juvenile. Bad puns, potty humor, that sort of thing. Then in come the other jokes about marijuana and human anatomy.

The humor of the book shines in its self-awareness and the hilarious way Fred's world takes everything in a tabletop role-playing game literally. For example, animals are named by how they're listed in the Adventurer's Handbook. The group doesn't encounter a "giant rat" but a "rat comma giant." This type of humor requires the audience to have a bit more than a passing knowledge of D&D, but the payoff for readers who do is quite satisfying. The plot meanders, and it's meant to. These are characters walking through a set adventure with an often less-than-creative DM. The reader is along for a fun ride, not a deep story.

The female representation is the book is less than stellar. All four of the main characters are male, and most of the characters they encounter are male. They chat with a barmaid in the opening chapter and a scantily-clad female barbarian later on, who hangs out for a bit, makes some jokes about how she adventures for the sponsorships, and soon leaves. Her sponsor? An underwear company. Her clothing choices are hand-waved away by saying that male barbarians don't wear much either, so "it's not a woman thing. It's a barbarian thing." It's a false equivalency. From the perspective of a female dungeon master, this element of the book definitely disappointed me.

Overall the book is good for a laugh, but the type of humor varies greatly, and odds are, not everyone is going to find the majority of the jokes funny. But the jokes I did enjoy had me laughing loud enough to draw confused glances from others around me, and ultimately these moments kept me reading to the end.

Fighter Fred and the Dungeon of Doom is the first book in a new series of fantasy adventures by Jason A. Holt. Due out 1st Aug 2019, it's 198 pages and available in ebook format.

This is a farcical humorous fantasy roleplaying novel written around a group of adventurers who all have their own reasons to raid the local dungeon for treasure, revenge, or coercion. The author has a lot of fun exploding the usual fantasy tropes and breaking the fourth wall constantly with asides to the reader about the GM, gear, armor, fantasy role-playing class restrictions and more. Poor Fred is the only one who doesn't know it's a roleplaying game.

This is a really really nerdy book. I found it perfectly charming and nostalgic. Anyone who has spent hundreds of hours eating pizza with a bunch of friends, throwing platonic solids around and making saving throws versus dex (to avoid falling into a lava trap) will probably "get it" and anyone who hasn't, probably won't.

I loved it and fully intend to get the follow up book ( Fighter Fred and the Wombat Wilderness ) when I can. Long live Fred!

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

**Disclaimer: I was given an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**


After reading a couple chapters, the book reads poorly.
- The plot seems all over the place or nonexistent.
- The dialogue is confusing at times. I had trouble determining which character was speaking. In addition, much of a dialogue seems juvenile with poor humor.
- There is a lot of showing instead of telling. For example, when the thief and mage walk up to Fred in the first chapter, we are just told that’s a thief and the other is a mage... just because one is short and the other tall??


I love D&D and I appreciate how the author created his own story in separate universe (since this book is technically not associated with Wizards of the Coast). My wish is that there was more explanation, so that someone who may not be completely familiar with classes or the basic rules of the game could follow along with the story, especially if this is being marketed at a younger crowd.

DNF at 49%
I tried. At first the story was very amusing in a silly kind of way but then it continued and nothing changed. All the conversations pretty much go the same way. The characters were fun at first then they became annoying. Fred is an idiot and they like to point it out a lot. The thief is so focused on treasure he doesn't remember his name. The wizard is to caught up doing everything by the book and the elf doesnt care about anything. I tried but this would have been better had it been half the length. It just went on too long.

Fighter Fred and the Dungeon of Doom by Jason A. Holt, a fun read. Fighter Fred is an NPC who is always going on adventures and visiting dungeons in the company of players. He is approached to join a company going to the Dungeon, along with a troublesome elf, a stickler of a mage and a grumpy thief. With danger galore, enemies abounding who knows what they will find.