I book developed in a DnD style with characters playing both themselves and their game characters--sign me up. Unfortunately, Dungeon Party is filled with unlikable characters, underdeveloped characters and plot, and blah reasons for characters' actions. While the plot delivery was a bit confusing, it reminded me of an old Tom Hanks movie, Mazes and Monsters (a movie where the characters are all DnD players and one becomes too immersed in the game and his character after a death in the family). There were more misses than hits in Dungeon Party.

Thank you NetGalley and John Hunt Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

First and foremost, I play DnD, so I was quite looking forward to the idea of a book based around the world of fantasy and game playing. The premise is simple two teenagers who both have an interest in the world of game play, in particular 'Dungeon Lords' (a version of DnD). Both boys are very different characters but a tragic car crash within the opening pages, ensures that they remain linked by the tragedy for many years and brings a third boy into their circle. Later, in adulthood, the trio are joined by a fourth member but this group remains largely the same for over a decade. The few attempts made by Alan (DM) to introduce newcomers are met with a flat refusal by Randall who rules the game in more ways than one.
Randall's character is drawn as deeply unpleasant and the reader is shown no redeeming factors. In fact, his behaviour leads to his regular departures from the group and his subsquent acts of sabotage in the gaming community, reflect on the darker, cruel aspects of his character.
Meanwhile, his own gaming group have found two new (female) members and are preparing for the Middle Mirth convention. The contrasts between the two groups are profound - Randall is senking further into misery and alone while his friends are moving onwards and enjoying themselves.
During this story, there are regular 'breaks' while we rexert to the tale of a game in motion and learn about what the characters avaarts are upto. I found that this completely interrupted the flow of the main storyline and did not reflect what was happening there. Prehaps it would have worked better as an added storyline at the end.
Overall, this story was a disappointment as it had such great potential. I'd rather had focused on the tale of Alan and co, then had the tale of their avatars afterwards.
Thank you to Netgalley and John Hunt Publishing for the kind opportunity to read this book.

I had high hopes for this book as a lover of Dnd but I think it fell short in a few different places. Firstly, the characters didn't talk or feel like real people until the end of the book. They spent most of the book talking like they were at a Renaissance festival. Second, the "villian" of the book was very difficult to endure....from the gross descriptions to the stretch in his reasoning. I don't mind an unlikable character, especially a villian, but this went too far without having the villian motivation to back it up. Third, the way the ending plays out wasn't believable and felt like to much of a stretch. I do think a strong point in this book was the Dnd scenes. I enjoyed following their characters through the Mythos but the 'real' characters took away from the story.

The novel begins with tragedy: one mistep on the road and several members from two families wiped out.

An odd way for a new set of bonds to emerge, yet it does: the children grow up to become dedicated gamers of something here that looks to be something very similar to Dungeons and Dragons.

This new bond is ruptured. However, when the game master Alan kills off the powerful character of one of the players. Randall walks away from his erstwhile players in high dudgeon.

Two new female players take his place: relative novices, they have to learn to negotiate the minefields of unspoken history between the male members and to follow other unspoken etiquette of dedicated gamers. The spurned Randall, meanwhile, broods in his isolated fastness, plotting and exacting revenge.

What, then, might be the point of this kind of gaming? That is explored as the characters themselves take on lives of their own within the role playing. One of the new gamers themselves offers explanations for the pull of Swords, sorceries and dice: the characters must fight in a world where civilisation is still very new and vulnerable, and where basic shelter not a given: our collective memory has not forgotten these times. Meanwhile the game's inner nerd will identify so much with the characters they have created that fortunes may be spend on accessories, clothes, points, for these said characters.

The plot thickens mightily as an annual contest between gamers draws nigh, where actual opportunities for travel and money are at stake. The spurned Randall now plans to destroy his enemies both virtually and for real. But can the new team recognise all this in time?

This novel and its commentary on social realities proved to be a lot more engrossing and enjoyable than I originally imagined. Gamers too especially, will surely love it!

This book is confusing, and not in a way that makes you want to keep reading to find out the answers. I couldn't keep track of the plot and the premise of the story wasn't clear at all. I spent most of the time trying to figure out if the "game" and "fantasy world" were actually real or if it was just a game, because it was never actually specified. The characters were undeveloped, and I really wanted the plot to make sense so I could go on an adventure, but it didn't.

My second #Netgalley review. The first was great, so I guess I'm batting .500. This was not good. Characters that are undeveloped and one dimensional (and seemed to be checking off boxes, never a good sign), a villain who's plan is never really explained nor executed, a whole lot of tell, very little show, ridiculous names in place of obvious cultural references (Middle Mirth? Dungeon Lords? Even a Cthulhu reference by another name?), all in all, a very amateur effort. The best part were the sections told within the story world which read like the fantastic Gamers movies (Dorkness Rising is a gem of a film, watch it instead of reading this). I powered through because I needed to keep my numbers up, but honestly, if it wasn't for that this would be a DNF. While Lawrence's Impossible Times made me long for the end of COVID and a return to dice rolling, this just made me sad for all the time I spent reading this instead of writing up a D&D campaign, or playing an online game, or really anything else.

I had high hopes for this book but the story was bland and the characters unrelatable at best. Very disappointing and does nothing to dispel the socially awkward misfit stereotype of DD players #DungeonParty #NetGalley

Man, I wanted to like this book so badly. I’m so disappointed in both myself, for getting my hopes up too high, and this book, for letting me down. It was simultaneously really basic and also it felt like I couldn’t follow the majority of the story. The characters felt like caricatures, and not at all in a good way. I was really excited to see a dope as hell D&D story, because, as someone who has looked to D&D to help her out of loads of stumbles in life, that idea in general really appealed to me. But instead I just got a bunch of neckbeards and what felt like a forced story. Almost like real life, I guess.

This is a book for those who actively role play gaming or have fond memories of doing so in the past. Told from the 'real world' while alternating the story with the fantasy world of Dungeon Lords (DL), the author weaves the tale of long time gamers Alan and Randall with that of newcomers to the gaming group and world. Alan and Randall are bound by a shared history of a car accident that killed Alan's father and traumatized them both, just before they left for college. Both are still playing DL, even though they're in their early 30s. Alan is the Dungeon Master (DM); Randall plays the same character that he has for years. While they and their other two players, Carlos and Lance are preparing for a major competition, Randall's character is finally killed, leaving him distraught. He leaves the group and decides to sabotage their efforts to win the competition. Through a newly opened, retro gaming store, Alan, Carlos and Lance recruit two new female players and work toward winning the competition. Again, the story alternates between 'real world' stories and the DL world of the characters. The story culminates at the competition and things really get dangerous for the players.
As a non-gamer, I struggled with the juxtaposition of the alternate reality stories. Alan, Randall and the others are well conceived and written. They are presented with humor, pathos and a real empathy, as is Randall.