A few months back, I discovered a new genre, the "LitRPG". I crunched through various examples, such as this, this, or this. Well, it seems I've done it again, this time with a genre that can perhaps best be summed up as "Huh. I appear to have turned into a dungeon. How strange. Oh well, time to make some monsters."
The most suitable literary term is probably "genius loci", in which a location has an intelligence. Here, it's sentient dungeons. A person ends up being the mind attached to a dungeon, either by death, teleportation, magic, science or perhaps something religious. They might be dissipated throughout a dungeon, or more typically possess some particular creature or crystal. If you're looking for other examples, the search terms "dungeon core" or "I am a dungeon" might be useful.
However, since the first version of this I ever read featured someone dying and then finding their new life was as a dungeon, I think I'm going to refer to it as "location incarnation". (Note, this also works for when you discover you now live in a flower.)
So, this is a bit weird as a concept. It has similarities to the LitRPG genre, in that the mechanics of how a dungeon is built, filled with monsters, traps and treasure, and how adventurers are killed off feature prominently. And I suspect if you hunt down enough examples you'll find ones with detailed maps and stats for your favourite RPG system.
Let's start with the basics then. "Doc" has the misfortune to die, saving the life of someone else, and finds himself occupying a very small bit of crystal, with most of his memories eliminated forever. He's naturally a little confused, and isn't quite sure what he's meant to do with himself, other than a vague tendency to dig a hole.
Luckily Claire, a dungeon pixie, turns up and helpfully explains to both Doc and the reader what a dungeon has to do, both to stay alive for more than ten minutes (because apparently people tend to enjoy killing holes in the ground) and then make himself into the best dungeon he can be. Honestly, there must be some impressive mind warping going on here, because I'm reasonably sure that if someone squashed me into a box that was one inch on a side and told me to start making slimes eat people, I would likely start screaming and not stop until they gave me ice cream.
Our dynamic duo then spend the next umpteen chapters slowly building rooms, evolving monsters and saving damsels in distress. (The book does have a slight tendency to go weirdly harem-like, which is especially odd when our usual everyman character is literally rock hard.) There are also slime tentacles. Luckily, it never quite goes "there".
At least the damsels in distress come with a certain amount of additional plot, such that while the basic concept of dungeon building is probably the main draw here for fans of the genre (sub-genre? sub-sub-genre?), there are enough other things going on that it doesn't feel too repetitive. There are a few infodumps, and occasionally the book can't decide if it's Claire lecturing or just the book itself, but it does avoid the LitRPG problem where you have to read through lists of stats.
It's a light read, in that the overall feel is comical, and doesn't take itself too seriously, even when it does drop into more serious moments. The characters tend to a little more one-dimensional than I like, but the book is fairly engaging, in terms of the world-building aspects and the mechanics of the dungeon system. I don't think I'll necessarily be falling into this genre quite as heavily as I did LitRPG as I suspect that the form is a little too restricted, and doesn't allow enough of a character range to give me significant variety. If you can suggest the real standout of the genre, feel free to shout in the comments.
If you enjoy LitRPG, it might be an interesting sidestep for you. And it has got me wondering if there's a genre with AI ship-mind main characters.
Recommended.
Tagged: Book GameLit Fantasy world Novel Print