Book Review: Lords of Dragon Keep by C.T. Phipps

Synopsis

"Give me the incredibly short summary of what the hell is going on, please. The kind you could fit into a movie trailer."
“You’re trapped in a video game world based on a hack dark fantasy author’s rip-off of better books.”
“Uh huh. Maybe you could be a bit more detailed.”

Aragorn "Aaron" Bartkowski was a programmer working at Epic DungeoneeringTM, the world's largest fantasy video game company. Much to his surprise, he was selected to pick up the latest manuscript from reclusive author Larry C.C. Weis. Weis had been working on his newest book for over a decade and the good folk at Aaron's company had dibs on adapting it. Unfortunately, Weis was also a wizard and sent Aaron to the world that inspired his books.

Aaron proceeded to find himself in a Slavic mythology themed world where he's believed to be Weis' main character, Garland of Nowhere. Equipped with the powers of a RPG protagonist, Aaron must accumulate experience and equipment while navigating a setting that seems worse off than Game of Thrones and Dark Souls put together.

LORDS OF DRAGON KEEP is a LitRPG progression fantasy isekai that takes the grim out of grimdark with biting humor as well as intelligent exploitation of the rules. It has excellent world-building, a great supporting cast, a bit of romance, and lots of laughs. Oh and there's a talking raven. 

Review

I have been a big fan of C.T. Phipps for years, and I have been an enthusiastic reader of his various series. When I heard that he was making his first foray into LitRPG, I knew this was going to be something special, considering his grounding in gaming and familiarity with the genre. And I have to say, I was glad to see I was right about this. He brings what makes him such a good author in other genres and translates it seamlessly into this new endeavor. 

The world building, such an important part in a LitRPG story, is so well done. The world seems like a combo plate of various fantasy worlds, evoking thoughts of other fantasy realms like Westeros and the Northern Realms of the Witcher, but obviously copyright distinct, It's a realm with a system overlay and NPCs, but somehow they seem much more aware than they should be. Not so many pre-programmed responses, and definitely off story line from either the games or books. It has a deep history, but a lot of them are based on fantasy world tropes that are hilariously set up, and used for a lot of laughs of the author/wizard that sends Aaron to the world. All in all, a real strength of the book.

The characters are, as always with this author, a hilarious group that are much more nuanced than they first seem. The main protagonist, Aragorn "Aaron" Bartkowski, is a programmer who’s employer has the license for the Dark Undermaster series, which seems like the lovechild of the Witcher and Game of Thrones series. He’s sent into the world by the author of the books, Larry C.C. Weis, who reminds me a lot of a certain author who is known for a goofy hat and not completing his series, but in this case is an eccentric wizard. Aaron is placed in the world as the main character, Sir Garland of Nowhere, a magic wielding warrior who is tied to the royal family in interesting ways, and has a whole series of adventures that are partially wiped when Aaron takes over as a level one adventurer version. Watching Aaron struggle to learn his abilities, while facing the reality that he is in a fantasy world with a system overlay and lore he’s familiar with from the books and games, is a lot of fun. He also has to deal with the relationships Garland had, including with his stepsister Ania, which is played for a lot of laughs, especially because Ania is actually aware that Aaron isn’t actually Garland. If you have seen the movie Free Guy, you’ll be familiar with how this is possible. Aaron also seems to be leveling way too easily, and the reason why is revealed in due course, but it makes for a fun series of events. 

The secondary characters are an interesting bunch, although Ania, a warrior princess who is Garland’s step-sister, has a lot of the focus. She is a no nonsense type, but has a surprising depth of emotion, as well as a wickedly subtle humor, and is also a kick ass warrior, who Aaron is very rightly in awe of. The other secondary character I want to emphasize is Jon Snowron, Aaron’s crow familiar and game guide, who is also a former co-worker who was also set in the world as Garland, until he died and was reborn as the crow. Because Aaron isn’t the first Garland, or even the second. That whole setup of previous Garland’s and their rebirths are interesting and something I certainly didn’t expect.

The villain is very well fleshed out. He has some intriguing motivations, and Aaron’s connection to him is something I didn’t see coming. Definitely not a Doctor Evil type, but much more menacing and methodical. He is an excellent foil for Aaron, and Aaron is pushed to his limits trying to deal with his machinations. Definitely one of my favorite villains in any of his series.

It was quite apparent as I read this that the author’s history in gaming has provided a solid foundation for a series. It has some satirical elements, and takes the piss out of a lot of the tropes, but in a gentle, funny way. It also very subtly makes fun of authors like GRRM and Pat Rothfuss that will never finish the next book, but always seem to be able to write a cash grab spinoff at a moments notice. This is a very fun book, which will appeal to traditional fantasy fans and LitRPG fans alike. I give it my highest recommendation, and I can’t wait for more adventures in this series.