Customer Reviews

Another Day, Another Dungeon (Cups and Sorcery, Book 1)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you've ever roleplayed, think back on your first couple of adventures. Remember all the mistakes you and your friends made? Well, in _Another Day, Another Dungeon_, Greg Costikyan incorporates all the silliness and stupidity of an introductory session of D&D into a hilarious novel.

The characters (quite appropriately) make this novel shine. In the adventuring party, you have a couple of quarrelling rogues, a dwarf who hauls around more equipment than loot, an extremely inexperienced mage, a drunken cleric, and (my favorite) a towering barbarian with more muscle than wit. Throw in a treacherous lizard man scout, a seductive necromancer, a slew of stuffy semi-retired adventurers who all seem to be based on Major-General Stanley of the _Pirates of Penzance_, and a few orcs, and you have the makings of a really funny read. Oh, did I forget to mention the centuries old all-powerful wizard (what adventure campaign would be complete without one of those)? Not to be missed is the evil elven crime lord (aww, isn't he CUTE?).

The plot is straightforward enough. Timaeus D'Asperge, newly graduated from the local magic university, assembles a group of adventurers to tackle the nearby dreaded Caverns of Cytorax. Isn't it odd that in nearly every beginning adventure, there is a conveniently located dungeon filled with evil nasties, but close enough to town that the adventurers can be home by dinner? Anyway, the adventurers soon find that the treasure they bring home will cause them much more trouble than the Caverns. The whole town erupts as nearly everyone tries to steal the treasure from D'Asperge and his comrades.

The book is great fun, and will be a favorite of anyone who has ever played D&D or the like. If you've never played D&D, or don't even have a clue as to what it is, the book will still keep you rolling. I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't take their roleplaying too seriously.

If you do take your roleplaying too seriously, might I suggest the 1982 made for TV movie "Mazes and Monsters" starring a very young Tom Hanks.

Costikyan has been around the RPG/gaming world about as long as I have--since the seventies. I recently reread this hilarious D&D fantasy story and I still got some major laughs out of it.

Want an appetizer? Greg's orcs speak with a heavy New Jersey accent. "We tanks you for our victory over da youmans", that sort of thing. (No offense to Jersey intended.) The book is full of great touches like this, such as a lisping lizardman and a fraternal order reminiscent of the Elks.

Search for this one. It's good.

Timaeus d'Asperge, a newly minted fire mage, is in need of building his fame and fortune. Sidney Stollitt and Nick Pratchitt, have a firm that deals in adventure (well, actually theft recently), and both need some money. Kraki, a barbarian warrior (think Arnold), needs adventures to spark epics sung in his honor. Garni the Dwarf likes adventure, and could use the money, while Father Thwaite merely needs another drink.

The solution to all of their problems seems simple, an adventure in the Caverns of Cytorax. Along the way, they encounter trolls, orcs, a basilisk, a rather large monster named Rog, and evil bureaucrats. Their find of a large, valuable and magical treasure seems to put the stamp of success on their adventure. However, a return home isn't the end of the adventure; you see, their find is more important than they realize, and quite a few people are out to acquire it for themselves. Soon, marching in the direction of our heroes is an army of zombies, a shadow mage, a bunch of demons, a shipload of elves, a vampire, a lich, a crime lord, and quite a few do-gooders. It's going to take a lot to get our heroes out of this one.

This book is quite funny! The book starts out making fun of over-zealous RPGers, such as when one of the characters carves up the legs of a table, in case there is a wand hidden therein! However, after these, the story quickly becomes a wonderful, and very funny, story. The action is non-stop, and the comedy clean and well written. I highly recommend this book, especially to those who like D&D-style games!

Oh, by the way, the book contains numerous references to "greep." The references seem a little muddled, but I must admit to being intrigued....

This book's a must for all who like fantasy adventures with elves-dwarfs-magic users, etc. Without being an epic adventure, the mix of adventure, mystery and humor makes the story more than worth reading.

I even named my cat after one of the main charicters. (Sidney!) If your into solid humor, This book has it. Buy a copy! My cat will thank you

I had the pleasure of reading Another Day Another Dungeon when it first came out and I had such a hard time getting through it because I was laughing so hard. Well, it took me 2 weeks, but I finally reached the end of the book all I could do was scream, "NO!" I was heart broken. I wanted more and I wanted it now. Well, now I can FINALLY get the sequell (Way to take your sweet good lordy time there, Greg). I am so looking forward to this.

A HILLARIOUS tale for any who have ever RPed at all in their life. You have the person who wants to bring everything, the barbarian with the brains of lettuce, a drunken cleric, the theives, a mage who likes fireballs a little too much. And GREEPS! What is a greep? Find out and READ! Only two books out so far--we need more! ^_^

A terrific book that plays upon the stereotypes of pulp fantasy. I highly recommend this book! Find a copy, even if it's used; you'll enjoy it.

If you've ever played pen and paper roleplaying games (and even if you haven't), this book will have you rolling on the floor in laughter. The character interactions are truly wonderful and you really feel like you've been pulled in along this adventure. The book is very well paced and will be a very quick read. Despite being hilarious, I actually feel like this is the best "dungeon crawl" I have ever read. Please do yourself a favor--pick up this book and join this small but ever-growing community of advocates for this series.
We'll have some greepsicles waiting for you.

If you've played Dungeons and Dragons, rolled a D20 in an alien land, or have enjoyed dice roleplaying games with other humaniods, you'll love this book. I did when I read it for the first time at fifteen, before I had hardcore experience with gaming. The second read at thirty showed me the magic had gone.

So why don't I love it anymore? I've lived the common roleplaying errors this book parodies. It reminded me not of hilarity, but of my own bad times with gamer stereotypes. The theme failed me. As far as humor in fantasy goes, Terry Pratchett does it a thousand times better (much rather read his stuff than 'greeps'). As far fantasy gamer humor, I find the comic books involving Kenzer and Co's 'Knights of the Dinner Table' superior.

The scene with two wizards playing historical army warhammer and arguing about the color of unit's buttons reminded me of frustrating arguments that have ruined my gaming sessions. Such a scene is very illustrative of the dimensionality of the book -- all the characters are walking stereotypes of their classes -- sink like a stone dwarf, dumb barbarian, drunk cleric, idiot-savant mages, stupid orcs, cutesy elves, and so on. Even the original characters like the mycologist duke and polymage don't grab you emotionally, rather they are defined only by their quirks, under which no substance exists.

As a novel, this work is meh. As gamer sub-culture humor, it succeeds masterfully, provided you are into powergaming and not roleplaying. Your not supposed to care about these characters, they're there so you can laugh at them. I didn't like that, and it's part of the reason I'm not rolling dice in a campaign myself.

But hey, maybe I have baggage here. If you're a young gamer, you'll probably love this book like I once did. It can be a quick fun read if you don't have set expectations or bitter memories of old campaigns that went in the ashes over egos.