The Bookwyrm's Review of Discount Dan by James Hunter

 

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Rating: 9.50/10 Stars

Plot Synopsis

Noclip In, No Way Out...

All Dan wants is to find a way home. He'd settle for a beer, a bite to eat, and a place to sleep off his hangover.

But, in an endless, ever-changing dungeon cobbled together from twisted carnivals, abandoned shopping malls, janky laundromats, and condemned insane asylums, getting a bit of shut-eye is harder than it sounds.

Dan has accidentally "Noclipped" into the Backrooms—a bizarro, extra-dimensional Alice-in-Wonderland world, overrun with horrific nightmare creatures known as the Dwellers. No one ever gets out. Hell, forget about leaving, if Dan wants to survive the week, he's going to need to harness the strange game-like magic of the Backrooms, make some very sketchy allies, and carve out a little safe haven to call his own.

And he's going to need to do it fast because Dan is being hunted. The Flayed Monarch of the 999th floor has marked him for death and no one walks away from the Skinless Court with their hide intact...

Review

When I saw that James Hunter had a new LitRPG/isekai book on the market, I knew I had to check it out. His Viridion Gate Online series is one of my favorite LitRPG series, so I had high hopes going into this one. Those hopes were not only met but exceeded by this story. It has the same kind of vibe as Dungeon Crawler Carl as far as characters and humor, but it has its own distinctive touches as well that sets it apart from the pack.

The world building is definitely a selling point. This is because the Backrooms, the bizarro dimension that Dan has Noclipped into, changes from level to level, with no level being the same as any other level. You can go from an office lobby with weird monsters trying to kill you down to another level with made up of dark dank slimy drainage pipes like you'd just gone to a diseased Mario world, to another level with a mall Satan would refuse to set up shop in, filled with mimics and level themed monsters. Let's just say the arcades don't just eat quarters. This constant change keeps the reader guessing what is coming up next, and it's a treat to see what the author comes up with for each level. If this was a video game, it would make Dark Souls scream for it's mommy in terror. Its also a world where leveling and progression are a reality, and how you build and level can mean the difference between life and death. It did have some interesting quirks to it's system though, because anything brought over from the real world is basically artifact grade, meaning its stronger than its in universe equivalent, and scalable for durability and upgrade potential. It's amazing what a claw hammer, angle square and other items in a general contractors tool-belt can level into.

The characters in this book are easily as good as any this author has created, and that's saying something, considering how good the character development is in his books. Dan reminds me of so many of the people I knew in the military. Thrust into a strange world hungover from a bachelor party, in a tacky bathrobe, daisy dukes that aren't his and his work boots and tool-belt, he starts getting message prompts and instead of freezing, accepts the challenge after interfering with the big dungeon boss, The Flayed Monarch, as he fights a man Dan calls the Gunslinger, and finds himself in possession of some useful artifacts from the melee. Dan was a Marine, and the improvise, overcome and adapt mentality serves him well as he meets his next companion, and comes up with a brilliant survival strategy, Dan's Discounts. A safe space for people on the floors to pick up supplies and even get some sleep safe from being murdered by monsters or other humans looking to level up by killing other people and taking their stuff. He certainly is creative in his ideas, which were frankly common sense often missed in a lot of books. Dan's a fighter, but he'd rather not if he didn't have to, and he hates bullies, which leads to its own problems.

Dan's main companion is not one you would expect. In his exploration, Dan meets a creature he comes to call Croc. as in the spongy sandals. This Croc came in the shape of a dog who looks like he's made of blue croc material. He is such a fun character, having been spawned by the backrooms, and just having a funny grasp of reality. He knows all about the backrooms, having mentored many people trying to survive, a lot of whom died in horrific and funny ways ignoring Croc's advice. Croc is naive in a lot of ways though, especially in his love of our world pop culture. He constantly references the international best-selling smash hit Twilight series, and often compares situations they find themselves in to those in the books. He is still a mimic, though, so he can be really dangerous, but to paraphrase Finding Nemo, people are friends, not food. Unless they're bad, then they are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. He is easily as good a character, if in a different way, as Princess Donut is for Dungeon Crawler Carl. In fact, Croc is such a good character I could see a potential for a prequel focusing on Croc's story.

The main antagonist is the Flayed Monarch, the most powerful of the lower floor warlords, but he is only seen for a bit in this one. Even that small glimpse is terrifying, as his power is just monstrous in the extreme. He has a quite oversize influence though, since his cult is scattered throughout the levels doing his bidding, and there are any number of gangs and groups willing to work with him, so his reach is pretty much everywhere. It is quite obvious he Is the kind of antagonist that will have an oversize impact in the story, presenting a menace throughout. Pretty impressive for a villain that you only see at the very beginning of the book.

The narration is performed by the talented Steve Campbell. I've listened to a lot of his work over the years, and he is easily one of my favorites. He does such a great job bringing these characters to life, giving the each their own voice using various tones, accents and cadences. I especially enjoyed his portrayal of Croc, who's voice and cadence have a striking resemblance to Rhys Darby, the New Zealand actor who plays the NPC guide Nigel in the new Jumanji movies. The dialogue that he performs with that voice is hilarious, instilling a sense of wonder and naivete but also hilarity as well. HIs narrative pacing is excellent, and you will never feel as though the story is lagging. Overall, a top performance by a top performer.  

While it may have humor in the same vein as Dungeon Crawler Carl, this is very much its own book. It is an Isekai first and foremost and revolves around that. James Hunter has created an interesting new universe in which to play, and I think it will be a blast to see where he takes Dan and company. I give this book my highest recommendation