Warmaster: Dungeon Spiteful Review
Warmaster: Dungeon Spiteful Review
Preamble
Hey Space Cadets, I hope this blog post finds you well. I am reviewing another new book instead of cleaning up recommendations previously posted on my website. I found this one when a friend of mine, Jana S Brown, introduced me to the author. We interviewed her on The Blasters & Blades Podcast about this novel, and it sounded amazing. I loved the concept, and I was suddenly curious about the GameLit genre.
So, here we are as I prepare to write a review on the novel Warmaster: Dungeon Spiteful by Melissa McShane. I ‘read’ this novel in the audiobook format as read by Talon David who did a bang-up job narrating this one! I know from my interview that will air on April 10th, so check out the links for the show to listen to this one.
Overall, I am not surprised that I ended up loving a book genre that was spawned by the games that I’ve learned to love. I played online open world RPGs like the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises and loved the open world gaming concept. That transferred over to the ttrpgs, once I found a game with friends. Now I can experience that over and over again, even when solo, through this genre. I can’t wait to dive deeper into this literary space.
And let me tell you, as my first foray into this genre, I got lucky and found a real gem! This book convinced me that this was the genre for me, and you’ll see more reviews from me in this space! I know, you can barely contain your excitement, but please don’t embarrass us in public! Let’s save those moments for beer, bars and bratwurst!
Click the link if you want to know more! And why wouldn’t you, this novel is some bookalicious goodness!
The Story
The main character of this novel was Aderyn, a woman who grew up in a world that is basically a ttrpg game, except it is very real to the people who live there. She gets the call to become an adventurer and ends up with a class, Warmaster, that conventional wisdom says is useless. When she excitedly tells her parents, retired adventurers, that she took the call they were excited for her… at least until she told them her class. Then they were consolatory and crushed her excitement.
In frustration, she uses her newfound ability to come and go from the town without an escort to head to the nearby woods. When she gets there, she’s attacked by a minor monster, while she was unarmed. Luckily, her new friend Owen enters the scene and saves the day. It looked like they were destined to be fast friends, until he reveals that he’s an outlander. After she decided that he wasn’t a demon, they talked and became companions on a quest to get him home.
During the course of this book, we see Aderyn and Owen make new friends, accomplish minor feats of skill and bravery and level up through the starter ranks of ‘the system.’ The process of her learning about the game world, or just her world from her perspective, was a lot of fun. Because Owen was an outsider, we got to learn of the world as he did through her eyes. I really enjoyed that trick from the author, Melissa McShane. She kept me engaged from start to finish and I couldn’t recommend it stronger.
This story was expertly paced and the prose cleanly written. There was never a moment in the novel where I couldn’t envision the world. I could see the adventure unfolding in my mind as a movie in my head. In fairness, I have read enough fantasy to help me envision everything. Even better, I had a solid base of knowledge from my gaming experience, both video and tabletop mediums. Further, having read a lot of the classics of fantasy literature, I’ve seen many of the genre tropes.
Another area where my experience with gaming helped was with the monsters we encountered. Having played the games that inspired this novel, I had experience with the iconic creatures that we see in this story. Obviously, Melissa shaves off the serial numbers to keep herself from getting sued. She also gave them different names, so we had that sense of newness and foreignness for the outlander, Owen to butt up against. It did make things fun and I would definitely play the game she’s using for this novel, if it existed. I wonder what engine she’d use to create it?
And how could we talk about a novel without talking about the authorial voice? In this novel I found a well-rounded storytelling voice. There was enough depth to solidly ground you in the story, without wandering off into left field. She drip fed us enough details to keep us informed, without stealing that sense of wonder from us. However, you could tell that this world had depth to it, even though she didn’t show us up front. Additionally, there was a lot of well executed humor in this adventure tale. It never felt like Melissa was trying too hard, which takes skills as a storyteller. Another skill that she had was giving us a convincing romance that's easy to believe.
Since we’re talking about the story, we have to discuss the pacing. This novel kept things interesting by segmenting into smaller encounters. It very much felt like a gaming session, with lags built in for food and bathroom breaks. There were places between the action that let you breathe and released the emotional pressure from the intense combat against monsters and other adventurers. This skill is one that you only notice when the author does it wrong, but since this is a review I figured I would pay attention to these nuances. Glad I did, because this was a master class on getting it right!
Finally, the thing I liked the most about this novel was that Melissa surprised me with the ending. I can normally predict where the story is going. It’s the curse of those of us who read a lot or tell our own stories. However, Warmaster’s ending shocked me. I was not expecting that twist, which I can’t elaborate on or I might ruin the story for you.
The Characters
This novel follows one main character, the new adventurer named Aderyn and her companions. She is a 20-ish year-old woman, who’s awarded the class of Warmaster. It is a class that gives her the ability to read tactical situations, but since most in this class are ignored, their full potential is never unlocked. However, the other Warmaster’s don’t have Owen, her erstwhile companion whose skills mirror hers. He is the ying to her yang, allowing both of them to be better while working together.
During the course of this novel, we see Aderyn grow and evolve. She starts as a shy and uncertain noob adventurer, and then she grows into a more confident version of herself. She learns that her class isn't as useless as she’d been told. Instead, she starts to take a sense of pride in her skill set. Through this, her party thrives and exceeds the expectations of their abilities based on their collective inexperience. At times, this wishy-washy uncertainty from Aderyn was annoying. That’s because we knew what she did not, but that is the fun of reading from a point of view who isn’t omniscient!
I really liked this character; she wasn’t your typical ‘girl boss.’ This was a lady who was competent, and she earned every one of her skill upgrades. She fought for those gains in a way that made sense. During her time in this novel, she had to compensate for her smaller size by outthinking the monsters and opponents. Further, she had to learn to work with her teammates, trusting them to be weak where she was strong. And she offered the inverse to them, balancing each other’s abilities. She uses her brains to empower their brawn and it worked for me.
In addition to Aderyn, we had the opportunity to meet Owen, the outlander from our world. He gets mugged on a Greyhound layover and wakes up in the woods outside of Far Haven. We first meet him as he is saving Aderyn from the monsters, swinging a club like a boss. He’s dressed in a band tee, demonstrating his excellent musical choice. Or the author’s excellent musical tastes? Either way, he was like a fish out of water, and through him we learned about the world of the system. The interactions about the miscommunication through their shared language was humorous and I loved watching it.
Later in the novel, we meet a few more party members. Their combined skill set reminds me of the dream party for a D&D campaign; a wizard, a bard, a thief and a fighter with someone serving as the brains of the operation. The Warmaster skill doesn’t have an analog in the ttrpg space, at least not that I’m aware of. But the combination of their skills makes them able to handle a wider variety of challenges.
These characters were well written and fleshed out. Their motivations made sense to me, they felt real. I don’t know that I’d want to have a beer with these inexperience kids, but I don’t hate them either. Maybe I’m just getting old and crotchety? Whatever, get off my lawn and we’ll continue with this deep dive into the residents of the system!
Finally, we couldn’t talk about the characters of ‘the system’ without talking about the system itself. It was its own character, working with its own mysterious agency. The game had dreams of its own, coming across almost like it was the deity for the world. It felt like this was symbolic or a stand-in for a higher power, which made the world feel even more fleshed out. I am not sure how else to describe it, I am still working it out on my end. Am I reading too much into it? Are the constant ads for Easter sales and commercials for local churches filtering my experience with this book? Is when I am reading it flavoring it? I don’t know, but it struck me that the game ruleset that runs this world feels like the ancient gods meddling in the affairs of man. Your milage may vary, so check it out.
The World
This story was set in the fantasy world of ‘the System.’ Sprinkled throughout the various cities are that special breed of humans known as ‘adventurers.’ These people rover around the land, completing quests and trying to earn system growth and advancement. As a GameLit world, it is set against the backdrop of a gaming system and ruleset. It is here that we find the tale of the characters of Aderyn, Owen and their other companions.
Seriously, what’s not to love about the world-building in this novel? It was expertly handled by Melissa McShane, who clearly knows a thing or two about the written word. She told a compelling story set in beautiful world of ‘the system.’ Like I’ve previously said, everything was extremely fleshed out, giving this setting a very lived-in feel. Unlike some authors, Melissa didn't info dump all of her world-building up front. Instead, she fed it to us in drips and drabs that kept me on the edge of my seat, hooked from page one. She expertly strung us along and always left us wanting more.
I know that I sound like a crazy fanboy, but trust me, this story was anything but amateur hour! It was an exciting romp through dice and page. I swear, I could almost here my favorite dungeon master say “roll for initiative” when the combat actions started, it was like I was really in the system with Aderyn! I'm practically gushing over this novel, and you will too if you give it a try!
Politics
This novel has no real-world politics and doesn’t stray outside of the standard power plays that happened in the medieval world with several city-states. That absence gave you room for you just to dive in and enjoy some good old-fashioned historic fun! Okay, historic-ish and the ISH is doing some heavy lifting! But it was the standard fantasy tropes that Tolkien would approve of.
Content Warning
This was a relatively clean story, so there was nothing that wasn’t PG-13 in this novel. There was violence, but it wasn’t gratuitous, and I would let my kids read this novel as well.
Who is it for?
This book is for people who enjoy a good GameLit story about a pair of young adults finding themselves and the path they want their lives to take. The book Warmaster: Dungeon Spiteful shows the value of found family and the positive role that the power of friendship can have on those around you and the world writ large. If you’ve ever seen the world as it was and wanted it to be better… this hopeful novel is for you. This novel had the action and humor and comradery of the most recent DnD movie. It had the classic dungeon delving made popular by the original tabletop game that we all know and love. I also noticed that this book struck some of what I loved of the novel Dream Park by Larry Niven.
Why buy it
Before I read this book, I would’ve said that I’m not the typical audience for this one. That said, I’m now a convert and will be reading more from this series and more in the wider genre. With that out of the way, this was a fun romp through a gamified story that is perfect for all ages. This is a solid escapist story for when you want sword fighting and justice in a hurry. The adventure was compelling, the prose were clean, and the story arc had me unable to stop turning the page. Sleep? Who needs it when this book is there!
If I haven’t sold you on this GameLit novel, then I haven’t done my job. So, if you are intrigued, check it out already!