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The Dungeon 3
The Hidden City: Nearing the zenith of their quest, Clive and Neville Folliot and their comrades from time and space are scattered through a ruined city. Beneath the decaying streets waits the greatest danger of all: the Ren and the Chaffri, inscrutable masters of the Dungeon! The Final Battle: Fleeing from the mysterious creators of the Dungeon, Clive breaks through to the ninth level. Stranded in a freezing polar wilderness, he struggles to find his missing comrades and to triumph at last against the murderous masters of the Dungeon!
- GenresFantasy
608 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2003
110 people want to read
About the author
Charles de Lint
447 books4,011 followersCharles de Lint is the much beloved author of more than seventy adult, young adult, and children's books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. Modern Library's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century poll, conducted by Random House and voted on by readers, put eight of de Lint's books among the top 100.
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he's been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He's been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Born in the Netherlands in 1951, de Lint immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. The family moved often during de Lint's childhood because of his father's job with an international surveying company, but by the time Charles was twelve—having lived in Western Canada, Turkey and Lebanon—they had settled in Lucerne, Quebec, not far from where he now resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1980, de Lint married the love of his life, MaryAnn Harris, who works closely with him as his first editor, business manager and creative partner. They share their love and home with a cheery little dog named Johnny Cash.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers.
Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
—Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint's body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won 2013 Aurora Award. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times Editors as one of the top six children's books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), is a fascinating ghost story about love, passion and faith. It was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards.
De Lint is presently writing a new adult novel. His storytelling skills also shine in his original songs. He and MaryAnn (also a musician) recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lin
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he's been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He's been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Born in the Netherlands in 1951, de Lint immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. The family moved often during de Lint's childhood because of his father's job with an international surveying company, but by the time Charles was twelve—having lived in Western Canada, Turkey and Lebanon—they had settled in Lucerne, Quebec, not far from where he now resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1980, de Lint married the love of his life, MaryAnn Harris, who works closely with him as his first editor, business manager and creative partner. They share their love and home with a cheery little dog named Johnny Cash.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers.
Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
—Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint's body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won 2013 Aurora Award. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times Editors as one of the top six children's books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), is a fascinating ghost story about love, passion and faith. It was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards.
De Lint is presently writing a new adult novel. His storytelling skills also shine in his original songs. He and MaryAnn (also a musician) recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lin
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 26, 2012
The Hidden City: In the fifth book in the Dungeon Series, the group is scattered across the eighth level of the Dungeon. Clive and Guafe end up being giant sized and captured by the Ren. Neville and Shriek are shrunken and join forces with a band of rat riders. Tomas and Sidi meet a gang of feral kids, led by a giant slug named Frenchie while Annabelle and the rest mingle with dead rock stars and a psycho biker named John The Baptist. Another fine day in the Dungeon...
In the fifth volume, a lot of questions get answered but some yet remain. Clive and company find out that the war between the Ren and the Chaffri isn't the only thing going on in the Dungeon. There's a third force jockeying for power and everyone think's Folliot and his gang are part of it. The purpose of everyone in the Dungeon being after the Folliots is answered... or it is?
De Lint's writing continues to be the best in the series. Annie and Shriek's personalities haven't mutated and their dialogue is actually consistent with the last book. A couple of the twists seemed a little forced but five books deep, it has to be getting hard for the writers not to be trampling over one another's stuff.
While I'm digging The Dungeon, I'm really ready for it to be over. I've grown to love Clive, Shriek, and the others, even Neville, over the past 1000+ pages but the story is getting to be like a batch of good chili. You like it for the first couple of days but after a week, you're ready for something else. Let's hope Lupoff can wrap this up in a satisfying manner.
The Final Battle: I'm not going to dignifiy this with a summary. Let's just say that Lupoff shat on books 2-5 and went with what he had in mind when he wrote the first book. I made it to page 100 and just couldn't take it anymore. None of the characters acted the same, none of the events in the previous volume were mentioned, and the ninth level of the dungeon was ignored completely. I can't believe Lupoff even read books 2-5. The whole point of a shared world is to actually share it, not ignore everything you didn't write. I had such high hopes for the end but instead get a piece of crap that doesn't even connect with the previous five books. I would have been better off imagining what happened in the sixth book.
In conclusion, the first five books of Philip Jose Farmer's The Dungeon were passable to good. The final book, however, shouldn't be touched with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole.
In the fifth volume, a lot of questions get answered but some yet remain. Clive and company find out that the war between the Ren and the Chaffri isn't the only thing going on in the Dungeon. There's a third force jockeying for power and everyone think's Folliot and his gang are part of it. The purpose of everyone in the Dungeon being after the Folliots is answered... or it is?
De Lint's writing continues to be the best in the series. Annie and Shriek's personalities haven't mutated and their dialogue is actually consistent with the last book. A couple of the twists seemed a little forced but five books deep, it has to be getting hard for the writers not to be trampling over one another's stuff.
While I'm digging The Dungeon, I'm really ready for it to be over. I've grown to love Clive, Shriek, and the others, even Neville, over the past 1000+ pages but the story is getting to be like a batch of good chili. You like it for the first couple of days but after a week, you're ready for something else. Let's hope Lupoff can wrap this up in a satisfying manner.
The Final Battle: I'm not going to dignifiy this with a summary. Let's just say that Lupoff shat on books 2-5 and went with what he had in mind when he wrote the first book. I made it to page 100 and just couldn't take it anymore. None of the characters acted the same, none of the events in the previous volume were mentioned, and the ninth level of the dungeon was ignored completely. I can't believe Lupoff even read books 2-5. The whole point of a shared world is to actually share it, not ignore everything you didn't write. I had such high hopes for the end but instead get a piece of crap that doesn't even connect with the previous five books. I would have been better off imagining what happened in the sixth book.
In conclusion, the first five books of Philip Jose Farmer's The Dungeon were passable to good. The final book, however, shouldn't be touched with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole.
Want to read
October 26, 2011This is both volumes 5 & 6 (final) of the Dungeon series.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews