Dungeons & Dillholes

Nolan Locke and Jowi Ghersi’s narration is the audiobook’s saving grace, diving into this bizarre world with the enthusiasm of gamers who’ve finally gotten their hands on the controller. Locke’s raspy, gravelly voice suits the hard-bitten mercenary types, while Ghersi’s crisp, almost robotic cadence nails the tech-savvy players—though their accents occasionally veer into caricature, which is either intentional or a misstep depending on your tolerance for over-the-top delivery. The pacing is relentless, which works for the story’s frantic vibe, but the middle act drags like a lagging server, with too much exposition clogging the action. The audiobook’s production is clean, with just enough sound design to sell the immersion, though the background hum of the desert winds sometimes feels like it’s competing with the narration for your attention. My biggest critique? The story’s world is so hyper-specific that it borders on exhausting. Between the endless acronyms (DIC? SGT? Your guess is as good as mine) and the rule-heavy gameplay mechanics, it’s hard to stay invested when half the book feels like a user manual for a game no one asked for. That said, if you’re here for the spectacle—and the sheer joy of someone taking their own premise this seriously—it’s a wild, if flawed, ride.