Philip Jose Farmer's The Dungeon III
Part V by Charles de Lint
Part VI by Richard A Lupoff
By Author 

     Before Tolkein, therRachel A Hydee were fantasy authors who sent their heroes into thrilling lost worlds, just as Victorian explorers searched for unknown places in the real world. Following the example of Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series, five authors have come up with this humdinger of a trilogy. If you have read the first two volumes and followed Clive Folliot and his companions through the levels of the Dungeon, you will be itching to find out how it all ends. Is Neville a friend or a foe? Is one of his companions a traitor, and just who are the Ren and the Chaffri, apart from their tormentors?

     In book V, Charles de Lint takes us though some more fantastic parts of the Dungeon and whets our appetite for the final volume. He draws on various classic novels for his inspiration, and anybody who enjoyed Tad Williams' Otherworld ought to enjoy this part. I was very impressed how the author of the first volume, Richard A Lupoff, fluently mimicked the style of late 19th/early 20th century adventure fiction, and looked forward to seeing how he drew the whole thing together. Sadly, though, I felt that the final volume was flawed, rambling and rather confusing, without being exciting or indeed anything like the first part in style. Nearly all the endearing characters in the party have now gone, and without much of a send-off, too, which is unfortunate, and the ultimate conclusion is not particularly impressive.