Stumbling Up - by Reck Well (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Meet Richard: '[Immortal]' banana slug, emotional terrorist, dungeon life coach...

Then there's Cole. He just wants to survive. Richard has goals. Neither of them is optimistic.

In a world split between [Mundanes] and [Adventurers], Cole rolled the worst specialization imaginable: [Self Criticism].

One drunken mistake later, he's conscripted into the Adventurer's Guild. First stop? A deadly [Trial Dungeon] with a sarcastic slug, a mysterious goth, and two best friends who are absolutely not qualified for this.

Richard is a 'foot-long' telepathic jerk with a gift for emotional damage.

Leo is a pink sweater wearing himbo with a double-bladed axe and a hit first mentality.

Tandy is a genius crafter with a deep and irrational hatred of sheep.

And Meredeath? She's not in Kansas anymore, but she is kicking monster butt in platform boots.

Together, they form [Your Mom's Party], the dungeon's least-likely survivors. Join them as they stumble towards glory treasure power adventure.

Welcome to the party.

Try not to die.

Stumbling Up is a heart-wrenching adventure comedy about three friends tackling their quarter-life crisis by pursuing adventure. It's a stat-light LitRPG like Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl and Shirtaloon's He Who Fights With Monsters. These are not your average OP main characters. They're the underpowered losers we're all rooting for.

What to Expect:

Stat-lite LitRPG mechanics (Skills, specializations, party dynamics-not spreadsheets)

Character-driven narrative with emotional arcs and messy growth

Found family and friendship front and center

Dungeon crawling with unconventional strategies and slice-of-life interludes

Banana slug wisdom (or at least loud, sarcastic opinions)

Progression through failure (because some of us level up the hard way)

What You Won't Find:

Harem or romance-driven plotlines (but feelings may still happen. Poorly.)

Spice (unless you count dungeon bile or Meredeath's combat boots)

Power fantasy wish fulfillment (unless your fantasy is learning to like yourself)

Edgelord monologuing (unless Richard is making fun of it)

Generic dungeon tropes (everything here is squishier, smellier, and probably alive)