The Dungeon Book
On sale
11th August 2026
Price: £20
Genre
Enter a world of dungeons and dragons, magic and manticores, goblins and gargoyles in this captivating standalone fantasy from the author of The Gutter Prayer
‘Full of wit and adventure, twists and turns, wonderful monsters and astonishing revelations. An absolute joy’ M. R. Carey, bestselling author of Once Was Willem
Bait doesn’t remember a time before the dungeon. Before the dragon stole her from her cot. She doesn’t know what her name was before she was handed over to the monstrous denizens of the dungeon beneath the sorcerer’s tower. Luckily for Bait, they decided not to eat her. And so, she grew up in the dark – the goblins her adopted family, a vengeful minotaur her protector, a sentient skull her tutor and a faithful blob of corridor slime her main source of nutrition.
But the labyrinthine dungeon, with its haunted halls, buried temples and forgotten magics, draws treasure hunters like moths to a flame. And as the outside world starts to intrude, Bait will learn what it means to be monstrous, and she will have to decide where she truly belongs.
‘For a story set in the deepest, darkest dungeon, The Dungeon Book absolutely bursts with warmth, heart, and energy. One of the best things you’re going to read this year’
Jackson Ford, author of The Bone Raiders
‘The Dungeon Book manages the difficult task of being epic and heartfelt both at once, and does it with style. I fell in love with Bait and her menagerie of friends immediately’
Django Wexler, author of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
‘Full of heart . . . will delight anyone who has ever been brave enough to roll the dice and delve a dungeon’
RJ Barker, author of The Bone Ships
‘Witty and charming . . . A completely delightful book’
Justin Lee Anderson, author of The Lost War
‘The Dungeon Book is chock-full of wit and weirdness . . . This book was terrific’
Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld
‘Full of wit and adventure, twists and turns, wonderful monsters and astonishing revelations. An absolute joy’ M. R. Carey, bestselling author of Once Was Willem
Bait doesn’t remember a time before the dungeon. Before the dragon stole her from her cot. She doesn’t know what her name was before she was handed over to the monstrous denizens of the dungeon beneath the sorcerer’s tower. Luckily for Bait, they decided not to eat her. And so, she grew up in the dark – the goblins her adopted family, a vengeful minotaur her protector, a sentient skull her tutor and a faithful blob of corridor slime her main source of nutrition.
But the labyrinthine dungeon, with its haunted halls, buried temples and forgotten magics, draws treasure hunters like moths to a flame. And as the outside world starts to intrude, Bait will learn what it means to be monstrous, and she will have to decide where she truly belongs.
‘For a story set in the deepest, darkest dungeon, The Dungeon Book absolutely bursts with warmth, heart, and energy. One of the best things you’re going to read this year’
Jackson Ford, author of The Bone Raiders
‘The Dungeon Book manages the difficult task of being epic and heartfelt both at once, and does it with style. I fell in love with Bait and her menagerie of friends immediately’
Django Wexler, author of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
‘Full of heart . . . will delight anyone who has ever been brave enough to roll the dice and delve a dungeon’
RJ Barker, author of The Bone Ships
‘Witty and charming . . . A completely delightful book’
Justin Lee Anderson, author of The Lost War
‘The Dungeon Book is chock-full of wit and weirdness . . . This book was terrific’
Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld
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Reviews
The Dungeon Book manages the difficult task of being epic and heartfelt both at once, and does it with style. I fell in love with Bait and her menagerie of friends immediately
Full of wit and adventure, twists and turns, wonderful monsters and astonishing revelations. An absolute joy
For a story set in the deepest, darkest dungeon, The Dungeon Book absolutely bursts with warmth, heart and energy. One of the best things you're going to read this year
The Dungeon Book is the kind of novel packed full of wonder and adventure that makes people fall in love with fantasy
The Dungeon Book is chock-full of wit and weirdness. It's a heroine's journey turned (literally) upside-down, where you're rooting for the monsters and wishing adventurers would stay home and mind their own business. Gareth Hanrahan excels at creating wondrously unique settings, and he's done so yet again. This book was terrific
Gareth has created something full of heart that will delight anyone who has ever been brave enough to roll the dice and delve a dungeon
The Dungeon Book is a wonderful thing. Witty and charming, it's a love letter both to Kipling's inspirational story and Hanrahan's enduring immersion in dungeon lore. As always, Gareth's imagination is the star, and the story flips your expectations every time you think you know where it's going. A completely delightful book