Tower Dungeon, Vol. 1

Tsutomu Nihei, master of the mysterious architectural monolith, brings his genius to bear on the fantasy genre for the first time. Having established himself with hit series like Blame! and Knights of Sidonia, he has now created a gritty, dark fantasy world and populated it with evil sorcerors and unique undead horrors.

Tower Dungeon is structurally similar to the perenially popular isekai genre--the ingenuous farmboy Yuva must accompany a contingent of knights through the increasingly dangerous floors of massive tower on the way to rescue the princess--but Nihei has turned the genre on its head, bringing his unique sensibility to bear on a crumbling world of malformed creatures, wounded soldiers, and labyrinthine darkness. An evil sorcerer slays the king and takes over his body, kidnapping the princess and spiriting her away to the legendary Dragon Tower. The Royal Guard is rebuffed in their attempt to rescue her, and to replace the wounded, a young farmhand named Yuva is called up into service.

With only a potlid for a shield and a strong back to carry supplies, Yuva joins the soldiers on the perilous quest to climb the tower and rescue the princess. But the Dragon Tower houses untold horrors...! nTsutomu Nihei, master of the mysterious architectural monolith, brings his genius to bear on the fantasy genre for the first time.

Having established himself with hit series like Blame! and Knights of Sidonia, he has now created a gritty, dark fantasy world and populated it with evil sorcerors and unique undead horrors. nThe ingenuous farmboy Yuva must accompany a contingent of knights through the increasingly dangerous floors of massive tower on the way to rescue the princess--but Nihei has turned the genre on its head, bringing his unique sensibility to bear on a crumbling world of malformed creatures, wounded soldiers, and labyrinthine darkness.

An evil necromancer slays the king and carries off his daughter, secreting her in the legendary Dragon Tower. To save the princess, her steadfast Royal Guard assays the stronghold, but the way is blocked by powerful eldritch creatures... So, to supplement their forces in the face of mounting casualties, they press ordinary folks from the surrounding villages into service--including Yuva, a sturdy young farmboy with a strong back but no experience in battle, and only a battered old helm and wooden shield to protect him.

nMaster of science fiction Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!, Knights of Sidonia) turns his unique story