REVIEW: This Inevitable Ruin (book) by Matt Dinniman

This Inevitable Ruin is the 7th book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In this book, it's time for the 9th floor, the Faction Wars, in which the Syndicate corporations and governments can take direct part in the game, fighting against each other and conscripting crawlers to their teams. This time around, however, both the crawlers and the NPCs have their own armies and have a chance at winning as well.

This is guaranteed to be a book of gut-wrenching and emotional developments, as Carl finally gets the opportunity to meet former Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook authors (although he still can't talk about the book, which leads to some confusing moments for his fellow crawlers), and Katia and Donut must finally deal with the consequences of those warnings on the Enchanted Crown of the Sepsis Whore.

REVIEW: Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Graphic Novel (graphic novel, vol. 1) created by Matt Dinniman, written by Tevagah, art by Laurel Pursuit

Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Graphic Novel is based on Matt Dinniman's sci-fi series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

This graphic novel volume adapts the first 16 chapters of Dungeon Crawler Carl (up to page 133 of my copy). It's a fairly accurate adaptation so far, so this review will be less focused on the story and more on the graphic novel aspects.

Art-wise, I'm okay with this, even though I'd never have matched this particular art style up with this series. Neither Carl nor Princess Donut look how I pictured them, but that's not unusual for an adaptation. The important thing is that Donut, with her massive eyes, is so expressive and charming that her essence is still the same. And Carl's fine too. (We all know that Donut is the most important character here.)

REVIEW: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (book) by Matt Dinniman

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride is the sixth book in Dinniman's sci-fi LitRPG series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is the first book in the series to start with a "the story thus far" bit, which I heartily approve of. Anyway, this book takes place on the eighth floor, "The Ghosts of Earth." This particular floor is a facsimile of Earth in the weeks before the collapse and the start of Dungeon Crawler World. Regions are populated by what are basically recordings of what actually happened on Earth. Biological entities, like humans and animals, can't be interacted with. However, crawlers are able to interact with non-biological items and objects.

The floor is divided into three phases. In the first phase, crawler parties must find and plant flags on a living entity when they are at less than 5% health in order to transform them into something called a T'Ghee totem. In phase 2, the Squad Leader in each party will use a deck populated with T'Ghee totems and other cards to fight for floor exit keys. Phase 3 is a surprise.

REVIEW: The Butcher's Masquerade (book) by Matt Dinniman

The Butcher's Masquerade is the fifth book in Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl LitRPG series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The surviving crawlers have made it to the sixth floor, "The Hunting Grounds," where they get a 30 hour grace period before hunters who will be trying to kill them are released. After the way the fifth floor wrapped up, a lot of those hunters will specifically want to kill Carl (although one group in particular has brought along some truly horrifying arrows just for Louis). Also, it's time for Carl to fulfill his side of the desperate bargain he made with the producers of Vengeance of the Daughter way back on the third floor.

Another floor means more nonstop action and the introduction of a bunch of new complications to Carl and Donut's already very complicated existence.

REVIEW: The Gate of the Feral Gods (book) by Matt Dinniman

The Gate of the Feral Gods is LitRPG, the fourth book in Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Everybody's on the fifth floor now, "The Bubbles." The remaining crawlers have been divided into groups of about 150 per bubble, with each bubble containing four zones, or quadrants, into which the 150ish crawlers are further divided. Some effort has been made to divvy up crawlers in such a way that all the powerful ones aren't grouped in the same bubble. Crawlers in one quadrant can't enter another quadrant until they've taken the castle located in their quadrant. Also, a bubble won't pop, and its stairs to the sixth floor won't be accessible, until all four castles in the bubble have been taken.

Carl, Donut, and Katia quickly discover that they're likely the most competent and certainly the highest level crawlers in their quadrant, "Air." They're in a relatively small desert location and will somehow have to work with the few other crawlers around them (some of whom are drunk and determined to stay that way) to capture their quadrant's castle, which is held up by balloons way, way high up in the air. If they're lucky, the crawlers in the other three quadrants in their bubble will figure out how to take their own castles. If they're not, Carl, Donut, and Katia will have more work ahead of them after the Air quadrant. They only have 15 days to pop their bubble and get to their stairwells.

This series continues to be lots of fun. In this volume in particular, the story expands beyond "what's the gimmick on this level?" and allows readers more glimpses of the machinations outside the World Dungeon.

REVIEW: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (book) by Matt Dinniman

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook is the third book in Dinniman LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Carl and Princess Donut have made it to the fourth level, "The Iron Tangle," with Katia, a lost member of Hekla's group, temporarily added to their party. A few differences between the fourth level and earlier levels: the whole level is train-themed, for unstated reasons no one can go to the next level early, top crawlers (like, for example, Carl) have bounties on their heads, and crawlers can now get sponsors.

The Iron Tangle is a complicated mess of train lines. In order to make it to the next level, Carl and his party members are going to have to figure out how the lines work, how to make use of the trains, and what special tricks the Borant Corporation has worked into the whole thing.

REVIEW: Carl's Doomsday Scenario (book) by Matt Dinniman

Carl's Doomsday Scenario is a LitRPG SFF book. It's the second in Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

 As is usual with these serial stories, this picks up right where the first book left off, with no real effort made to remind readers of what happened earlier. Even though it wasn't that long ago that I read the first book, it still took me a bit to orient myself, and there were references to characters and events in Book 1 that I couldn't always recall well. For the most part, this wasn't too much of an issue for me.

This entire book takes place on the third floor of Dungeon Crawler World. At the start of it, Carl and Princess Donut are faced with decisions about their race and class, with an overwhelming (to me) number of options available to both of them. After that, it's time to deal with the floor itself, which is more dangerous and has a few new game mechanics added to it. Carl and Donut have only eight days to find an exit to the fourth floor before they're flattened. 

This time around, in addition to regular enemies and bosses, Carl and Donut have to deal with the additional complication of quests and NPCs called "elites."

REVIEW: Dungeon Crawler Carl (book) by Matt Dinniman

Dungeon Crawler Carl is science fantasy LitRPG. I bought my copy new.

Review:

At 2:23 AM Pacific Standard Time, every structure on Earth with a roof is flattened. The only survivors are those who were outside at the time. The alien beings responsible for all this destruction give them a choice: they can either try to survive in what's left of their world, or they can enter the 18-Level World Dungeon, where they will be expected to fight their way through each timed level. Only those who make it through all 18 levels or meet certain other requirements will be given their freedom. Their efforts in the dungeon will be broadcast for the viewing pleasure of an alien audience. 

At the moment of the apocalypse, Carl happens to have just stepped out in his boxers, a leather jacket, and a pair of ill-fitting crocs in an effort to bring his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, back inside. If he hadn't entered the Dungeon, he'd have frozen to death, but that doesn't make him feel much better as the NPCs he encounters immediately try to kill him. If Carl and Donut are to survive, they're going to have to figure out what's going on, level up, be creative, and keep moving.