The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

New achievement: You've read at least three books. What are you, a book collecting mole man? What are you planning to do, open a book shop? You need a new hobby. And a life. Reward: Since we can't stop you, you might as well move on to book 4 immediately.

I am so impressed with how layered this story is. There are so many elements - from the best and the worst of humanity to the absolutely insane scenarios the crawlers end up in, and solving in highly creative ways, and everything in between. It was a roller coaster ride on so many levels. I'm really glad we got to see everyone pull together on this floor to show what's possible when enough people work together to solve a floor in this crazy horror show of a game. I absolutely did not show more see the twist coming with Hekla though it was satisfying how it all worked out. On the downside, I'm starting to care about more of the side characters. It's going to suck when something happens to them. I'm assuming it's only a matter of time.

On to the next book and whatever fresh hell the dungeon has in store next for Carl, Donut, Katya and Mongo. show less

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.

Man, this level was complicated. An author's note show more at the start told readers not to worry too much about all the platform and line details, and that there would be a map near the end of the book that would help clarify things. The map didn't really clarify things, at least not for me, and it really only covered a very small part of the overall picture. I kind of wish there had been an additional drawing of whatever Katia did a while later to understand the level's true structure.

Even though I had some trouble following along with the bigger picture, I still enjoyed the journey. The fourth level felt more claustrophobic than even the previous levels, due to so much happening on either train platforms on in the trains themselves. For most crawlers, it didn't seem like a very good setup for getting further leveled up - there was a bit more emphasis on puzzle solving than on battles, and there were an awful lot of monsters that didn't actually provide a lot of experience points.

An in the previous books, the balance between the quirky, humorous moments and the more serious aspects worked well for me, although there were a few times when I wished that the characters had had just a little more time to emotionally process what they were going through (because I wanted to process it with them). But no, Carl and friends had trains to go catch. And derail, hijack, reroute, etc.

There were some truly tragic NPCs in this one. Growler Gary, oof. That's some atomic level PTSD potential right there. And yet there were also some really nice moments. Prepotente, ha - Dinniman is almost certainly going to give that character more page-time, and I'm looking forward to it. I also really liked that most of the crawlers Carl encountered in this volume were willing to work together to help people survive.

At the same time, betrayal is definitely part of the game, with certain items and some gameplay mechanics encouraging it. I kept thinking about Squid Game and the way it switched from cooperative to more competitive games. It made me worry about what Carl and Donut might encounter in future level setups.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

Sometimes, interest for a series wane and finishing every single book becomes difficult. In the case of Carl’s dungeon crawl it is not the case at all. The novelty of each floor, the diversity of characters, and the intelligence of the humour makes it entertaining and compelling as we get deeper and deeper into the dungeon.

The fourth floor of the Earth Dungeon introduces Carl and Princess Donut to the Tangle, a Gordian knot of trains, subway cars, portals and platforms. Carl learns more about the NPCs and they all learn more about friendship, loyalty, trust, deception, and betrayal. And a Mimic!
It's hard to write reviews for books in a series without spoilers for previous books. The Tangle was hard for me to visualize but sufficiently convoluted. The relationships were pretty straightforward and satisfying in their permutations.

Well, I finished this one in two days and am now crawling up the walls waiting to get my hands on book four!

In The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook we have our main characters improving their skills and resources, as well as building alliances with other teams. I really like how Dinniman can focus on the main characters, but still develop supporting characters in a way that is neither overwhelmingly detailed nor slap-dash.

My one complaint about this entry is that the level's layout is crazy hard to visualize; my ARC didn't include a map, but I have a feeling that I still would have struggled if I'd seen it.

Received via NetGalley.

4.75⭐️

GODDAMMIT Matt Dinniman you did it! You fixed it. Almost everything in this book is tuned to perfection.

I laughed a lot. The jokes were well timed and actually hit. Both the main and side characters improved so much I genuinely loved that I could finally tell the side characters apart and feel invested in them. In the last book, I said I didn’t laugh enough and that the side characters weren’t strong, but this one completely turned that around.

The only issue I had was with the timeline and location. Sometimes I genuinely didn’t know where our protagonists were, and it was hard to keep track of things. That made parts of the book a bit confusing.

But everything else?
Nailed.
The writing, the pacing, the tone it’s like show more the author found his rhythm and let his unique flavor shine. I especially loved the floor where the game takes place in this book much better than the third floor from the last one.

And that Easter egg at the end of the audiobook Absolutely hilarious.

Can’t wait for the next! show less

These books are the perfect mix of popcorn fun with an addition of a WTF is this horror that is going on. Carl and Princess Donut are still working, but this time, they've acquired another party member - Katia, a shapeshifter who use can use her mass to deadly affect. Carl has also acquired a book of recipes, rather useless unless you read what is actually in it. We get a little more on the politics of the universe, as well as using loopholes to ones benefit. Of course, things aren't easy.

As for the WTF - Carl has decided his goal is to keep as many crawlers alive as possible (with just a hint of self preservation). Princess Donut is growing up (also leveling up, but thats to be expected). As for Mongo, I love him. or Her - or whatever. show more

These books are fun to read, with just enough depth to make them more than just fluff reading. show less