The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

I know I've stated this before - but these books have no right been as good as they are. This one I think is the bleakest of them, but as always, Carl wins, saving as many crawlers as he can. A few old grudges are played out, we are introduced probably what is the most tragic crawler (and the most insane) and get more backstory on Carl's tragic past. There is also some information about the AI, who Agatha (from book one) is, and all sorts of other things.

Really, a book with a talking head of a sex doll should NOT be making me tear up. Of course, this book isn't going to win the pulitzer prize or anything, but it really does have stuff to say about why profit shouldn't be the point of living. It also says something about us vs them. Its show more surprisingly deep. show less

This is definitely my favorite book of the series so far. The world the Matt Dinniman has created is complex, creative, and incredibly funny. The characters have so much depth and the lore of the world AND within the dungeon is mind blowing. Seriously, it’s hard to keep up sometimes.

Every book introduces us to a new floor of the dungeon with its own lore, its own complicated rules, new types of characters and NPCs. It’s so impressive that Matt is able to create such unique floors while still keeping it all cohesive with the bigger world.

Don’t ask me any specifics about what happened because I guarantee I won’t be able to answer! BUT this whole series is one I look forward to rereading. I can’t wait to see all the Easter eggs show more Matt has hidden throughout the books that I haven’t pick up on. I have no idea how many books will be in this series but I can tell you I’ll be reading (listening) to every single one! show less

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 show more 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.

Most of what I know about card battling games comes from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon. There was definitely some fun in seeing what kind of T'Ghee totems Donut and Carl would manage to collect, although in general the whole card battling system came across as a chaotic mess.

That didn't really matter, though, because more of my focus was on the characters, many of whom were increasingly coming apart at the seams. This, unfortunately, included Carl. Man, I worried (and will continue to worry) about Carl. The guy is so close to hitting his breaking point, and it's not like anything in this series is conducive to rest and relaxation. Donut is a blessing, both for readers and for Carl.

This floor included a lot of monsters based on Earth myths and legends, although they weren't always very accurate due to the aliens not necessarily caring enough to do the proper research. There were a few fun examples I recognized - I particularly got a kick out of the squonk. A word of warning, though: the whole "legendary/mythical beings" aspect was defined very broadly, which may be problematic for some readers. The example that most stuck out to me: Uzi Jesus.

On just about every floor, Dinniman brings things to the brink of disaster and overwhelming bleakness, only to suddenly throw readers a morsel of hope. Can he keep it up? I sure hope so, but I can't help but be really nervous about the next book. The threads of stuff that could go horribly wrong at any moment keep multiplying.

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

The Dungeon Crawler Carl books continue to entertain. I do think the size creep is starting to lend to an as not-quite-as-well-blended tonal inconsistency. I love the stuff with Carl's father, and some of the other characters' family members, and it does certainly feel like there are *more* well integrated emotional moments overall. But the stuff with the CCG felt kind of flat and silly but not in a good, tonally consistent way. Same for some of what they ultimately did with some people's relatives. I'm also a little unsure what the point of the Beatrice tie-in to Carl's family and coworkers was. I guess it further establishes that she was kind of a garbage person, and weakens any future connection to her...but that seemed like a ship show more that had already sailed, a bit of a hat on a hat in terms of making sure no one ever wanted anything to do with her, even if she was alive. I am entertained by other Carl, as well as a few other dangling, newly introduced, plot points and ideas and the payoff for the potato was not what I expected. With the size creep on these, as well as the limited number left of them I have to read (and the projected small number still to come), as well as the number of floors theoretically left to cover I am a little worried we're going to end up either Martin or Jordan territory...either they aren't going to get finished (unlikely) or that a lot of the end stuff is going to feel rushed compared to the earlier portions of the series. I'd honestly rather slightly shorter but more books, and ultimately more story collectively, if it means the same level of detail and care payed to the rest of the dungeon and galactic events. Or pull a semi-Sanderson and have galactic events in a somewhat parallel series. I suppose the fact that I'm asking for more rather than less means he's still doing a great job though! show less

Series Info/Source: This is the 6th book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I bought this on audiobook.

Thoughts: Just like all the previous books in this series, I really enjoyed this book a ton. I listened to this on audiobook, and the audiobook is incredibly well done. This book adds another twist to the series with this level being an oddly Pokemon-like game of capturing monsters and then using their cards in upcoming battles. Carl and Donut continue to work on screwing with the politics behind everything and the AI is starting to become increasingly independent.

At this point you either love this series or you have stopped reading it, so you probably won't be reading this review if you haven't read the rest of the series. Given the show more complexity of this series but the excellent way it is done (which makes it so stuff is never confusing), I don't have a lot to say here. If you enjoy this series, you will love this sixth book.

Like previous books, this is action packed and complex, with rich world-building, intense action, and amazing character-building. The plot keeps having new elements added to it but these elements only enhance the story and never make it too confusing. At this point, I would call this epic humorous fantasy sci-fi. All of our characters are getting a bit quirky after their time in the dungeon, and this book tackles some of those mental health issues as well. So, it's not all fun and games. Things do get pretty serious at times which I think is very appropriate and pulls the reader back to the injustices faced by characters throughout.

I continue to love Donut and Carl and all the other side characters as well. A couple of major new characters are introduced and I love what is happening with the Odette storyline. We also find out a lot more about Mordecai's back story. This was just a highly entertaining and incredible read.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this addition to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. This remains highly entertaining, full of incredibly surprises, wonderful world-building, amazing characters, and break neck pacing. It is still humorous but has gotten a bit more serious as we start to look at the long-term effects of dungeon delving like this. I am eager to read book 7, "This Inevitable Ruin", when it releases. It has a November ebook planned release date with the audiobook release pushed out to February. Given that I have been listening to all of these on audiobook with my family, I will probably wait until February to pick it up, although I want to read it in November! show less

Carl and his crew endure more; he’s wonderfully open about his need and respect for Donut. His sincere desires to (a) keep a lot of humans alive and (b) kill as many of those responsible for this deliberately designed trolley problem as possible gives the narrative energy even as the politics become more convoluted. Also, he inserts himself into the head of a sex doll.

Somewhere between 4-5. This is like a sickly sweet candy you can’t help but enjoy. It’s so fucking fun and like the only litrpg book that I have found that’s not horrifically written or filled with edgelord content. It’s stupid sometimes it’s cringe - but it has that early adventure zone, dnd fun. Also the character growth is remarkably interesting? Pumped for the next book