5 Stars
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman might be my favorite in the series so far. This book was absolutely packed with chaos, humor, and those moments of unexpected humanity that keep sneaking up on you in the middle of the madness.
We’ve got magical big boy underpants. Manatars… the best Tars… half man, half man. Screaming goats. And Katya accidentally turning into a murderous badass was a highlight I didn’t see coming but fully appreciated.
This series just keeps getting weirder in the best possible ways, and I’m clearly having a great time with it.
On to the next.
Glurp Glurp.
4 Stars
I really loved this story. The emotional depth in the characters was what stood out most to me. Lindsay Ellis managed to give real weight and feeling to the relationships, even when those relationships involved aliens that don’t think anything like humans.
Despite those differences, the connections felt genuine and surprisingly touching. The story balances big sci-fi ideas with quiet, emotional moments in a way that kept me invested the entire time. Thoughtful, a little strange, and ultimately very heartfelt.
3 Stars
I feel like this just wasn’t the book I was looking for right now. Cue Jedi hand motions. ✋✨
At nearly 800 pages, it’s a lot of brooding demons, brooding vampires, brooding everything. The vibe is very dark, very moody, and our main character spends most of the book extremely… motivated… but not actually getting anywhere with it until the very end. That’s a long slow burn.
It also raised an important urban fantasy question for me:
Why do vampires always own nightclubs?
Overall, it wasn’t bad. The world is interesting and fans of dark, romance heavy urban fantasy will probably enjoy it more than I did. It just didn’t quite hit the right mood for me this time.
5 Stars
Just devoured this one and it might be the most chaotic fun yet in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
Highlights? So many.
Clockwork Mongos. Seriously… where can I get one? I feel like the world would be objectively better with a tiny mechanical Mongo companion.
Then there’s the Sharktapus… or is it Octoshark? Either way, it’s exactly the kind of glorious nightmare fuel this series does so well.
Also, important life lesson from this book: don’t piss off Carl. He will absolutely rip your arm off.
And Samantha… SAMANTHA.
Then that epilogue drops in like a glitter bomb of impending chaos. I have a feeling the fallout from that is going to be wild, and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.
Another ridiculously fun, action packed entry that somehow keeps raising the stakes while making me laugh out loud.
5 Stars
This might be the most emotional and character driven book in the series so far. Beneath all the chaos, explosions, and ridiculous dungeon antics, the relationship between Carl and Princess Donut really takes center stage. Their quieter moments together, especially Carl’s promise that he’ll never leave her, hit surprisingly hard and add a lot of heart to the story.
The Big Tina storyline is also a total game changer. It expands the world in a way that makes everything feel bigger and more connected, and it adds another emotional layer I didn’t expect.
The book still has the chaotic, outrageous humor the series is known for, but there’s a lot more depth in this one. It’s funny, wild, and occasionally punches you right in the feelings.
If the earlier books were a circus of mayhem, this one is the circus with the lights dimmed just enough for the emotions to sneak in between the explosions.
