I am having a bit of a hard time remembering when some of the “outside of dungeon” events occurred in relation to each book so going to do this one as more general review with some details about each book. Dinniman keeps adding more details to the world building beyond the dungeon and I might like that broader picture even more than the dungeon. We get to see things like CrawlerCon (so fun) but also see hints of the larger politics and how the crawl is impacting them/how they impact the crawl. In fact, Carl gets called to the principal’s room a few times due to his actions having potential broader impacts and repercussions.
The number of named characters we care about also continues to grow, even if it leads to opportunities for even more heartbreak as deaths carry more meaning. Carl begins to question more about the dungeon and the state of the NPCs. Beyond the game guides like Mordecai, he has interacted with other former crawlers in NPC roles but there are so many more and he starts wondering about the nature of them, even witnessing a few become self-aware at different points. Speaking of which, the AI is becoming self aware and setting its own rules much sooner than in previous years. In some cases, it seems the AI is course correcting the crawl with over the top reward boxes since the game creators have shortened the time and given players less opportunity to level up but in other instances, it is very much getting harder to control.
Book 3: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook – Floor 4
The leaderboard has gone live! In this one, Carl and Donut get to reunite with some of their Meadow Lark friends (the senior citizens from Book 1) as they face a subway station from hell. Carl and Donut also get the chance to catch up with other crawlers they met briefly in earlier books which was a nice touch, and we meet a few others from the Top 10.
Book 4: The Gate of the Feral Gods– floor 5
After the gang was all together for the previous floor, this one divides everyone back up. Players are assigned to a quadrant within a bubble – can’t leave the quadrant until they capture the castle, can’t leave the bubble until all 4 castles are captured, and you can’t go into other bubbles to help – once done, you can only go into already completed bubbles. Carl, Donut and Katia are together since they are one party, but they need to hope the rest of the bubble know what they are doing. And the other crawlers in their quadrant are not exactly awe inspiring, being at only Level 20 to Carl’s Level 38.
Book 5: The Butcher’s Masquerade– floor 6
This is another of the special floors, and it’s the first one that involves outside players – the hunters. The rich and bored of the Syndicate play here as hunters, killing crawlers. Good thing the AI is all about changing the rules in the name of fairness – this time around, hunters will die for real if they die in the game. Carl and Donut are dealing with dinosaur quests, hunters and the next episode of “Vengeance of the Daughter.”