Carl’s Doomsday Scenario is a pretty good continuation of the Carl and Donut dungeon crawl. The characters and seat of the pants problem solving are still there, the dark humor that’s both tragic and still entertaining is still there. Plot-wise this volume gets thin; much like the side quest emphasis (new feature of this volume), there is not a lot of progress in the main overall situation. There’s also isn’t a ton of character development beyond the “game character” that everyone has to perform to survive (because ratings and likes matter here). It’s actually not too bad though, since there are a few new characters introduced who seem like they might both be interesting to watch and stick around a while. I don’t see the point in the changes to Mordecai’s character though; it feels a little like a running gag that isn’t all that funny. Mongo getting a little more attention was interesting, and Carl’s choice of race was likewise a point that might be useful later. Obviously, there are new threats and some of them are clearly for later.
There are a handful of hints dropped that I’m really hoping come back later; there’s a mention of one of the elderly folks Carl and Donut help save in book 1 in an unexpected place and I hope we get to see her again to find out what’s up. Katia (a new character) is in an interesting position by the end, not that she isn’t from the start too, which means that there’s a lot of set up. That seems to be the thing with this volume; it’s a lot of set up for future adventures, crises, and so on. At least one gaga that seems to be set up I really hope comes back; both Carl and Donut gain random new skills at one point, and they (and I) have no idea what those mean, but there are some interesting hints. One of them is directly identified but the other one is not, but the hint is entertaining (maybe because I looked the word up).
The extra “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret” finally makes sense in the context of how it fits into the wider story. In the first volume it seemed kind of random, only relevant because of one or two characters. Now, characters, plus some story connection is there, although it’ll probably be a while before the main story with Carl et al. finally connects. Overall, a decent addition to the series, and on to book 3.