So far, book no. 3 is my least favorite. The worldbuilding of this dungeon was just so over the top, there was so much talk about tracks and trains and carts and portals that I had to take a break here and there before getting a headache.
But it’s still 5 stars! Because it’s everything else that happens between that train talk. It’s the moments that punch you in the stomach and before you can even process, the story moves on. It’s that Found Family. It’s the bond between Carl and his goddamn cat.
“I wasn’t just going to abandon you, Carl” Donut said. “Who do you think I am, Miss Beatrice?” “No, I agreed, you most definitely are not.”
And the friendships formed in an environment so very hostile.
It’s the authors humor thats sometimes can be quite vulgar, but honestly, in the context of fighting for your life nearly every minute, I’d be, too.
But also the sheer amount of monsters Matt Dinniman creates! It’s always something new, with sassy commentary by the Dungeon AI and I have no idea how he does it.
“Babababoon is the king of idiotic chaos. This exclusive mob was created by taking a standard earth baboon and crossing it with the population from a Florida jail drunk tank. Not gonna lie. I’m pretty proud of this one. These guys ruin just about anything we put them in.”
It’s Carl and his “Carl Plans”, doing what he definitely does not want to do but what simply has to be done.
"They will not break me. Fuck them all. They will not break me. But I will break them.
This is my promise to myself, to my friends, and to you, anyone who reads these words.
I will break them all."
This series has me in its clutches and I must continue.
