SI loved this continuation of the Dungeon Crawl game show with Carl, Katia, Mongo, and Princess Donut as they try to survive and reach the next level. The story perfectly balances humor, love, real-life issues, cuteness, danger, machinations, supernatural elements, surprises, and morality. This book continues precisely where the last book left off. Carl, Donut, and Mongo are now on level 4 of the Crawl - the Tangle. They continue to be very popular with the fans, Mordecai assists them, Carl comes up with crazy dangerous plans, and Donut continues to be Donut. I loved the interplay between Carl and Princess Donut and that Carl’s character is a sweet, snarky, messy, lucky, sarcastic, kind of dumb, angry, and awkward man who regularly screws up, which makes him a very likable and relatable hero. I especially love his mantra of “You will not break me.” The story includes what you’d expect from this genre - fighting, dangerous situations, supernatural creatures, evil entities, henchmen, loyal friends, tragic backstories, mystical coincidences, snark, plot twists, and laughs.

Ace Books/Berkley Publishing provided an early galley for review.

We're back again for book three in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I enjoyed book 1 and book 2, so I was ready for another run with our heroes.

By this point in the series, Dinniman's style and narrative rhythms are fairly well-established. We have the voices of the characters; we have the framework of the game and its elements. The new wrinkles are the layout of the level, the secrets behind them and what it will take for Carl and company to get through them. That is the where the freshness comes in each time, especially if each book is only going to give us one level of progression. There is a lot more story to go; Dinniman needs to be careful with how he doles it to avoid either boring or burning out the reader.

The first half of this one was a bit slower for me, for the reasons just noted. However, when the second half hit all of the pieces came together and proceeded at a breakneck pace. Hopefully future volumes will give less of the former and more of the latter.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

Carl and Donut survived the third level and are back for more! Welcome to the Iron Tangle, a nighmare train station with hundreds, if not thousands of trains lines and stations.

While I still loved this book, it was my least favorite so far (not saying much, it's still easily a 4-star book). I loved the characters, the new party member, the achievements, but I got a bit bored at the descriptions anytime they discussed the train lines. It was meant to be super confusing to all of us and to them, but that did mean I zoned out everytime they tried to figure out the layout of the system. I had trouble following it. I really loved the backstory we're starting to see in the NPCs lives, it's very sad, but something I think about whenever I play games, so it felt very realistic.

I still love this series and already started book 4.

🚂 Dungeon Anarchist Cookbook 🚂

Carl and Donut are back in the third book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. They’ve officially reached the fourth floor, The Iron Tangle. The Iron Tangle is a maze of complex railways featuring every type of train, and monster, you can imagine. Joined by Katia, the newest member of the team, the three have to unravel the mystery of the rails in time to reach the stairway to the fifth floor.

However, this is made all the more complicated when Mordecai, their Manager, mentor, and guide, is put into a “time out” for breaking game rules. With the game clock ticking down, the trio must figure out how to survive the rails, the monsters, and each other in order to save themselves and the other crawlers on this floor.

The most noticeable difference between this book and the others in the series is how much more interaction there is between the crew and other crawlers, especially the more notorious ones in the Top Ten. One thing I always find fascinating about post-apocalyptic stories is how events and circumstances change people, and there was plenty of that included in this storyline.

Ok, full disclosure time: while I still had fun, this was my least favorite book I’ve read in this series so far. The Iron Tangle was complicated on its own and made even more so by several different portals. It had trouble following it all, and eventually gave up. Also, there was a tendency to over explain certain aspects, while neglecting others, that left the pacing a little off for me.
Eventually, I gave up trying to understand and just went along with it.

This is one of those books that’s makes me wish I used a 1-10 scale instead of 1-5. I had a lot of fun with this book, but that’s what I expect when I read them, to have fun. I don’t expect to feel confused or even a wee bit frustrated with the plot. Wee bit frustrated = a wee bit off of my rating. Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
(Rounded up for NetGalley)

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley publishing for my free e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

One-word review: Fascinating
Emojis: 🤭🫣😏
Rating: 5 🌟s

Favorite Character: In this third book in the series, I have to say my favorite character wasn’t Carl or Donut. It was actually Katia, who I loved seeing grow and become a force in her own right. I met her in book 2, where she was a bit of a wallflower - unsure how to use her powers, stand up to others, and what her role should be. In book 3, she learns to embrace her power with inner strength and self-confidence. Her transformation is truly inspiring, even if it meant Donut had to take a back seat.

My Top-Five-style Review:

5. I loved the overall tone of this installment. There were many positives to counter the increasing challenges, and the floor was extra fascinating—much more puzzle-like.

4. I didn’t learn as much about the aliens as I hoped to in this installment. I felt like that part of the world-building stalled, but not completely.

3. This is a story of survival, and the way it is portrayed is a testament to the author's skill. The themes that play into survival are covered so artfully that a reader might not even realize they are there. The resilience of the human spirit is a strong undercurrent, and I predict it will take the aliens by even more surprise than it already has.

2. There is still plenty of snark to make my sarcastic heart happy. However, it has died down primarily because Donut is a less prominent character. The achievements still make me laugh every time they are read.

1. The progression of humanity and Carl’s pivotal role in it was a narrative I particularly enjoyed. The question of whether they would succumb to the 'Lord of the Flies' route or be convinced to take a more Quixotic/Three Musketeers approach was a compelling one. The aliens' desire to see humanity turn against each other was a constant threat, but the potential for humanity to rise above it is a powerful theme.

Summary
Carl, Donut, and Mongo, now saddled with the shy Katia, are trapped in a level that's a commuter's worst nightmare, with dozens of underground and train lines traveling between nearly indistinguishable stations. And naturally all filled with monsters.
Review

I’ve taken to reading at least one unrelated book between series entries, but this time a) I found my chosen intervening book very slow going, and b) I was eager to get back to Carl and his adventures; it was just a lot more fun to read.

At this point, I do think the central conceit is starting to show its age a bit. We all know how these things are broadly going to go, and Carl and crew have received so many special items that Dinniman has to go out of his way to invent reasons not to use them. The seams are beginning to show.

It’s not helped by a level so complex that Dinniman starts the book with an author’s note saying “you won’t understand it, but don’t worry”. I haven’t cared too much about how the levels actually work in the past, but this one did seem a special level of ‘lacking a toehold’. Carl and crew get up to their usual shenanigans of killing monsters, etc., but the fun is starting to pall.

We do see the introduction of a new characters, some interesting player developments, and more development of the NPCs, which is welcome. I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp on where the series is headed, and it looks good and Dinniman has done a nice, reasonably subtle job of setup.

I do think the series is going to need to do something a little different in the coming books to ensure it doesn’t fall into an ever more predictable rut, but so far, so good.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

The wild ride continues in the 3rd book of Dungeon Crawler Carl!
The set up of the level is even more complicated than the previous ones. Honestly I didn't follow a lot of the train related references and the floor plan. But it doesn't diminish the fun and chaos of the dungeon and Carl's crazy solutions to each problem he faced!
In this book, we see more of the other crawlers and how everyone comes together. It's super enjoyable and look forward to more of Carl and Princess Donut's adventures!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC!