I agree with another reviewer I saw who said this wasn't their favorite in the series. But that is like saying the pizza you are eating isn't quite your favorite - it is pizza, every pizza is good! As such, every Carl is good too. Donut is still my favorite character, I still think the humor is funny, I still look forward to the next book - this series is great!

TL;DR: i listened to all of the DCC books back-to-back on audio, so they all kinda blend together at this point, but I think this is probably my 2nd favorite of the series. loved the world-building in this book; a welcome relief after the convoluted trains of book 3.

I am currently convinced that Matt Dinniman is a genius. I love these books. I am ready to go back through them now that I have finished them all because I truly love the characters, and I think there is so much in these books, and I am excited to see what I glean upon a re-read.

If you have not read the prior books, do so! If you have and are reading this review, debating whether to read more, just keep going! They are amazing. I love Carl and Donut.

Thank you to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to netgalley and Berkeley for an ARC copy of Matt’s fourth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series “ the Gate of the Feral Gods “ Matt has a way of really combining gore and horror and adventure and emotion all in one series. How does he do it? Every book I fall a little more in love with Carl and Donuts relationship, I was sad to see Katia leave the party because I DO NOT trust Eva but all in all another amazing book in the series I’m so ready to dive into book #5!

What can I say that hasn't already been said? If you like your fantasies in a hysterical knee slapping humor you should pick this up!

Fantastic book. The character development keeps getting better, as does the world building. Each book adds a bit more to the picture. As with all of these books, it is a wild ride. Highly recommended if you are a gamer or like gaming.

Not my favorite story of this series.

In Gate of the Feral Gods, Carl is getting punished for trying to save crawlers and getting everyone to work as a unit to accomplish the last level. For the 5th Floor, groups of crawlers are separated into bubbles, think giant bubble wrap. Each bubble must successfully capture the castle on the land, the sea, the air and subterranean. The crawlers in each bubble are broken into units but all castles must be successfully captured in order for the bubble to pop and your group to progress down to the 6th floor.

Carl knows that he is being punished because all of his friends are spread out among the other bubbles and everyone in Carl’s bubble is barely above level 20 to Carl’s 41. Carl and Donut are trapped in a bubble and they cannot succeed in escaping without the help of crawlers who have been hanging in the background letting other crawlers do the dirty work.

Carl once again leads the charge and wrangles this ragtag bunch of losers to capture all their castles, allowing Carl and Donut to escape their bubble so they can move on to helping the other crawlers escape their bubbles. Carl is determined to save as many people as possible.

After a shaky start, Carl is able to help level Louis and Firas, who become friends, as well as meeting some changelings who are other NPCs who are realizing that something isn’t right about this dungeon crawl and the part they play in it. They will all become important later on.

They also meet “Samantha,” who is a withering spirit of Psamanthe. She is a minor deity whose father banished her to the Nothing. The Nothing is opened when Carl gets his hands on that Gate of the Feral Gods. Every time he uses the gate, it opens a portal to the Nothing where feral gods and the like have been banished, which leads to chaos in bubble world as feral gods escape into bubble world and other gods have to jump in to recapture them. Back to Samantha, her spirit was put into a sex doll which was frozen and was knocked over by Carl and the gang and shattered, which left only her head. Now Samantha’s head had become an important part of the group.

There is a crawler Quan who is becoming a problem. Carl and Donut were given a quest and failure would mean a lot of lives lost. Carl was trying to get the other crawlers to help but the AI offered $1 Million credits if they could make Carl fail. Quan was more interested in the money than helping anyone which left Carl no choice but to take Quan out so he could save people’s lives. At this point, Quan goes from an annoyance to a real problem.

I didn’t like the whole bubble premise and suddenly being thrown in with a bunch of sad, new guys. The whole feel of the story is off as Carl and Donut were building a guild of sorts of the different groups where they trust each other and work together so everyone succeeds. Everyone here was happy to have Carl tell them what to do but their failures made the whole thing that much harder since Carl and Donut are doing all the heavy lifting to capture each of the castles. I don’t know that I would have liked the whole bubble level even with our friends to help but at least it wouldn’t seem so endless.

You really can’t skip this one as some of the people here become very important to the next few levels, so you have to work your way through it.

This whole series is throwing off my TBR. I have to keep going and see where how the next level goes.

In book four, the video game-style dungeon had a short timeline and enforced boundaries limiting allies and resources to complete their quests.

Carl and Donut schemed within their assigned quests to fight back against the dungeon’s system and they faced multiple moral dilemmas. There was a lot going on in this one and some of it was hard to visualize.
Katia continued to grow as a character and was a strong part of the team. Mordecai continued to guide them along the way, but was a little less involved in this story than the previous ones. I was glad they found Chris on this floor and dug into his storyline.

Several plot, character and setting details in this book pushed the “adult content” into eye-roll territory for me (and I’m tired of the fatphobia), but the writing was never graphic, so it wasn’t enough to disengage me from the story.

This series is full of humor, puzzles, epic battles, and lots of heart!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

Matt Dinniman does it AGAIN! Carl and Donut continue throughout their adventure, balancing humor with adventure and suspense. These books are the definition of un-put-downable.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and authors for the eARC.

Chaotic, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt—Carl and Donut’s latest dungeon run balances wild mechanics with real character growth. A little overstuffed at times, but still a blast from start to finish.

Okay, I feel like we’re really getting somewhere now! And I finally know who the Samantha is that I see on DCC-themed t-shirts.

As if normal gods were manageable, now feral gods came out to play. I understand that scandals increase viewership, but I think this was a little too much. First you enclosed crawlers in a bubble and then tied their fate to other castles being captured. I'm all about a good fight where I'm only dependent on myself. When I have to rely on others, alarm bells ring.

When it's about survival, I don't think I can trust human kind (doesn't matter if they changed their species or not). We are famous for our backstabbing, and we do it well. On this floor, Carl and Donut had to team up with 3 other groups and make sure they could capture their castles. Carl being Carl, wanting to save everyone of course. put himself, Donut, his friends. and NPCs in harm's way.

We are seeing a little bit more of the wonders of the cookbook. It's such a clever way to hide a valuable resource like that. Because unless you are really into cooking (but also why would you do that in a freaking dungeon), you would not flip pages of a cookbook. Well played crawlers!

We made it to the 5th Floor and, wow, was this book a doozy. Filled with more crazy antics from our favorite Crawlers, Carl and Princess Donut, along with gods, new NPCs, and a massive two-headed puppy. This book explored more of the alien politics outside the dungeon and gave some interesting tidbits that will make for interesting story arcs in later books. Overall, I highly enjoyed the 5th Floor, and I'm really looking forward to the 6th Floor....plus what is Odette up to??? Inquiring minds want to know!

This series has me in a chokehold. While this is not my top book in the series, I still enjoyed following Carl and Donut as they helped the others free up different areas. I love seeing Carl's character grow.

This series continues to just be the craziest, wildest, best ride ever! Carl and Donut continue to work their way through the floors of this horrific game they have found themselves in. All of our original characters (the still alive ones) are still there and we gather more as they try to survive the set up of floor five. I will always root for Carl and Donut, especially as they move from one crazy idea to the next. I love this series and cannot wait to read the next installment.

At this point the entire series is blending together into one glorious LitRPG because I barely put one down before I pick up the next one. I am amazed at the way Dinniman manages to stay true to his story, but bring fresh ideas to each book. I was a bit disappointed that some of my favorite side characters were relegated to chat due to the circumstances of this floor of the World Dungeon, but I'm excited to see what Carl and crew can do in the next book when they're all back together.

I am also continually astonished at the real emotion and moral quandary that is brought to this story more and more as we dive deeper into this dungeon. Carl's constant refusal to buy into the game while at the same time, he is excelling at it. Carl's refusal to be broken at times seems like insanity, and I can see him teetering on the edge of something. I truly don't know what I'm going to do when I catch up to what's published and don't have the next book waiting for me.

In book 4 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut have made it to the next level. This one is filled with sand storms, 4 castles that they have to conquer, warrior gnomes, a haunted crypt, and a submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. As with all of the previous books this was filled with snarky humor, and like all of the previous books, Princess Donut stole the show.

So, if you didn't think they could get any more out there, we'll you were wrong! This may be the best one yet - adventure, humor, and totally off the wall.

Carl is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite characters. I’m impressed with his moral compass, even with all the horrible things happening. He’s constantly beaten down, and he refuses to break. There are several moments in this book that his will not to break was intense. All you can do is hope he never does.

I need people to stop reviewing these books so critically. You are reading it completely wrong, if that’s the case. A lot is happening in this book, and there is less downtime. I do miss a little more of the chats between Princess Donut and Carl that are not about the impending doom! I am very excited about the additions of characters in this one. The long-awaited Samantha makes her appearance. I adore the group that Carl has managed to wrangle together. They have grown together in this book. I would almost say, we are getting a bit of “found family” going on.

This book took a darker tone. Don’t get me wrong, people are living in a war, but this one goes there. Carl starts making crazy decisions to fight back in some way. I don’t want to say too much because I’m so far into the series. If I haven’t convinced you to pick this series up yet, I wish you would! Shout out to the AMAZING Jeff Hays!! The audiobooks are so good, and he’s a mastermind.

“This I swear on my life. One by one, I will break you. I will break you all.”

Thank you, Ace, for the e-ARC. All thoughts are my own!! I also own the audiobook and hardcover. I’m all in! 🙂

3.5⭐️ rounded up.

The system AI is coming into its own personality. You don’t kill how it wants you to… oh you better watch out! Quests are coming from every direction like frenzied gerbils. And guess what? The players can be sued for going against what everyone wanted them to do! Donut and Mongo aren’t as active in this one but Carl and Katia really shine.

Book 4 is just as kookie and crazy as you would expect. I also feel like this one may have had more Easter eggs that are going to be critical on future levels…but we’ll see.