Comments I wrote during a buddy read of DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL
Page 2 – I’ve just read a lot of books in a row without the author having a good grasp on humor. I have high hopes of breaking that streak.
Page 79 – So is it the AI with the foot fetish or one of the dungeon creators? I really don’t see it being the producers – on the other hand, maybe fish have an unsettling attraction to feet like some people have to fins (mermaid & shark erotica)? – The ending acknowledgments included “The perverts who send me concerning feet pictures.” I want to ask if anyone here has a foot fetish, but I really don’t want to know. As an ongoing joke, I hope there is a lot of variation on it. Usually jokes like this get tired because it keep repeating the same thing and have a cruel edge after a while (like “your mom” jokes), but so far it has been entertaining.
Page 97 – “Do you hear music?” — oh, no! that is NEVER good. Not in movies and definitely not in video games.
Pages 99-102 – (Not me, but one of my buddies on the read translated the Spanish of the Hoarder for the group. (CRYING!!!))
Page 118 – I am loving the onging patches because of the early release. (One of my jobs working for a programming group years ago was tracking the patches, making sure we were meeting contracted changes appropriately.)
Page 175 – Poor Imani. Not sure you can get over that.
Page 175 – I think (the Waffle House) is one of the most powerful moments in the first book. We can’t run, we are being a burden on others, and WE.ARE.NOT.ENTERTAINMENT.
Page 180 – “Are you saying if someone else comes, they might kill all the old people? Just to get experience? Oh, Carl, darling. Nobody is quite that evil.” Donut paused. “Are they?”
(When a cat has more moral empathy than humans…)
Page 225 – Stayed up late last night (past 3 am) to get to the end of the level. I’m afraid of what the count will be next part. The drop each check-in is so dark, especially when counting from 8 billion. This is the amount of us-earth-humans-and-related left. The extinction countdown.
Page 225 – Three o’clock in the morning is making for a rough day. But the promise of humor is coming through. Worried about the promise (in the acknowledgments) of it getting darker in later books – this one has a line of dark.
Page 225 – Donut has her TV time!!!!
Page 260 – “More people had made it down to the next level than I expected.”
ALSO ON THE PAGE “Six days and counting.”
And previously never made it lower than 13 level of 18 required to “win”.
They rig the game for tension, but not success. They have to have the appearance of winning but don’t want to lose the profit.
Page 273 – One of my buddies wrote “I cannot read “a 5% chance to immediately kill you” without thinking “ah yes, rolled a 1.””
Page 350 – SPOILER: Great use of a feature of the game. I didn’t think they would survive the Rage demon – but everything was amazing about it.
Page 386 – “Effective immediately, any NON-SAPIENT mobs who happen upon a stairwell will not be disintegrated.”
… You know, I don’t think this is going to go the way the way they think.
Page 390 – Background politics – wow, this is EXTREMELY well-done. We’ve been getting hints dropped throughout and now we have a much more solid view of both the rushing to the end (get access to the money) but making sure a LOT of money is generated. Most of the times I’ve seen the background information be dropped on characters in other groups – of the background political mechanisms and it is like – oh, so that is how the world words – but with Carl it is, hmm, let’s put this into the toolbox, we might need it. And then he breaks it out and uses it whenever he can. Just amazing writing – this is what I called layered-writing – and Mr. Dinniman is so far down in the layers it is pure baklava.
Page 403 – “Time to pay the Daddy tax.” … Ah, so it is the AI, not one of the programmers.
Page 427 – Oh goodness that book is evil. Two nights up to three am. Normally I get tired after about an hour of embroidery and an hour of reading (no blue screen time) and head to bed. The reading is – nice story but slight break in action, what time is it? Ok, bedtime (one hour has passed). But with Dungeon Crawler Carl – how long have I been reading? – two hours, but it is good, just going to finish off this scene. Two hours after that… – The series is at seven books, well, the 7th book (and level 9 – which the ending parts of this book indicates is off the hook) comes out in September.
Page 457 – Amazing on so many writing skills – the McGyvering problem creation and problem solving, the world, the characters, the humor mixed with the dark, the drama. Yes, very plot driven, but somehow the agency keeps coming into play. Five stars!
Series of Transcripts for Dungeon Crawler Carl
- Book Review Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 1-3 (12/16/2025)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1 (12/17/2025)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2 (12/19/2025)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3 (12/20/2025)