Amazon Cover
Comments I wrote during a buddy read of CARL’S DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
Page 17 – Sasquatch – BIG FOOT
Ha-ha-ha-ha. You can practically feel the AI looming over Carl’s shoulder whispering “do it.”
Page 21 – The minute Mordecai finished describing the Primal race, I was like “Carl is clicking that”. He LOVES using the history and background of the culture against them.
Page 22 – Going back and relooking over the Primal stats
“All higher-tier skills are unlocked” – oh, that is…wow.
Maybe he can’t use them yet, but no extra work to get at them? No quests or achievements needed? Yeah, that is an amazing plus.
Page 25 – Last time humanity was at 700,000 was in the 1700s.
Page 53 – DICTIONARY TIME
Scutelliphily – Looking it up in the dictionary, the closest things are like the study of scales. Is this a lover of fish scales and skin flakes and reptile scales. Interesting, could be creepy.
Cesta Punta – Not in the dictionary. Punta … that is something Spanish, meaning chicken? or is it cat? Oh, well, that will wait until I am at a computer (see more details at page 117)
Page 97 – Getting sucked into a substory when you need to grind because you chose a prep-based class is going to suck. Fifteen hours asleep is a hurt.
Page 104 – Oh shit, a boss battle without his team. And a crazy elite looking over his shoulder.
Carl!
Page 110 – That … that was not how I thought a boss battle would go.
Are all the neighborhood boss battles going to be completely tragic? Because 😭😭😭
Page 116 – Normally when authors hide information from the readers, I find it to be a cheat. Like mysteries where the detective holds back one clue that they noticed at the beginning and they never shared with the reader until the big reveal.
Here, though, Carl is actively hiding stuff from the audience, and since the reader is partially part of the audience, some of the stuff going on in his head isn’t shared. But as a reader, we get to see the text messages, which opens up some of the hidden factor as well as the off screen time. So it is like getting a VIP pass. The layers to this!
And the hiding a lot of the conversation with Odette at the very beginning, including choosing something to get a “Manager” by having the conversation between books is just BRILLIANT. And you can’t blame them for the hiding, because they really have to hide it from Mordecai.
Anyway, jamming the new book.
page 117 – At the computer now, let’s look up these words
Scutelliphily – patch collecting – collecting of patches and badges. Hmm. So achievements, maybe? Also coat-of-arms like law enforcement and military patches. Could be interesting. I would use it to collect girl and boy scouts.
( scutelliphily, from Latin scutellus meaning little shield, and Greek phileein meaning to love) – Little shields, ah, I see the link to the study of fish/reptile scale.
Cesta Punta skill – Okay, Punta is an insult like whore … is it like Feet Whore – or someone who gives foot massages by walking on people’s backs? I totally see the AI sending that skill-set Carl’s way.
From the Dungeon Crawler Carl wiki – Jai alai is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a cesta. The game, whose name means “merry festival” in Basque, is called cesta-punta (“basket tip”) in the Basque Country. The sport is played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, the U.S. state of Florida, and in various Latin American countries.
Punta means tip … which is the whore insult. But also has a real use.
Throwing a ball with a launching device, and he is having trouble launching the smoke grenades to the locations he wants during the circus battles with his sling. Oh, this is a NICE! (Still would have like the back massages by walking on people.)
And thinking just a little more on the Scut hobby – a Princess collecting badges/coat-of-arms. That also could be very interesting.
Page 122 – You will not break me. You will not break me.
Page 125 – The differences between the normal Dungeon-Crawling, the small side scripts written into the game, and the outside scripted shows is making me think. I’m trying to match it up with the pre-bought D&D campaigns, the D&D world books, and the home-grown stories.
Page 131 – “both dramas” … is someone else having a time of it elsewhere?
I hate it when two good shows are opposite each other.
Page 132 – ZEV: Don’t worry about that. It’s official. I have the power to sign on your behalf.
CARL: That’s terrifying, Zev.
Page 177 – The DM really wants to run the mini-episode they wrote with GumGum.
Dudes, be a little more subtle about getting your players back on track. No one wants to be railroaded into a story. That is just poor writing. (Additional comment after finishing the book – Those *&% wanted that ending.)
Page 198 – Flying disembodied female heads with their guts and lungs below them, plus bodies with little blood. Oh, I KNOW these monsters. I wrote a campaign with them once. It’s a great legend!
Page 201 – First hobby just kicked in!
Plus the Hob lobby lobbers will soon activate the second hobby, for hobby lobbing (thank you, NOT, for that pun Matt). I just know it. And with the hobby of lobbing, the Hob lobby lobbers will get a place in legend.
Page 265 – …now this great deceiver, this devourer of all that is holy, has a name. She is Donut the Oak Fell. The Death upon Us All. She Who Ends.
Page 282 – A new teammate with Katia (Mongo and Mordecai already being dragged along). Upto 5. That’s a good team. And she has PATHFINDING! (of course, Monster Truck Drivers would have that skill).
Page 312 – My original plan was to have Donut stay outside while I went in solo. She absolutely refused.
“You promised me that I wouldn’t die alone,” she said. “You can’t keep this promise if you die before me. ..
😭😭😭
Page 319 – Watching Remex tumble through the storylines – which of those tangents were real-life, which were programmed from other versions? How many storylines has Remex lived through?
Page 323 – Themes: Trees – oaks, planting, seeds, growth
Page 351 – What.an.ending. Not exactly a cliffhanger in that this story is complete. But, wow.
Page 360 – Finished – More layers the lasagna! This feels so real world because of all the different ways things are going.
1. People from Earth interacting
2. The game they are in (with the AI) and general rules
2.5 Each level has its own rules and some mixing storylines – so you need to know this level AND prep for future levels.
3. Additional people writing stories with unrelated stories which may be part of the game
4. Deciding on points and powers for paying the game
5. Interacting with the audience – shows, prizes, playing to the audience with actions and quests
6. Interacting with the companies – show writers, the Borant (can’t speak ill of the bosses)
7. Individuals watching – assassination!
8. Companies interacting with each other – debts, long history, ongoing agreements
9. Government interacting with the game.
10. Natural doing its thing – Night/day. Water.
11. Personal growth and decisions
12. Friendships different from alliances
13. Survival of body
14. Survival of self.
Etc. Just amazing
Page 360 – I am NOT playing chess with Matt.
Page 360 – Final thoughts (maybe)
1. Carl’s Doomesday Scenario is still in inventory. o_O !!!
2. While Odette might want Carl and Donut higher on the leaderboard for personal $$$, the lower they are the better. I wonder who is manipulating the board (likely many) and why (many goals).
Page 360 (next day)
Thinking about Remex being a tenner and Mordecai’s talking about offers to get of the crawler starting at level ten (he recommended staying until level eleven because the offers get better, if you survive). Anyway, I see Borant really pushing to get Princess Donut off at level 10 – because then they get residuals for whenever she gets used going forward of all the people who are her fans – like when Remex was used in the storyline, the viewership SOARED.
Then with Carl alone – Mongo and Donut gone- (and not offering him anything), they can get rid of the Problem Child Primal in a SPECIAL WAY. Great viewership. Plus then Princess Donut will forever be a Tragic Figure. But I don’t know if Borant understands just how much the AI “likes” Carl (‘s feet).
Thoughts?
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)