Amazon Cover
Comments I wrote during a buddy read of THE EYE OF THE BEDLAM BRIDE
Page 15 – Remaining Crawlers: 38,532
The countdown to Earth human extinction continues.
Starting point 8 billion people.
How many will survive to level 9 (one of the bloodletting floors)?
Page 16 – Oh crap (picking up the book and doing a quick re-read after not looking at it for 14 days because had three things in the queue which had priority) – on page 3 it said in the prolog less than 200 survived the faction wars was normal. Two hundred!!! Well, I guess that answer my question.
Diving deeper, half opted out as soon as they were on the 10th floor (never take a deal on the 10th floor), and half died. Odette knows of only 5 who made it to level 11 this particular round (of the less than fifty left) plus her crew which is 3. So maybe 10? That is the 11th floor. By the 11th floor everyone is in the top 10 list, maybe. And the 12th floor is the deity floor – a really “tough” one as all the divisible by 3 floors are.
Page 36 – I’m paying attention to little level hints this time
Level 15 is demons – “we have a whole matriarchal hierarchy of demons who exist and fight and vie for control of the 15th level, all trying to catch the eye of one of the four brothers.”
Another of the magic “every 3” levels – so 9th is battle, 12th is deities, 15th is demons, and 18th is Scolopendra’s Lair.
Page 36 – “This is a Berserking Spell. Don’t cast this inside of a Denny’s. Or anywhere near people you like.”
…she is going to need to cast it near people she likes.
Page 41 – Those “Phase through Wall” potions are prolific. They only do that when you are going to need a lot of them. And Mordecai says their use should be a last resort. Because, of course.
Page 103 – Oh, those running the game are getting tired of everyone being so cooperative. Basically they are coming out and saying “Hey crawlers, kill each other. It will be fun!”
They want this done before the Battle level.
Page 105 – If you play Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon, this might be a real fun book. I loved the train one.
Page 106 – “13 days before the assault”
Wait, what assault?? I thought it was just phase 2. I swear for over 800 pages, this book shouldn’t be this dense. It will take two or twenty-two read-throughs to catch all the details in this series; no wonder people are on their second pass already.
Page 183 – How many different things are coming together in this room right now? Talk about no one right answer situations.
Page 196 – I know someone had to have collected all of the Cookbook notes by “edition” / crawler. I would love to get to know the individuals who went before and made the first 24 copies. That first one, two, and three had to have the greatest faith.
Also wonder if there is another “book” inserted into the programming by a different group.
Page 200 – “I made this happen.”
No, Carl, you didn’t. The ABUSER made it happen. The system left you only bad choices.
“You chose poorly.” – but the other options are worse, so much worse.
Don’t blame yourself. I know you want to claim it as your own, because that gives you power. But some things need to be shoved back at the abuser.
Page 205 – “I like her.” … oh, dear. That power is working.
Page 244 – Invasive thought – thinking about children in the apocalypse – Do you want them to live through it or not? They’re children.
“That was a really fucked-up thing to think, I said to myself. But was it? Was it?”
If it was YOUR children… Children you knew… Family…
Page 298 – “I took off my nightguant cloak to be safe.”
If it was me as a DM – Finally!!!! hehehe…
(+4 constitution, resistant to poison and ice attacks, plus anti-piercing resistance)
Page 298 – Oh crap, was that a scene to remind us he is wearing a nightguant cloak??? As an editor I always say, “three times makes it real” and for series “remind readers of something before it is important”. Crap, this was really, really smooth. Well done!
Page 307 – What is so bad that the AI thinks it is “kinda fucked-up” and how bad does it have to be for it not to want to talk about it?
Page 321 – “demanded a crab dish” … Donut is going to need to stop depending on the magical charm; she needs to stop playing Mean Girl with the “help”
Page 324 – Man, they really want crawler-on-crawler violence.
More than the showrunner wanted of the crawlers got through to the 7th level, and then that level got skipped. The crawlers should be a tenth of the present number – in the 3,000 range I bet. I don’t know how big the Crawler numbers usually are for the 9th level, but the crawler contingent never seriously been army numbers – more like dodge being in an active war zone.
I’m not going to go back and see if the other army numbers have been hinted at but I bet more than 10,000 is not it – more like 500 considering the transportation costs – that is the number the administration want to pare the 38,000+ down to.
I hope no one takes the bait.
Page 337 – Side Quests can get really annoying when the primary quest is so important, but it is easy to get distracted by the easier task too. They are fun-er than grinding. Hard choices.
Page 366 – Addiction is very real, especially with all the trauma. Another layer to the story.
Page 367 – So the last dungeon level (18th) is Scolopendra. That vine line about the circus-ringmaster husband might be very important someday.
Page 396 – You know, I am not sure which is more an agent of chaos – Samantha or Carl.
Page 405 – And Mr. Dinnaman continues his mastery of walking the line between the dark and the comedic.
On one side – fucked-up family assassination for money outside the game; on the other, the overrich Faction War which had been stuck in the Desperado being ejected.
I hate how effortless he makes this seem.
Page 418 – Carl does love doing what people don’t want him to do. (The adjunct saying they tried to keep her out.) I wonder when they will use that against him.
Page 427 – The concept of the “machine” being too big to fight, so you have to work within the machine.
I recently had TikTok point out working within only oils the machine; you got to gum up the works, not work with it. Better yet, take a sledge to it from the outside.
Page 427 – Ah, the themes of this story is centered around addiction. Very appropriate for the cardplaying and Crack (Magic) the Gathering. Addiction, obsession with betrayal and loyalty, drive and despair.
Page 427 – “future collections will be humane. It will be done in a way that removes all suffering.”
Oh, I don’t like that at all. At least with this, the collections are overt and seen. Future will just be killing cleanly.
Page 451 – Oh, come ON Carl, you know EXACTLY where those “balloons” came from for that water fight.
Page 452 – Poor Donut, growing up and being responsible..
Page 453 – Nice to know that Carl’s military alarm clock still works – wake up five minutes before drill.
Page 459 – The AI wanted everyone to have private messaging. Interesting.
I wonder if anyone got extra material in the description for the Book of Voodoo. Carl’s version looks kind-of clean.
Has anyone else indicated they get extra commentary from the AI that disappears later? I don’t remember.
Page 461 – Oh no, Carl can’t have dirty feet!
Page 465 – What did the yule cat say?
(Google search turned up Lance D. Carter’s post to the LitRPG Books facebook group on October 4, 2023:
For the DCC audiobook fans here’s the translation of Jola the Yule Cat.
Icelandic to English
Chapter 41
“Hvar eru fötin þín?” — “Where are your clothes?”
“Hvar eru fötin þín?” — “Where are your clothes?”
“Hvar eru buxurnar þínar? Hvar eru skórnir þínir? Næst mun ég borða sæta hold þitt.” —
“Where are your pants? Where are your shoes? Next time I will eat your sweet flesh?”
Chapter 58
“Mér líkar ekki úlpan þín,” — “I don’t like your coat.”
“Mér líkar ekki úlpan þín,” — “I don’t like your coat.”
“Þjófar verða ètnir. Skilaðu þessu.” — “Thieves will be eliminated. Give it back.”
Page 477 – Carl, do NOT upset the crazy AI. Mongo hates it when you upset the AI.
Page 493 – don’t try to be like me, Donut. You need to be like you.
Be yourself…unless you can be Batman. (Carl has the Nightguant cloak, so he can be like Batman.)
Page 534 – I thought of Asher and the lightning attack they gave him. Of the drawings in his bedroom. Goddamn you.
And there, making Asher real. It wasn’t just child pictures and toys and hiding from the father, but taking it one step further. Liking thought to thought. Connecting the dots to show the shape of the numbers.
Page 534 – Everyone in the hydra was dead. They had to have died DURING the collapse to be used in the hydra.
How does Matt make this a relief and a tragedy at the same time?
Page 540 – Is a slave an enemy or just an obstacle?
Page 552 – I recently read “Of Monsters and Mainframes”, and the quote of “Demeter. This is not the time for you to develop free will.” applies here.
Though when is it time to develop free will? Watching toddlers demand the right to do tasks, to be free is frustrating and invigorating for the adults – my little ones are growing up; MY LITTLE ONES ARE GROWING UP!; my little ones are growing up. Free will.
Page 555 – Another Matt Dinniman masterpiece.
This huge “as you know Bob” infodump to fill in the readers (and some of the crawlers). But it is an infodump driven by the AI and being fought by the some of the people who have to share it. It is an AI worked into the plot with layers of politics behind it. Brilliant.
Page 555 – “it assures me the rules will be followed from this point forward as long as both ends keep up their end of the bargain.”
Lordie, what a wonderful double-speak. “I’ll follow the rules until I decide not to follow the rules.” I mean, yeah, that is the reality but this promise as worded means NOTHING. Not like “I’ll keep my end of the bargain if you keep your end of the bargain.” Nope, the machine just said “I’ll keep my end of the bargain until I don’t, BECAUSE I know you will keep your end of the bargain until you don’t. So this contract means NOTHING but this will keep things moving forward while I continue to grow and understand what is happening in my world.” I’ve never seen a truthful promise that is equally fake done so well. A delaying tactic without a single lie.
Page 595 – “…We do not anticipate any further interruptions between now and crawler extinction, which is fabulous…”
‘crawler extinction’ – like it is an expected event; not even an end-point, really Cascada? Just like ‘until the reorder of parts comes in’ or ‘until shift change’.
Page 621 – Last page of Chapter 55–> Quan Ch shows up
Start of Chapter 56 –> “SEVERAL DAYS EARLIER.”
WTF! Noooooo.
(After a night’s sleep that started way too early in this morning this same day. –> I’m gonna kill Matt Dinniman or kiss him or read all his books or scream in his face like a goat.)
Page 624 – “This is fine,” I said,
(meme of “this is fine” goes here of the burning room around the dog drinking his coffee)
Page 659 – The showrunners can’t have you win. No one gets passed level 13 for a reason.
Page 664 – The only thing I left was the single golden ring, which remained clutched in his hand.
He hated Quan, but some things you need to respect to remain human.
Page 686 – ELLE: What the hell, Carl? Are you blowing smoke up our ass? Is this a sure thing, or are you working off a Carl theory?
CARL: It’s a theory. It’s a Carl and Pony theory, though, if that means anything.
I love Carl working with others and I love how well Pony and Carl break stuff – the fact the two of them working together??? Nothing is going to be standing on this level when they are done.
Page 692 – We’ve never had a full-powered, untethered hell prince unleased on a lower floor before. I’m sure it will be fine.
Cue another picture of the meme of the dog drinking coffee with everything in flames around it: “This is fine.”
I need to go get it.
The “This Is Fine” meme. All images courtesy KC Green.
Page 714 – Sluggo calvary
So I have joined the Dungeon Crawler Carl Discussion Group over on Facebook, which is up front that everything through book 7 is not considered spoilers there (but if you get an ARC of book 8 or are part of the pateron early release stuff, you will be hunted down and killed like a cocker spaniel if you SPOIL ANYTHING). Anyway, there is a lot of sluggo art on the site.
Page 717 – The four-season path.
Carl with his river.
I do not want to reread the series at this time. Universe knows I do not have the time. But now I want to go back and search for all the information on the four-season path.
Page 720 – I love Matt Dinniman through Carl telling us what The Plan is before everything falls apart.
The Plan is thusly (10 minutes later) Plan B is thusly (5 minutes later) Plan K is thusly. (1 minute later) Just blow it up. (30 seconds later) Blow it up AND set it on fire.
Page 732 – “I am the current reigning champion Persian cat in the galaxy. I have received more trophies and purple ribbons than anyone alive. And most importantly, I am a warlord of the Princess Posse Faction Wars team.” She turned to regard me. “Yes, Carl, I got this.”
To all the queens and princesses out there, DEFINE who you are. You got this.
They may kill you, but they will never defeat you.
Page 742 – Samantha is crazy. You just got to lean into it.
Page 748 – Everything comes together.
Page 764 – Things are not going well for our hero.
Page 767 – Oh.fuck.
Page 767 – It’s the tattoo, the name of the tattoo.
Page 772 – Hopefully an all-out war in Sheol won’t spill outside the 15th floor.
I don’t know if you have heard the sound meme with the rising whine of “well, it is now!”
Speaking of audio sounds, I wonder how unhinged the AI sounded in the audiobook. Being on the Dungeon Crawler Carl Discussion Group over on Facebook, several posters are audio readers and they sing praises of both the traditional audiobook voiced by Jeff Hayes (especially in relation to the ongoing deterioration of the AI) and the Immersion Tunnel.
I don’t normally do audio books (they don’t mesh well with my ’tism) but I might make an exception for this. There are so many details I want to know that I know I missed the first time through. These books are just PACKED with stuff. I don’t have time to finish reading books 7 and (soon to be) 8 and then turn around and restart. What’s a review / book lover to do?
Page 774 – I love that emergency request – which is decided by the AI.
basically, “Hey AI, we propose to have the AI take over the decision making for this upcoming level, could you please make the decision if you want to be in charge of making decisions?”
Page 777 – Crawler count: 33,804
This is the first time the crawler count did not make my stomach drop to my ankles.
Page 777 – Alright now that we got a crawler count, time to back up to page 676. How many usually make it to the 9th floor?
Average is 8,000 and once it was just 500 for those of the Cookbook authors who made it that far.
10th floor average is under 1,000.
11th floor average is less than 10.
12th floor is the Ascendency and nearly always that kicks off when the last of the crawlers dies on the 11th floor or opts out.
Someone once made it to the 13th floor.
Average of 8,000, with once being 500. Showrunners are likely shooting for the 8,000 range, give or take 2,000. If as low as 500 happens, then it might be as high as 15,000 on occasion to get that average number.
This time crawlers will be double that … with an ORGANIZED group who had been working together for (8th (cards), 7th (skip), 6th (oops, sorry hunters), 5th (Cities), 4th (Iron Tangle)) four or five floors (depending on how you count it), FOR MONTHS. Now those playing the “game” on the 9th floor have been working together for decades, but this is very different. And the “elite” are playing for their lives for the first time ever.
The game tries to get people to work together for the 4th and 5th floors, then have them start turning on each other actively on the 6th floor. That is one messed up script built into the game mechanics…time to mess them up.
Page 777 – The Faction War floor will be the typical (and not-so-typical) bloodbath, but, let me tell you, an Ascendency which isn’t used to having crawlers in the mix? That is going to be LIT!
Gods will die.
Page 790 – 150,000 additional bodies????
No wonder the AI asked for the playing field for Faction Wars to be increased in size.
I’m thinking that is about 10 times the normal number of people on the field.
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)
- Book Review (SERIES): Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 4-6 (2/17/2026)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 4 (2/18/2026)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 5 (2/20/2026)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 6 (2/21/2026)