Amazon Cover
Comments I wrote during a buddy read of THIS INEVITABLE RUIN
Page 12 – And I thought Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, stored in his inventory, was a big, bad boom. These idiots went and made CARL!!! the bomb. (He was always “the bomb”, but now, for real, for real.)
Page 24 – Crawler count 32,429 … down from 8 billion people. The countdown toward extinction continues.
Page 106 – The All-Tree roots connecting to everything. Could be useful…what can Carl do with that?
Page 189 – One of the others on the Buddy Read: “Sooooo tedious. I’m not into war strategies.”
My response: ”I’m trusting Carl to blow something up really, really big by the end.”
Page 210 – “He was real. A real life snuffed away.”
Every time I see something like that, I see red. Like, what is the entire planet of Earth humans (and dolphins and other sentient creatures)????
(And this, boys and girls, is why you never should dehumanize anyone. You can consider them monsters, but they are human monsters. They are always real.)
Page 233 – “Welcome to the party, pals.”
Sooooo, that happened.
Page 318 – “WARLORD CARL: Unleash, Tina!”
Go-go tutu little-big girl. Sparkle the world!
Page 347 – Another person on the Buddy Read: “This may be my least favorite book so far.”
My response: “Yeah, I’m here for the characters more than the strategy…but this level has long been promised, so I just got to get through it.”
Page 400 – A question from the Buddy Read: “What is with the metaphor the AI just used?? Also wtf does he mean he had a family?”
My response: “I think the other AIs from previous crawls can communicate, and that would be his family. As for the metaphor – seems like two people are giving the AI advice, one is Agatha (she is sharing the Residual stuff with him – I don’t know if her ex- is a previous AI, or maybe a full primal?)…and the other? Hmm, who does Agatha hate – would it be the other part of the residual community or something else. Likely something else if the “old boyfriend” and the “other woman” are from the same “community”. I don’t know…yet. Well, we all have our limitations.”
Page 424 – “Warning: Scolopendra Stirs.”
Does it also cook and bake?
Page 495 – “I promised I wouldn’t poke at those outside the original primary zone without a good reason.”
Who did the AI promise? Was it Orren, who wanted to make sure all the previous agreements are still in place. Was it his family, the other AIs? Was it a promise he made himself, to not get hurt by the edges of his programming to keep him in check (everyone has their limitations)?
Page 589 – “DONUT: SAY THE WORD, AND DEATH WILL RAIN IN MY NAME.”
Do you remember this cuteness from Book 2 “Carl’s Doomsday Scenario” (see below)? I thought it was just a delightful joke and a bit overdone by the programmed bad guys. Little did I know Matt’s plan.
“…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 651 – Action item three: “During the Peeling phase, revert to the rules of the original Faction Wars. Warlords and all soldiers of the defeated team should automatically die if they lose during the peeling phase.”
Wow, isn’t that going to change things a bit. Does anyone else have emergency action items left to revert this? I don’t think so. Can’t remember, but I don’t think so.
Dang…just dang. And with the “die for real” in place on top of the “die in game”, all the outworlders who had been holding back, hoping to survive this by not being in the front lines, are going to go ballistic. And the changelings…could they just replace the people on the crawler team as they die? Not kill them, just replacement. Although, they do tend to be more proactive than that.
This is going to be a blood bath.
Page 695 – I hope whoever Samantha is, her real self is as unhinged as her present one.
Page 718 – From the Buddy Read: Somehow I thought Ferdinand was a chonky boy 😅 I just read he’s skinny? *sigh. remodeling mental image*
My Response: Whatever he is, he is an orange cat.
Page 719 – 120,000 children??? There are less than 32,429 crawlers left (how many started the book). That isn’t a glitch, that is a hostage situation.
Page 744 – Called it, The Oak Fell.
Page 753 – Well that battle scene is vividly gory even by Matt standards. Do I even want to know how he is going to outdo this in book 8?
Page 754- The Lorena B. (abbreviated for spoilers) achievement. LOL.
Page 771 – He still has the bucket of glitter, and I still want a glitter bomb made.
That particular Chekhov’ s gun had better get used at some point. I’m just saying!
P.S. And it will need to involve Tina’s magical wand.
Page 791 – “We all have our limitations.”
Page 810 – “Reward: Toasty Food” – Oh, that is a quest I am going to fulfill. I love me toasty food…starting with s’mores, then grilled cheese, and other sandwiches, savory toasted cheese, …the list goes on.
Page 821 – Crawler Count: 20,221
Wow, that is amazing for the end of 9th level.
Page 823 – He.let.the.ring.go.
HE LET THE RING GO!!!!!!!
I didn’t think he could/would do that. I thought the claw was in too deep.
Page 830 – Suspect everyone.
Oh no, is Jamal a changeling?
No, they can’t do that with a tattoo, can they? Hmm.
On the other hand, imagine some poor changeling assigned to recreate Jamal.
Page 840 – Go Katia, save the children!!!!
The stakes just got raised impossibly high…
Page 845 – FOR YORK (he needed poetry)
Death doesn’t count.
Unnumbered children in orbit
and on the ground.
Death doesn’t count.
Crawlers, all numbered, providing
entertainment televised.
Death doesn’t count.
AIs, gods, CEOs, and pets,
gathered in the black embrace.
Death doesn’t count.
The breath of atoms and
the planets holding life.
Page 859 – (Last page, last paragraph, “normal” section, hardback edition)
Oh. That’s not good. Not good at all.
That is outside the sphere of influence.
Page 870 – (Last page of Backstage at the Pineapple…)
Oh, that is going to get messy too.
(The mimics going a level down.)
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)
- BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 7 (7/25/2026)
