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Dungeon Crawler Carl #7

This Inevitable Ruin

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The time has come! Book seven in the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series is here!

They call it Faction Wars.


The ninth floor.

Nine armies, each led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. Each team has one objective: to capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, and, of course, betrayal... It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

After all, none of these powerful aliens really die when they鈥檙e playing war.

Except this time. This time, winner takes all. Those who fall, stay in the ground.

As the AI continues its rapid decline, Carl and company take advantage of the chaos. For the first time ever, the crawlers are fighting back. They are now one of the nine teams. And this season, there鈥檚 a tenth army on the playing field. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. Only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.

If they all want to survive, they鈥檙e going to need a little help from a veteran or two.

This is it.
This is what they鈥檝e been fighting toward.
This is war.

This inevitable ruin.

724 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2024

5,607 people are currently reading
9,626 people want to read

About the author

Matt Dinniman

23books6,143followers
Matt Dinniman is the best-selling writer and artist from Gig Harbor, Washington. He is the published author of dozens of short stories and a gaggle of books. In addition, his art publications鈥攆rom greeting cards to stationery kits to calendars鈥攃an be found in boutique and stationery shops around the world. Also, he strongly feels like a pretentious twat when he writes about himself in third person.

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5 stars
12,416 (75%)
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672 (4%)
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18 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,442 reviews
Profile Image for Farda Hus.
95 reviews32 followers
November 24, 2024
5 stars

WHAT NOW?? SERIOUSLY, WHAT DO I DO WITH MY LIFE NOW? WHERE IS BOOK 8???
MATT, YOU BETTER HAUL YOUR ASS AND FINISH BOOK 8, BECAUSE LIKE BIGS SAID, 鈥淚T鈥橲 DARK AS A WOMBAT鈥橲 ASSHOLE OUT HERE鈥� WITHOUT READING THIS SERIES..


This is my second 5-star in the series, right alongside Book 6. I started Book 1 in August, thinking, Maybe I could read this series little by little, stretch it out over the years until it was finished. Yeah, right. Three months later, here I am, completely obsessed, with absolutely no self-control, and now stuck waiting for Book 8.

This one was packed to the brim with action and ridiculousness鈥攋ust like the rest of the series鈥攂ut something about it hit even harder. I loved every second of it.
Maybe I should check out the audiobooks in the meantime? At least then I can experience the madness all over again while I wait.
Profile Image for Martijn Vreugde.
6 reviews3 followers
Read
August 5, 2024
Please... this is not cool... why does the cover not have Princess Donut!!! No, seriously!
Profile Image for Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews.
349 reviews7,850 followers
March 11, 2025
The series just keeps getting zanier and tries to be bigger and wilder than each previous book. It's gotten to the point for me where it's just "too much".
Profile Image for carol. .
1,718 reviews9,512 followers
March 26, 2025
Ideally, I would have took a longer break between books, but I was on a kindle unlimited deadline. This isn't anything against Dinniman, in particular; it is just that I realized I have this other urban fantasy series that I started without KU, and ended up buying the entire series. And still have books to read in it. So what I'm saying is both financial thoughtfulness and temporal thoughtfulness. I figured I could always re-read, right?

This is the one that's based on a war-game type scenarios. Or, as Carl so elegantly summarizes:

The eighth floor. Supposed to be a bullshit filler floor so the pricks running all this can drag it out as much as possible and collect as much tug money as they can."

I would summarize it somewhat differently: the one where For those who would like a less colloquial summary:

"We were living in a simulation of a simulation. Reality mixed in with play acting. Real situations with real consequences colliding with make-believe, and the consequences of the make-believe portions were oftentimes more dangerous than reality. All the lines were blurred by this point."

I don't play games that revolve around movement of troops or larger-scale strategies, but I'm guessing it adheres about as close as the other floors, which is to say, loosely. I will note that it still seems to focus on acts of the individual and individual confrontations rather than full-scale troop movements. Dinniman continues to create some interesting character actions and development, particularly in group members. I continue to appreciate the fine line he walks with Carl's emotional complexity as they continue their fight against mercenaries and conscripts from other worlds.

"People like you, they want meaning to their suffering. They want to know that what鈥檚 happening to them is for some greater good."

Thankfully, humor continues to be mixed in, both overtly, particularly with Samantha

"providing what she called 鈥渕oral support鈥� to the soldiers. According to Tipid, that mostly meant sexually harassing them and stealing their alcohol."

as well as throw-away descriptions:

"He was a weather and 鈥渕asculinity鈥� god, and there was a whole class of fighter clerics who worshiped him. I鈥檇 seen more than one crawler who had him as a god. Apparently the only requirement to follow him was to grow a beard."

As always, I found myself skimming some bits that got excessively focused on details (troop movements, in this case, as well as the usual statistic improvement issue). If this series is to ever gone mainstream, some serious, thoughtful trimming would improve readability of what is generally quite propulsive. That said, Dinniman is a solid writer, so my suggestion is in regards to length and details, and not plot movement or word choices (although as an aside, I will note that Carl is a very prototypical culturally indoctrinated hetro male and often has corresponding unthoughtful observations). My most significant plotting issue is the continued development of the AI and the confusing way it is managing the world. I don't think Dinniman quite conveys the difference.

Overall: yes, enjoying the series. Being forced to take a break while Dinniman writes more is no bad thing. It's always fun to pull an old game out and give it a run.

Note that it does not tie up the series.
Profile Image for Maurice Africh.
Author听1 book78 followers
December 22, 2024
Ugh, so good. This was the first DCC where i didn't listen to the audiobook, but because I've listened to the audiobooks and the voices are so distinct, it was *as if* I'd listened to the audiobook.

Seriously, if you haven't read the Dungeon Crawler Carl books yet, what are you waiting for? They're incredible! So funny, so emotionally charged, and so jam-packed with badassery, the pages practically read themselves.

5 stars!
Profile Image for Paula El.
114 reviews2 followers
January 31, 2025
This is the single best book series of all time and nobody can convince me otherwise.

WHEN IS BOOK 8 OUT
Profile Image for Alex the Edgelord.
80 reviews3 followers
March 25, 2025
This will be my first entry into a project of reviewing every DCC book. This is my most popular review on 欧宝娱乐! So I feel kinda bad about deleting it and doing a new one after re-reading the book. Oh well my thoughts haven't changed but I think I can explain them better:

I love Dungeon Crawler Carl. Both Butcher's Masquerade and Bedlam Bride are some of the best books of this decade.

Why do I/we like Dungeon Crawler Carl? I think it's a combination of the following factors:

1. Excellent Character work and people we care about.
2. Creative systems and dynamic environments where characters can express themselves against impossible odds.
3. Dramatic depth mixed with laugh-your-heart-out comedy.

This Inevitable Ruin showcases points 1 and 3 EXCELLENTLY; but it misses the mark on point 2. Everybody is OP now, the 9th floor is chaotic and violent, but does not feel like a system in a way that Iron Tangle or Cuba did. The warlord mechanics are convoluted and poorly explained, and many conflicts are resolved via "the nuclear option" : one character does something completely OP that has been teased in advance mostly, and then we move on.

The tension moments are still dramatic, there's even more to lose than in previous books, but this layer is more about military operations and assassination than about the dungeoneering that made me fall in love with the series. It is very similar in truth to the second book of the series: Doomsday Scenario.

Now, the beginning quarter (and the God-tier recap). And the ending (last 15%) were as good if not better than what we saw in Bedlam Bride, but outside of that this book was the weakest DCC book yet which is still well above current fantasy standards.

My ranking of the series, if you're into that, currently is 5>6 >>4>3 >>1>7 >2

Now get out there and KILL KILL KILL!
Profile Image for baohua.
69 reviews51 followers
April 7, 2025
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鈽� 5/5

鈥淎nd we all know what happens when Carl gets a girlfriend. I love him very much, but he鈥檚 quite na茂ve. She could literally have dicks raining on her, and he wouldn鈥檛 notice. No offense, Carl.鈥�


鉁� (鉂佱礂蛨爽岽椡�) 嗉� Note : This review will be short and quick as usual. As always, I beg you to read this series for yourself.

This Inevitable Ruin is book seven in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series and is currently the latest installment published at the date of this review, and that just breaks my heart. I absolutely adore these characters and the development in their stories and lives that knowing I am now like the normal reader, having to wait years for new books to release to continue this journey is so soul-crushing. I need MORE.

: 虠虁鉃� My Review Rants

Seriously though, what an incredible wrap to one of the most anticipated floors in the dungeon. We have had to say goodbye to so many beloved characters in previous books and this one did not hold its punches in that regard either. I have a hole in my heart that could compete with Donut's, well, donut hole, for how gaping it is. I also want to mention, (major spoiler don't open if you haven't read the series)

鈥淗appy wife, happy life takes on a whole new meaning when your other half is an indescribable cosmic horror.鈥�

鈥淏e careful who you鈥檙e nice to. Because if you are nice to the wrong person, they鈥檒l either take advantage of you, or worse, they might never leave.鈥�

鈥淲hen Big Things happen on such a large scale, it鈥檚 easy to forget sometimes that these Big Things are also happening to the little things in the world.鈥�

鈥淵es, Carl,鈥� the potion bottle said, his voice deep and demonic. 鈥淒rink me. Drink me deep. Put me inside of you.鈥�

鈥淲e hadn鈥檛 used the chain skill because, well, I鈥檇 decided to blow myself up instead.鈥�

鈥淚t was still dark and cloudy, and I could barely see anything, but a giant, quivering ball of rolling flesh with a god-sized dick schlopping out of it was pretty hard to miss.鈥�

鈥淩aul lowered her and let her slide to the ground. The crab sneered. 鈥淒addy Carl is magnanimous today. Now you shall kiss his famed, alabaster feet and beg for forgiveness.鈥�


: 虠虁鉃� Final Thoughts

I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH!!!
That's it, that's my review. Thanks.

: 虠虁鉃� Series Reviews

Check out my reviews for the other books in this series:
Dungeon Crawler Carl : Book 1
Carl's Doomsday Scenario : Book 2
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook : Book 3
The Gate of the Feral Gods : Book 4
The Butcher's Masquerade : Book 5
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride : Book 6
This Inevitable Ruin : Book 7
Profile Image for Benghis Kahn.
306 reviews183 followers
February 18, 2025
Audio reread: still awesome, and audio is definitely my preferred way to experience DCC through Jeff Hays' unbelievable performance. Book 7 is different in feel from the previous books, and that is ok. It goes bigger, and that is also ok. Not only ok, but welcome by me 100%. There are some stupendous large-scale action sequences that had me on the edge of my seat, and there are plenty of quieter emotional moments that deliver the typical character impact of the last bunch of books. There's so much heart in this story amidst the zaniness, and the combination is unlike anything I've experienced. I need book 8 yesterday.

Original first read review:

This book is absolutely bonkers. The craziest shit you can imagine (actually, I definitely can't imagine the same stuff Dinniman can) just is continually happening here and it never lets up. There was so much building up to this particular book with the faction wars floor finally arriving, and it delivered.

I do not understand how Dinniman balanced everything going on here so that it never felt clunky, between all the core cast, the ever-expanding group of named side characters, all the political factions inside the dungeon, lots of new lore reveals, plus all the stuff goin down outside the dungeon. I loved the new POV interludes from the various cookbook authors, and even with those additions and all the extra plot craziness, somehow the core cast never got lost, with the tremendous emotional anchor as always to hold everything together in the primary first-person POV of Carl.

I was always on the edge of my seat and so tense, which makes DCC's trademark zaniness and humor so welcome to balance out all the anxiety (I am and forever will be a member of the Princess Posse). Can't wait to reread this one soon with the audiobook, and man will it be painful to have to wait to continue this crazy tale.
Profile Image for Marcus.
89 reviews23 followers
November 19, 2024
It might be my least liked book in the series (wow I know..), I definitely have an unpopular opinion (same with book 6).

One of the series greatest strengths is that each book does its own thing. Yea we continue to level up, kill monsters, listen to the A.I. thirst after Carl and all that fun stuff, but the plot is always something new every floor. While that means it never gets stale or as repetitive as it could have been, it makes everyone have wildly different rankings.

The main reasons why I didn't like this one so much:

- Interviews and game shows were completely gone. There's a reason for that of course. I still missed them though.
- Faction Wars was hyped up for a long time. And while it had a huge amount of utter carnage and bloodshed,
- I personally didn't love the map that set up this Faction Wars. This was the only storyline for this floor, and as such all the crawlers had the exact same objective. So while all the other books could focus just on what Carl, Donut and anyone currently working with them were doing, this book had to spend a lot of time explaining what everyone else did in order for all the plans to work. Carl ended up being a narrator/observer for what felt like a third of the book.
- I kept waiting for a twist or shit to go sideways but in the end I think the win came way too easily, with barely any sacrifice.
Profile Image for Carrot :3 (on a hiatus).
328 reviews125 followers
December 29, 2024
Did not love this one as much as the previous books but it was still good. I miss the initial books a lot. I miss the AI, the new monsters and the talk shows. It鈥檚 understandable considering the development of the plot. Can鈥檛 believe I鈥檓 saying this but the action went on for a little too long in the middle of the book. I鈥檓 still super excited for the sequel.
Profile Image for Seweryn.
99 reviews4 followers
March 24, 2025
Ja po finale tomu 6: Ta seria nie mo偶e by膰 ju偶 bardziej pojebana.
Matt Dinniman w po艂owie tomu 7: Potrzymaj mi piwo.

Serio, ostatnie... 30-40 rozdzia艂贸w to czyste szale艅stwo. O ile poprzedni tom mia艂 najbardziej powalone rozstrzygni臋cie akcji, jakiego do艣wiadczy艂em w ksi膮偶kach kiedykolwiek, to tutaj sam nat艂ok tego co si臋 dzieje jest niesamowity. Twist za twistem i ka偶dy nast臋pny podkr臋ca wszystko w absurdalny spos贸b. Wyobra藕cie sobie, 偶e macie ju偶 do艣膰, le偶ycie na ziemi i prosicie autora, 偶eby zwolni艂, a on stoi nad wami, kopie was po 偶ebrach i krzyczy "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"

Ja jestem w stanie uwierzy膰, 偶e niekt贸re z tych rzeczy mog膮 si臋 urodzi膰 w g艂owie normalnego cz艂owieka, ale w kt贸rym艣 momencie normalny cz艂owiek zda艂by sobie spraw臋, 偶e, wydanie tego w ksi膮偶ce oznacza, 偶e zobacz膮 to inni ludzie i wcisn膮艂by hamulec. Na szcz臋艣cie Matt Dinniman nie jest normalny i nie ma tego hamulca. Niestety oznacza to te偶, 偶e DCC permanentnie uszkodzi艂o mi m贸zg i nie wiem, czy po tym b臋d臋 w stanie cieszy膰 si臋 zwyk艂ymi ksi膮偶kami.
Profile Image for Melcat.
349 reviews28 followers
December 23, 2024
The first book this series was one of my absolute favorite discoveries this year. It was fun, creative, and so brilliantly written that I couldn鈥檛 wait to dive into the rest of them.

But now, as I鈥檝e reached this point in the series I just feel burned out. The stakes have kept getting bigger and bigger, and while I understand that it鈥檚 part of the appeal, it鈥檚 starting to feel overwhelming. Every chapter seems to aim for crazier, more chaotic, and it鈥檚 just leaving me exhausted. Bigger doesn鈥檛 always mean better, and I鈥檓 struggling to stay invested. It鈥檚 hard to stay connected to the heart of the story when there鈥檚 so much going on all the time.

I feel sad about this because I really do love Carl and Donut. I鈥檝e grown so attached to them, and it鈥檚 frustrating to feel like I might not be able to finish the series because of how overwhelming it鈥檚 become. I want to enjoy it, but right now, it鈥檚 just too much for me.
Profile Image for H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov.
2,051 reviews805 followers
February 26, 2025
This Inevitable Ruin (not really defined until nearly the end of this book) is perhaps trying to combine the board games Risk and Diplomacy with Game of Thrones.

Dinniman shows why it takes so long for him to write one of these books: How does he think up this stuff???

"If the sultana managed to have 198 daughters before she had 99 sons, it wasn鈥檛 clear what would happen, though I gathered she basically became the leader and all her male siblings would be put to the blade. It had only happened once in their history, and the sultana who did it was deemed the Sepsis Whore, who鈥檇 supposedly poisoned almost all of her sons. The nagas were now more 鈥渃ivilized,鈥� and the family worked more like that of a traditional monarchy."

If you don鈥檛 know what a 鈥渃ookbook鈥� represents in this series go back to the start because the authors of this ongoing Galactic dungeon crawl are now getting to participate on this floor.
Carl and Princess Donut are hard-pressed to keep the Princess Posse (and its many thousands of members) from annihilation. The above quote is representative of the complex species-relationships that are critical in the showdown coming. Friendships are frayed and even Carl must undergo treatment before one or more things in his body take over his decision-making.

Yet, the following is something that you don鈥檛 often find in this genre: "The shrapnel pinged against my shields like fireflies. I thought of my grandparent鈥檚 house in Texas. They had fireflies there, and we didn鈥檛 have any in Washington. Why would I think of that now?"
Amazingly fast-paced while almost infinitely nuanced. If you thought that Book 6 was over-complicated and digressional, Book 7 is far more so.

[How does Dinniman keep track of all these aspects??? Someone who was willing to put together a compendium of the gods, species and spells in this series would have me in line for a copy.]
4.1
Profile Image for Ashley.
3,293 reviews2,279 followers
Currently reading
October 11, 2024
November 11th! (Audio tk early 2025 . . . which is what I'm waiting for.)
Profile Image for Sensei_cor.
295 reviews105 followers
December 5, 2024
Que gozada de libros, as铆 de simple.

Y digo esto aun teniendo lagunas por leerlo en ingl茅s y perderme algunos detalles, a lo que se suma que los primeros los le铆 con una traducci贸n chusca y eso me gener贸 m谩s lagunas. Pues a煤n con todo esto dicho, UNA PASADA.

Lo he puesto varias veces y lo pongo una vez m谩s: Si el ingl茅s no es un problema para ti, prueba estos libros que te lo vas a pasar de lujo.
Profile Image for Dustin .
175 reviews
December 3, 2024
This story was... Ok. Its what it is or what it felt like was a filler book that plays it safe. We have been building to the faction wars for years and I was left wanting. I know in the minority with my ratings but I am not giving up on this series...not be a long shot.
Profile Image for Jon Von.
540 reviews76 followers
February 17, 2025
3.5 The first DCC to get below 4 stars from me. In an review for an earlier book I said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 better to be overly complicated than dumb鈥�, and it surely could not be said that Inevitable Ruin is low-effort. But it鈥檚 the result of high-pressures, too much fan interaction, and serialized web publishing. The pressure for output is too high, there are too many plates to spin. To be fair, the final third of this 28 hours audiobook(!), delivers most of what I wanted with huge battles and some nice character developement. But those first 20 hours, what the hell is happening?

Get out your notebook and open up the Dungeon Crawler wiki because this is one of those books that 40+ characters, dozens of subplots, a couple hundred little items and weapons; and it just throws it all at you with no explanation. A less confident author would reassert who characters are, would contextualize an alien race, would describe any of those two dozen characters physically. But you鈥檙e just not doing your homework!

The end result is a Byzantine labyrinth of names and subplots. Who are these characters? What are the political affiliations of the alien races? I have the pause this book for the tenth time to consult the wiki. So much of this book is a word salad. It shines when it comes together with a clear conflict with established characters but so much of it is too much, too fast, without clear explanation. And because it was serialized, it can鈥檛 get the editing it needs. Tons of subplots, but where are the loot boxes? Where the interviews? Where are the goofy monster fights?

It鈥檚 too much pressure to build a labyrinth overnight. I鈥檓 a ride-or-die Donut Hole, but we鈥檝e got to scale this back. Looking forward to when this book is laid out in intricate detail on the wiki, because I listened to this entire thing and am pretty unclear on鈥� a lot!
Profile Image for Jordan Thomas.
200 reviews8 followers
April 4, 2025
Reread 2025 - 5/5 Stars

This book is amazing. Sure, there's some sections that drag of mindless combat and it has a slow start, but it seems a lot of reviewers found it disappointing somehow. It's very different from the other books in that we get much more of other crawlers and a huge increase to the scope of events, but this is faction wars. it's supposed to be massive. It does get completely bonkers by the end, and even if Donut and Carl take a bit of a backseat, they still drive the narrative forward throughout. I like it even better the second time.

As a side note, I do think it benefits from having a bit of a break between reading the main series and this, since it might feel just a bit too bombastic if you are picking up after book 6 and some of the stuff with the Gods may feel a bit repetitive since we've seen them cause havoc for the endings of a few books now.


---------------

5/5 Stars

Well, the book is insane. The author is insane. This series should be terrible. It has no right being as good as it is. It has no right being one of the most epic, most heartfelt series I've ever read.

Without any spoilers I'll just say that this book contains Faction Wars, which has been built up since book 1 as the big level. And yep, this is big. It is unquestionably bigger and crazier than anything in the series before.听 This is a good thing in many ways but might also disappoint some people. There's far fewer jokes here compared to the earlier books, though it is still very funny. Some parts that I love about the series don't really happen all that often. Things like the wacky achievements pop up sparingly and there's only 1 or 2 lootbox opening scenes, which are some of my favorite parts of the series. But I get it, things are changing up and there's so much action and insanity in this already huge book that there probably just wasn't space for it and I don't think I would change it. The loot boxes and prizes here are crazy. The power leveling is on another level, forgive the pun.

There were things I expected and wanted to happen, but they happened in ways that were different and better than I expected. My only real criticism of the book is that the mindless action does go a bit long for my tastes. But considering another author might have made a book that was nothing but action, it is compartmentalized extremely well and has many unexpected twists and turns that help keep it fresh. I guess I would also add that we get a lot of things being hidden from us as the reader for dramatic tension which always bothers me just a bit when I'm reading something in the first person. It's not nearly as bad as, say, Red Rising, but there are a number of scenes where I was just yelling at the book to tell me what something was or why it mattered...in a nice way. And it's a lot more forgivable here because we know that there is a secret plan in place, we just don't know what it is.

So where would I rank it in the series? Right now I would put it up with Butchers Masquerade in the top tier. I'll give it a listen when the audiobook comes out and see if it goes up or down, but I'm really excited to hear characters like Jamal the Shark and Rend.

Go read this series everybody. I think it's currently my number 2 series of all time, and might jump up to #1 depending on how this new Stormlight book goes.

I was kidding about the author earlier btw, he seems extremely nice and I'll be meeting him for a signing in December and I couldn't be more excited.
Profile Image for Nerdy Pingwin.
221 reviews
December 8, 2024
This book was much different than the rest of the series. I found it hard to get into the story because of all the war and battalion talk. There was a lot of switching between view points that also made it hard to follow.

There were some LOL moments as usual and I'm excited to see what happens next still. But definitely was a darker and slower story than the rest of the series.
Profile Image for Starch.
211 reviews35 followers
February 21, 2025
"Goddammit Donut, what did we say about pissing off gods?!"

It's alright, but I expected more. Though the ending is great, as it usually is in this series. There's even a Robot Uzi Jesus.
Profile Image for Ileana.
27 reviews
November 6, 2024
This is such an amazing, incredible, well-written book. Matt Dinniman is truly one of the greatest authors of our time. The way that he expertly weaves together foreshadowing, plot lines, multiple conspiracies, world building, and more is absolutely astounding. The way that he builds these realistic, visceral characters is so impressive. Seeing how these characters have changed so much over the course of the series鈥攐ver the course of just this book鈥攊s such a heartrending journey. And of course, with the emotion, with the grief, with the overwhelming stress, comes the perfectly balanced joke to make you laugh through the tears & remember this is a love story. This is a story about hope. This is a story to strengthen & inspire all the readers at home.

I鈥檓 always surprised at how Dinniman manages to write a better DCC book every single time, and then I reread the first book again & am surprised that it鈥檚 just as good as the latest one. I鈥檝e already read this series twice this year, and I鈥檓 ready to reread them again now that The Inevitable Ruin has contextualized so much from the previous books.
1 review
November 9, 2024
I don鈥檛 usually write reviews but to celebrate this book and the whole series, I figured I had to. I started Book 1 about a month ago and haven鈥檛 been able to put any of the books down. Each entry has elevated the game, each bringing new excitements, creativity, and sheer joy. And This Inevitable Ruin blew everything out of the water. This is Avengers Endgame level of epic I didn鈥檛 know I could experience in a book. And the good thing is, I know Matt will not pull a Marvel and just keep taking it to the next level in the next entry.

One of the best books I鈥檝e read, with countless audible gasps throughout on my part. My non-gamer girlfriend is even convinced to start the audiobooks with me because I have been raving about the series like nothing before.

Congratulations to Matt! And every interested reader, you know what to do. Buy, Buy, Buy!
Profile Image for Adam.
470 reviews207 followers
November 20, 2024
A fulfilling, funny, and poignant entry to the series. This one has been built up since the first book, and I鈥檓 happy to say it delivered in spades.

Dinniman has a knack for writing creative action scenes and ridiculous humor on one page, and heartbreaking and meaningful dialogue on the next. It鈥檚 a fantastic balancing act without a dip in pace.

Quite a lot to discuss but I鈥檒l save that for Reddit spoiler posts.

If you鈥檝e read the first six, you鈥檙e certainly going to read this one. And if you haven鈥檛 started the series yet, there鈥檚 a reason why its popularity continues to explode. LitRPG fan or no, it鈥檚 a great story and you should give it a shot.
46 reviews4 followers
December 10, 2024
I'm going to be harsh on purpose with this one, because I think the bar was set really high, and this was the first time one of these didn't live up to it. A colleague introduced me to the phrase that summarizes the problem here. Deus ex machina. This wasn't LitRPG. It was inconsistent sci-fi meets fantasy, at best. It's closer to 4 stars than 3, but I gave every other DCC either a 4 or a 5 so I want to make the distinction clear.
Profile Image for Alex Jackson.
126 reviews66 followers
March 21, 2025
The DCC series just moves from strength to strength. Matt Dinniman is sowing the story together so well, and to think he was building all of this from book 1 is crazy.

We see a slight departure from the centre of the universe being Carl and Donut, with a much greater importance given to what have been 鈥渟upporting鈥� characters.

This is important, as with the heaviness and darkness of the Crawl and Outer worlds now being more central to wider plots, the step away from the more jovial Carl and Donut relationship gives a more realistic view of how this is affecting all Crawlers.

To reiterate, this is a far darker entry in the series. Things are going to get worse, and I have a very strong feeling that in the next few books we鈥檙e going to be in for a lot of sorrow and upset.

But it鈥檚 just so fucking good.

Jeff Hays narration is superb, every single time.

Finishing these books always leaves me feeling empty, not because they鈥檙e bad or underwhelming, but because I want more.

Superb.

4.25/5.0
Profile Image for Bradley.
21 reviews13 followers
January 5, 2025
Weakest of the series so far.

The mad and frenetic escapades of the previous books felt gone. The claustrophobic and personal battles are no more. With the increased scope and cast the book struggles to keep up with itself, trying to give too many characters the lime light while also keeping focussed on a core cast, yet Carl become fairly unlikable for no real reason and Donut is seemingly relegated to a side character in many scenes, bar one or two. I am all for switching it up, but this one missed the mark for me.

It's an epic beginning and some brilliant scenes sprinkled in, but it's lost some of that magic of the earlier books in trying to be bigger and broader than the others.
Profile Image for L.L. MacRae.
Author听12 books479 followers
March 31, 2025
Another epic addition to this incredible series, and it was absolutely worth the wait for the audiobook. The epilogues and ending credits alone are fantastic, and I couldn鈥檛 imagine devouring this series any other way.

This is absolutely an epic fantasy-science fiction mash up, it鈥檚 just dressed in LitRPG clothes. I adore the Hunger Games/Battle Royale-esque core (a sadistic gameshow where players have to kill, kill, kill, all to the entertainment of others), as well as the political and cultural events that created the Crawl in the first place, and how they鈥檙e slowly becoming unravelled. It鈥檚 dystopian and fun and adventurous, and more emotionally complex and deep than it has any right to be.

It鈥檚 really outgrown its concept and roots and has become something new - hey, kinda like the AI, right?

That being said, we鈥檙e seven books in and there is an enormous cast of characters. While the narrator is phenomenal at giving them each distinct voices which helps differentiate their personalities, at this point they are kind of all blurring together for me. Some stand out more than others, and some are from previous floors and alliances that now have bigger parts (yay for when that happens with side characters), but I kind of need a dramatis personae and/or in-depth recap at this point xD Book seven is also significantly longer, due to the extended character cast and sub-plots

However, this is a rollercoaster of a series, with twists and turns seemingly coming out of nowhere. We have meddling gods, meddling factions, political parties moving for their own gain, side characters who absolutely move for their own gain and motivations, and some big character growth and development moments.

I have no idea where it鈥檚 going next, let alone when/where/how it will end. But I鈥檓 buckled in tightly for the ride and will be here until it finishes :D
Profile Image for azarakhsh.
31 reviews20 followers
January 8, 2025
禺賵亘 賲賳 鄯 讴鬲丕亘 丕夭蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 乇賵 禺賵賳丿賲 賵 乇爻蹖丿賲 亘賴 丕賳鬲馗丕乇 亘乇丕蹖 噩賱丿 亘毓丿蹖.
鬲噩乇亘賴 丕賵賱賲 丕夭 跇丕賳乇 litRPG 亘賵丿. 囟乇亘丕賴賳诏 鬲賳丿 賵 賵乇賱丿亘蹖賱丿蹖賳诏 亘丕 賲夭賴 賵 爻乇乇丕爻鬲 賵 乇丕丨鬲 亘賵丿賳 禺賵丕賳卮卮 鬲噩乇亘賴 乇賵 賱匕鬲 亘禺卮 賲蹖 讴賳賴鈥�.
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禺蹖賱蹖 丕夭 丿賵爻鬲丕賳 丕蹖賳 丕孬乇 乇賵 氐賵鬲蹖 鬲噩乇亘賴 讴乇丿賳 賵 丕賳诏丕乇 讴賴 丕噩乇丕蹖 氐賵鬲蹖卮 賴賲 丿乇禺卮丕賳賴.

丿乇 賳賴丕蹖鬲 丕诏乇 D&D 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕乇蹖丿 蹖丕 丕賳蹖賲賴 Solo Leveling 乇賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲蹖丿 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 賱匕鬲 賲蹖 亘乇蹖丿 賵 亘乇毓讴爻 丕诏乇 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 乇賵 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲蹖丿貙 爻乇趩 丕賵賳 丿賵 讴賱賲賴 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖卮賴.
9 reviews
November 13, 2024
Wow 馃槼

I cried on page 113, the only time a book has ever made me cry happy tears.

I had high expectations but this exceeded them in every possible way.
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