varingblaarThe Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
Narrated by Jeff Hays
Spoiler warning: If you haven't listened to The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, I suggest you do so before going any further. If this spoils it for you, it's not my fault.You have been warned.
Book three in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
Starting a new DCC book feels like an episode of a sitcom, waiting for our favourite actor to make their appearance so we can cheer for them. There's Carl! Yay Donut! Mongo! Katia! Mordecai is a toad!
Besides the opening fight scene, because there has to be an opening fight scene, we spend a bit of time setting up the private spaceto help with training. It feels we're overleveling the characters a lot, but the dungeon is getting difficult and it seems players are expected to bend rules and find loopholes to survive.
During chapter 4 I wasn't fond of how much information was being shared with Hekla and her group. Katia keeps hedging her bets, not comitting to anything long term with our group, but not outright wanting to go back to Hekla It feels like we're setting up for a betrayal...
Turns out I was right to be suspicious. The inevitable betrayal by Hekla was expected but the method was surprising, using Katia to get Carl upset so he would lash out. Not sure what the endgame was going to be there. As usual Donut acted on instinct and made everything worse. The next chapter was short but powerful. Katia's stood up for herself for the first time, a major character development. Also her pummeling Hekla was the most surprising moment of the entire series so far.
Most of the latter book focused on systems and character development, it's LitRPG I get it, but for the latter half of the book it was a lot. Major sections of explanations, complex routing of mobs through different stations, Carl reading entire sections of the Anarchist's Cookbook which are basically 3rd hand explanations of other systems... It's a lot. Some of it was obviously setting up leads for future plots, others I'm not sure. For instance the PvP coupons could've been a much bigger plot element in future books. For a little while it created doubt and tension between characters, only to have it be explained away. Maybe it's still be foreshadowing?
The big final fight with Grull and the station mimic wasn't satisfying. I know these books are all about breaking the system and finding loopholes, but the potion Mordecai gave Carl feels like a Deus ex Machina solution. The rest of the fight feels more like how it should go. Elle brings reinforcements, Katia plays decoy, Carl uses the summoning rules of Grull against him, and then chucking half of a mantaur into the abyss through a portal.
Overall not my favourite in the series, mostly because we focused a bit too much on dry explanations that only seem useful within this floor and won't be relevant again. It's nice to understand the lore a bit, around the factions fighting and using the floor design to send a message, and that technological developments around these events (and how Krakarens are involved) is causing political issues around these events.
Also "Babababoon" is fun to say.
