Welcome to level three of the dungeon! When we last left Carl and Donut, they had just finished helping all the Meadow Lark residents down the staircase to level three. But once down the stairs, they were separated from them, and now they faced a whole new set of challenges. The third floor is wildly different from anything they’ve seen so far. Little towns are surrounded by abandoned ruins that they have to make their way through to find the staircases for the next level. Between feral circuses, corrupt politicians, and a prostitute-killin’ serial killer mystery, Carl and Donut really have their work cut out for them, and it’s only level three in Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman.
[Warning: My review of Carl’s Doomsday Scenario contains some spoilers!]
And now the game really begins
When Carl and Donut descend the stairs to the third level, they’re greeted by Mordecai, who congratulates them for completing the training levels (implication: it’s about to get a whole lot harder). Donut and Carl then pick their new races and classes. Donut, of course, picks “cat” for her race, not bothering to consider any other possibilities. Then she picks “Former Child Actor”. This is a sneaky trick that she and Carl picked up so they could bring Mordecai along and get more information out of him than he could give as a Guildmaster (they knew what they were doing). Carl takes more time and care to make his choices. Eventually, he decides on “Primal” as his race (that way, he doesn’t change his appearance, but he can eventually become much, much stronger than a human), and “Compensated Anarchist” is his class. Choices made, our two heroes head out to find a bigger town than the one they arrived in and level up along the way.
As they head to the next town, Carl and Donut first come across a crazy, undead circus. The two get caught up in a bitter civil war between the zombified circus animals and a former performer. After they deal with the circus, they try to stick to the plan of grinding out more experience, but they get sucked into another quest in the village that they find. Someone is killing prostitutes and raining their corpses down on the town at night. Mordecai wants them to stay out of quests and focus on leveling up and finding the stairs. But Carl can’t ignore what’s happening. Can they solve the mystery and still make it to the stairs in time? Carl and Donut can do anything! But can they do it without killing everyone, including themselves? Well, that remains to be seen…
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario continues the incredible storytelling
When I picked up Dungeon Crawler Carl, I wasn’t expecting much. But I was blown away by Matt Dinniman’s storytelling. His slightly edgy, hilarious writing keeps you glued to the page. But there’s actually a rather complex story going on under all the blood, guts, and innuendos. Basically, the universe sucks. Aliens that consider themselves waaaay more advanced than us simple humans go around the galaxies destroying planets and forcing the inhabitants into a fight to the death that they watch and bet on. They sound exactly like humans, only with more appendages. And their casual disregard for life (and not just human life) both disgusts and enrages Carl. He hates everything about these alien gamerunners, but he doesn’t see what he can do about it, so he just keeps telling himself, “They will not break me. I will break them.” Usually, with much more colorful language involved. Things seem hopeless to Carl, but
Dinniman is dropping little crumbs already that maybe Carl isn’t as alone in his feelings of disgust as he feels. Most of the aliens seem to take great pleasure in the struggles and deaths of the crawlers, but not all of them do. Some of the other crawlers remember their humanity enough to work together. And some of the NPCs, both the artificial and the former crawlers, seem to be over the game as well. And don’t forget the mysterious Agatha, there’s way more to that lady than we know yet. I think she might be the key that Carl will eventually use to destroy it all. If he can live that long…
This deeper story within the story of Carl and Donut’s survival is intriguing. It is a big part of what makes the Dungeon Crawler series so good. Sure, seeing what stupid thing Donut is going to do next keeps you around, and the chemistry between Donut and Carl is fantastic. Who knew that a cat would make such a perfect substitute for a little sister? But you can only take so much gore if there’s no reason for the slaughter. Sure, survival is a reason. But liberation is a better reason. Especially since we’re talking about liberation for the entire universe, not just a small group of people. Suddenly, Carl’s class choice makes a lot more sense (it’s compensated anarchist in case you forgot).
Carl and Donut’s new partner
Oh, I forgot, besides bringing Mordecai on as a more involved character, Carl and Donut pick up a reluctant party member. Katia is a member of Hekla’s party, Brynhild’s Daughters, who got separated from the larger group. Hekla asks Carl and Donut to take care of Katia and help level her up, as she’s rather behind. Carl isn’t sure about it, but Donut says yes right away. The three become a group, and Carl quickly sees why Katia needs their help. He’s not thrilled to have her added to the group, but he’s also not about to leave her behind. He knows she’ll eventually leave, and that makes him happier, so they learn to work together, growing closer as they work through the level. Katia might lack skills, but she is always willing to try, and she doesn’t run away. She’s clearly out of her depth in the dungeon, but aren’t they all?
Check out level three before it collapses!
I’m completely in love with this series. There is a lot of death, but there’s enough humor mixed in that you don’t get too weighed down by it (Carl is getting very weighed down by it, but that’s what’s going to eventually light the fire that burns down the dungeon, trust me). Carl is smart and empathetic. Donut is self-absorbed and impulsive. The two together drive each other nuts, but you can also feel their love, like a sweet brother-sister combo. If you haven’t started this series, get it now and catch up on all the excitement before the floor collapses on you!
Rating 9/10
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman is available now!
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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