The Gate of the Feral Gods (Matt Dinniman)

The Gate of the Feral Gods
The Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Book 4
Matt Dinniman
Ace
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: Reluctant dungeon crawler Carl, his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut, Donut's pet dinosaur Mongo, and their partner Katia have survived to reach the fifth level, and once again find a fresh challenge and even more devious traps awaiting them. The surviving human crawlers have been scattered into a series of bubble-like microhabitats, each with four castles that need to be conquered. Sounds pretty straightforward, but nothing in the dungeons is ever straightforward. As before, there are deeper layers of lore, ever-escalating boss monster threats, and situations specifically engineered by the game runners to maximize suffering and boost body counts... and that's not taking into account the increasingly destabilizing effects of intragalactic political clashes and an AI that's increasingly unpredictable. But, even as they face dirigible-piloting gnomes and shapeshifting changelings and undead gods, one thing remains the same: Carl is determined to defy the game masters and strike back any way he can, even at the cost of his own life.
This book contains the fourth installment of "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret," an ongoing bonus story set elsewhere in the dungeons.

REVIEW: For a series that could easily fall into repetition and "level grinding", Dinniman manages to keep things fresh and interesting, ratcheting up the stakes and the challenges and growing the characters in unexpected ways. Carl and company make some new allies (and enemies), but they're also learning enough to start resisting more effectively, finding ways to circumvent the increasingly intrusive observers (both show-runners and viewers). The party's reputation is a mixed bag when it comes to convincing other crawlers to aid them, and the bounties don't exactly help engender trust, but they still try their best to avoid antagonizing more people; they have enough active enemies, some of which have become terrifyingly overpowered (and terrifyingly free of any lingering morality about helping the aliens exterminate the species). The expanding list of named crawlers again sometimes threatens to overwhelm at times, but Dinniman has a way of jogging the reader's memory about who they are and where they fit in.
Within the game, the horrors of what's happening to the humans and the NPCs grows even more grotesque and unbearable, and Carl and Donut find their most useful outside contacts threatened directly - the political game of the greater galaxy is potentially every bit as twisted, sadistic, and cruel as anything within the dungeons. Worse, the AI's fetishization of Carl moves from a peculiar quirk to a potentially game-destabilizing obsession, further signs that the Syndicate's corner-cutting rush job going into this "season" is causing greater chaos and danger to everyone involved - but at this point too many people are too deeply invested to pull the plug, assuming the plug can even be pulled. And it's pulling great ratings, so why would they?
As before, there are some humorous moment, some crude (if funny) bits, and all manner of violent battles and unique monsters and intricate puzzles that have me in awe of Dinniman's ability to craft involving but ultimately understandable game elements (not to mention how he can plant tiny details that end up coming into play later down the line; the man must have a series bible the size of a small planet by now), but there's also a very human heart and tragedy underneath it all that keeps the whole concept from flying completely off the rails and beyond caring about. All of this ratchets up to a finale where Carl and Donut prove that they're ready to step up and stop simply letting the dungeon's horrors happen to them.... just when the epilogue promises a fresh monkey wrench about to be thrown into the works.
The fourth installment of the ongoing bonus story brings in yet another group of NPCs, further exploring the lives of the NPCs recruited to craft a death-trap level deep in the dungeons for any survivors who defy the odds to get that far down. Not all of them are buying the party line about a promised paradise beyond the end of the game, and more trouble is brewing even as the game up above is spiraling further out of the creators' control.
All in all, this series just keeps me riveted - enough that I found myself pre-ordering the eighth installment even before I'd finished reading the fourth. Since that book just arrived today, I may do something I rarely do: buckle down for a solid, back-to-back series binge read. If I manage to sneak a shorter title or two in between, I may, but I'm really getting invested at this point, and it's so very nice to have something that truly makes me excited anymore.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Matt Dinniman) - My Review
The True Meaning of Smekday (Adam Rex) - My Review
Space Opera (Catherynne M. Valente) - My Review

April Site Update

The month's books have been archived and cross-linked on the main Brightdreamer Books site.

Enjoy!

Skeleton Song (Seanan McGuire)

Skeleton Song
The Wayward Children series, Story 7.7
Seanan McGuire
Tor
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: In the world of Mariposa, days belong to the butterflies and bees and bright flowers, while the nights are the realm of the skeleton people, revived and maintained by the song of the world until dawn, when they rest again in their catacomb beds underground. The human boy Christopher came to Mariposa through a door from the hospital where he lay dying of bone cancer, but the Princess used her magic to save him. They fell in love. But she's a skeleton girl and he's a boy of living, hideous flesh, from another world no less... can they ever be together, or will the doors tear them apart again?
This short story is part of the Wayward Children series.

REVIEW: Like all children and teens at Eleanor West's boarding school for former world-travelers, Christopher's backstory has been teased and hinted at, as he speaks of his beloved Skeleton Girl and plays silent tunes on his bone flute that make bones dance. This short story delves into his time in Mariposa, and like all stories of the lost worlds beyond the doors, it's a tale of wonder and sorrow and deep, inevitable loss. Mariposa is a world of golden light and brilliant butterflies and endless song, where death is a celebration and life a bad memory quickly forgotten. Despite the prejudices of the skeletons and his status as an outsider, Christopher truly does love the world and the Princess, and she loves him. They wish to marry, but first they must speak to the King and Queen deep in the catacombs, where they will learn if their union is even possible; even if he were to die naturally, none of the skeleton people remember their living selves, so Christopher's reborn skeleton may be an entirely different person. Always, though, there's the threat of another door that might whisk him back to Earth.
It's interesting and beautiful and sad by turns, though it's ultimately just a little vignette, a glimpse at another world lost and soul torn by the seemingly fickle doors, and doesn't tell the reader anything they hadn't already been told (or could infer).

You Might Also Enjoy:
The Divide (Elizabeth Kay) - My Review
Under the Whispering Door (TJ Klune) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review

The Six Deaths of the Saint (Alix E. Harrow)

The Six Deaths of the Saint
The Into Shadow collection, Story 3
Alix E. Harrow
Amazon Original Stories
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: The servant girl was dying, sent out to the barn lest her sickly cries upset the rest of the household, when the Saint of War first came to her. Heeding Her call, the girl rises from her deathbed and finds herself whisked away by a Prince, who - heeding prophecy - trains her as his champion. The Saint whispers to her whenever her life is in peril, and by her blade the Prince becomes a King, her own name sung in praise and fear across the land as his loyal Devil upon the battlefield... until she learns the secret behind his power, and her own.

REVIEW: Part of a short story anthology by Amazon, this is a solid read, but the weakest tale by Harrow I've read thus far - which still makes it pretty good.
Never naming the girl or saint (or most of the characters), it places the reader both inside and outside the tale, switching between second and first person points of view in a way that gives the whole thing a nightmare edge. From the start, there's something ominous about the arrival of the Saint of War, a shadow over the blessing, but she is too convinced of the vision's purity, and too convinced of her own devotion to the Prince and his priestly companion, to doubt. Any sacrifice she makes, any life struck down, any blood shed is worthwhile if it serves the Prince, whom she thinks she loves... all but ignoring the faithful bowlegged kitchen boy who has followed her from the start, first as friend and then as squire. It's not until she starts noticing him that she truly begins to question her path - something that doesn't happen even when she discovers the true secret behind her blessing (which might more accurately be deemed a curse - I won't go into details for spoiler reasons). Other Harrow titles managed to have the women mature and grow mostly for their own sakes, not due to love (or lack of love) of a man. The ending is dark, inevitable, and cathartic.
It's not a bad story by any means, and it's short enough not to overwork its premise or overstay its welcome. I'm just used to Harrow delivering just a slight bit more.

You Might Also Enjoy:
King's Dragon (Kate Elliott) - My Review
The Once and Future Witches (Alix E. Harrow) - My Review
She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan) - My Review

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Matt Dinniman)

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
The Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Book 3
Matt Dinniman
Ace
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: Carl, Princess Donut, Mongo, and their new companion Katia barely survived the third floor of the apocalyptic dungeon whose outcome will determine the fate of humanity... and, in doing so, they made even more enemies than they already had. But their antics are earning them great ratings across the galaxy, and with it opportunities for lucrative sponsors - and the team is going to need every possible advantage they can get, because the fourth floor is a tangled mess... literally. The "Iron Tangle" is a vast network of railways, from old steam engines to modern monorails, running in endless loops. Among the labyrinth of landings is a puzzle to unravel before this floor, too, collapses and kills everyone who hasn't found a stairway down. Carl remains determined to save as many fellow crawlers as he can, but many people still don't trust him, others want to break up the dream team, and being on the top ten list has put a price on all their heads.
This book contains the third installment of "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret," an ongoing bonus story set elsewhere in the dungeons.

REVIEW: The third installment maintains the momentum of the previous books, maintaining the action, the humor, and the tension. Carl and Donut are an inseparable team, but they still have secrets from each other, and Katia is still an unknown quantity in many ways; knowing that she came to them under misleading pretenses, can she be trusted to side with them when the chips are down? Their mentor/manager Mordecai, meanwhile, still has secrets from his long and storied history, making him a vital resource... but he, too, has his own agenda, and when a mishap knocks him out of the game for a good stretch of the dungeon, Carl and company must learn to stop relying on him so much. Meanwhile, the politics behind the dungeon "game" itself grow more perilous, as Donut and Carl have managed to make some very powerful enemies. And within the game, of course, there's a whole new slate of "mobs" to battle - and battle they must, if they mean to survive.
Amid all the action and achievements, Carl and his companions never lose sight of the true grim desperation of their circumstances. This is not fun and games for them, or a chance to be the video game hero of their childhood dreams, but a nightmare they cannot wake from, awash in a rising sea of blood, and the only way to keep one's head above water is to cling all the harder to that core of humanity - the thing the dungeon masters are truly trying to destroy in each and every crawler. At its core, the story is a tragedy, extinction and unimaginable depravity as entertainment, and not a single person or monster the team encounters isn't scarred by that. Every time Carl thinks he's found a way to outwit the system, though, the AI and the showrunners tighten the chains, but he discovers that resistance is indeed possible, and he is not as alone as he sometimes feels.
There are times when the Iron Tangle gets a little, well, tangled, a wash of trains and stations and numbers that feel impossible to keep straight, but it's not necessary to map it all out in one's head to follow the story. The number of side characters is also growing, along with their attendant entanglements. But things sort themselves out if one sits back and lets the tale unfold. Once more, it ratchets up to a tense, and not entirely bloodless or clean, finale, setting up the next adventure/dungeon nicely. Everyone's growing across the board, creating a dynamic team.
As for the bonus story, it adds another character from the book and yet another wrinkle. The whole is foreshadowing developments later down the line, but manages not to be too precious or coy about it. The "game" has always been much bigger than the poor crawlers forced to endure (or, almost inevitably, not endure) its torments, and the bonus story highlights the greater scope and the other lives the game masters are destroying.
It goes without saying that I'll be reading on eagerly, though I'm trying to pace myself; my budget's taken a real beating this month, and I don't want to outread what I've stockpiled of the series before I can buy more.

You Might Also Enjoy:
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) - My Review
Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinniman) - My Review
Caverns of Socrates (Dennis L. McKiernan) - My Review