Dungeon Crawler Carl #4
By: Matt Dinniman
“You keep destroying governmental buildings, Carl,” Donut said. “People are going to start thinking you have a problem with authority.”
The Gate of the Feral Gods
*This post contains spoilers for The Gate of the Feral Gods and the Dungeon Crawler Carl Series
Overview:
New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.
The Gate of the Feral Gods
You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.
A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.
It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.
Here’s the thing. It’s never easy. Carl and his team can’t go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can’t-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?
Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.
Another book dedicated to only one floor. How is this book going to speed up the process?
I really thought that there was something there with the Gate of the Feral God. The device can open a portal directly to floor 9 however it does not let crawlers enter through it. However, we all know that the AI has gone extra off the rails this crawl. I was convinced it was going to let them through and Carl and Donut would find themselves completely alone having to deal with the 9th floor. This was not the case and instead (just like other titular devices) it will be saved to use again at a later time.
I still really liked what they ended up doing with the gate. Opening gates to help get as many crawlers through the 5th floor but having to deal with gods that they summoned because of it. This gave another way for Carl to stick it to the outside corporations and also learn a little more.
The only information that Carl can get from outside the dungeon so far has been through Odette, Zev, Mordecai or by doing something that angers any of the factions. He is being limited more and more with what information can be shared between Odette, Zev and Mordecai. By doing these crazy things he learns who is against the action and who supports it. Granted, he is also trying to survive and it is not his fault that he is more creative than Borant thought he would be.
The big question that still remains is “why is he allowed to continue in the dungeon”. There have been instances where he has been sought after for assassination but none of those attempts where an overwhelming attack on him. The closest came when Prince Maestro inhabited the deity. That took some genuine luck and perfect timing to survive.
It would be so easy for him to be taken out if they truly wanted to. The Borant company probably wants him to continue due to his popularity but he’s only on the 5th floor. There is still plenty of time for someone else to take the spotlight. The only thing that makes sense would be that others want him alive and if his is killed that would set a change of events in the universe that would not be good.
Let’s get into the floor itself.
The floor is described as bubble wrap. A sheet that contains individual bubbles. Each bubble has four quadrants and each quadrant must have a castle fall in order to clear the bubble. It is also discovered that thee crawlers have been assigned bubbles based off of their level. The average level of each bubble is about the same.
This is an interesting concept because you can’t work with crawlers you already know (unless they are in your party). You have to work with new people. This, I’m sure is to create new relationships and hopefully more ratings for the crawl.
Just as always Carl and Donut solve the problem by doing something completely out of the box. They are still able to work with crawlers outside their bubble and able to save many of them.
Carl is put in the bubble with one (actually two) other crawlers that he knows. Chris is being controlled by Maggie and has been for some time. I’m sure this was not a random bubble assignment as Maggie tries to reveal to Carl that she is only after him because she is being told to. Before she can tell him everything she is cut off by someone and Carl, with an assist from Donut, kills her.
Carl also has an altercation with Quan Ch who tries to stop Carl from fulfilling a quest that would save several crawlers. Quan Ch has been known to go after easy targets to level up and doesn’t care that he could be hurting others in the process.
Carl successfully stops him and confronts the crawler. Due to the celestial box Quan Ch obtained thanks to Carl he could cause serious damage but Carl still has a debuff on him making him invulnerable. Their confrontation ends with Carl ripping off one of Quan Ch’s arms and Quan Ch flying away. This is fair to assume that this hatred will continue on later in the story.
The big reveal in the Epilogue of the book is that bounty hunters and corporations are looking for loved ones of crawlers still in the dungeon. In Maggie’s bad guy monologue she mentions that the have her other daughter and are going to use her against Maggie if she doesn’t kill Carl.
It is mentions that there are 5000 walk on spots and that is why they are looking for loved ones. The main one they are after is Ferdinand, the cat that Donut was in love with. In searching for Ferdinand Beatrice is unexpectantly found in Seattle and both are captured.
I anticipated that Beatrice was alive. However, I thought that she was another crawler and they were keeping her away from Carl to save for later. I had no idea that loved ones of the crawlers would be found and brought into the dungeon somehow. When that happened I was pumped for the next book to find out how it it all going to come into play.
Overall,
Another great book. Sometimes I think that there is a little too much detail given to the story. It is very complicated and we are introduced to new worlds with new rules constantly but it is a lot to keep track of.
This series continues to surprise me. It is just such a crazy concept that it can go in any direction that it wants at any time.
I went out and bought the next three books in the series and couldn’t believe how big the books are moving forward. Almost 900 pages for one book? I might have to break up my discussion posts moving forward because I think it is only going to ramp up from here.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
