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MY ⭐️ RATING: 5/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Welcome to the Gun Show!
The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.
The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world’s subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.
But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.
MY REVIEW
Dinniman has created something spectacular and I can’t get enough of it. The mastery of what he’s done in evolving is the best part though. Books 1 and 2 were mostly reliant upon its hilarity and references. Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook takes the hilarity down a notch and for good reason. Firstly, it’s still hilarious, but it sacrifices some of it for a much deeper story with more character building. Don’t get me wrong, it is still plenty funny, but it dials it back to make sure the story and the characters get to show their growth. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook truly shows Dinniman’s development as a writer and storyteller.
I can’t exactly put my finger on what this particular book reminded me of because it’s becoming its own thing, no longer being reliant on its inspirations. It also got back to focusing on the main storyline rather than side quests, the recap is now starting to be a background thing, so the Zombieland kill of the week has fallen out, as well as how much they think about or talk about the skill tree. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook still heavily favors the likes of Hunger Games, Fifth Element, Westworld and Free Guy at its core though. The world is just so fun and exciting, but this level is even more of a whirlwind trying to navigate what is essentially a Subway labyrinth of mayhem and death known as The Iron Tangle. With the new level comes a lot of brand new monsters that are found deep within Dinniman’s wild imagination, and I truly mean wild!
“Reading the words of those who have come before me, I know them. You, reading this. I know you, too. You are me. That is who this book finds.”
Carl and Donut are some of the best protagonists that I’ve read to date and they only get better as the series goes on. There’s so much about them that make you cling to everything that they say and go through during the story. Mordecai’s predicament on this level adds some odd but goofy interactions. Zev is hard not to like, she just has such a bubbly personality that I would be excited when she came into a scene. Then there’s the other characters for book one that show back up and become an integral part of the story that add to the camaraderie of the group. But Katia was the perfect addition to the group, she changes the dynamic with a more laid back personality to Carl’s and Donut’s dramatic theatrics. The fact that Carl and Donut get to interact with many other crawlers makes this that much more fun, but also adds to the eventual sadness that is sure to come later in books when one or some of these crawlers, eventually meet their fates.
As I’ve stated before and I am pretty much just copying and pasting from my previous review, “I’m gonna keep this part short and sweet because I’ve already said what I needed to say in my review of the previous books and everyone else has also said this as well.” Jeff Hays is phenomenal, his narration takes what Dinniman makes great and puts it into the stratosphere of supremacy. It’s hard to compliment any further without sounding like a loon. Just read and listen to this, no excuses. Like before, become a Crawler yourself, before the show comes out!
