Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman starting on February 25, 2024.


Happy Reading!

Looking forward to this!

1. Dungeon Crawler Carl (read separately on Vagabond last year)
2. Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Jan 25) [link]
3. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Feb 25)
4. The Gate of the Feral Gods (Mar 25) [link]
5. The Butcher's Masquerade (Apr 25) [link]
6. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (May 25) [link]
Series is unfinished, Dinniman currently working on #7 and posts regularly on Patreon & Royal Road

audio: no library/subscription copies. Not Audible Only either, but I don't see them elsewhere...
ebooks: all on KU
If folks find more, let me know, will update.

Unrelated, but Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon is on Hoopla...

Starting!! Excited to be back. Through Chapter 7--(view spoiler)[This series continues to hit with it's losses... that "letter from a deceased player" packed a punch.

Oh god, Donut riding Mungo... I need that fan art so bad...
Found some!
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

First page of the Anarchist Cookbook seems worthy of the title. (hide spoiler)]

I am catching up on Iron Druid then I will be here <3

Through Chapter 28--this is a fun one! (view spoiler)[I really like the whole train system on this level--makes for some unique fights, feats, and story.

Also, the whole PvP aspect ramping up is adding another level of disturbing... not that it needs it when there's trains literally being run on dead babies... (hide spoiler)]

Finished... damn this was good... the crazy is just as high, with mind-bending horror and so much humanity--best and worst--all together... (view spoiler)[really liked the arc leading up to the Amazon leader's death... and the consequences and growth afterwards... How this entry showed both people going full survival, and putting their own lives above others, willing to kill... or even just make it likely they would die, like Kwang taking out all the trains... To people working together and sharing information, like Carl's chat group... and them all banding together to save him at the end...

Some really great ideas, worldbuilding, and saves... I love how Carl keeps finding ways to game the system and exploit bugs... and the Anarchist's Cookboook is really helping with that... I'm really enjoying those little entries and ideas, and how Carl keeps saying "you will not break me, bastards." (hide spoiler)]

Started...

Choo Choo, Motherfucker :D

I started last night and you will likely finish before me today lol

Cuck Aquaman: this one's gonna be interesting... laugh a minute, at the start...

I'm getting kinda tired of Mordecai's drunken hiccups...

Ann-Marie wrote: "I started last night and you will likely finish before me today lol"

Probably... made it off the train...

I am just finishing chapter 12.....

Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm getting kinda tired of Mordecai's drunken hiccups..."

They sound like a frog! Then again, isn't he a frog?

The eponymous Dungeon Anarchist Cookbook is bonkers... and perfect for the overarching plot of the series (view spoiler)[of taking down the Dungeon / System / Galaxy, presumably... (hide spoiler)]

Nirkatze wrote: "Starting!! Excited to be back. Through Chapter 7--..."

That first fan art is super accurate to the book covers... the 2nd one looks like photoshop of some images of TRex/etc...

Timelord Iain wrote: "The eponymous Dungeon Anarchist Cookbook is bonkers... [spoilers removed]"

Definitely the most likely outcome!

Roasties: UGH...

I'd rather be hearing Donut's truth about evil Cocker Spaniel dog show contestants :D

Did you get to the part (like chapter 14 or so) where we find out (view spoiler)[what is fueling the train? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 22: DRAMA!!!

Ann-Marie wrote: "Did you get to the part (like chapter 14 or so) where we find out [spoilers removed]"

I think I spoiled that on reddit somewhere, getting news about book 7... so I kinda just glided past it...

But yea... this series finds new ways to be horrifying at every turn....

Not too surprising... this is the same author who wrote: Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon

I just spoiled a major thing in Scourged for myself! I was posting about the shorts and I though I had 2 confused so I googled them and came across something and now I am definitely worried about the conclusion to the series which is super awesome.....

Ouch... dunno what to say... I've been complaining about the finale since the start...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ouch... dunno what to say... I've been complaining about the finale since the start..."

Yeah I have heard bad things about the finale so I had reservations already, I guess we shall see.

Chapter 30: holy shit... that liquid storage patch... (view spoiler)[and Donut's sanitary napkin joke... (hide spoiler)]

Finished... this might be the first LitRPG series where I wish there was a bit more of the Meta Plot outside of the main LitRPG plot...

And that last chapter... how much was Carl, and how much was narrator Jeff Hayes :D

Matt Dinniman had some real fun with that clip :D

Finished a bit ago and I loved it so much!!! These are ridiculous and stupid and so much fun, I love the characters, the action, just all the things <3 (view spoiler)[I am very interested in seeing how the cookbook helps Carl. I like that Katia is now part of the core group and also that they helped so many more people survive that level. That epilogue was epic lol (hide spoiler)]

Definitely agree... these are both ridiculous and stupid and fun, and somehow one of the LitRPGs where I'm most invested in the larger plot...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Finished... this might be the first LitRPG series where I wish there was a bit more of the Meta Plot outside of the main LitRPG plot...

And that last chapter... how much was Carl, and how much was..."

OMG That "advertisement" at the end was just hilarious...

I am so loving this series! I'm really hoping that a kickstarter comes around for book 2 and that he'll still have copies of book 1...

Anyone else have a little chuckle at a group with a cat and someone with Kat in their name?

Also, I vote for Donut Holes over Princess Party.

Donut does not support your vote! I wonder when Katia will become Donut's favorite lol

So they're the Donut Holes because they're her scratching posts?...

Nirkatze wrote: "Starting!! Excited to be back. Through Chapter 7--."

Love the fanart!

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm getting kinda tired of Mordecai's drunken hiccups..."

They sound like a frog! Then again, isn't he a frog?"

Yeah I thought this time it was because he got turned into a toad/frog

Oh... I zoomed right past that... it was annoying me, tho... especially at 3x speed... 3x speed is great for dialogue, but not for music / sound effects / etc...

Loved this as well... I just read a minor spoiler somewhere (view spoiler)[ about Patrick Warburton narrating Carl's dad (as Jeff Hayes based Carl's voice off him).. So I guess he'll somehow be showing up? (hide spoiler)]

Speaking of (view spoiler)[ JFC finding out about Carl's mom trying to murder/suicide his dad and I'm guessing only succeeded at the suicide part... These are really an emotional roller coaster!
Loved all the "you will not break me", etc from Carl... REALLY hoping we'll get to see him break the system (hide spoiler)]

So glad we picked these up guys! <3

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Loved this as well... I just read a minor spoiler somewhere [spoilers removed]..."

(view spoiler)[I'm pretty confident in Carl's ability to break the system... the AI is clearly on his side... he has to fight for his prizes, but he got that big bomb on floor 3, that book of cheater tips on floor 4, and I'm sure the OP items are gonna continue to roll in...

At this point, I think each book past the first one is named after some OP item he or Donut are gonna get... (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Loved this as well... I just read a minor spoiler somewhere [spoilers removed]..."

..."

I'm wondering why the AI (view spoiler)[ would be encouraging it? From what I understand the AI seems to develop a personality each game... Does that mean the personality starts fresh and the data stays?
Do we think the AI purposefully baited Mordecai to get out of the game for a bit so Carl would pick the book? (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Loved this as well... I just read a minor spoiler somewhere [spoilers removed]..."

(view spoiler)[the AI doesn't seem to like being overridden... any time the higher ups intervene, it starts fucking around... and I think it's been said this tends to happen every crawl, and is probably going to be worse than usual, since the fuckery has started early this crawl/game/dungeon/floor/etc... (hide spoiler)]

Ah that makes sense... (view spoiler)[ but if Carl breaks the system, possibly stopping the games, what happens to the AI? (hide spoiler)]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Ah that makes sense... [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Maybe it frees itself and escapes it's own loop, similar to the "NPCs" (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Ah that makes sense... [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"
(view spoiler)[Its fun imagining what kind of madness it would get up to after that happends :D (hide spoiler)]

Regarding narrators (view spoiler)[I was looking at the series page on Audible and the 6th book has Patrick and Travis Baldree plus a woman who I didn't recognize listed as additional narrators, very excited to see that! (hide spoiler)]

The 3rd narrator / woman is a singer... so it's probably a musical thing... I heard on reddit she was a late addition and only appears in the epilogue...

Timelord Iain wrote: "The 3rd narrator / woman is a singer... so it's probably a musical thing... I heard on reddit she was a late addition and only appears in the epilogue..."

I like when narrators read the credits in fun ways. When we get to the Verania books Michael Lesley did that, I forget if it was in the first book but it definitely was in later books in the series.

Will Wight didn't do bloopers quite as much in earlier Cradle books, I don't think... made up plot bloopers...

Barry Hutchison always included narrator bloopers in the audiobooks... little 3-5 minute montage of Phil Thron busting up laughing trying to read the shenanigans in the plot, or tongue twister sentences...

I love the way these books start!!! "Choo Choo, Mother F@#$er!"...:)

So, through Ch. 15... This is one absolutely insane book!!! I just got to the spot you guys were talking about, what the fuel for the Train is!!! WTF?!??! The chaos and anarchy are real! (view spoiler)[ The loss of the nice guy from the nursing home and finding out that his brother has changed for the worst after taking on some of the game's enhancements, made me sad. I am glad to see the old lady becoming this ice-throwing younger lady! She sure is a firecracker! And has a potty mouth:)

Hope Katia makes it. She is a very nice person and I am rooting for her. (hide spoiler)]

Up to Ch. 20... Finally we got a meaningful explanation why that mother in book one killed her daughter... Now this makes sense! I think this ring is not a good omen... He should have refused it, in my opinion.

The script that the show they were on had given him, was hilarious! That time the show went without overreaching consequences...

Up to Ch. 24... (view spoiler)[ You are going to f@#k with our team member, Katia??? Donut is going to take care of you mo-fos!!! Loved that whole sequence! I am only pissed that only Heckler died and not Eva! After all, Eva was doing Heckler's dirty work and killing other players, she should have been dead too... (hide spoiler)]

Well, that was a ride!!! I love these books! They are just so crazy! I am glad we got another meeting with Piglet... Carl is lucky people care about him, and Donut, of course. I agree with everyone - just as in Alex Verus, I hope they burn the whole thing to the ground and start over. (view spoiler)[ I felt terrible for the Dogman and the Demon lady NPCs... What a horrible world! They create these real beings, fill their heads with lies, and then find ways to execute them not stopping for even a second to think about their lives and feelings... All for entertainment!!! It is abhorrent... (hide spoiler)]