Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman starting on September 9, 2025.


Happy Reading!

Thank you!

1. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Jun 9) [link]
2. Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Jul 9) [link]
3. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Aug 9) [link]
4. The Gate of the Feral Gods (Sept 9)
5. The Butcher's Masquerade (Oct 9) [linkTBD]
6. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Nov 9)
7. This Inevitable Ruin (Dec 9)
8. Carl's Book of Boom (expected late 2025 2026) (TBD)

We have requests up to here. What are people thinking for continuing with the series? Should I put in requests at 1/month? Or do y'all want a break and pick up later?

Ann-Marie and I are also blitzing the series again in Nov. Because.

If you're doing the re-read again in November, we can club Book 5-8 onwards then itself. I'm happy to wait after book 4 and resume back in Nov... whatever works for who all requested this originally...

I'm happy with going regular schedule on these--I want to pause everything else but I need my regular does of Donut & Carl... as far as I'm concerned, the November blitz is separate...

But I'll go with whatever the group needs.

I would join with one per month starting with book 5 in Oct.

I would also like to stick with one per month.

I couldn't wait any longer to start this one.

part way through Chapter 4: (view spoiler)[ I really hope that Carl and Donut fight Lucia and her two dogs and win. She is really nuts.

I know that it is early in this book but I like the idea of the bubbles so far. I am curious to see how our heroes are able to move on from this floor. (hide spoiler)]

LOL I feel that. I'll probably be here this weekend.

And I'll put in those requests for the last few then, keeping with 1/month.

I love you guys' enthusiasm, but one re-read per year is my limit .. and sometimes I need even longer breaks after a few years/re-reads...

Through chapter 21 and really enjoying almost everything about the story. (view spoiler)[ I did not like the gerbil killing part!

What a twist with Chris and Maggie. I didn't see that coming and will be interested to see how it plays out. I also really enjoyed the "Doris doesn't splat" potion title. What really made me pause and want to comment was the Lika being a sex doll that Ghazi has. It seems so absurd and fits in so well. (hide spoiler)]

I read this (again) yesterday and I still love it so much, especially because we finally get (view spoiler)[SAMANTHA!!!!! In all of her crazy, insane, OTT glory, I love her so, so much and dare I say she is vying for my favorite character overall? She gets so much more awesome in future books so if she doesn't seem like a keeper of a character just you wait. But there is the rest of the book as well lol Funny, action-packed, Carl's "plans" and how they all seem to fail yet succeed. Killing the chick who tried to take Zev's place, maintaining access to the cookbook, "Mongo is appalled", keeping lower level players on track even if they had to trick them into taking potions to stay sober, just all of it is so much fun. And man that ending, I know what happens and I am still excited to read the next again lol (hide spoiler)]

I would be fine with continuing here and starting again in November at the same time which may mean I am a psycho but yeah, especially since these early books are so short I'd be okay with whatever.

^_^ Rest of the series requests made! Then it'll be time to start reading the Patreon chapters...

So this is from Bedlam Bride but not really a spoiler, just a prime example of why I love Samantha so much and what all you first time readers have to look forward to with her <3

https://www.tiktok.com/@amishgirl281/...

I keep thinking of the Prepotente rant in Book 7 (Book 7 spoilers) after which Samantha (view spoiler)[starts to say I WILL KILL YOUR--- and is stopped... I think by Katia? And told to "Never say that to him. Never." And Samantha has a growth moment, where she says she doesn't really mean it... I don't remember the details... (hide spoiler)]

Samantha has a few moments in book 7 <3

Neck hole.

Started yesterday, and all I want to do now is curl up with this on audio and eyeread...

Found this lovely little tidbit, circa chapter 13ish:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_E6P...
Not Jeff Hays, but pretty fun.

And oh gods, I think this is from book 6... Donut singing... but someone took the song and made an AI montage of a lot of the characters... it's really interesting seeing what they came up with... and eerie watching AI "live action":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwWhZ...

Through Chapter 10 (view spoiler)[I keep noticing clues... I don't remember when this is revealed but I'm thinking this book or next book... regarding Chris... (view spoiler)[Carl asked questions about the Changelings v. Dopplegangers and the Valtay, and Mordecai says: "...There are Intellect Hunters who do the same thing, but the bodies start to rot almost immediately, and they are always hopping from body to body. Then there’s something called an Infiltrator. They are much more insidious..." And soon after that, we learn that Chris is alive and in the bubble. Oh, and there's that personality change right after people got their classes, and how he killed Frank... (hide spoiler)]

I really like how we're getting to know the NPCs more in this book. Not just disposable... (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 15 (view spoiler)[Glad that Chris's situation is out in the open now. That was a pretty tense scene. Kind of mirrors the tenseness with Zev too--she can talk, but she's restricted... It's obvious she's self-censoring... and Donut can't talk about it with anyone.

I'm pretty sure the "Charlie or Ivy" was code for Zev. They're characters from Gossip Girl... I looked it up 'cuz I thought it might be... Apparently Ivy was hired to pretend to be Charlie to try to scam some bad people with inheritance... but it backfired.... Not sure what "Charlie or Ivy" means to Donut though. It probably gets explained but I don't remember.

Also getting really curious how the yam and author's writing set come into things... (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 18... damn but I love this chapter. So much. (view spoiler)[The end is perfect.

One.

Finally, finally, Carl hits back. For all those who came before him. And the homage to the former Cookbook contributor... *mwah* Feels! Feels, man!

I saw in an interview that the Cookbook was something his patreon folks voted on... kind of like the book's fan boxes. Dinniman is a self-identified writing pantser, and he had no idea that the Cookbook would become as central as it is... (hide spoiler)]

I'm going on a 2-week vacay next weekend, so finishing all my ongoing physical reads first.
This is on kindle - so will join y'all next weekend for the BR. Can't wait!

Through Chapter 29 now and some seriously epic moments... (view spoiler)[We meet Psamathe/Samantha, but other than threatening to kill everyone's mother, she hasn't had a chance to do much yet.

The battle with the Octo-shark was so epic. Using bloodlust on the babies, then getting Katia to use the chainsaw on the mother... whoo!

But so many people died too. And we're getting closer to those deaths. A few folks we've met so far have died... but I think this is the first time that Carl really sent people off to do something and they ended up dead... He's been in the Coast Guard, and has some military experience... on the discipline & tech side, non-com. But I don't think he'd ever seen action before the dungeon. And now he's essentially an officer... and having to make decisions that affect life and death for others than just him... and paying the price for that responsibility. (hide spoiler)]

Finished!! (view spoiler)[I so agree with all of Ann-Marie's comments. Excited to blitz through this in Nov.

And it's so easy to miss details on Audio. Like the fact that the Dr. P. Hu who sent Carl the Xistera extension is Crawler Porthus, author of the 2nd edition of the Cookbook.

The epilogue is a really interesting insight into the workings of the Crawl from the outside. Took me a minute to figure out that "Walk-On" would be people who survived but opted out of the dungeon, being captured by bounty-hunters and forced into some dungeon role--and then of course the book explains it nicely for us. And the "little girl's father" is probably referring to Lucia Mar... I wonder if the goat is another of Prepotente/Miriam's herd? And the "dead crawler's twin" is Ifechi's twin sister...

We don't get a ton of outside-dungeon moments, so it's easy to forget that Earth was seeded in preparation for this crawl probably several millennia ago. Who knows? Maybe the Valtay built the pyramids. I love that the Null are the origins of the "little grey men." Humans were "born with" implants that were scrambled for the "free" Natives--this must be the implants that allow the crawler interfaces in the first place. And there are so many aspects of culture bleed into the other worlds and species too, which is a fun thing for Dinniman to play with, and gives interesting connections, especially in the Cookbook commentaries.

And now Odette has Beatrice, and Ferdinand has been co-opted as a Walk-On. And Brad is dead. Yay! Excited. (hide spoiler)]

The hardcover has an additional short story, an entry in "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret." This entry features Cock-a-Doodle-Doo, a hamster. Summary: (view spoiler)[He was one of the feral hamsters from the squishing scene in Chapter 13... but he and his brother and sister were saved when the AI recanted his anger at Carl. They've been sent Backstage to work on the labyrinth for the 18th floor. Cock-a-Doodle-Doo has more intelligence than any of the NPCs we've seen so far, and is determined to saving his "siblings." His siblings are a different type of hamster--larger, much much dumber, and pretty much spending all of their time fighting or banging each other. As hamsters do. But Cock-a-Doodle-Doo is dedicated to them. Because the last thing he remembers is his Person, a little girl, telling him to watch after his siblings. It seems that this is a real memory from before the collapse--Cock-a-Doodle-Doo is kind of like Donut, an enlightened pet.

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo has made friends with the other NPCs backstage. He plays Chess with Nigel the brain tentacle dude. He attends Rory's religious meetings about the Pineapple Cabaret. He hangs out at Growler Gary's parties where he introduces the successive attempts at re-creating his dead Gnoll crush.

But today, he declines each of their invitations, saying he has plans with the other (classic "I'm sleeping over at xx's house" misdirection). Instead, he goes to spy on Grandma Llama's meeting. The meeting where they're planning to gain control of Growler Gary by having their changeling take on his girlfriend's image. Because if they can control Growler Gary, the only immortal NPC, they can take control of whatever is going on Backstage. Grandma Llama doesn't trust the Backstage manager or the AI she works for. She's planning a coup.

But Cock-a-Doodle-Doo is found out. The changeling spots him! He runs away into the dark. (hide spoiler)]

Up to chapter 3:
(view spoiler)[The set up of the bowl, the quadrants and the castles is really interesting and I like it more then the Iron Tangle. It makes me think of a children's outdoor game I played when I was a kid. Also, I get some Dune - vibes and expected to some sandworms popping up in the dessert. There was mentioning of Pterodactylus drawings on the wall. One would expect that there will be flying some around. The need to reach the goblin castle, so...Wouldn't that be nice? (hide spoiler)]

I really like the steampunk-vibe the story has.

Interesting you're getting steampunk vibes. I can see it now that you mention it, but with Carl & Donut starting out in (view spoiler)[a desert, I was getting more Cattlepunk vibes--wild west + punk genre. (hide spoiler)]

That's a new vibe to me, but I can see why you think that :)

Finished chapter 5:
(view spoiler)[Waw, there's definately something seriously wrong with Lucia Mar! Typical Carl trying to round every crawler up to work together. Maybe now all the floors will asking more teamwork to get through them. (hide spoiler)]

RachelG. wrote: "I couldn't wait any longer to start this one.

part way through Chapter 4: I really hope that Carl and Donut fight Lucia and her two dogs and win. She is really nuts.

I know that it is early in ..."

I hope that too, but that will be (view spoiler)[one hell of a fight. I do like the bubbles more than the trains. (hide spoiler)]

The bubbles (view spoiler)[are definitely a lot easier to keep track of...

Also, with everyone shunted into small groups, it gave a really good opportunity to develop characters other than our main trio.... (hide spoiler)]

Not book specific exactly, but a pretty great Q&A:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyA27...

Thank you for sharing!

Buddy sent me this:

LOL that's great!!

Gotta love when the newsfeed serendipitously lines up...

Quite a coincidence there!

Oh, BTW, DCC is my next book up for the book club class I teach--so I'll have a LitRPG-themed Kahoot and presentation next Weds. If folks're interested, I'll link them in the threads when I'm finished.

I am also opening the invitation to any regular FBR folks I buddy read with--anyone available 4:30pm Pacific on Weds 22nd and want to join the zoom and see me do an intro for DCC is welcome to join. Message me and I'll send you a zoom link. :)

Started! Until chapter 25 (view spoiler)[ I really liked how Katie's abilities are so versatile. Being Wynnes head and the chair was pretty impressive.

The AI having a tantrum was very funny. Although they better keep it happy

I did not expect the Chris/Maggie merge. I was sad about killing them and I am glad Donut stopped Carl. Although unless they find a cure it's going to end up badly.

The war Carl killed Loita was brilliant! I wasn't expecting that. Although it's weird that the inspiration of that was the panel being broken meaning the batteries get lose with enough moment. I haven't experienced nothing like that so ookay

Administrators are dropping like flies. We humans are bloodthirsty (hide spoiler)]