The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

4 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Carl, Donut, and Mongo, now saddled with the shy Katia, are trapped in a level that's a commuter's worst nightmare, with dozens of underground and train lines traveling between nearly indistinguishable stations. And naturally all filled with monsters.

Review
I've taken to reading at least one unrelated book between series entries, but this time a) I found my chosen intervening book very slow going, and b) I was eager to get back to Carl and his adventures; it was just a lot more fun to read.

At this point, I do think the central conceit is starting to show its age a bit. We all know how these things are broadly going to go, and Carl and crew have received so many special items that Dinniman has to go out of his way to invent reasons not to use them. The seams are beginning to show.

It's not helped by a level so complex that Dinniman starts the book with an author's note saying “you won't understand it, but don't worry”. I haven't cared too much about how the levels actually work in the past, but this one did seem a special level of ‘lacking a toehold'. Carl and crew get up to their usual shenanigans of killing monsters, etc., but the fun is starting to pall.

We do see the introduction of a new characters, some interesting player developments, and more development of the NPCs, which is welcome. I think I've got a pretty good grasp on where the series is headed, and it looks good and Dinniman has done a nice, reasonably subtle job of setup.

I do think the series is going to need to do something a little different in the coming books to ensure it doesn't fall into an ever more predictable rut, but so far, so good.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.