Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman starting on March 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) [link]
4. The Gate of the Feral Gods (Mar 25)
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.

Started... another normal floor ;)

2 chapters in, so far...

Return of the Foot Fetish AI Voice, lol

In preperation for this, I read through books 1-3. Before, I would have never given this series a chance, but I'm really glad I did. It surprised me just how good it was.

Quinn wrote: "In preperation for this, I read through books 1-3. Before, I would have never given this series a chance, but I'm really glad I did. It surprised me just how good it was."

Nice... we've been reading for a few months... some of us read #1 in September... others read in December, to catch up, and turn it into a monthly BR since January...

They're quite wild books, like a LitRPG version of The Running Man... lots of insane fun...

This one is a forced teamwork book with a bit of a randomized seed...

(view spoiler)[been some interesting new characters, but not many useful ones...

The Top Ten List is still full of alot of people that seem ominous, if/when Carl & Donut ever run into them outside of the new show circuit... like that girl with the dogs that played "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" with a shotgun blast... (hide spoiler)]

Donut's Product Sample Box: (view spoiler)[a Donut/Garfield action figure, lol... (hide spoiler)]

I need to sit down and evaluate what BRs I will prioritize and which I will get to when I can because the sheer number I am behind on is giving me agita!. This one is definitely a priority, maybe by the end of the week hopefully!

Ann-Marie wrote: "I need to sit down and evaluate what BRs I will prioritize and which I will get to when I can because the sheer number I am behind on is giving me agita!. This one is definitely a priority, maybe b..."

Time to make a spreadsheet ;)

Priority List is the way to go, either way... definitely understandable... that's why I dropped Stephanie Plum... and never got to Queens of Renthia, when I was thinking about adding it to the book pile...

Past the halfway point, closer to 60%: (view spoiler)[wow... this is a bloody season of the show, on all fronts... 15 admin deaths?... and Carl got away with killing his Bloom-faction PR/manager... I didn't like her, mostly because I preferred the original friendly one...

There's always something to cut the time limit in half, on each floor, it seems...

That description of the sand/sex doll dungeon/quest, really seemed to imply the Dungeon AI is in love with Carl?... (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I need to sit down and evaluate what BRs I will prioritize and which I will get to when I can because the sheer number I am behind on is giving me agita!. This one is definitely a..."

I am behind on my spreadsheet too, please don't stress me out more, Iain! lol

I think I am going to try to alternate an overdue BR and a current one until I catch up. I also need to check my comments to see if I missed posting in any threads which I am certain I have. My mom got released Friday and my dad got released today so while they will need more help than normal for a bit at least I do not have to travel much and I can visit with them at the same location.

I ended up dropping Stephanie Plum and a few others I was tentatively planning on joining.. Still behind, but I'm off for a week starting tomorrow so hopefully I can play catch up.. It's hit or miss on how much i read when I'm off though...
But don't feel bad about it Ann-Marie! Some buddy reads come around again too. I'm just enjoying the wild ride of an excess of BRs!

I'm glad your parents are released! Hope they're doing better!

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I'm glad your parents are released! Hope they're doing better!"

Ditto that! Family health takes a lot of heart and mind... glad to hear they are both at home now!

Probably be here by Friday--we'll see how things go...

@Iain--re: Queens of Renthia--I hope you give it a try! Soo seems to have dropped off for a while again, and she was originally supposed to read with me... I want to read the rest too, it was interesting...

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I'm glad your parents are released! Hope they're doing better!"

Ditto... sounds like it's been a rollercoaster, the past few months in and out of the hospital...

So many of these boss battles and events feel like a climax to the book, but I still have hours left...

Thanks all!

Holy shit, this is getting bonkers, lol... I can't tell if it's the System/AI fucking with everyone, or the higher ups...

Around 85%: (view spoiler)[So there's a quest to reunite a ginormous Cerberus to it's Feral God master... and simultaneously a quest to kill the puppy for a million gold and a bunch of crazy rewards, available to anyone...

Upping the ante on PVP here, basically, if anyone's a dog-hating asshole... (hide spoiler)]

90%+: (view spoiler)[tore off a whole arm, worshipping a Feral God (the best kind, that loves his puppy), and got alot of new god quests and rewards and stuff...

Then, the downer data... under 100k people left alive on Earth... at this rate, I imagine by floor 10-12 the few survivors left are going to have to start teaming up full-time to keep going... luckily most of Carl's short-term and long-term allies continue to survive... (hide spoiler)]

Epilogue: (view spoiler)[Carl's done being 100% discrete... things are gonna be wild on the 6th floor... not to mention what he just did to weaken the tourists...

First epilogue chunk: more proof of machinations outside the game... sounds connected to the civil war / conflict between the Bloom & the other group that Carl's first PR agent (family kidnapped/killed and agent re-educated and subsumed into the Bloom party in some way?)...

Second epilogue: never even thought about people that survived and chose to live outside the dungeon system on Earth... of course the aliens are breaking the rules, tho...

Sounds like they're seeking out Gravyboat (the cat Donut has a thing for that lived next door... I think they mated a few times?)... and the girl with the 2 dogs's father?... and probably a bunch of other people... that anecdote about kids was horrible... (hide spoiler)]

And finished: (view spoiler)[Beatrice has been collected by the TV show host Odette, too... didn't see that coming... poor Brad...

And Gravy Boat is also called Ferdinand... forgot that...

The little newsreel bit at the end... "don't be a little bitch, son"... lol... (hide spoiler)]

Iain here making me want to put aside the 3 books i am currently reading to go right to this one.....

Chapters 1-16

(view spoiler)[It's nonstop hype and tension. Matt keeps ramping up the action, plot, and stats in ways that keeps me on the edge. It's no longer "Oh shit will Carl, Donut, Mongo, and Katia survive this next encounter?" Now it's "Fuck me, what are the consequences of this gonna be?"

It's crazy to me that Matt Dinniman pumped these out so quickly. In any other world, these would be half-baked trash reads.

Some random things I liked and wish to see more of:
- I want to see Gwen more. From the two lines she got in the 3rd book, I was already thinking I wanted her to be a mainstay. But every line she gets talking to Carl over the chat, I just want to her to have more presence.
- Katia's really growing on me. Her personality is shining through now, now that she's more comfortable around the team, and I enjoy seeing her banter.
- The AI is starting to get actually scary now. It was funny before when it was just talking about Carl's feet, but now that it's cheating and sending never-ending hordes of gerbils to fight them, I'm scared to see what lengths it will go to get those foot pics.
- I like that each book feels noticeably different with each level having it's own theme and mechanics. I think so far this level's theme has been my favorite.
-I wanna strangle Maggie. She's a good villain but goddamn. (hide spoiler)]

Quinn wrote: "Chapters 1-16

It's nonstop hype and tension. Matt keeps ramping up the action, plot, and stats in ways that keeps me on the edge. It's no longer "Oh shit will Carl, Donut, Mongo, and Katia survive..."

There's alot of indie, web serial, etc authors out there churning out content at 10x the speed of traditionally published authors... that means there's alot of mediocre trash out there, but for every 9/99/999 trashy books/series out there, there's a jewel, and hopefully it's being hyped by fans...

Dungeon Crawler Carl is super fun...
Wandering Inn is a personal favorite, and is like 5x as long as Wheel of Time, and is only like 5-7 years old...
House Witch is cozy...
Beware of Chicken is slice of life mostly... animal farm with cultivation with kung-fu magic...
etc etc etc...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Quinn wrote: "Chapters 1-16

It's nonstop hype and tension. Matt keeps ramping up the action, plot, and stats in ways that keeps me on the edge. It's no longer "Oh shit will Carl, Donut, Mongo, and..."

I'll have to check up on some of these after Dungeon Crawler Carl. I looked up the first book of The Wandering Inn and my eyes popped out of their sockets seeing the page count, so obviously I have to read that one.

This just in, Chapters 17-18 happened.

(view spoiler)[I was straight up kicking my feet when everything was going down. I’m so proud of Carl, it brings a tear to my eye seeing him bomb the hell out of Lolita.

Reading the Dungeon Anarchist Cookbook quotes in between passages felt like reading the kind of quotes Sanderson inserts before chapters. It ramped up the emotion and the excitement at what was about to happen. I can’t wait for him to systematically dismantle and destroy everything in the universe. (hide spoiler)]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Iain here making me want to put aside the 3 books i am currently reading to go right to this one....."

LOL Right? Iain needs to join some of the BRs he's not in so he'll be late like the rest of this.

Moved this up to "next" on my roster... I need some Carl in my life...

I've definitely been trying to stay ahead of the game on BRs lately...

Wandering Inn is a commitment, but well worth it... the audiobooks are great... not sure if the rewrite of Volume 1 is out as an ebook yet, but it's definitely not out as an audiobook... only place I know for sure is the web serial has the new/rewritten chapters... it's supposed to smooth out Volume 1, which I/we always used to say required 300-400 pages to "get good/better"... the early chapters were slow/rough... web authors gotta start somewhere... but the quality of the story only improves over time... we're in Volume 6 now, and some people say it doesn't get truly epic/awesome until Volume 7... Volume 10 started this year... the Volumes also get longer and longer...

Book 1 is the entire Volume 1... books 2 is Volume 2... books 3-4 are Volume 3... 5-6 are Volume 4... 7-9 are Volume 5... 10-14 are gonna be Volume 6... the split volumes aren't much shorter than the first couple full volume books... the author just writes faster and faster each year... it only gets worse in Volume 7-9... to write everything so far would take 30-35 books, and that's the plan, at a rate of about 3 ebooks/audiobooks per year... feels like the audiobooks will never catch up, until long after the web serial finishes...

I am only two chapters in, so not much has happened, but the mimic shifters are kind of creepy...

Also, camel "hump" town with prostitution and camel "toe" bar, hahaha! I know it's ridiculous, but I find it hilarious despite myself:)))

Iain, the toe fetish AI is just... I don't have words! Managed to get a new toe ring for Carl, just so he would walk barefoot more often:))))

Quinn, I am very glad you are joining us:) Also, you should give The Wandering Inn a try, if you haven't yet...

Ann-Marie, glad things with your parents, as well as mine, are getting a bit more normalized... But you know we still have so much responsibilities when it comes to their care... May we both have an easy time with it here foreword...

Up to Ch. 25... (view spoiler)[ This is bonkers for real! Carl killing the Fish Lady was very well handled. I do wonder how and why so many administrators have gotten killed this time around though. Maybe the civil war is messing things up... The sides are definitely trying to influence the crawlers by manipulating their sponsorship boxes...

The Donut Robot is hilarious!

The kids, all be it they are NPC's, make all these scenes harder to read. And what sucks is that save them or not, on the final date for the level, the game collapses it and destroys everyone left anyway...:(

Donut's reaction to being in water is extreme, but very funny from the outside... I am sure her phobia is not fun for her though... (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 19-29

(view spoiler)[Remember how I said the tension comes from the potential consequences Carl's actions will have? *Gestures towards this section of the book.* That's what ALL this is. Consequences heaped upon consequences until he's forced to summon a God Dog thing that is causing the deaths of hundreds of crawlers. Holy shit.

I feel bad for Donut getting left behind in levels. It feels a little ominous, but I don't think Matt will do major deaths. Not yet, at least. It feels like it'll ramp up to a point where it feels natural, probably around Level 12 or so. I wonder if it'll go the route of Hunger Games, where after Carl finishes the dungeon, the series switches over to a universal revolution. Here's hoping! (hide spoiler)]

Next book sounds like Snowpiercer... (spoiler for once done, or close to done) (view spoiler)[the peon class reaching the upper class area and just fucking shit up... book series turned into movie with Chris Evans... train traveling a loop in a snowy apocalypse world...

Carl's set stuff up to put the tourists at a disadvantage... (hide spoiler)]

Just started Chapter 18--as crazy as things are, I am so happy to be reading in this world again... (view spoiler)[Dittoing Iain--the top 10 are looking very worrisome... and even hearing about folks they used to know, like Chris... the Dungeon is doing a good job of turning folks who used to be good people into scary SOBs...

Then Chris turning out to be actually possessed by another player--and the mother of the girl who died with the ring--I'm just glad that Donut didn't let Carl give him a mercy stroke... if they can just survive this level, Chris has a chance... Fingers crossed that even when it comes back to bite them (probably at a most dire moment) Carl won't just have to kill Chris anyway...

The scene with the detoxing the new stoner characters was an interesting introduction to the newbies... not sure what is worse--dead weight or active antagonists.

The AI getting prissy is kind of reminding me of how the #1 rule for teachers is to always stay on the good side of the Admin Assistants... they make everything run.

The new PR fish revealed to be a flaming specist--and that they tortured their old PR fish's family members... the sins of the gamerunners just keep mounting. How long will it be until Carl can take some actions against them? The note of that one former Anarchist, who brought a bomb onto a ship as a last hurrah... (hide spoiler)]

Just read @Quinn's comments through 18--I like all your bullet points! Was thinking similar things about the insert quotes--they really do bring on the feels.

Almost done... In the second to last chapter... (view spoiler)[ OK, the giant G-d puppy was adorable! I can totally picture a loving, goofy cocker spaniel puppy, but blown up to sky-scraper dimensions, just being adorable and not even noticing how it crushes houses, cars and people while doing a happy dance!

I can't believe Carl has to worship a random G-s now... This is going to have a ton of repercussions...

I also can't believe Katia is planning on leaving the team, although I understand her desire to save whatever is left of her old team. I hope she kills the bitch in the process! (hide spoiler)]

Suddenly having Old Man’s War vibes, since we just read that… (view spoiler)[the section where they Godzilla mow down the mini-people aliens… (hide spoiler)]

Epilogue... (view spoiler)[ So, this was very surprising. There are people left on the surface of the planet! How does that work? I am having a hard time understanding that...

The girlfriend, Beatrice, is alive! She doesn't seem very well balanced at the moment... And obviously Ferdinand is hanging out with her... I am guessing those "collectors" are looking for him to complicate things for Donut... But Lexus got both of them, I guess... So they will be in play from next book forward... (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 30-Epilogue

(view spoiler)[Oh my lord, so much happened. Bullet point time.

- I can't believe Katia is leaving the party! I'm sure we'll see her sometimes, but damn. I'm sad, but her character arc and decision process made complete sense.
- Carl going full open terrorist is insanely hype. A giant middle finger to Borant, and I can't wait to see more of that.
- I'm interested to see how Carl's new religion will impact things going forward. Emberus doesn't seem too bad right now, but he's still a God, and if we've learned anything, it's to kill your Gods.
- The new epilogue style is crazy. Seeing how events are going outside of the dungeon is really cool, especially with the knowledge that Bea and... Ferdinand, I guess... are alive, and might be important in the future. I'm glad that other guy was killed, though, he got on my last nerves immediately.
- Best book in the series so far, imo. I love the level theme, the schemes, and the hype moments. For every other book in the series, I gave them 4/5, but I think I'm giving this a solid 5/5. (hide spoiler)]

Quinn, I am so excited you are enjoying this series as much as the rest of us! I can't wait to see the insanity that will follow!

Finished last night! Love all of your bullet points--agreeing with Quinn that this is my favorite so far, and largely in part because (view spoiler)[we finally get to see Carl making moves to fight back! I was wondering about that at the beginning of Chapter 18 and by the end we got Carl saying it himself: "One."

I love all the insert quotes from the Cookbook, and how Carl is adding to it... but I really have to wonder how the Cookbook has managed to stay completely invisible to the gamemakers... I'm sure that was explained when it was received, but I can't remember specifics--and especially with the post-explosion interview where the slug-dude in the blank helmet said he knew how each assassination attempt occurred... except for Carl's--makes me wonder just how much they actually know... even the whole "Bathrooms are not recorded" thing doesn't necessarily mean that is true... it might just not be broadcast. But I suppose we need some hope, right?

I will be very sad to see Katia leave the party... but I am also hoping that if she does, we might actually get her POV chapters still. The next book adds two more narrators, after all. And maybe if Katia leaves... Gwen will join up? Agreeing with Quinn again--Gwen is really interesting and would love to see more of her... Also hoping that even if Katia goes off on her own quest versus Eva, that she'll come back once that's concluded... or at least, stay in touch. The next level allows guilds, after all... Though also, on the other hand, Katia has leveled up to like, Admiral level... her leaving makes me think of series like Honor Harrington, where favorite characters end up getting promoted... and then they can't be on the same ship anymore, they have to go off and make the world better with their own little crew. If I think of Katia in that way... well, okay.

The whole religion thing... well... we'll just have to see. THOUGH I AM SO SAD WE ONLY HAVE TWO MORE BOOKS OF AUDIO!! Apparently book 7 is in the make, but we're probably looking at close to a year... and I believe Dinnamon is currently writing book 8 on Patreon? At least the Audio is more caught up than Wandering Inn... but the series itself is looking slower... I'm not sure how fast he writes. And I won't complain... I don't complain about ASoIaF, I'm not going to complain about this. Just pine. With the great company of all my fellow Buddies. Who will throw other good books at me so I don't feel it. Maybe we should put Cinnamon Bun after Carl to deal with this.

The epilogue was nice confirmation... ever since that photo of B showed up in Donut's treasure box, we knew she was going to come back into things... but the books did a good job of making us think it would be as one of the "collected" NPCs after Maggie's revelation--that she actually survived--along with Ferdinand! And even asshole Brad--who we see truly is an asshole, and is not lamented... though we didn't actually see him die... we just heard the instructions to let him die... so who knows? Maybe even asshole Brad will get a chance to be a hero. He can just be dead though, I wouldn't mind. I am really looking forward to Donut being faced with this dilemma though... Carl has been very careful not to say anything against her memory of B... but faced with the real person? Will Donut be forced to choose between mummy and daddy? And her love? Who will probably still be a feral non-sapient cat? Well, okay, I'm sure they'll promote Ferdinand too... So many possibilities here!! Also noting that the whole bounty hunters searching for Ferdinand... and the mention of another target in the Bahamas that folks were searching for--I bet that "other target" was B--they just didn't have updated information that she'd landed in Seattle... so someone other than the gamemasters were looking to collect handles on both Donut and Carl... (hide spoiler)]

Nirkatze wrote: "Finished last night! Love all of your bullet points--agreeing with Quinn that this is my favorite so far, and largely in part because we finally get to see Carl making moves to fight back! I was wo..."

(view spoiler)[I think Carl's been a saint, the way Donut keeps confusing memories of Carl & Brad with anecdotes...

Ferdinant/Gravy Boat is gonna be hilarious, I'm sure...

Beatrice is probably gonna be a rose tinted glasses removed kind of deal... and unaware of events in the dungeon until confronted with reality of talking cat... probably on Odette's show, since she collected Beatrice...

I think/thought the South America team was looking for the dog girl's dad/family... (hide spoiler)]

I started a bit today, but didnt get very far.. gonna go do some birthday shenanigans for my 30th. Hopefully i can finish tomorrow! :D
Looking forward to it especially with yalls comments so far

Happy Birthday

March Birthdays Unite!!!

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I started a bit today, but didnt get very far.. gonna go do some birthday shenanigans for my 30th. Hopefully i can finish tomorrow! :D
Looking forward to it especially with yalls comments so far"

Happy Birthday!

I started this, through chapter 14 and of course I am loving this so much <3 (view spoiler)[They just had to handle Chris part 2 and I liked that Donut stepped in to save Carl from having to handle him/Maggie. My favorite part so far was Mongo biting the head off of Robot Donut, literally lol'd while driving (thankfully alone). This series has humor and is action-packed, 2 things love plus there is the nostalgia for my WoW days. (hide spoiler)]

Happy Birthday, Emily!!! Many more wonderful years to enjoy books and share in the joy!:)) And health!

Whoo! Happy Birthday Emily!! This book is kind of like a birthday present.

@Ann-Marie, re; Chapter 14--omg, the WoW nostalgia... I'm going to have to pick my account back up this summer, I think... (view spoiler)[And I loved how Donut saved Carl from taking that step... it shows that she really cares about him (I'm also thinking of how she threw away his kill ticket)--even though she keeps bringing up Beatrice and confusing Carl with Brad... (hide spoiler)]

@Iain--re: ending--(view spoiler)[Agree on Carl being a complete Saint! I can't even think of an adequate comparison, but something Parent of the Year-ish. Or maybe Step-Parent. Or person-dating-their-parent.

I like your theory on the rose-colored glasses... also curious to see how this will all fit with Brad (probably) being more-or-less killed in front of her and her being more-or-less catatonic for the past several months... (hide spoiler)]