Scott's Take: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

  

The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman is the third book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series and my least favorite of the series so far. I got tired of the basic concept of the book before the end.

 

In this book, Carl and friends are forced to fight underground in a series of tunnels, subways, etc. And that’s the book. They flight underground in various locations and conditions.

 

There is intrigue from human crawlers, and world building, and a ton of action. The human crawlers are finally working together. A lot of the supporting characters get to come back here. There is humor and it is a fun read, but the concept does not really need a five hundred plus page book. I just got tired of the idea of the book before the author wounded it up. He had a lot of clever ideas in this one, but it just did not work for me.

 

There is a map that is added at one point that is supposed to help explain things.  As maps go in a fantasy series, the one here is pretty weak and not very good. I have seen way better. I did like how some of the chapters had little illustrations on top.

 

There is a short story included that continues the things happening backstage. One hopes at some point that stuff will matter.

 

The next book sounds way better. The Gate of the Feral Gods where Carl and friends deal with a series of castles. One of which is a floating fortress guarded by gnomes. A castle made of sand. A robot guarded submarine.  A haunted crypt. Somehow, I guess all four count as castles.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4a9FiXs

 

 

My hardback reading copy came from the Forest Green Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026