The second book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series improved on the first in one important way: the setting was more varied and interesting, which helped keep me oriented as the plot developed. In this case the crawlers found themselves on the 3rd floor in an area called the Over City, an urban environment that looks like a surface city, complete with an imitation sky and day/night cycle.
Carl and Donut quickly find themselves drawn into a side quest involving a nightmare version of a traveling circus. This was just perfect reading right before Halloween. While I’m glad this first quest did not drag out for the whole book, I did think it was a bit more compelling than what came after. There’s just something perfectly horrific about mutant clowns and “mold lions,” and I wish that vibe had carried through for the duration of the floor.
That aside, this book was still a ton of fun. Dinniman excels at keeping the action moving, while not getting bogged down too much on the details of Carl and Donut grinding for experience. There’s plenty of fighting mobs, but that is interspersed with scenes of Carl considering strategy and asking for help, talking with Donut or other crawlers, consulting with Mordecai (their game guide) in safe rooms, and — my favorite — the pair appearing as guests on intergalactic talk shows (where Donut’s high charisma stat comes in very handy).
We also, very occasionally, get glimpses of Carl and Donut’s backstory, or brief moments when the reality of what they have been forced to do seems to hit home for Carl. Those little bits are enough to make me care about these characters, and that’s why I can’t seem to put these books down.