Book Review: Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman, releasing Feb 10, 2026

4.5/5 stars. In this new story by the author of Dungeon Crawler Carl, we follow a group of young people on the planet New Sonora, descendants of a generation ship sent from Earth hundreds of years ago to colonize this new planet. The grandparents of our protagonists were the first humans to set foot on New Sonora, and now this generation is starting to settle into their lives as farmers. Recently, the colonists have fully reconnected with Earth via a jump gate that was sent with them but has just fully come online. To everyone’s surprise, Earth has begun Operation Bounce House, a gaming experience for anyone willing to pay to participate in the invasion of New Sonora to eliminate the ‘terrorists’ who have set up a base on the planet. The surprise is that no one on New Sonora was aware there were ‘terrorists.’ The reader soon discovers why they were not aware of that, as the gamers begin to attack the farmers and their families, having been told these people are indeed the ‘terrorists’ that must be removed. We follow a group of these young farmers, led by Oliver, his sister Lulu, and their friends, as they try to fight off this unexpected invasion.

Initially, this story has many elements that I have come to appreciate from M. R. Carey’s writing – the innocent, out-of-touch, characters who are thrown into an unexpected situation. As the story develops, I discovered more writing typical of Matt Dinniman, as he writes such intriguing character arcs that have emotional and psychological ties to everyday personal experiences. Finally, as the invasion continues, I saw connections to stories such as Ender’s Game or Starship Troopers where the characters are thrown into battle situations and must learn how to fight and to cope with the evils of war. Dinniman has written another powerful story about humans put into difficult circumstances, having to face the evils of an invading force, it just happens in this story that the enemy consists of other humans!

I have now read eight books by Matt Dinniman and I recommend anything that he has written. Are his stories literary masterpieces? No; however, Dinniman writes human emotional stories with fabulous characters in demanding situations. He places his protagonists in seemingly impossible situations, and the reader has no choice but to root for their success! I highly recommend picking up this new book on February 10!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #AcePublishers for this digital ARC. #OperationBounceHouse

 

Story 5

Prose 4

Characters 5

Entertainment 4