Book Review: A Parade of Horribles (Dungeon Crawler Carl 8) by Matt Dinniman, audiobook narrated by Jeff Hays.



4.5/5 stars. I read some books for their literary quality, while some books I read are all about the enjoyment and entertainment value that I get from the experience. Other books I read have emotional moments and fantastic characters that drive the narrative. Yet other book pleasures are tied to the story and the ambitious ideas that come from it.

 

DCC books are a combination of these last three aspects. None of these stories are going to be considered outstanding from a purely literary point of view; however, the entertainment value, the quality characters, and the emotional ties to them, along with the overarching storyline across all eight books drive my desire to continue this series. I cannot wait to see where the author takes us at the end of this (expected) ten book series. Dinniman is a master at combining deeply emotional and sad moments with bits of humor that brings together the absolute best aspects of humanity with the absolute worst aspects of humanity, hidden in the guise of aliens and an insane A.I.

 

This entry takes us through the tenth and eleventh floors of the dungeon and we learn a good bit about background of the Crawl, the origins of the game A.I., and possible histories of the Primal race and the gods. The competition in this story had its tense moments, but overall the game was a bit more subdued that many of the ones on previous floors. By the same token, there were more emotional moments, for many of the characters, than we have seen on previous levels. I very much look forward to continuing this series! Thanks to #NetGalley #MattDinniman #AceBooks for the ebook ARC. Highly recommended!

 

Finally, Jeff Hays is the perfect narrator for this series and once again gives an amazing narrative performance, voicing every character uniquely and with genuine authenticity. SoundBooth Theater has become an audiobook name that I look for, especially if Jeff is involved. I highly recommend the audiobook versions of this series!

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