This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Carl and Princess Donut are ready to battle it out in the epic seventh book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition!

The ninth floor. Faction Wars. Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal . . . It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different.

For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own. And it’s not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars. Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level. If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two.

This is it. This is what they’ve been fighting toward. This is war.

Matt Dinniman is a writer and artist from Gig Harbor, Washington. He is the author of the NYTs best-selling Dungeon Crawler Carl series along with several other books about the end of the world. He doesn't really hate Cocker Spaniels, and he plays bass in a metal band.

Praise for the Dungeon Crawler Carl series

“Fresh. Creative. Hilarious. I'm obsessed…Princess Donut is my queen.” – Actor, producer and New York Times bestselling author Felicia Day

"Dungeon Crawler Carl is legit awesome." – #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson

“A dangerously addicting tale of chaos and mayhem. I’m thoroughly hooked!” – #1 New York Times bestselling author Callie Hart

“Welcome to your newest obsession…the highly addictive, hilarious series continues to draw in new fans.” – USA Today

"This series has no goddamn business burying so much depth and emotion and complexity under its bawdy, gory surface, but it does so anyway. What a wild-ass and unexpected delight." – New York Times bestselling author Scott Lynch

“[A] comically cosmic adventure series…often laugh-out-loud funny…Grind your way to dungeon mastery alongside Carl and Princess Donut.” – The Wall Street Journal

"This is the book for anyone who ever wondered what it would be like to be a role player in a game with the best game master ever...Once you start, you won't put it down." - Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series

“Dungeon Crawler Carl is the best start to a series I’ve read this year. I wish I’d tried it sooner.” – Will Wight, author of the Cradle series

"“When it came time to pick a race, Dinniman and Dungeon Crawler Carl decided he would continue to appear as a human, and that’s what this series has blossomed into, something profoundly and endearingly human.” – Slate

"If there's a better LitRPG than Dungeon Crawler Carl, I haven't read it." - Shirtaloon, author of He Who Fights Monsters

“Dungeon Crawler Carl is just one big smile all the way through. Put on your best pair of boxer shorts and sit back for a truly fun and enjoyable read.”—New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson

“To describe the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and the first book in particular, one must blend the darkest, grittiest science fiction with the humour of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It mixes fun, whimsical absurdity, and serious, dark themes with dire consequences…it is so spectacularly good that I cannot recommend it highly enough.” - Grimdark Magazine

“Dinniman’s Douglas-Adams-but-playing-D&D romp was so much fun that I immediately went out and got the next two books…genuinely joyful.” – LitHub.com