The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman – Review

Published: March 11, 2025

Publisher: Ace

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl #4

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 608 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.25 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here’s the thing. It’s never easy. Carl and his team can’t go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can’t-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

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Is this finally the Dungeon Crawler Carl book that gets over a 4 star rating? Yes, yes it is. I feel like this story has been building up from a mere progression style fantasy to something with some solid character growth and plot arcs that go beyond the video game themes. The Gate of the Feral Gods seems to be where Carl and Donut (and Matt Dinniman) really hit their stride.

Carl, Donut, and company have just dropped into the fifth floor of the dungeon and this time they find themselves separated from the rest of the crawlers they allied with outside their party and in a bubble. Albeit a bubble filled with four different sections with four different keeps they have to take before they can generate a stairwell to the sixth floor. They’re stuck with a small number of other crawlers with lower levels, lower skill levels, and much less of a reputation than the two have built for themselves. The kicker is, the crawlers are split into the four areas and they can’t cross over until their section is cleared. And all four must be cleared. This means Carl and Donut have to defeat a group of dirigible flying gnomes, while the others clear underwater sections, abandoned ruins, and … geez, I can’t quite remember the last one. A keep made of sand with an angry wizard inside?

Knowing there are at least three more books in the series (currently), I felt assured that the two would progress and survive but it was nonetheless a perilous and exciting journey to the end. I vastly preferred the scenery of this installment over that of the fourth floor, which was a giant subway station. Sorry, but trains really get boring after a while, even if they’re full of monsters trying to kill everyone. Even the NPCs were more interesting this time around and had a solid backstory going along with them – various humanoid camels and shapeshifters battling the dirigible gnomes while also undertaking their own mysterious tasks. 

Even though our wildly popular dungeon crawling duo were separated from most of their friends, I really didn’t miss them much because 1.) Carl and Donut were quite busy and 2.) they were able to stay in the loop via text chat, so even though they were in separate bubbles things felt coordinated in a way. Carl is also out for his vengeance against the groups running the dungeon and is making good use of the Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook. He’s got big plans, especially once he finds out what the titular Gate of the Feral Gods does. That certainly made for an explosive ending!

Overall, I think this may be the most solid all around installment of the series yet. The books are getting progressively longer, and the next one comes in at around 800 pages, so my feelings may swing onto the opposite end of the spectrum. Only time and one more floor of the dungeon can tell. I’m still having a great time with this series and it really keeps me guessing thanks to the absurdity of it all and the manic pacing. I do think this series is a fun way to try out the LitRPG subgenre and see if perhaps it’s for you!