03-03-2026, 03:07 PM
The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
Kudos to to Mr. Dinniman for cranking these out. He should go down to Santa Fe and teach George R. R. Martin something about world building and book writing. These worlds are complex and intricate. On the Hunter's level, people outside the dungeon can buy into the game to hunt down the crawlers. Carl is having none of that. Plus everyone in the top 50 of the leaderboard gets invited to the Butcher's Masquerade at the Elf's castle, where most likely everyone will be slaughtered.
Carl continues to fight against the world outside the game as well while trying to save as many as his fellow crawlers as he can. He even manages to get himself a lawyer. At times it's plot overload as names and stratagems come at you fast and furious. A lot of times I find myself just letting it wash over me as I read for something I can hold to. And there are a lot of characters to keep track of and their motivations and why they are important to Carl and Donut.
I love some of the absurd things. The foot fetish AI. The sex doll head that wants to kill everyone's mother. Donut. And I find myself reading faster and faster as the books hurl towards the climax. Yes, I have the next book on the nightstand an the follow up is waiting for me at the library.
Kudos to to Mr. Dinniman for cranking these out. He should go down to Santa Fe and teach George R. R. Martin something about world building and book writing. These worlds are complex and intricate. On the Hunter's level, people outside the dungeon can buy into the game to hunt down the crawlers. Carl is having none of that. Plus everyone in the top 50 of the leaderboard gets invited to the Butcher's Masquerade at the Elf's castle, where most likely everyone will be slaughtered.
Carl continues to fight against the world outside the game as well while trying to save as many as his fellow crawlers as he can. He even manages to get himself a lawyer. At times it's plot overload as names and stratagems come at you fast and furious. A lot of times I find myself just letting it wash over me as I read for something I can hold to. And there are a lot of characters to keep track of and their motivations and why they are important to Carl and Donut.
I love some of the absurd things. The foot fetish AI. The sex doll head that wants to kill everyone's mother. Donut. And I find myself reading faster and faster as the books hurl towards the climax. Yes, I have the next book on the nightstand an the follow up is waiting for me at the library.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm

