The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl #4) by Matt Dinniman

Format: Audio (Audible)
Read: July 2026

I am reaching the awkward point in a series where I’m running out of things to say about it without repeating myself, so this should be brief! We are now on Level 6 of the dungeon, which has the crawlers split up into isolated bubble worlds, in groups of level-averaged players. This means that the now high-level Carl, Katia and Donut are stuck with lower-level players, some of whom it’s hard to believe they’d survived so far. I did like that this explored the drawbacks of different character builds, and making the wrong choices earlier in the game that can lead to difficulties gaining experience on different levels.

I definitely enjoyed this one more than the previous couple of books, although the plot was even more chaotic and impossible to follow. And the climax again uses the device of hiding plans and conversations from the reader, which I find quite annoying… I’m just having to grin and bear that because I don’t think it will change!

There is a lot that happens in this book, which is longer than the previous ones. The Maggie Mai plot is resolved; they find Chris; there is a confrontation with Quan Ch (the cheater); they get a new non-player party member (Samantha the sex doll head); and Carl commits violence in the real world. The epilogue also confirms that Bea, Brandon and Ferdinand/Gravy Boat survived the attack and didn’t enter the dungeon (this is so heavily hinted at for 4 books I don’t think it’s a spoiler!).

It’s becoming more and more clear how unhinged Carl is, and the level of destruction and violence he is willing to commit both in the game and in the real world. The climax of the plot sees him kill a lot of NPCs and take even bigger risks that endanger himself, Donut and other crawlers in the game. I’ve been slowly liking him less with each book, and with the direction his character is travelling in, I don’t know if that is going to change. We also, of course, get more cheap attempts at giving him depth through random flashbacks or memories of his father. I still find those moments jarring, and wish they weren’t so flat.

There is a very frustrating bit where Carl and Donut get pulled out of the game for 5 days, during which Katia does loads of cool shit, and because we are stuck with Carl, we miss it all! I love Katia; I wish we were in her POV. We did learn a little bit more about the outside forces influencing the game in this time, though, and that other players have also been causing trouble for the admins – including Lucia Mar, whom I am very intrigued by.

There isn’t as much Donut in this book, which is obviously a massive drawback. It is becoming clear that Carl is still underestimating her, and that she’s come a long way since the first level, so I’m hopeful the next books will see her be more active and, I hope, more equal within their party.

I’ve had some moans here, but this continues to be a highly entertaining series, and I’m onto the next one.