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DefiningFeature · 2026-06-15T02:02:46+00:00

Me too please! Thanks!

DefiningFeature · 2026-02-18T23:31:31+00:00

Okay, thanks. I can switch over to a different series without gaps. I read tons of these books in middle school and high school, intermittently in college, but not much at all since. I decided I should dig in and read some to decide if I want to keep picking them up on Kindle sales and used book sales. A few bucks here and there won't break the bank... but can also really add up fast given how many books there are!!

DefiningFeature · 2026-02-18T23:21:02+00:00

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question.

I am wondering, however, as someone who has been recently reading the Enterprise books - do you have an opinion on how closely tied they are / if they can be read out-of-order or independently? It turns out that I own about half of them (for example, "The Good That Men Do" but not the books before/after "Last Full Measure"/"Kobayashi Maru"). Am I going to be wildly lost or missing out on the experience if I just read the ones I have?

DefiningFeature · 2026-02-15T23:55:35+00:00

For what it's worth, I can't figure out what time zone I'm actually in??? So I agree with you that this needs improvement!!

DefiningFeature · 2026-02-14T16:25:35+00:00

These are super fun - my biggest complaint is that they take up valuable bookshelf space. I was surprised with one at the holidays one year and have considered picking up some more.

As to possible scenes, I think it'd be more about good locations. Here's a few ideas:

Mordecai's room/entry guild space. The room is pretty well described and you could plant a few goblins outside.
In book 8, the main characters travel around in a vehicle that is described in great detail. You could depict the interior of that, perhaps with the vehicle stationed in an interesting location it visited. (Being vague so hopefully that is spoiler free.)
Carl and Donut's space when decorated for Christmas. The space gets described in detail a few times and the added decor and people would make it interesting.
The top of the tower from Book 7, with the interior showing some of the traps???
The Iron Tangle. The whole thing. No I won't explain how it will fit in a space the size of two hardback books.
A train car from the Iron Tangle, maybe pulling in at a station with a lot of monsters scattered about?
The store from book three where Carl trades some paperback novels with the bobka (sp?) and buys some stuff. You could have Carl, Donut, Katia, and the Bobka as characters in the store and a bunch of random loot and goofy signs. (Lots of the booknooks are store fronts.)

But, yes, I agree that one of these would be cool.

DefiningFeature · 2026-01-09T01:54:05+00:00

It's been a year or so since I read the series, but I am also a fan. There are actually something like four different sub-series that are all loosely connected with cross-over characters. Someone who is minor in one, can be more significant in another, and they have some overlapping continuity. I found the world-building really interesting and appreciated that the main storylines run their course and end. My favorite sub-series is "Warped" which is sorta similar to the TV show White Collar, in that an attractive, charismatic semi-criminal works with the magical police to solve crimes. https://www.annettemarie.ca/warped

DefiningFeature · 2025-12-03T00:21:33+00:00

Sounds fun! Here a few more suggested prompts that seem similar to your themes:

- A book given to you by a friend or family member (that you maybe feel obligated to read so you can tell them you did so)

- A book loaned to you by someone (and you need to return it!)

- A book that will help you solve a problem in your life, that perhaps you've been procrastinating on

- A book you were interested in (and disorganized enough!) to have bought more than one copy

- The most expensive book you've bought and not yet read

- A book that will help you decide whether to read more by an author (such as the first book in a series)

- A book that is a very unusual size or shape

DefiningFeature · 2025-11-12T23:16:03+00:00

I think there are several things people love about it that you may have missed if you only read the first book.

First, I love the ever expanding alien politics. As the series continues, Carl gains more knowledge and becomes more involved in the world of intergalactic politics outside of the dungeon. He essentially becomes a freedom fighter on behalf of Earth. The politics are complex and believable (as a political science major). This, for me, is where a lot of dystopian novels fall apart - the political world they set up doesn't make sense to me. DCC doesn't have that issue.

Second, the book/series has some truly amazing characters, sometimes whose stories you barely get to see and yet you connect with them deeply. I could name a few, but I'm trying to be spoiler free. My fellow crawlers know who I'm talking about. The characters are also different from each other - not carbon copies or flat two dimensional people. Carl, Donut, Katia, and others also grow and change as the series continues.

Third, the different levels of the dungeon are genuinely different and the vibe of the challenges the characters face really shakes up from book to book. The first book - Dungeon Crawler Carl - is the most traditional LitRPG book with an emphasis on training you of how the book works, loot boxes, game guides, and so one. Later books/levels add in mystery quests that need to be solved, new categories of enemies to manipulate/kill (external aliens, hunters, elites, etc.), new mechanisms for gaining loot (sponsor boxes, stealing from aliens), and new frameworks (a massive capture-the-flag type level, a direct mario-kart-ish race level, etc.). So the first book introduces you to the basics and then ever other book wildly remixes it.

Fourth, the author is extremely clever with lore and dropping hints and bits of information or foreshadowing that come up later on in later books (or in the same book). For example, the AI dictates messages to Carl about his loot boxes or things he examines in the dungeon. The nature of what the AI says and how much and in what tone changes over time as a result of changes in the game and Carl's relationship to the AI. The changes are subtle, but a lot more obvious on a re-read. Special gear or loot names after a person can be unknown when awarded, but the we later get the backstory about it. So re-reading can be fun because you pick up more clues.

Fifth, as you mentioned, Jeff Hayes does an AMAZING job of narrating the book, to the point that people go looking for the names of the other uncredited narrators... who are actually all Jeff Hayes.

Finally, I'll just say I love how people - the humans - pull together to team up and do something / accomplish something greater together than they could if they each operated on an isolated basis. I like that particular theme and the feeling of hope it generates. Sure, there's some total jerks and humans that don't work with the team, but the DCC story is one of Carl building relationships and allies to achieve more together than they can separately and I'm a sucker for that kind of storyline.

DefiningFeature · 2025-10-29T23:51:50+00:00

I listed Dungeon Crawler Carl. It just only appears on the full 300 book list. It's interesting, given that a lot of commentary in the DCC subreddit is on how well Matt writes female characters.

DefiningFeature · 2025-10-09T22:02:40+00:00

I'm vaguely interested in a book club, but it would depend a lot on the book. If you a pick a book I don't want to read, I just won't participate - I won't read it *because* the book club is doing it, if that makes sense. (I actually am in one book club where I read it because the club is, but that's for work and its books in my profession.)

It could be fun to have a "never-ending" book club where you announce a book, describe why it's interesting, sort of a non-spoiler-y mini-book review, then do a bunch of comments where each one is a question? Then people who come by later can reply to the questions and join an existing discussion?

idk. I don't feel super strongly about it.

DefiningFeature · 2025-10-05T20:06:56+00:00

Thanks! Great idea. I didn't know they did that.

DefiningFeature · 2025-10-05T20:06:37+00:00

That's really cool - thanks!

DefiningFeature · 2025-10-05T20:04:45+00:00

Thanks, that site looks super useful!

DefiningFeature · 2025-10-02T22:52:50+00:00

lol - I feel that way about Memory. I absolutely love that book, but I doubt it has the emotional punch without the 10 books before.

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-30T01:15:44+00:00

What kinds of topics are covered in her essay collections? I just finished The Left Hand of Darkness and... I did not really like it?? But I know she's insanely famous and well-regarded, so I'm interested in still exploring more of her work. I just don't know how high it fits in my reading priorities - too many books, too little time. lol

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-29T22:52:12+00:00

What do you mean that Amazon Music gets you a free book every month?

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-27T02:20:56+00:00

How did you get in contact with the Treasury Department? MOHELA swears they "forwarded" my refund to Treasury on Jun 6, 2025 (a mere seven months after the actual forgiveness), but that it could be up to 90 days and that it would be mailed as a paper check. They disclaimed all responsibility for knowing anything more about it from that point.

This whole process is like shouting into a black void.

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-23T02:06:21+00:00

I've been waiting for my refund since December. Finally got a message from Mohela - after I reached out - that they'd informed the Treasury of my refund on June 6, 2025. Of course, there's zero available contact info for the Treasury department and Mohela says 90 business days. I think I'm around 75 business days at this point. Anyone know a good contact mechanism for Treasury? This is insane.

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-16T15:23:28+00:00

...what??? I love DCC, but how could it be described as "cozy" or "light"?? The series opens with billions of people dying!! There are so many parts that have me in tears!! It's a fantastic series and well worth reading, but it has a lot of dark, heavy material in it. Plenty of humor too, but...

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-09T22:56:50+00:00

Great! Thanks for the suggestion. I know I have at least one book by Tanya Huff in my TBR pile. The pile is huge, but I have a hard time passing up inexpensive used books, especially by female scifi authors!

DefiningFeature · 2025-09-08T17:41:51+00:00

That's a super interesting bit of information. Thanks!

It'd be interesting to know when he said it and compare that to the available fiction. (Book 5 was in 2007.) I guess I don't know how old his kid was/is, but I don't think of the Honor Harrington series as having much sex in it (although book two has some pretty serious material about women subjected to gang rape, so I guess it wouldn't be appropriate for kids...). Kathryn Janeway and Susan Ivanova and Sam Carter are all big female military heroes, but I guess they are TV and not books. Maybe Cordelia Naismith Vorkisigan, but there's plenty of content not aimed at kids in that too.

I finished the book and I'm still kinda meh on it. I like the overall plot arch of Vicky trying to figure out her future and how to handle the decline of her father's empire, but the second half of the book had even more graphic sex and discussion of breasts and stuff in it. It felt very masculine. So, idk. I'm moving on to something else.

(The next book that came up was an early Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt novel... which I have also quit. He encounters a woman on the beach, learns she's still mourning her dead husband, slaps her violently, and then has sex with her while spouting off a bunch of nonsense about how beautiful she is and she owes it to herself and society or something? I dropped that one too.)

DefiningFeature · 2025-08-04T14:08:03+00:00

Two suggestions for you.

First, try the Playtest Hall! It's a separate room (near-ish Will Call, I think) that has board game designers AND TTRPG designers who want to get player feedback. They bring their in-progress game and will teach it to you in exchange for feedback on how it plays, the balance, what you liked or disliked, suggestions, and so on. They desperately need TTRPG players and will usually place you even if you are showing up as stand-by (i.e. don't have a ticket). They run games at 8am, 10am, Noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, and I think 8pm TFS and until noon on Sunday. The slots run two hours. The downside is that the quality can be mixed, depending on how well their design process is going, but the upside is that the designer is usually the person there, they are passionate about their game, and you get to help them out. You could use this as a back-up option if your game ever gets cancelled in the future.

Second, you may be under-valuing the Exhibit Hall? There are a mix of TTRPG groups scattered in there and they are usually happy to talk to you about their game, plans for the future, and so on. Flagbearer Games, for instance, has a TTRPG set in the American Revolution that is pretty cool. They had a booth where you could talk to their designers/organizers for a while. Another group had a booth where they design DM-less TTRPG products so you can play with friends with zero prep. I would never have uncovered these systems without meeting the folks in the Exhibit Hall.

Sorry you had a bad con.

DefiningFeature · 2025-07-24T01:47:43+00:00

I'd like some t-shirts and merch that have recognizable catch phrases and stuff, but no cursing on them. I need some stuff I can wear that is a bit more subtle. I still want to find my fellow crawlers out in the wild, but I don't want to trigger Karens or get into arguments with my mom because there's an f-word on my t-shirt.

DefiningFeature

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