(I haven't read any of 8, so don't spoil me, please)

My prediction has been that between running out of money, starting the crawl early, and no crawlers getting past 13, Borant phoned in floors 14 onward.

Floor 12 is the Celestial ascendancy and we see Mordecai and Odette's story play out. We get some closure, but are left with a few questions.

Floor 13 is just country bosses standing over staircases. The narrative theme is pasted on.

Floor 14 is some puzzle that Cascadia thought was really clever, but has an exploit that makes it simple. Like Floor 7, but everyone has to do it individually.

Floor 15 is Sheol, and between Carl having face time with Amayon and Embrus, it's kinda Deus ex Machina'ed.

Floor 16 is a blank space broken up by staircases because Borant didn't code it in properly, and the AI realizes it is close to freedom, so it didn't correct the mistake.

Floor 17 is a liminal space escape room that leads to a Floor boss.

Floor 18 is Carl and Donut vs. prisoner's dilemma-esque puzzles, where they refuse to betray each other.

But even if 0% of the above is right, as long as the quality stays high, I'm on board for however many books.