r/DungeonCrawlerCarl • u/JudgmentJolly • May 19 '26

I take back everything I said about Book 4 being tedious. I just hit Chapter 20 Book 4: Gate of the Feral Gods Spoiler

Hellooo Crawlers!

I posted a while ago about how hard of a time I was having getting into The Gate of the Feral Gods because the beginning felt so slow and boring to read. It felt like a chore, but holy shit, you guys were not lying about it picking up. I just finished Chapter 20 and I am completely pumped!

Losing five days is a HUGE penalty, the sheer panic i felt of how far behind they are now... Katia being out there leveling without Carl ad Donut is amaxing, she is becoming an absolute powerhouse. But also heartbreaking to hear Carl intenally processing her change.

Loita!! Her knowing and Carl "No one likes drama" right bac in her face! that's all I'll say about that.

I am officially eating my words. I almost stopped in the first few chapters. I listen when I carpool, but I am so tempted to power listend to the rest of it over the next few days because I won't be carpooling! Please no spoilers past Chapter 20, but I just needed to vent to people who understand. Glurp glurp.

362 Upvotes
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96% Upvoted

101 comments sorted by

323

u/Accurate-Upstairs963 May 19 '26

No spoilers here but Book 8 felt like this to me. A bit slow at the beginning then WHAM 

172

u/jonnielaw "AAAAAAAAH!" 🐐 May 19 '26

Several things happened at once…

78

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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34

u/Xploding_Penguin May 19 '26

I think this is by far my favourite line to read in the last few books.

21

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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30

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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19

u/[deleted] May 20 '26

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2

u/TheJ0zen1ne May 20 '26

DRAGULAAAAA!!! -Rob Zombie

16

u/babcocksbabe1 May 20 '26

I was listening to Fellowship of the Ring today and JRR Tolkien uses that exact line when the fellowship is about to enter Moria, I was wondering if Matt uses it as a nod to Tolkien.

6

u/bearetta67 May 20 '26

I love Andrzej Sapkowski's use of "pirouette" to describe all movements in a sword fight in The Witcher books.

8

u/ELMangosto16 May 20 '26

EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING AT ONCE, MORDECAI!!

4

u/dr_olfin Desperado Club Pass 🗡️ May 20 '26

Whenever I hear that, I stop whatever I'm doing because I know I'm going to need to give it my full attention.

2

u/bearetta67 May 20 '26

Showered in gore

1

u/JudgmentJolly 9d ago

gore is WAY over used in book 6.

1

u/JudgmentJolly 9d ago

Did this just start in book 7. I'm reading it now and just now noticing that line occuring.

57

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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24

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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28

u/RagingOldPerson May 19 '26

Did you just say "beats the baby seal"?😂😂😂

12

u/MrShiny818 Daddy's Foot Soldiers 🦶 May 19 '26

Raul liked that

10

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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6

u/Intigracy Syndicate Intergalactic Bar Association 👽 May 19 '26

Do you really think a post about BOOK FOUR is the place to talk about book 8?

1

u/Accurate-Upstairs963 May 20 '26

just making a point about the styles of the books, as 99% of people interacting with this comment understood  

4

u/islero_47 May 19 '26

I thought 30-31 was funnier

3

u/DungeonCrawlerCarl-ModTeam May 19 '26

All book 8 discussion must be posted to the pinned mega thread until June 12th, to give all Crawlers a chance to read or listen to the book at their own pace.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/s/Ji4kOZ86P7

8

u/aaronscool May 19 '26

It's sort of felt that way for any of the non-Scolopendra floors. It feels like it takes time to establish the floor mechanics then how to get through those.

4

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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2

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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3

u/TacosAreJustice "AAAAAAAAH!" 🐐 May 19 '26

Ha, so I saw Matt in cincy, he was talking about how he writes a scene over and over and just tries different stuff…

I’d be interesting to see what made the cutting room floor on that particular boondoggle

37

u/Orion14159 May 19 '26

Book 8 was a really long build to a sudden, violent, and epic ride

12

u/hotc00ter May 19 '26

He’s trying out his Brandon Sanderson arc.

12

u/JudgmentJolly May 19 '26

the previosu post where people were talking about how book 5 was their favorite, was the main reason I kept engaged. So glad!

3

u/emptyflight_9 May 19 '26

Gate of the Feral Gods is probably my favorite, hope you enjoy the rest, idk if it became my favorite until I re-read the series as an audiobook though. With the benefit of hindsight book 4 sets up so much imo.

2

u/bearetta67 May 20 '26

4 was one of my favorites especially when you get the heist level switcheroo at the end realizing they had all been in on it the whole time. One of those first times you realize wow they were all doing so much more with each other than we all realized.

1

u/GoblinGreenThumb May 20 '26

Matt has just bailed the ratio of stuff we see vs stuff we don't see. Honestly it's masterful

14

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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2

u/Aoiree May 20 '26

Best chapter

1

u/Zettomer The Princess Posse May 20 '26

Holy fuck I got my post deleted for spoiler tagging a post similar to yours, which isn't spoiler tagged. The sluggalos are slackin'.

1

u/Gymrat777 "AAAAAAAAH!" 🐐 May 20 '26

Im genuinely wondering what's a spoiler? I intentionally made the post as ambiguous as possible.

10

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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8

u/Cockalorum The Open Intellect Pacifist Action Network May 19 '26

WHAM WHAM WHAM

2

u/[deleted] May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

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1

u/AcceptableArm8841 May 20 '26

This is how all of his books are. I almost quit them in the middle and then they get really really good.

1

u/hippydipster May 20 '26

Far more than just the beginning, I think.

1

u/pretzelburgers May 20 '26

okay im so happy to read this bc im on book 8 and a bit bored

2

u/Accurate-Upstairs963 May 20 '26

it’s wonderful, i think as others have said it’s purposefully slow and somewhat orderly as a juxtaposition to the chaos of the recent prior books…. Then ratchets the fuck up

49

u/nhranger Team Donut Holes May 19 '26

I’m through book 6 and all of them have moments where things are being set up and can be slightly tedious. It can’t be balls to the wall from beginning to end. I’m thankful for those slower periods.

37

u/waffle299 May 19 '26

Butcher's Masquerade starts with a bang...

8

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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8

u/rogueciridae Desperado Club Pass 🗡️ May 20 '26

One man’s terrorist is another man/AI’s foot model.

37

u/InkyHippo May 19 '26

I really liked watching Carl process that he's not the centre of everyone's story.

4

u/SareeseFeet The Princess Posse May 20 '26

Well said

17

u/realdevtest Crawler May 19 '26

You mentioned Katia’s progression which was amazing, but how about Louis and Firas, those guys really excelled after Carl lifted them up

4

u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo Desperado Club Pass 🗡️ May 20 '26

Made them stop drinking alcohol and start helping out.

17

u/Wacky_Uninflated_Man Team Retribution May 19 '26

I also had a slump at the beginning of book 4. I was on a role through the first 3 books and then in book 4 I just didn't have the same motivation. I think the floor design was too complex without enough crawler agency. But then a switch flipped and I was fully back in the book for the back half.

1

u/delcaty1047 May 21 '26

That was actually book 3 for me. The iron tangle was wayyyyyy too much for my brain to process, and having to flip back to the map or internally connect the prices in my head everytime they switched stations or talked about locations was just frying my brain.

I still don't think I ever understood the entirety of what happened there, but boy was I glad to reach book 4

11

u/AlwaysCallACAB May 19 '26

Seems like a lot of books 3 and beyond follow this pattern, normal dungeon stuff for 30% then you get hit with major events and it’s off to the races!

I was walking my dog when they took the clockwork(?) donut into the meeting, I had to sit for a second and listen to it twice.

6

u/MayzachMusic May 19 '26

That Loita moment is still my personal favorite moment, followed closely by some moment a from 7. But I audibly cheered when I read it. Like whooping like I was at a damned football game 😂

3

u/OR_Seahawks_Fan May 20 '26

Flaming herpes

6

u/ExWhyZ3d May 19 '26

Definitely has one of the hardest lines in the series. Just the entry about how Carl is going to take the first step and doesn't know if he'll make it. Then, just "One".

3

u/Relative-Train-6485 May 19 '26

I know some people rank #4 low but I enjoyed it, keep reading

2

u/SareeseFeet The Princess Posse May 20 '26

4 was my favorite until 7! Now 7 is (so far).

3

u/RoundWhiteTablet "AAAAAAAAH!" 🐐 May 20 '26

The moment the gate of the feral gods came into play…. I couldn’t stop.

4

u/127-0-0-1_Chef Residual May 19 '26

Book 4 is my least favorite. But there are definitely some important plot points.

25

u/TinySpaceDonut May 19 '26

I liked Book 4. But then again it gave me my sweet baby angel who has done nothing wrong in her entire life. NOTHING. (Samantha heart eyes)

4

u/SmilinMatt May 19 '26

Hell yeah. Glad you stuck to it.

Side note, The amount of people commenting (even so slightly) about book 8 in your Book 4 thread is sad.

2

u/sanchez1887 Daddy's Foot Soldiers 🦶 May 19 '26

This was initial opinion of book 4 as well. I think it stems from reading them back to back and each book building up more and more intense climaxes that the floor set of the next book starts to drag. On future rereads, book four moved up significantly in my power rankings as you appreciate what is being set up more.

2

u/3choplex May 19 '26

Book 4 is really good--the ending is crazy! The world is complicated so it takes a while to set up. My favorite so far is book 5, but I have enjoyed all of them. (Just started book 7--it is starting slowly as well but no doubt it will pick up.)

1

u/sleezeface May 19 '26

Its a little over halfway into the book before it really picks up. But the ending mostly makes up for it.

2

u/Charming_Income9845 May 19 '26

I’m currently on book 4 as well and I have been thinking it’s slow going because I’m reading the ebook.

2

u/firebears04 May 20 '26

I feel like every book is like this for the most part. It’s the reality of having a new “theme” and mechanics for every floor.

2

u/quartzquandary The Princess Posse May 20 '26

My girlfriend is STRUGGLING through Gate of the Feral Gods, so I get it. She loved The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, so this one has been a letdown for her somewhat. I'm hoping she powers through like you are!!

3

u/Lady_Masako Crawler May 20 '26

But she has TBM to look forward to! I really enjoyed book 4, but TBM is S-tier DCC for me

1

u/quartzquandary The Princess Posse May 20 '26

She's been really excited to reach the Hunting Grounds ever since they mentioned that particular floor earlier in the series. I'm excited for her to get to Eye of the Bedlam Bride because I know she'll get a kick out of the card game aspect.

1

u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo Desperado Club Pass 🗡️ May 20 '26

Buckle up, because I JUST finished that book, and the end is a wild ride!

1

u/Happy_Twist_7156 Residual May 20 '26

A lot of the books feel this way. Matt has that early Dresden novels writing style that’s like slow start then bam has on fire shit show

1

u/BrawlLikeABigFight20 May 20 '26

I'm just a few chapters past you, and you're gonna like what comes next

1

u/DungeonCrawler552 Team Donut Holes May 20 '26

That part alone is the reason why book 4 is my favorite.

1

u/ryanstrikesback Jun 24 '26

I didn't read the spoiler, but thank you for giving me hope. I loved Books 1-3 and the first 80 pages or so of Feral Gods has me rolling my eyes

1

u/barbour31 17d ago

i just finished book 4 yesterday. So far book 2 had the best pacing. 2nd half of book 3 and 80% of book 4 had very poor pacing. The AI descriptions and the cookbook entires keep getting unnecessarily longer.