Book Review: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman

Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Series: Book 6 of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Publisher: Ace (May 13, 2025)

Length: 832 pages

Author Information: Website

Here we go, six books into Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series and the journey continues to be as chaotic and fun as ever! The Eye of the Bedlam Bride brings back all the insane action and irreverent humor that I love, as well as the high stakes gameplay and emotional character moments. However, for the first time, I’m not rating a full five stars. As the books get longer, the lore gets more tangled, and I think some of the cracks are starting to show. While still a great read, this installment’s pacing just wasn’t as tight, and certain sections made me wish for more focus and streamlining. That said, fans of the series will absolutely still love it.

We begin the novel on the eighth floor of the dungeon. For those who are counting, you might notice we skipped a floor! Well, that’s because of a little twist at the end of the previous book, which I’m not going to spoil. Let’s just say, another level means a whole new ball game. All the crawlers who have survived this far now find themselves placed into teams and dumped into a part of the world based on Earth’s final days before the aliens came and destroyed everything, but with one huge change. Monsters and legendary creatures based on regional myths have been added—so if you are in Ireland, you may get chance encounters with banshees and leprechauns, or if you are in Romania, you might go toe-to-toe with a vampire, etc. Teams are tasked by new dungeon guidelines to try and capture these creatures, known as totems. When captured, they become cards playable in combat, much like the Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokemon trading card games.

For Carl and Donut, this floor may be the most dangerous and unpredictable one yet. Not only have the rules changed again, this time, survival means learning a whole new system of card-based combat. While dealing with the usual threats inside the dungeon, they will also need to guard themselves against rival teams who can challenge and defeat them. In fact, the entire level is set up in a way to make the crawlers turn against each other, something that doesn’t sit right with Carl at all. In order to increase his and Donut’s chances of success, he has decided to hunt down one of the game’s most powerful totems, a terrifying spider-like creature called Shi Maria, also known as the Bedlam Bride.

This sixth book is another solid installment in the Dungeon Crawler Carl saga, and I’m floored that Matt Dinniman is still coming in strong with all his amazing ideas. Every new volume somehow manages to be more off-the-wall than the last, and The Eye of the Bedlam Bride is no exception with its mix of action, absurdity, horror, humor, and heartfelt drama. In interviews with the author, I’ve heard him describe himself as a “pantser,” which sort of tracks when you consider just how insane and unpredictable these books can get, but at the same time, it’s hard to believe he’s not working off some master plan, because by the end everything clicks together with an almost surgical precision. On paper, these ingredients shouldn’t come together so perfectly, but they just do.

Of course, the most unique addition to this volume is the introduction of the card battle system (I think every floor will likely introduce a new system, and here’s to hoping racing game mechanics will be added in a future one), but this one has a twist that only a series like Dungeon Crawler Carl can pull off. Due to the way it forces players into more tactical styles of combat, you’ll see the characters engage in a lot more strategizing and resource management, and as a result, a lot of the narrative is dedicated to explaining how everything works. This heavy info dumping is perhaps the book’s biggest drawback, as this deluge of detail occasionally slows down pacing. Still, this complexity is what makes the stakes so intense, and understanding the rules is key to grasping the high-risk, high-reward nature of the game.

But I’ll have to admit, this one took me a bit longer to finish than the previous books, and it’s not just because of its hefty page count. There were stretches that felt like a bit of a slog, making me think it was just a little too long for its own good. Even cutting a dozen pages or so—of mostly gaming mechanics and Carl’s interior monologuing—would have made the pacing feel much tighter. Plus, there was also the fatigue caused by the sheer volume of content. And as much as I appreciate the series’ brand of bizarre humor, some of it edged a bit too far into silliness or my tastes. Even though I didn’t want to put the book down, there were times I felt like I had to, just to have a break to decompress and let what I just read settle.

But obviously, the issues I had were very minor in the grand scheme of things. They certainly didn’t prevent me from having an absolute blast with this book! What really got to me this time was the surprising amount of emotional weight tucked between the insanity and hilarity. Then there was the excitement of dungeon politics exploding into intergalactic tensions which are gradually muscling their way into the spotlight, and all of it is still building toward something massive.

In the end, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride continues to prove why Dungeon Crawler Carl remains THE best and most entertaining litRPG out there. It’s not afraid to take risks or push boundaries, and if this keeps up, the endgame is going to be out of this world, no pun intended. I’m more than ready to follow Carl, Donut, and the gang into the next chapter of the series.

More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book 1)
Review of Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Book 2)
Review of The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Book 3)
Review of The Gate of the Feral Gods (Book 4)
Review of The Butcher’s Masquerade (Book 5)