Book Review: This Inevitable Ruin 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.

This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Series: Book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Publisher: Ace (September 23, 2025)

Length: 870 pages

Author Information: Website

I can’t believe I almost let this slip by, but I just realized I never actually wrote my review for This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman, and now the next book is basically upon us. Naturally, I had to do a quick refresh, which in this case is doing a reread but with the audiobook this time, and honestly, this is one of those rare occasions where I genuinely can’t decide which format is better. I mean, I almost never recommend audio over print, but Jeff Hays’ performance on this series is just that good. You really can’t go wrong with either pick, but if you’re still on the fence about starting your Dungeon Crawler Carl journey, the audio route is a fine choice.

This seventh installment finally brings us to the long-teased Faction Wars on the ninth floor, an event that has been looming over the series for a while now. It’s an epic showdown whose set up has been in the works since the first book, involving multiple factions, each backed by powerful off-world participants, all thrown into a massive battlefield with one primary objective: be the last one standing.

But of course, thanks to Carl, Donut, and their allies, things are more complicated this time around. As always, crawlers are active participants in this deadly game, but now the NPCs also have their own team, becoming a force to be reckoned with. The usual rules are shifting as well, with protections being stripped away, making permadeath a thing, essentially leveling the playing field. The stakes have never been higher as the different factions go to war and the death toll begins to rise. The closer Carl gets to leading his fellow crawlers to victory, however, the more dangerous the road there becomes. Every win comes with a cost, and despite it all, losing is not an option.

As much as I enjoyed finally seeing the Faction Wars play out, I have to say this was also the point where the sheer size and scope of the book started to work against it a little. While the last few volumes have also been on the longer side, in general they still felt on track and manageable. This Inevitable Ruin, on the other hand, had so much going on, the sheer scale of everything happening made it harder to stay consistently focused. To start, there are a lot of factions to deal with. By design, that means we end up working through clash after clash as we watch Carl and his crawler faction push forward. It’s exciting in bursts, but it also stretches things out, making them feel disjointed. There were definitely moments where it felt like the story was spinning its wheels between major developments, not to mention the fatigue.

That said, I still enjoyed the hell out of this book. Even though the narrative is sprawling in every direction, we’re jumping between battles and checking in on different characters, the overall story still being mindful of tying up lingering plotlines and loose threads. I loved catching up with everybody. The humor is as sharp and ridiculous as ever. The action hits hard, but there are also those powerful emotional moments that hit even harder. These are characters I’ve followed for a long time, and there’s a growing sense that, as intense as things have already gotten, we’re still building toward something even bigger. And you have to give this series credit. Even when it gets messy, it’s never boring.

In the end, This Inevitable Ruin comes in at a lower rating compared to the previous books, but just by a smidgen, and mostly due to the sense that the story is straining a bit under the weight of the massive beast it’s grown into. I still had a great time, and if anything, it’s only made me more excited for what’s coming next. At this point, I am fully locked in and have gone full Dungeon Crawler Carl fan mode, backing the tabletop RPG campaign, buying Mongo shirts, and feeling absolutely ready to jump back in with book 8, A Parade of Horribles.