The fifth book in the incredibly entertaining Dungeon Crawler Carl series is The Butcher’s Masquerade. It’s also the longest one in the series so far. It’s hefty, and there is a lot going on. There are a lot more emotional blows in this one, right from the off, the company running the crawl attempt to throw off Carl, and Princess Donut, but Odette scoops the tale, revealing that his ex-girlfriend, and Donut’s former owner, Bea, is sill alive.

They were going to use her at the end of the sixth level, during the Butcher’s Masquerade as an enemy, but thankfully, because of Odette’s action, they miss out on that. But other things are going to cause all manner of problems.

There’s a quest involving dinosaurs and dancing, hunters are now allowed in the game, and they all seem to be gunning for our heroes. Amongst those is Circe, who wants revenge on Carl for the death of her daughter. But Carl is just getting started with the insect species family.

Throw in the return of Signet, and Carl and Donut’s commitment to their season arc, a fan convention, irritable bears, and an increasingly unstable AI, and things are going to go horribly for Carl and the others.

And all that is before they reach the end of the level, which sees a gathering known as the Butcher’s Masquerade, talent and pet show included, which could see countless crawlers killed.

There are allies, enemies, loot boxes, and behind-the-scenes schemes and politics.

Dinniman knows how to tell his story, and things that have been planted way back at the beginning are called back; there are pay-offs as well as groundwork being built for future instalments. The heavier themes are a little more forefront this time but that doesn’t mean the laughs aren’t there as well.

Everything we’ve come to expect from the series so far is here, and bigger, louder, and funnier. This series is just so funny, so smart, so engaging, and I love everything that Dinniman is laying down, but I also know that sooner or later, the emotional blows are going to take their toll on Carl and Donut – the cat has a great moment dealing with that for a moment, and it resonates.

There’s also the fact that Carl is still using the Ring of Divine Suffering, which he knows he shouldn’t be doing. You know that is going to have repercussions down the line.

The next book, The Eye of The Bedlam Bride, and I’m itching to dig in…