This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl)

By Matt Dinniman

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Carl and Princess Donut are ready to battle it out in the epic seventh book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition! The ninth floor. Faction Wars. Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal . . . It all makes for great fun and even greater television. But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different. For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own. And it’s not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars. Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground. For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level. If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two. This is it. This is what they’ve been fighting toward. This is war.

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Published Sep 23, 2025

880 pages

Average rating: 9.07

148 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

GloCuiffi2025
9/10 stars
I love this series so much. It's hilarious and also serious and silly - a great escape.
fromlizaslibrary
10/10 stars
I’ve said it before but this series is just incredible. Matt Dinniman writes such amazing characters and does such a great job telling this story with such deep meaning. After a lot of the series build up to Faction Wars this book was one I was really waiting for. Carl and Donut continue to be impressive and I loved every moment.
Books-n-more
10/10 stars
Dang it Matt! You made me cry again....TWICE!!!!

I don't know if I can lose more crawlers.
KeasnowReady
8/10 stars
Welcome to Faction wars, the stakes are high and the death count is higher. The stress levels were up as every plan never goes as planned. The AI fully losing it has been inevitable, but the game is still going. I found myself in tears and laughing throughout the book. I am excited to read what happens next, the cliffhanger at the end had me grab the next book immediately.
Lunarian
10/10 stars
Read whole series twice!