A pantheon of forgotten gods. An old grudge between a talk show host, an heiress, and the man they shattered along the way. A rapidly deteriorating AI system. An inconvenient tiara upon the head of a friend.
It is bedlam on the eighth floor.
As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary” creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit.
Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into battle again and again. The stronger, the deadlier, the better. …
A pantheon of forgotten gods. An old grudge between a talk show host, an heiress, and the man they shattered along the way. A rapidly deteriorating AI system. An inconvenient tiara upon the head of a friend.
It is bedlam on the eighth floor.
As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary” creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit.
Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into battle again and again. The stronger, the deadlier, the better.
At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, and they will have some of the most powerful cards available. So it’s crucial to assemble the toughest squad possible.
But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch.
As Carl and Donut know all too well, just because someone is captured, it doesn’t mean they have been tamed.
Her name is Shi Maria. She’s easily the most powerful monster in their area. If they want to survive, they must capture her. But she is no ordinary beast. She’s intelligent. She was once married to a god, a god who is now missing. Her special attack is known to drive one insane. They call her the Bedlam Bride.
“Beware, beware. Beware the Eye of the Bedlam Bride”
By far my favorite Dungeon Crawler Carl book. 8th has been immensely fun with the characters, side quests, and the system that the author came up with. I forced myself to pause often while listening to the audiobook to savor it. I never want it to end.
I'm still really enjoying these. Patrick Warburton's cameo was inspired.
The card game / Yu-Gi-Oh rip off was a cool gimmick. Uzi Jesus and Shi Maria were fun.
More crude humour from Samantha which is always welcome. IWILLKILLYOURMOTHERRRRR.
It was interesting to learn more about Carl before the series kicked off. The series is definitely getting darker and grittier as it progresses. This is the first one I've felt like I missed a lot of stuff and probably want to reread.
A criticism would be that the mechanics and threat level etc are so elevated now that it's sometimes hard to follow or guess how things will be solved. That said, I like that some solutions to the major plot points are already being floated, and I'm hooked to see how they will inevitably be subverted.
Having to wait a few weeks for the next book to come out from …
I'm still really enjoying these. Patrick Warburton's cameo was inspired.
The card game / Yu-Gi-Oh rip off was a cool gimmick. Uzi Jesus and Shi Maria were fun.
More crude humour from Samantha which is always welcome. IWILLKILLYOURMOTHERRRRR.
It was interesting to learn more about Carl before the series kicked off. The series is definitely getting darker and grittier as it progresses. This is the first one I've felt like I missed a lot of stuff and probably want to reread.
A criticism would be that the mechanics and threat level etc are so elevated now that it's sometimes hard to follow or guess how things will be solved. That said, I like that some solutions to the major plot points are already being floated, and I'm hooked to see how they will inevitably be subverted.
Having to wait a few weeks for the next book to come out from soundbooth is going to be hard. Seriously, Jess Hayes is a prodigy.
Review of 'The Eye of the Bedlam Bride' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Such a stellar book. The emphasis on Carl's background and demons feels really justified and deserved at this point in the series. We've had plenty of bits and pieces dropped before, but there was so much more focus on how he interprets his world, and why his past has influenced that.
Also just what an ending! So excited for the 9th floor.