A Parade of Horribles

 

A Parade of Horribles is the eighth outing for Dungeon Crawler Carl (and Princess Donut) by Matt Dinniman. Released 12th May 2026 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley Ace imprint, it's 704 (!!!) pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.  For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The other books in the series are also currently available on KU. 

This is a fun and well written take on light comedic dungeoncrawler fantasy/LitRPG. MC Carl is unwillingly thrust into a starring role in a survivor reality TV contest when an alien invasion puts a major crimp in *everyone's* day.  Princess Donut (his ex-GF's pampered show cat - brimming with Persian "tortitude") is a main character in her own right, and the book is positively bursting with sarcastic humor and improbable situations, with viewers from across the universe tuned in to see what happens next, and which contestants get eliminated, permanently. Each adventure sees the contestants thrust into a new floor of the dungeon with new loot, new puzzles and traps, and ever more creative ways to crash and burn.

This is one of the biggest, "buzziest" books in a few years, and it really does kinda live up to the hype. It's very very funny from the start off (Princess Donut is a being Not To Be Trifled With). It's not at all derivative, but the bonzo, zany humor will likely appeal to fans of Charles Stross and Tom Holt. 

Jeff Hays delivers in the audiobook narration which has a run time of 20 hours 26 minutes. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.  

Four and a half stars. There are currently 8 books in the series and Mr. Dinniman seems to be holding steady at a book a year. It would make a great choice for a genre buddy/binge read. It's definitely full on silly, but it's diverting, which is a blessing given the raging dumpster fire that is life on this planet at the moment.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.