The thing about this book is, it is a really well written drama. The problem is, for all the build up for this big battle floor, it reads more as a drama than an action adventure. The second problem, it lacks Carl. Sure he is there, lending the story his voice, but he is sort of… just there. It is almost like reading a story where the protagonist is just strapped into a rollercoaster and explaining everything he sees happening around him. Of all the books to date, this book contains the least amount of Carl being Carl; which is a real let down after wadeing through the last book about card battles expecting this book to see him taking the chains off and going ham on his enemies. If that is what you are looking for….. it never happens. Literally 1/4 of the book, the primary drama is the fact that they can’t use offensive spells. I’m not reading this book so I can hear about all the spells Doughnut “Can’t” cast.
What you get instead, is Carl retelling you 20 hours of him standing around reading group chat and barking orders only to be told to worry about himself as he stands around walking from one giant anti-climax to another. In the whole book, there was maybe about 2 good hours of Carl playing ARPG during the club vanquisher sequence.
Otherwise, the humor was on point and Jeff knocked narrations out of the park again. Still a great book overall despite failing expectations.