A Parade of Horribles, by Matt Dinniman
Short review: loved the book. I love where Matt Dinniman is taking us, and I love how everything is looping back around. The nine-pronged attacks that we've been told about in the second book becoming a bigger, more important part now? To the lore? Love it.
I like the inclusion of Interludes, which feels like an evolution of the last book's excerpts on the Cookbook Authors' lives. It helps paint the picture of how this particular Dungeon Crawl is affecting the lives of those outside.
It's a good book. It's a good lead-up to whatever the hell Matt Dinniman has in store for us in the last act of the story. (Last act, not last book! I think there are two more books after this.) And the series of final interludes does a great job of winding us down so we're not tearing our hair out while waiting for the next book.
All that said--and this is where my longer review begins--while I remain impressed at Dinniman's ability to escalate everything without it feeling too much, I am a little concerned that we haven't had any emotional catharsis since the sixth book's one-two punch of the "Christmas" party and the death of a major crawler.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
Katia's departure last book still feels like a cop-out, and the reveal that her current destination isn't as safe as initially thought feels like something they could also learn via Lucia Mar's plotline.
And then there's the introduction to the assassin who was supposed to take out two important crawlers. Now, when the book revealed that there was a soldier in the dungeon that Carl and his party didn't know about…I kind of already knew he was gonna get found out before he actually does damage. What I'm miffed about is that he didn't get to do any damage at all.
Was the reveal of who his targets were important? Yes and no. Yes, because it shows the characters outside the crawl aren't stupid. But also no because we already know their emotional weight in the story. If these targets still have important parts to play in the story, then at least let the soldier kill someone else who is emotionally-important.
Honestly, much as I love the character of Daniel Bautista--having him die this book after Katia got saved last time would've been the perfect tragedy for the story. He didn't even really stand out in this book. Even with his tea ceremony.
I don't know what the plans are for Elle, but imagine having her die? Just as she's about to complete her seasons trajectory? That would've been emotionally-gutting as well. Although she probably also has a big part to play still, which was why she had plot armor.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, while I still enjoy the book, I am tired of being told how harrowing and tragic the whole ordeal is when the only people dying (which is still horrible, don't get me wrong) are people we barely know. The tragedy isn't gonna hit as much if it's people we don't know.
And if you say the point is that every human life lost should count the same, I do hear you. That doesn't change the fact that we feel more empathy and sorrow for people we actually like. Like Paz Lo. And Tserendolgor. And Brandon. And Yolanda. And Li Jun.
This is two books in a row that, in my personal opinion, the plot escalation warranted more heart-wrenching deaths. And I know that one of the crawlers I mentioned did die in the last book. It just didn't feel enough for how much the tragedy and the horror was being hyped up by the main character.
I need Matt Dinniman to be ruthless.
Because he's delivering on the plot. He's delivering on the lore. He's delivering on the message, the call to action, and the heart. Now he just needs to deliver on the genre and break that heart.
Come on, Dinniman. Break our hearts.

















