Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series is one of the most unexpected cultural phenomenons in modern literature, though once you read (or listen to) the books for yourself, it’s not all that surprising why they’ve become so popular. Fans are waiting on pins and needles for the final book in the entry, currently titled The Beautiful Place, which will be split into two volumes and released in the coming years.

While we still don’t have a specific release date for Book 9, Dinniman has revealed a few details for what’s to come in various teasers so far, with a brief look at the early chapters for backers on Patreon. However, at the recent NY ComicCon event, Dinniman officially just announced a massive reveal for a brand-new crawler coming in the next book, with a long-awaited appearance from one of the series most mysterious characters as well (via Instagram).

!!!Warning: Major spoilers for Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 9 ahead!!!

At NYCC earlier this week Dinniman revealed a brief, previously unseen excerpt from Book 9, delivered via audio book legend Jeff Hays, setting up a crawler “we’ve never seen before.” According to Dinniman, there are only 13 crawlers left in the World Dungeon total, which means the pool of possible characters we’ve yet to meet is somewhat limited.

The first reveal is massive in its own right, and longtime readers have been waiting quite a while for the return of this particular character. “At first glance, she appeared to be a child,” Hays reads, “next to her … was a scraggly orange cat… Ferdinand.” Ferdinand (otherwise known as Gravy Boat) has been part of Dungeon Crawler Carl since the very beginning, with Donut frequently recalling her supposed love affair with the scraggly neighborhood tomcat.

In fact, Donut’s pursuit of Ferdinand was partly responsible for her and Carl being outside when Earth’s transformation began, ultimately saving their lives. Ferdinand eventually appeared in the dungeon during The Butcher’s Masquerade, serving as Queen Imogen’s familiar, before becoming a co-warlord alongside Juice Box during the Ninth Floor’s Faction Wars in This Inevitable Ruin. His unexpected return in Book 9 is particularly intriguing given the mysterious new character accompanying him.

That character is Tabiti, crawler number 12,953,455, a level one “human” subjugator and a previously unidentified crawler who appears to be connected to one of the biggest mysteries left unresolved in A Parade of Horribles. Near the conclusion of Book 8, Carl briefly glimpses a mysterious young girl alongside Lucia Mar, while readers also noticed an unexplained gap in the numbering of newly introduced crawlers.

Dinniman’s latest reveal suggests that Tabiti is this very character, though fans have clearly gone into full-on speculation mode that it could well be a “celestial entity,” or largely based on the name being tied to a primordial fire goddess in the Scythian pantheon. However, her actual identity, connection to Lucia, and reasons for traveling alongside Ferdinand remain a mystery. With the Twelfth Floor and Celestial Ascendancy looming, Tabiti could prove to be one of Book 9’s most important new players.

Publisher(s)

Penguin Random House

Publication Date

September 21, 2020

Number of Pages

444

ISBN#

979-8688591507