Reading order
Matt Dinniman's Dominion of Blades series: 2 books + 1 announced.
Read them in the order they were published
For thirty years, Dominion of Blades has been the world's most popular online role-playing game. After real-life deaths lead to a ban on immersion technology, the game shuts down. Jonah wakes inside it at level one with no memory of how he got there and no way out. With two companions in an empty world, he fights monsters and pain to survive.
Popper, Jonah, Gretchen, and Alice return for another litrpg adventure. Popper leads a scouting mission to Castellane with his hippocorn Alice and hired mercenaries. Their goal is to infiltrate the Spiral, the tower defense run protecting the hobgoblin capital, gather information, and escape undetected. The supposedly simple mission quickly goes awry.
Announced. The publisher hasn't shared a description yet; we'll add one when they do.
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About the author
Matt Dinniman is an American author known for the science fantasy LitRPG book series Dungeon Crawler Carl and science-fiction novel Operation Bounce House.
Also by Matt Dinniman: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Dungeon Crawler Carl graphic novels, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl's Doomsday Scenario, The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, The Gate of the Feral Gods, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride, The Butcher's Masquerade
Author Matt Dinniman sits down with Lits Play to discuss the creation of Dungeon Crawler Carl and what readers can expect in Book 8, A Parade of Horribles.
Uploaded by Lits Play and Penguin Random House, 2026 · Watch on YouTube
Dinniman says he discovered the LitRPG genre in 2015 through poorly translated Russian ebooks at his local library. He loved how the genre reproduced the gaming dopamine hit of watching stats and levels increase on the page.
“The first time you read one, you say to yourself, I didn't know you could do that in a book.”
Dinniman recalls playing the 1980s text adventure adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before knowing it was a book. He checked the novel out from the library solely as a cheat guide to solve the game, which kickstarted his reading of adult fiction.
“it was impossible to play the game without the book.”
Dinniman considers himself a pantser who writes characters into impossible dilemmas without knowing the escape route in advance. He also lets his Patreon backers vote on major narrative elements, such as whether The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook existed.
“I'm what some people call 'pantser,' I just make it all up as I go along”
Dinniman reveals that his restless mind requires him to rotate between different Pacific Northwest coffee shops every day rather than working in the same location twice in a row, all while blasting loud heavy metal through headphones.
“I have to write in a different place every day, which presents a challenge.”
Dinniman explains that Princess Donut was inspired by a real tortoiseshell Persian kitten that glared at him all weekend while he was selling pet portraits at a cat show.
Dinniman considers himself a pantser who invents stories as he goes, but because LitRPG involves stats and numbers, he maintains a tracking spreadsheet over 200 pages long.
Dinniman describes how his Patreon supporters vote on plot events for Carl and Donut as the story is written, mirroring the alien viewers in the fictional game show.
Dinniman began serializing the book on Royal Road and Patreon out of financial necessity after Emerald City Comic Con was canceled in March 2020, leaving him with negative $80 in the bank.
On A Parade of Horribles: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 8
Intro
Inspiration for Dungeon Crawler Carl
Appeal of the LitRPG genre
Influential games
Incorporating gaming elements into Dungeon Crawler Carl
Influence of Reality TV
Questions
There are two Dominion of Blades books so far, with The Thieves of Grandeur announced.
Start with Dominion of Blades and read them in publication order: Dominion of Blades (2017), The Hobgoblin Riot (2018).
Dominion of Blades, published in 2017. For thirty years, Dominion of Blades has been the world's most popular online role-playing game. After real-life deaths lead to a ban on immersion technology, the game shuts down. Jonah wakes inside it at level one with no memory of how he got there and no way out. With two companions in an empty world, he fights monsters and pain to survive.
The latest is The Hobgoblin Riot (2018). Next is The Thieves of Grandeur.
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Looking for Matt Dinniman's other books? See every series and standalone.
