Dinniman, Matt
Entry updated 3 August 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1975- ) US author whose first series, the Shivered Sky sequence beginning with The Shivered Sky (2003; rev 2021) [for complex publication details see Checklist below], an Afterlife Fantasy which resembles some subliminally technologized Hell. He is of perhaps greater interest for the Dungeon Crawler Carl sequence beginning with Dungeon Crawler Carl (2020 rev 2024), an early full exercise in what has become known as the LitRPG (ie Literary Role Playing Game) subgenre, where plot structures and mises en scene typical of Computer Role Playing Games are primarily embodied in written texts. In this example, Earth has been devastated by Alien exploiters of is natural resources, who not only strip the planet entirely dry, but forcibly "recruit" humans to compete off-planet in savage Games to the death. The main venue – into which the human protagonist and his sentient Cat companion are thrust – is a multi-story Labyrinth known as World Dungeon, which they must learn the rules of and "play"; their efforts to survive comprise a media event (see Media Landscape) viewed by an audience whose favour they must compete with each other to gain. The Secret Master of the maze is an AI.
Dinniman's first singleton of sf interest, Operation Bounce House (2026), unpacks a world with some similarities: citizens of a farming planet (see Colonization of Other Worlds) discover that the apparently autonomous mobile Weapons suddenly tormenting them are in fact governed remotely by gamers from Earth. The winner will be the one who commits successful genocide. [JC]
Matt Dinniman
born Gig Harbor, Washington?: May 1975
works
series
Dungeon Crawler Carl
- Dungeon Crawler Carl (no place given: Dandy House, 2020) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- Dungeon Crawler Carl (New York: Ace Books, 2024) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: illus/Erik Wilson: hb/Will Staehle]
- Carl's Doomsday Scenario (no place given: Dandy House, 2021) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (no place given: Dandy House, 2021) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- The Gate of the Feral Gods (no place given: Dandy House, 2021) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- The Butcher's Masquerade (no place given: Dandy House, 2022) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (no place given: Dandy House, 2023) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- The Inevitable Ruin (no place given: Matt/Dinniman/Dandy House, 2024) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: pb/Luciano Fleitas]
- A Parade of Horribles (New York: Ace Books, 2026) [Dungeon Crawler Carl: hb/Will Staehle]
The Shivered Sky
- The Shivered Sky (no reliable place given: Silver Lake Publishing, 2003) [The Shivered Sky: pb/Socar Myles]
- Every Grain of Sand (no place given: Dandy House, 2021) [ebook: part 1 of rev version of above: The Shivered Sky: na/]
- In the City of Demons (no place given: Dandy House, 2021) [ebook: part 2 of rev version of above: The Shivered Sky: na/]
- The Great Devouring Darkness (no place given: Dandy House, 2021) [ebook: part 3 of rev version of above: The Shivered Sky: na/]
- The Shivered Sky: The Complete Series (no place given: Dandy House, 2021)[omni of three titles above: The Shivered Sky: pb/]
individual titles (selected)
- Operation Bounce House (New York: Ace Books, 2026) [hb/Jeff Brown]
links
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