And straight on with Carl, Donut, and whoever else they are all called because – even if it isn't Dostoevsky – the number of characters and events has grown rapidly over seven books. And since this volume revolves around the 9th floor that has been teased since Book 1 – the Faction Wars – we are going to read a lot of names here.
The series has changed so much by now that Dinniman no longer builds the floors based on difficulty levels and themes; he also seems to draw inspiration from various video game genres. The predecessor, for example, was heavily influenced by and this one leans more toward tactics and strategy.
And I must say: Apparently – after being teased across 6 books – I expected a bit more. From my perspective, the middle section didn't read all that well. I quickly lost track of who is doing what where and which factions even exist. On the other hand, quite a lot happens on the lore level, because a development toward the end of the last volume [Note: Adapted to match the corrected German structure for clarity] gave a new meaning to the events of this game show.
Makes no sense not to go straight to the next volume now.