PRODUCER NIK VS Operation Bounce House

Producer Nik gets bouncy about Matt Dinniman’s LitRPGs, and not the series everyone is reading!

Do we ever really know we’re in the presence of a legend, before they’re recognized as being legendary?

That may seem like an odd question, and I suppose some clarification is required.

Settle in, because this may take a little while.

I’d started dipping my toes in the LitRPG genre as a reader back in 2019, after a co-worker introduced me to Aleron Kong’s series, The Land. They were entertaining, metatextual, and—as someone who had spent more than a little time playing both tabletop and video game RPGs—they satisfied a certain nostalgia for me. I went on to check out other titles and series from different authors, and quickly discovered that they worked better for me in audiobook format than in either print or digital formats, and that meant the quality of narration played a major role in how well I took to the material.

Over the following few years, I became familiar with a handful of the authors writing LitRPGs. Notably, I became familiar with the widely varying quality from author-to-author, as well as the varying quality levels from one narrator to the next.

In February of 2023, I found myself with a booth next to Danger Slater at FanExpo Portland. Across the aisle was an author I was unfamiliar with, beyond the fact that I knew he wrote LitRPG titles, so I paid attention to him. I was particularly curious about the boxers emblazoned with hearts, that he had at the booth.

I had limited opportunities to chat with this gentleman, but it was immediately apparent that he had an easygoing nature, and that he was affable and quick to smile. In essence, he was pretty much everything I am not, especially in a crowded social setting. He seemed perhaps a little bit awkward and nervous, but he suppressed those things well.

It was near the end of the weekend when I got the chance to talk with him about his books, focused especially on a series he’d only recently started, but for which he had gotten a few titles already written and released–largely thanks to the pandemic affording him more free time than he knew what to do with.

I considered buying some of his books at the time, but I explained that I more than likely wouldn’t end up reading them because I have a hard time reading that genre in written format.

I asked about audiobooks, and he confirmed they were available. I immediately purchased the first book of his ongoing series as well as another title that involved kaiju. I’m a sucker for big monsters, and I couldn’t pass that one up.

Before I was familiar with his work, I already looked forward to hopefully running into him at future conventions. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen until a little over two years later, at AuthorCon V in Williamsburg, Virginia. He remembered me from our previous interactions, and we were able to spend a little time catching up. He was just as pleasant and easy to chat with as I recalled him being.

That man was Matt Dinniman, and the audiobook titles I purchased were Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon and—as you might guess—Dungeon Crawler Carl. Some of you may be familiar with that series.

By the time I saw him again, he had pivoted from being a relatively unknown self-published author to a man on his way to becoming an almost household name, at least in the kind of households I care to visit. At that time he was seven books into the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and I had purchased, listened to, and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them.

But…I’m not here to talk about Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Welcome to Operation Bounce House

All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do was run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family’s aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. He figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there’s a complication.

Even though the settlers were promised they’d be left in peace, Earth’s government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Industries is hired to commence an “eviction action.” But maximizing profits will always be Apex’s number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their homes?

The game is called Operation Bounce House.

Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who’ve paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he’s ever known.

Title: Operation Bounce House

Author: Matt Dinniman

Genre: Science Fiction / Comedy

Pages: 448

Format: Hardcover / Paperback / ebook / Audiobook

Devoted fans of Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series—and fans of the LitRPG genre as a whole—may have a difficult time pivoting from the narrative style and characters they’ve come to adore, but the magnificent imagination and absurdist wit that brought that world to life is just as much on display in this novel.

Operation Bounce House shows readers that Matt Dinniman is far from being a one-trick pony. His brilliant combination of humor, fast-paced storytelling, and characterization is just as well-suited to standard narrative as it is to the LitRPG series where he built not only a name for himself but a passionate fanbase. Not only that, but those who make the leap will witness some familiar themes explored, including the perverse treatment of genocide as entertainment by a system-spanning culture of decadence and detachment. Caught up in the middle of that—entirely by surprise—are simple, hardworking people out of their depths and driven by nothing more than a desire to survive and protect those they love.

To best describe this story to fans of existing pop culture science fiction, it’s as if John Scalzi spent a few weeks hanging out with Ernest Cline, before tackling his own variation of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. And, just as one might expect from Scalzi, Dinniman focuses on telling the story from the perspective of the underdogs.

The colonists of New Sonora have overcome a lot in just a few generations after settling the new planet and building small communities across the surface of one of humanity’s new homes. After a devastating setback wipes out the first generation of children born on the planet, the population came together to find a solution, and they’re only finally on the verge of growing beyond the verge of failure into a thriving civilization.

Still years away from the opportunity to begin reintegrating with Earth, the sudden appearance of war machines on the planet’s surface comes as a big surprise. But that’s nothing compared to what’s on the near horizon, as the relationship between New Sonora and the human home world takes on a whole new dynamic. Operation Bounce House is just getting started, and without a miracle, Oliver Lewis, his sister, and their friends have no chance of surviving another week.

This is a book that’s full of heart with a bit of heartbreak, intense and interesting action, and as much humor and social commentary as one should expect if they’ve already spent some time crawling through the dungeons that Dinniman lovingly mapped out.

Nikolas P. Robinson is an avid consumer of books, movies, and television, especially where horror, science fiction, and fantasy are concerned. When he isn’t consuming media, he’s creating it as an author, photographer, videographer, and news producer in Portland, Oregon.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.