I picked up Dungeon Crawler Carl on Audible a few months ago when I had a spare credit and fancied something more fun than the pretty dark science fiction I was in a hole with at the time.
I pressed play on the first book a little over a week ago. I am now on book four. This is the most fun I have had with a series since Magic 2.0 (which I loved and banged on about for months.)
So, before I go into hopefully spoiler free ramping, here is the link to the author’s web-page.
What is it?
It’s a series of (currently) 8 books, about a man named Carl. He’s in a pickle because the world ended when aliens flattened every structure on the planet and created a dungeon underground, which is a game show. He has to fight to live, but there are level up and magic and special events… yeah, it’s a LitRPG, but it’s an excellent one that doesn’t require you are familiar with the genre.
Carl doesn’t have any trousers, or shoes, and he took a cat in there with him. The cat is a main character of the book. Her name is Princess Donut. I adore her (and I don’t even like cats.)
Why is it so good?
Because the author, Matt Dinniman takes a stupid idea and rather than trying to elevate it right away, he plays into it. It’s a fun romp that doesn’t get dull. The action is almost never-ending but written masterfully (for the genre.) It remains entertaining and is constantly evolving. The characters are developed at a satisfyingly even pace and every time you think you have seen it all, something new and messed up happens. It is not at all what I expected when I began the series.
I really like the usually low-brow LitRPG genre, so I was an easy sell, but this is actually a LitRPG for people who are not knee-deep in them already. It uses all the usual tropes of the genre, yes, but it does so in a more natural and sensible way than the usual ‘character sheet every chapter’ stories. It doesn’t commit the crime of forgetting its premise after two chapters. It’s great.
Is it all good?
No. It’s hyper violent, has dubious morality, and is playfully nihilistic at times. I think, when the series is done, it may end up being a tragedy, of sorts. But, it’s very funny, charming, and entertaining.
If you are put off by violence in your books or are bored by action writing, you may want to skip this series.
I have nothing bad to say about it, apart from book 3 gets a bit confusing at times; however, I enjoyed it greatly. So I don’t know if that’s relevant.
Anything else I should know?
The audiobook is wonderfully performed and gives a lot of character to it. This is one of those books that I think may be better in audio form. I have a feeling it would be more chore-ish to read than listen to. That said, I ordered the hardback of the first one for my daughter, so I may give it a read, and find out.
I adore it and will be reading/listening to the whole series gleefully.
