Dungeon Crawler Carl

by Matt Dinniman

Hardcover, 464 pages

English language

Published Aug. 27, 2024 by Penguin Publishing Group.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-82024-7

(3 reviews)

The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive New York Times bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to …

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

5 editions

73pctGeek reviewed Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)

Light, fun, and slightly gory.

3 stars

Marine tech Carl, along with the cat, gets isekai’ed into a “Running Man”esque nightmare of a dungeon crawl.

I was dubious at the start, but it grew on me as I progressed through the book and was a light, enjoyable read. The characters are not interchangeable Emmas, the writing is fine, and often actually amusing when it tries to be funny. This is definitely a book for people who enjoy gaming, TTRPGs, or LitRPGs, I’d not recommend this series to anyone unfamiliar with any of those things. I’ll be reading more of these.

Daniel Andrlik reviewed Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)

Fun fun fun

4 stars

This book had no business being as much fun as it was. Even though I had seen it recommended by friends, I went in skeptical, but was sucked in right away. It's by no means high literature, but Carl and Princess Donut's escapades are a delight. What this book lacks in substance it makes up with pure candy-coated silliness. This was the perfect weekend read.

Admittedly, I am solidly in the target demographic, being an avid TTRPG player, and there was plenty of fan service along those lines. Added pluses for some nose tweaking to the manosphere as well. On the surface, this could have come across as a different take on Ready Player One, but this one didn't leave the same bad taste in my mouth.

There's a lot of world building going on in this first book, with many hints of darkness to come, and without spoilers I …

There's a lot of world building going on in this first book, with many hints of darkness to come, and without spoilers I can say the ending is kind of abrupt and odd. So I'm taking this down a star. I'll have to see how I feel about the second one plays out and ends to really understand if I like it as a series, but on the whole I found this first entry delightful.

Daniel Andrlik

rated it

August 10

Subjects

American literature