Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
NEW ACHIEVEMENT! I just finished the first book in the “Dungeon Crawler Carl” series. Reward?! Reading it was its own reward.
This series was recommended to me by a friend a couple months ago. Truth be told, her description of it didn’t make me want to run out and buy it. Plus it’s an EIGHT BOOK SERIES. So I pretty much ignored her, which is what I do with all my friends’ advice.
But after she recommended it, life just kept putting it in front of me. I couldn’t go a day on any social media without someone talking about it. So I decided to try book one. And I’m glad I did.
Imagine if the 1990s PC-based video game “Duke Nukem” had a baby with “The Hunger Games.” That’s what this book is. You know how it’s a fad to watch people play video games on Twitch or YouTube or whatever? Well, imagine reading about it instead of watching. And now imagine that it is somehow incredibly entertaining.
The book is vulgar, violent, and comedic. It almost doesn’t make sense that it would work. And yet … it does!
The basic premise is this: An Alien apocalypse kills everyone on earth who is inside. Then gives the rest of the people a few minutes to get into an underground lair to fight for their continued existence. Carl and Princess Donut (his ex-girlfriend’s show cat) are among the “lucky ones” who are outside when it all goes down. They enter the “dungeon.” And calamity — and hilarity — ensues.
The deeper into the book I got, the more I liked Carl and Princess Donut. And based on what I’ve seen on Threads and X, I have a feeling that I’ll like them even more as I move onto the next book.
Author Matt Dinniman’s vision is brilliant, albeit a little twisted. It is not for the faint of heart. There were a couple bits that, frankly, made me uncomfortable. But I got over them because several other bits … made up for them? Or made them less distasteful? Basically, I decided not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Narrator Jeff Hays is a friggin’ wizard. In this first book, there are at least a dozen different characters and they all have unique voices. It’s legend-level impressive. Personally, I think Carl sounds like Patrick Warburton’s character Gronk in “Emperor’s New Groove.” And the main game show voice — to me — sounds eerily similar to Wil Wheaton in … several things, actually.
I understand that many people tear through the books after finishing the first one. And I’m going to struggle with the idea of changing my Audible subscription to annual just so I can get the rest of the books without having to wait a month in between. Because this book took me a mere four days to read.
In conclusion: It’s probably not for everyone. But those who like it, will love it.
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