Y’all… this is officially the most fun I’ve had with a book all year.

Dungeon Crawler Carl was originally published in 2020 as an Indy release. However, the series became so popular that Berkely will be releasing it in hardback in this August.

And I’m honestly just amazed it didn’t happen sooner.

Classified as a LitRPG it made my little nerd heart so happy, and brought back so many great memories of my gamer and DND days. Hilariously creative and well written, this book will have you hooked by the first page. For anyone worried you have to be a video game savant to understand the book, you do not. Everything is broken down and explained as if you were entering the dungeon in a way that will have you cackling while you read.

What makes this book so fun is the characters. Carl is our pant-less reluctant hero. Despite starting out only concerned with survival, he absolutely refuses to pass up the opportunity to help others. I adore Princess Donut, Carl’s pet cat who gets turned into a talking, magic missile wielding, diva. I love their relationship and their banter had me dying with laughter.

I’ll admit I’m a little obsessed and have been giving unsolicited reviews to all my friends. I’m really looking forward to continuing the series and am fighting the urge to scrap my reading list to binge them all right now.
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Available now on KU. Physical copies available August 27.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for my free e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Holy crap.

I didn't know this series existed but when I tell you that over the last two weeks, I have BINGED the entire DCC series so far.....wow.

This was my first LitRPG but it for sure won't be my last. I have been so obsessed with reading these that I've also bought all the audiobooks so I could switch seamlessly between ebook and audiobook and not have to stop reading.

Carl and Donut are the team up I didn't know I needed in my love but holy crap do I love them both. Things aren't easy for them in the dungeon for sure, (even though Carl is either supernaturally lucky or insanely amazing at split second plans and decisions) and their journey continues to get harder and infinitely more heartbreaking. But I am waiting over here impatiently for book 7 to come out so I can devour it in a day. And if you get the chance? Read the audiobook too because the narrator is PHENOMENAL.

Ace and Berkley Publishing Group provided an early galley for review.

As a long-time dungeon dweller myself (a D&D player since 1982), this title and concept was perfect for me.

Dinniman wastes no time getting the concept down; in chapter 1 we and Carl are thrown right into the thick of things. It is literally do the dungeon crawl or wait to die. Of course, there are questions: Who? How? Why? Unfortunately, there is no time for answers as the world bombards Carl right out of the gate - much like the tutorial phase of a videogame. Of course, once arriving at the first safe house, the true tutorial begins (the perfect way of disguising a lot of expository information for the reader). Dinniman draws from many gamer sources and elements, again a perfect fit for someone like me.

The combat action is described very clearly and quite violently to boot. Again, very videogame like. It takes on this vibe quite well.

Despite the length, it moves fairly quickly. Of course, it is just book 1 of a longer series; the publisher appears to have an aggressive release schedule for the follow-ups so there won't be too long a wait for the story to continue. I am certainly onboard for the ride.

This was just, fun. You had me at the talking cat. It ends on a huge cliff hanger and now I need book 2. "Goddamnit, Donut!"

Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)
Written by Matt Dinniman
Read by Jeff Hays
Book 103/250
Genre: Fantasy, Humor
Format: Digital/Audio, RC
Pages/Time: 446/13hr 31min
Published: 2020 R:August 27, 2024
Rating: 10/10
Narration: 10/10

"Mana Toast. This is toast. It refills your mana. That’s it. Nothing more. F*** you"

As my first foray into the Lit RPG subgenre, Dungeon Crawler Carl sets a high (some may say insurmountable) bar. This book has everything I didn't know I needed in books. Juicing troglodyte bosses, talking cats, orc hosted talk shows, and krakarens all wrapped in this wild fever dream of a book. I am truly beyond impressed with this DCC and very excited to see what the rest of the series has in store.

Jeff Hays narration for this book is the toppest of top tiers. Jeff, please do the audio for every book I read. This performance is nothing short of incredible and I am honestly debating waiting until the audiobook is available to read the second book!

DCC is a blast from start to finish and I am very excited to see where the dungeons lead Carl and Donut.

After a cataclysmic event flattens every building on the planet, Carl's late night attempt to coax his ex-girlfriend's cat, Donut, back into his apartment building transforms into a journey of survival as the two find themselves entering a dungeon that has appeared within the earth. The dungeon abides by video game and TTRPG rules, with unseen inventories, mini-maps, and loot boxes, but more importantly, it's being broadcast across the galaxy as a reality TV show. Being a likeable presence means more followers, and more followers means a chance at getting sponsors. And Carl could really use a pair of pants.

'Dungeon Crawler Carl' is one part 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', one part 'The Hunger Games', and one part 'Ready Player One'. I am a fan of, neutral on, and annoyed by these titles respectively, so my experience with this book was a mixed bag. The humor was hit or miss--Princess Donut speaking in all caps in the private chat and being obsessed with dangerous spells got laughs out of me, but other things seemed to overstay their welcome (the achievement jokes are -supposed- to be annoying, but it doesn't make them any more fun to read through). I'll give DCC the credit that I refuse to give RPO--the author stays his hand with making too many reference jokes, which makes it less of a pain to read.

I really liked the moments with the Meadowlark party, consisting of nurses and patients from a hospice care center that were evacuated due to a smoke detector alarm going off in the middle of the night. Their entrance in the story marks a notable tone shift, exploring more serious aspects of survival, disability, and trauma. Imani being labeled as a player killer and being a high level because she had to mercy kill some of her own patients or else they'd both die is harrowing stuff! Their presence does notably kill the humor, and the author does seem to find ways to hide them into safe rooms when he wants things to be funny again, but if anything will get me to read later books in the series it might be them.

The biggest issue I had with 'Dungeon Crawler Carl' is how 'boys-club' it feels. The cast isn't hurting for female characters, of course, but our main character being a white veteran tough guy with a cheating bitch ex-girlfriend is wish-fulfillment for a certain audience. While the foot-fetish and fanfiction parts are funny, they do feel a bit barbed as gay jokes and 'women being weird in fandom' jokes rather than any of the more nuanced internet humor, especially how often they're used for Carl to reiterate that he is heterosexual. Sure, it's all in good fun, and I'm not saying that there are never gay men or fanfiction authors that overstep their boundaries or that male characters can't have cheating bitch ex-girlfriends, but I can't help but be reminded of how unwelcoming some gaming spaces can be. I can't help but feel that someone will bring up 'Dungeon Crawler Carl' as a good example of 'non-woke fantasy' when complaining about black female protagonists.

While 'Dungeon Crawler Carl' isn't really my thing, I'd be more willing to recommend it to a reluctant adult reader than 'Ready Player One', if only for it not being obnoxiously bogged down in reference humor. While I don't think reading about video game mechanics is too exciting, the presence of a funny talking cat makes it more bearable.

The apocalypse is upon us and shockingly it is being broadcast around the universe. When Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat take on the video game-like survival event that is the end of the earth as we know it, the action is nonstop. The story feels like the craziest reality show but with the most dire of consequences. The healing positions, game menu, item collection, and boss battles allowed the author to create some intense situations. I really enjoyed the story but beware this is part of a series and you will need to read them all to see if and how Carl and Princess Donut survive.

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fast paced, laugh out loud thrill fest. What happens when aliens take possession of your planet for Mining purposes? Well, if you survive the in collapse, then you have the chance to participate in a game show that pits you the crawler against a myriad of aliens designed to kill you. If you can make it to the final floor, then you just might have the chance to save your world. Extremely funny and well written!! I am already halfway thru book two.

Dungeon Crawler Carl centers Carl, a Coast Guard vet, and his ex-girlfriend's prize winning purebred Persian, Donut, after they survive an alien invasion that kills most of the human race. Now, they need to survive an intergalactic game show called Dungeon Crawler World. This book was very well-written and engaging; I found it hard to put down once I started it. Some of the jokes didn't hit for me personally, and at points I found the side characters to be somewhat flat, but I still found myself suppressing a groan when the book ended. If you are a fan of books like Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne's The Tales of Pell or Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I would absolutely recommend Dungeon Crawler Carl.

A fun romp through a classic dungeon crawl. Action, humor, relatable characters, a sentient diva cat, and a pants-less brawler. Great for fans of D&D and RPGs. Looking forward to more of Carl's adventures!

An absolute blast of a book. Such a wild, fun ride from start to finish. This is definitely not for the faint of heart though. There's a lot of humor (which some don't enjoy in their fantasy) and this humor can be crass. But if you're looking for a fast-paced and funny fantasy book that feels like nothing you've read before, you have to check this out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I am not a gamer or even one who watches others play games (role playing / computer / video) but I found Dungeon Crawler Carl, which read exactly like a game, delightful. This was so refreshing, hitting the right mix or humor and action. I’m so glad it did given the premise was fascinating, with Carl experiencing his world taken over and destroyed by aliens in one night with the option to enter game play in order to try to reclaim… well I’m not sure about that but let’s keep it to his life. With his adorable and charming now talking cat sidekick, Princes Donut (the Queen Anne Chonk) he enters the Dungeons and quickly encounters monsters, enemies, and friends.

The only thing I wished at the end is that this wasn’t a series so I could see what would ultimately happen! Given this book set the stage and then took us to the start of level three it seems like there are many more books to come, but given how much fun this one was I’ll be devouring them!

Humanity rolls a critical failure in the first few pages of Dungeon Crawler Carl and is mostly wiped out in a version of "rocks fall, everyone dies." All man-made structures on the planet are instantly flattened, and as the lucky people who weren't inside at the time (and thus not turned into pancakes) try to figure out what happened, the aliens who did the flattening announce themselves and present a choice: try to survive on this new, structureless Earth or enter into a life or death, galaxywide dungeon-crawling gameshow in which a winner might just have a shot at winning the planet back. For Carl, an average Seattle resident who was trying to extract his ex-girlfriend's cat from a tree in the middle of the night in below freezing temperatures while wearing basically nothing but his pjs when the entire city went two-dimensional, the choice is pretty simple. Time to conquer the dungeon and hopefully find some pants along the way.

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a book with an incredible set-up that is hiding a lot more behind the scenes than the reader might expect in a D&D-like dungeon crawl complete with classes, skills, level ups, and all the usual trappings of the genre. Think "intergalactic politics," "space bankruptcy proceedings," and throw in a healthy dash of genuinely fun characters, fun action scenes, interview shows, and a talking cat named Princess Donut, and you start to get the idea of just how crazy a ride you are in for when you start turning the pages.

An excellent read, and probably the best book in the genre.

Welcome to the first book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman
It's a dystopian universe! All ceilings have fallen and smashed humankind into the ground. Carl and his ex's cat (Princess Donut) are fighting to survive by journeying through levels. The good news, they are alive! The bad news, they are on a universal (think Universe) reality show where they need viewers and upvotes to survive!

Carl and Princess are the sharp talking funniest pair I have ever read, I look forward to the rest of the series!
#berkley #dungeoncrawlercarl #mattdinniman

Love! This book was so fun. Very Hunger Games meets Ready Player One. I’m excited to see that there’s 5 more books in the series and I don’t have to wait for the next one to come out. I love this cover style and hope they consider making paperback versions of it as well!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced extended digital ARC!

Have you ever been recommended a book by everyone you’ve ever known, but you keep pushing it off and think “meh, I don’t know.” And then when you finally read it, you want to slap your past self for waiting so long?

Yeah. Dungeon Crawler Carl is that book for me. 5 enthusiastic stars.

I’ve been seeing this book everywhere the last year. And it sounded so bananas that I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it. Well folks, it IS completely bananas, in the best possible way.

One night Carl is outside in a blizzard, in his underwear, trying to coax his ex-gf’s prize winning cat Princess Donut back into his apartment. Suddenly every building on the entire planet collapses, killing everyone inside. The survivors are informed that aliens are mining their planet, but hey, lucky you, you get to participate in the universe’s most popular and deadly survivor-esque game show! Welcome to the Dungeon Crawl. Carl and Princess Donut enter hoping to find shelter, warmth and survival. And maybe some pants. But goblins, kobolds and grubs aren’t the only dangers they face as they race to win the game – some of the survivors are all about that PvP action.

If you like D&D, you’ll love this. If you don’t like D&D, you’ll probably still love this. If you like majestic, snobby cats, you’ll definitely love this. The Dungeon Crawl is D&D-meets-Hunger-Games, with a social media/follower aspect to the dungeon grind that gives it a fresh spin. Princess Donut will very quickly become a favorite character, and poor, beleaguered Carl’s quest to just find some shoes is hilarious – too bad for him that the game AI seems to have a foot fetish.

This book is wonderful and I can’t wait to devour them all. And the publisher is putting out a new edition on Aug 27 with bonus content!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. And my abject apologies to Matt Dinniman for waiting so long to jump on the hype train. Past Me is an idiot, and this is probably the most addictive series I’ve started since the MurderBot Diaries.

It's the end of the earth as we know it and turns out it's just an alien game show broadcast throughout the galaxy. Carl and his girlfriend's show cat Princess Donut find themselves in a dungeon fighting for their life, resources, and likes. This was funny from beginning to end as our hero navigates a D&D-like setting mixed with Survivor mixed with the vibe from the old movie Running Man. It's bloody and there is fighting, but also humor and craziness that will make you laugh out loud. If you like your sci/fi/fantasy action-packed and filled with zany characters, then this book is for you.

5/5

This was awesome. Carl and Princess Donut are an endlessly entertaining combo. I've never played D&D really only read a heck of a lot, played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and old school video games. Even so I adored this book and am really looking forward to reading more.

Grinding in a gamer sense and Boss fights aplenty lead to intense action and plenty of questions too. There's a wide range of characters for you to wonder and worry about.

Humor and intrigue abound. Plus the AI seems to play favorites. When you think you know the rules they might just change.

You as the reader are thrown right into the middle of everything along with Carl and Donut. This book goes very big and I am really wondering how it's going to end, especially with the bonus stuff at the end.

I’ll be perfectly honest, I don’t really love LitRPG but the hype for Dungeon Crawler Carl got to me. All those glowing reviews can’t be wrong! So when the publisher reached out with a NetGalley link, I hit download like I was the fastest book nerd in the west.
The story begins with the titular Carl trying to wrangle his ex-girlfriend’s show cat back inside on a cold winter night whilst clad in only boxers and a leather jacket. Right as Carl is securing the lauded and very fluffy Princess Donut, every structure of any kind (buildings, cars, probably even tree forts) slams flat into the ground and the remaining people receive a message straight to their brains: Earth is now under the possession of some alien conglomerate and the humans get to compete in an eighteen level dungeon crawl, that’s being televised to billions of beings around the universe. Carl and Donut head to the nearest dungeon entrance, if for no other reason than to not get frostbite and become Crawlers.
What follows is an absurdly hilarious and ridiculously violent traipse through the first two floors of the World Dungeon. Donut is awarded a pet biscuit upon entry that allows her to become truly sentient and very, very vocal and she’s now a Crawler in truth rather than just Carl’s pet. The duo face down goblins, slimes, grotesque low level bosses, and even other Crawlers and all the while they are becoming more and more popular with the viewers who are tracking their every move. While the dungeon is a game of survival, it’s also a popularity contest because the more followers a Crawler gets, the more likely they are to get a sponsor and a sponsor means valuable items that will allow them to survive. If Carl and Donut can reach the end and complete the eighteenth floor, they can theoretically get Earth out of the alien’s clutches. Not that there’ll be much left.
LitRPG reads very much like a transcript of a player’s actions in an open world video game. There are checkpoints, rest areas, bosses, leveling up, and even loot boxes and even ways to sort of ‘break the game’ that get patched out. I haven’t read much in this subgenre, but I really enjoyed Dungeon Crawler Carl. It had a breakneck pace that made it a completely addictive read, purely because I could never begin to guess what the next chapter would hold. It was a novelty to me. Because of this, I’m planning to check out the second installment when it’s available. This series was self published originally, but was picked up by Ace with the traditional publication beginning in August 2024.
*Review scheduled to post August 22, 2024.

4 stars, <a href="https://reviews.metaphorosis.com/review/dungeon-crawler-carl-matt-dinniman/">Metaphorosis reviews</a></p>
<p style="font-weight: bold; font-size: large">Summary </p>
<p>Aliens have come to harvest Earth, and everyone who isn't killed is invited to join a dungeon crawl for the entertainment of Earth's new owners - and a chance to win control of the Earth itself. </p>
<h3>Review </h3>
<p>There’s not a lot of surprise in <em>Dungeon Crawler Carl</em>. The initial premise is odd, verging on farcical – aliens kill almost everyone on Earth and many of the rest enter a newly generated dungeon. There’s what I hope is a nod to Douglas Adams at the start (if it’s not, it’s a ripoff), and Dinniman mines a similar light-hearted comedic vein. Greg Costikyan’s <em>Another Day, Another Dungeon</em> also comes to mind, though the parody here is of video roleplaying games.</p>
<p>Once the setup (which I found a bit rocky) is out of the way, Dinniman takes the initial premise pretty much where you’d expect, with in jokes about RPGs and inventory, and fairly stock characters. But while he’s doing the expected, he does it in quite a fun way. For one thing, he does the ‘right’ things: this is not one of those horror movies where no one picks up the dropped weapons; when Carl sees a takeable object, he takes it, and Dinniman gets him to do fun things with them.</p>
<p>There are some moments of discomfort – does he really need to kill all these innocents just for points? – and Dinniman moved a little more quickly past them than I thought warranted. But most of the action and commentary is timed and delivered quite well. It’s fun, funny, a quick read, and I did find myself interested to go on to the next volume (and apparently there are six in total).</p>
<p>I didn’t go in with high expectations – humor is hard to pull off consistently – but Dinniman does a good job here, and I look forward to continuing the series.</p>
<p style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #cc0000">I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.</span>