Ratings375
Average rating4.3
The apocalypse will be televised!
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.
In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.
The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.
Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.
You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.
You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.
Featured Series
7 primary booksDungeon Crawler Carl is a 7-book series with 7 released primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Matt Dinniman. 1 book is still to be released. The next book is scheduled for release on .
Reviews with the most likes.
Check my full review on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0G7LqgRIiZc
What immediately hooked me about this series is its perfect balance of absurdity and genuine character development. Carl and Princess Donut aren't just accumulating stats in a cosmic reality show dungeon; they're evolving as individuals forced to rely on each other in increasingly dangerous situations. Their dynamic is priceless - especially Princess Donut's sarcastic observations and stubborn all-caps messaging, while still behaving like the prize-winning, tiara-loving cat she is.
The world-building constantly surprises and entertains. Each dungeon level operates on unique rules, creating fresh challenges and unpredictable scenarios with physics-defying environments populated by bizarre hybrid creatures and memorable NPCs. Unlike other books that might rely heavily on nostalgia (like that shit book called Ready Player One), Dungeon Crawler Carl creates its own fascinating universe that asks deeper questions about capitalism, entertainment, and the value of human life while delivering consistently creative combat scenes.
I particularly appreciate how the series handles its video game elements. While stats, achievements, and power-ups are present, it never feels like you're reading about someone else's gaming session - the stakes are real, and the deaths permanent. The reality show framework adds another brilliant layer, with crawlers appearing on intergalactic talk shows and receiving sponsor gifts that further blur the line between entertainment and survival horror.
After devouring the first three books (about 1300 pages) in rapid succession, what keeps me coming back is how each book provides enough closure by completing a dungeon level while building anticipation for the next challenge. The fights are consistently entertaining with Carl's surprising solutions, and Jeff Hays' audiobook narration elevates the experience even further with distinct character voices and perfect pacing. Despite occasional graphic violence and dark humor, the series maintains an irresistible momentum that makes it impossible to put down.
Originally posted at youtu.be.
Has basically everything you would want out of a litrpg book, including actually interesting well-developed characters. Even the small side characters feel fully developed.
Bloody entertaining
Well, it was lot of fun. It had its down moments but overall it's a very entertaining as well as heartbreaking. The things they did to humans are horrible and I hope Carl will get justice for us humans. Goddammit, Donut!!!!!!
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